The Carnegie Pulse: Art & Culture > Zenith is at the Pinnacle of Vegetarian Food

Say "vegetarian" (or worse, "vegan") when describing a restaurant, and two things will immediately happen. Vegetarians and their friends will flock like bees to a hive, eager to dine in a place that accepts them. Meanwhile, meat eaters will avoid the place as if tofu were bird flu. I can't say that Zenith is the restaurant to bridge the gap, but I can say that if you are a vegetarian, or if you can live without your precious meat for one meal, Zenith is more than worth your time and money.

Speaking of which, it will take more time than money to get to Zenith. It's on the South Side, about a block from the South Side works, so you'll need to check out the 59U schedules. The prices are great, though: Sunday brunch was $10 per person, which included an entrée, all-you-can-eat buffet sides and desserts, and coffee or tea. The weekly menu offers similar prices.

My friend advised me that the entrée was almost not worth it, and he was right. I got a ground nut stew, including peanuts and chick peas, which turned out tasting unfortunately bland. The buffet, however, is worth the price of admission. A dozen different salads and side dishes, all vegetarian, mostly vegan (I believe), delighted my eyes and taste buds. One particularly notable dish included thin rice noodles in a peanut and soy sauce. The rest included many varieties of beans, peppers, onions, corn, tomatoes, carrots, squash, rice, pasta, and everything in between. Each dish was more colorful than the last.

And the desserts, too! That table included as many different cakes as there were sides. All of them are completely vegan, which surprised me; have you ever tried to bake a cake without using eggs? It's not easy! Yet the folks at Zenith have done it many times, in delectable flavors like double chocolate and vanilla walnut.

When you're done with your meal, if you're not too full to move, you can peruse Zenith's collection of antiques and vintage clothing. As with any antique shop, most of it is junk, but you may find a few gems. My friend purchased a record of "Party Sing-Along with Mitch Miller," which will provide hours of entertainment. Undoubtedly.

When to visit Zenith? They're only open Thursday-Saturday, 11AM-9PM, and Sunday 11AM-3PM. If you're going for the brunch, get there by 11: the dining room isn't huge, so after they seat the first bunch of people, everyone else has to wait for quite a while. But definitely try the place out; it's healthy, cheap, tasty, and quite unlike anything in boring old Oakland or Squirrel Hill.

Restaurant type: Vegetarian/Vegan goodness
How to get there: Take a 59U to the South Side. It's at 86 S. 26^th St., a block south of Carson.
Price for an entrée: around $10
Website: http://www.zenithpgh.com/

On 12/5/07 at 4:04 pm, Michael Croland posted:

Zenith is indeed wonderful. To clarify, everything at the Sunday buffet is vegan -- except one (or two or three or four, depending on the week) of the menu entrees. At Zenith and otherwise, people really should consider trying such delicious vegan options. They're free of cholesterol and and low in saturated fat. And they're better for animals, who don't have to have their body parts mutilated without painkillers, be confined to tiny spaces where they can hardly move, and be separated from their mothers shortly after birth. (All that abuse is commonplace in animal agriculture. Visit www.GoVeg.com for more info.)

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