It’s hard to ignore the link between newly opened Zola Bar & Tables and 19th-century novelist Émile Zola. There’s the name, of course, but there’s also the floor-to-ceiling photo of the Frenchman eyeballing you when you open the restaurant door. It lets you know: The past is very present here.
One of Zola’s better-known books, The Belly of Paris, leverages the food stalls of Les Halles to reinforce themes of inequality, political division, bourgeoisie complacency and gross materialism. It’s never been more deliciously du jour. Likewise, Zola Bar & Tables, located in the belly of Altamonte Springs, seeks to squeeze present-day relevance from classic themes and comforts. Although Zola the writer looms large, owners Jay and Connie Edge model their restaurant on its other namesake: Zola in Kansas City, a restaurant opened in 1994 by Jay and his late brother, Loy, known for its easy vibe.
It starts with the room, a clubby but spacious expanse of wood and retro flair anchored by a handsome bar; a many-spaces-in-one, primarily no-reservations expanse you’re encouraged by staff (and signage) to make your own. There’s nostalgia at play in the bric-a-brac eclectica, and nostalgia manifests on the menu; a Pebbles 1985 Salad ($18) with sesame sticks and soy vinaigrette plays tasty tribute to the Nutty-Cheesy Salad at Pebbles, an icon of Orlando “casual gourmet” yesteryear. Or how about Oysters Rockefeller, a dish invented in 1889? A dozen of the baked Virginians ($52) fragrant with nutmeg were delicious, the shining star of our meal. If you like simple fish dips, you’ll like the simple trout-based dip ($21) with pickled onion, crudité and chips. Fresh-caught from the distribution pipe but quite good.
Mains included an herby bone-in pork chop ($39), sold as fork-tender. It arrived knife-tender and slightly overdone, but was flavorful and made more so by sides of well-cooked broccolini and butternut squash. Cioppino ($39) has long been open to kitchen interpretation, and here it’s interpreted a bit like salmorejo, uncommonly thick but nicely balanced and plumped with fish, clams and shrimp. The best lobster rolls feature bright, loosely composed lobster salad and crisp griddled bread with a pillowy crumb. The lobster roll ($39) at Zola Bar & Tables is not the best; it’s standard-issue, with a meager-adjacent amount of tightly bound salad smushed into dry bread. But its accompanying cup o’ fries? The bestest.
Cocktails are competently made; there are entertaining wines to be had — we uncorked a Belle Glos Clark & Telephone Pinot Noir ($70) — and chocolate lava cake ($12) is as satisfying today as when introduced in the 1980s, a hot, cold, salty and sweet finale.
Although food and ambience here are warmed by memory, prices can be chillingly modern-day. With the bill arrived memories of The Belly of Paris: food and inequality, struggle in a world of plenty. Zola Bar & Tables is far from alone in eliciting sticker shock; it’s the world we live in. Even so, $39 for a pork chop or a so-so lobster roll is steep. The good news is, like the dining room, the menu is choose-your-own-adventure. With “Early Pour” specials on drinks and bar bites, it offers guests a path to the low-commitment noshing that defines many a traditional neighborhood tavern. And this is what Zola Bar & Tables is at its best — a tavern, a pub, a joint, a local. Old-fashioned names for places that fill a contemporary void, places that invite us, if only for an hour or two, to reconnect with tradition and disconnect from the world outside.
Zola Bar & Tables, 1185 Spring Centre S. Blvd.,, Altamonte Springs, 407-638-8818, zolabar.com, $$$.
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This article appears in Aug. 26-Sept. 1, 2026.
