Z'Tejas: Triple-threat salsa & some serious skillet cornbread

My husband and I love to go on dates and we love to eat and we combine the two whenever possible. Of course paying for a sitter and dinner for two can really add up so it was a real treat when Z'Tejas invited me to review their restaurant for freshly baked. It was like the ol' dine-and-dash but only all above board. I guess you'd say it was a "Flip, photograph, dine, interview, dash and review." Whatever you call it I was excited to do it.


Z'Tejas is located at the south end of The Gateway Mall in downtown Salt Lake City right across from Happy Sumo and next door to Häagen Dazs. It has been there since The Gateway first opened and is a favorite for many locals. Inside you'll find the lights turned low and a super cozy atmosphere—perfect for a date night or night out with friends. The restaurant features a lot of south-of-the-border food mixed with some great southwestern dishes. With all those yummy dishes on the menu it was hard to decide. Here we are studying the menu (okay, I was striking a pose but Nathan really was studying). We probably asked the waitress four times to give us five more minutes!

Nathan decided on the Wild Mushroom Enchiladas and I decided to try one of their specials, the Green Chile Pulled Pork Chile Relleno. (Say that quickly ten times!) To start us off our waitress brought us their Bottomless Basket of Chips & Three Salsas, one of which is a house picante and then two other salsa chosen by the chef. Here they are—and we are—in action:



Those salsas were so yummy and the cornbread? I had three slices and Nathan had one—and he was lucky I even let him have one!

Our main dishes arrived and we couldn't wait to dive in, and if I were Quinn from Limelight Food Photography you'd have photos that look as good online as the food looks in person but I'm not so you'll have to settle for the best I could do that night...and scaled down so they look even better:

Want to eavesdrop on our dinner conversation and catch us talking with our mouths full? Here you go!



I will say my chile relleno could've been a bit warmer but that coleslaw? SO totally yuummy! I've been craving it ever since! Nathan's wild mushroom enchiladas were good but since he was hesitant to share (hey, that's what I usually do!) I can't give them a full review.

Believe it or not we had room for dessert so we tried their hot apple cobbler baked in a skillet and topped with vanilla bean ice cream. I don't have video of that—we inhaled it and it wasn't pretty! Let me clarify: the dessert was pretty but watching us wolf it down was not.

After our meal I took a few minutes to talk with the manager about Z'Tejas. I found out the most popular dish on the menu (you'll have to watch to find out), what customers remember most about the restaurant (hint: it is comes in a skillet with a side of honey butter) and just how long this Ivan guy's been the manager (who says you can't work your way up the ranks?).

Craving Z'Tejas cornbread or dying to try their salsas? You're in luck!
Z'Tejas is giving away a $40 gift certificate to one of our readers!

Here's how to enter. You can do as many of these as you'd like. Each one is worth one entry into our giveaway:

• Check out Z'Tejas' lunch or dinner menu and leave a comment telling us which dish you can't wait to order.
• Become a friend of Z'Tejas Restaurants on Facebook and leave a comment telling us you joined.
• Follow Z'Tejas on Twitter and leave a comment telling is you’re their newest follower.
• Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL of your tweet.
• Blog about this giveaway and leave a comment with the URL to your blog post.

Include a valid email address for our drawing. We'll draw the winner from the comments and contact her via email. Deadline: November 13, 2009 (midnight). The winner will have 24 hours to claim her prize or a new winner will be chosen. Good luck! --Emily

P.S. I was just sent a tweet from Z'Tejas with a link to some of their popular recipes, so here you go! Enjoy! (I'll be making the cornbread within the week!)

** Congratulations to Sell...Party of 3, who won our Z'Tejas drawing! Thanks to all who visited and commented!