Chez Zee

The front entrance of Chez Zee (photo by: yours truly)

This past week, my Austin brunch excursion led me to the family-friendly American bistro, Chez Zee. Their presence in almost every search for the best Austin brunch was hard to ignore. Being the food fanatic that I am, I was shocked at myself for not hearing about Chez Zee sooner. Hungry and determined, I set out to try this award-winning restaurant for myself. Joining me for brunch this week were my aunt and uncle, who happen to be two of the best food critics I know and maybe the only other people who love food as much as I do. After traveling the globe, they have developed a discerning taste for great cuisine and lucky for me, take the time to visit Austin every once and while to visit their favorite niece (wink wink).

After finding out I was writing a food blog, our waiter suggested the manager come over and give us a little background history of how Chez Zee came to be. The manager, John, informed us that the restaurant used to be called Chez Fred, meaning “house of Fred,” until the present owner Sharon Watkins bought it in 1989 and renamed it Chez Zee,” meaning “your house.” He explained that Chez Zee is the French version of the phrase, “mi casa, su casa,” or “my house is your house.” Sharon poured her entire life savings in the restaurant and never looked back. Fourteen years and countless awards later, I think it’s safe to say that Sharon has done a successful job in turning Chez Zee into a landmark Austin restaurant.

As y’all know, I base all my brunching experiences on four main criteria: food, atmosphere, drinks and cost. Let’s get started.

FOOD: As the proud owner of a stomach that serves as a bottomless pit, I was pleased to see that Chez Zee’s brunch menu contained an overwhelming amount of breakfast and lunch items to choose from. In the mood for eggs benedict?  You’ll be choosing from a list of 10 unique and delicious styles. Is it pancakes you want? Gingerbread? Blueberry? Buttermilk? They’ve got it all. It starts getting really exciting when you move to the french toast. Chez Zee is actually known for their crème brulee french toast, which I learned became the restaurant’s signature dish after the owner, Sharon Watkins, watched Matt Lauer make it on NBC’s “Today Show.” Chez Zee’s french toast is made with thick-sliced challah bread, soaked in a crème brulee sauce overnight, then cooked and topped with whipped cream, strawberries and a Myer’s rum sauce. As the French would say, bon appetite!

Chez Zee's famous creme brulee
french toast (photo by: me)

Take a second to wipe the drool from your chin.

pork belly benedict
(photo by: my hungry self)

We ordered the dish as an appetizer, demolished it in about 2 minutes and practically licked the plate before they took it away. For the main course, I ordered the pork belly benedict that was featured on the specials menu. On a quick side note, this was my first time eating pork belly. After finishing the dish, I can proudly say that I am an avid pork belly fan. My aunt decided on the crab cake benedict while my uncle chose the chicken and waffles. All three of us cleaned our plates. As an added bonus, my dish came with a side of homemade applesauce that was warm and delicious.

ATMOSPHERE: Walking into Chez Zee was like walking into a big, cozy cottage covered in lights. We happened to be dining there on St. Patrick’s Day, so I’m not sure if the multitude of lights dangling from the ceilings were hung in honor of the holiday or there year round. Nonetheless, it made for a festive dining experience and a fun way to keep children entertained. We were sat at our table and quickly greeted by an upbeat waiter named James. James was both friendly and attentive, making sure our coffee was always hot and water glasses were always full. It was actually his idea that the manager come over and give us a quick background lesson on how Chez Zee came to be. Both James and his manager were polite and helpful.

Chez Zee's fabulously lit up interior
(photo by: me)

About halfway through our meal, a friendly man walked up to our table. He introduced himself as Brad Henderson, the restaurant’s magician. He began performing a trick on me involving a mysteriously disappearing silver dollar. His lighthearted humor and magic tricks made for a hit with us, as well as the many families with young children scattered around the restaurant.  

A live pianist seated near the front of the restaurant played throughout our meal. As nice as this was, in my opinion the piano was a bit loud at times mixed in with the already lively chatter coming from the other patrons.

DRINKS: Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be able to give the best advice this week in the drinks category. Being on a collegiate swim team, we voluntarily partake in a dry season before our championship meets start rolling in. This means no alcoholic beverages. So being in the middle of our dry season, I was confined to water and coffee for my morning at Chez Zee, sigh. I did see that the drinks menu included staple brunch boozes such as mimosas, bloody marys, margaritas and screwdrivers.

COST: I’m giving you a heads up now that the drinks just mentioned are not cheap. One mimosa costs $4.95, which is a bit higher than some of the drink specials you can find at other brunches around Austin. Neither I nor my aunt or uncle ordered drinks, resulting in a bill that could have been much pricier. My uncle graciously paid for our entire meal and when I asked him his opinion on the overall price, he replied that it was “on the upper end of fair.” I take this to mean that although the meal was certainly not cheap, it was well worth it for the how much we enjoyed the food.

Chez Zee is located at 5406 Balcones Dr.,  Austin, TX 78731.