Grilled Chicken Dinner.

I’m not sure what inspires a restaurant chain to trade an apostrophe of an umlaut, or what an umlaut has to do with the Mediterranean, but, for a chain restaurant, Zoës (in Ballston) is good. Is it great? No, and it doesn’t need to be. The food is consistent and affordable, yet the food is different than other chains because of the Mediterranean theme. The staff is friendly and helpful.

My favorite dishes at Zoës are the Chicken Kabob ($9 for two kabobs, grilled peppers and onions, tomato, rice pilaf, and Greek salad) and Shrimp Kabob ($10 for two charbroiled kabobs, zucchini, rice pilaf, cucumber raita, and Greek salad), although the shrimp are a bit too crunchy. I’m also fine with the Grilled Chicken Dinner ($9 for a small heart shaped piece of charbroiled chicken breast, braised white beans, roasted fresh vegetables). Their entrees and sides are very flavorful/seasoned and that may not be everyone’s preference, but their ingredients are good and fresh. I wish Zoës had more entree options and I would be thrilled if they had any form of spanakopita.

Shrimp Kabobs.

The sandwiches are around $7, but the only one I tried was the chicken salad, which I was not crazy about. I prefer chunky chicken salad, and texturally the chicken salad in the sandwich was closer to tuna salad.

They have some good soft drink options (limeade, unsweetened hibiscus green tea, etc.), and you have their 32 ounce travel cup ($2.10) handy, refills are only 99 cents.

-JAY

Disclosure: From time to time, we are given free items, meals, or events.

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