The Skyway Sybarite: Zelino's

Once upon a time the hubs held a temp job on Nicollet Mall. Apparently, at this temp job, they ordered food from Zelino's a lot. Very good food, from what he says.

So, on his recommendation, I was excited to try this place out. Although it is literally on the other end of downtown, I could really use the exercise, so I didn't mind walking. But I'm glad I had AC with me to navigate the skyway.

AC ate: Chicken Fennel Soup
AH ate: A huge slab of lasagna

AC says:

Zelino's is tucked away in the corner of the Medical Arts building in Minneapolis - although not in the skyway, rather ground level, it still counts because of the contrived way you have to go to get here. They share some pretty fantastic neighbors and have have some pretty stiff lunch competition. Not that Zelino's sweats it - they happen to share a kitchen with big brother, Zelo, a full blown Italian place packed with an important lunch crowd. Serving soups and sandwiches on the go, there isn't a place to sit down, actually, there is hardly room for a line. A pretty, dimly lit operation not unlike the rest of the building, run here if you want something quick and have a few extra bucks.

AC likes: The chicken fennel soup was very good. The vegetables had quite a bit of tooth so head's up if you are fully cooked vegetables-in-your-soup person. I was fairly sure this was vegetarian when I started eating it due to the little bit of chicken in it but since I'm also completely ok with that I was happy. It is crammed full of greens and flavor lacking the overwhelming amount of salt that some places add to make up for the tasteless broth. The egg salad is also quite good.
AC would skip: This isn't the place to go if you're a few days off from pay day as it's expensive for what it is. A bowl of soup plus soda in a bottle was more than $8. The sit down restaurant version is actually pretty close to the same cost.

My two cents:

Zelino's is basically a limited take out coutner for Zelo's. They have soups, salads, wraps and pasta. I had heard that the lasagna was really good, and that seemed like a good hearty food on a cold winter's day, so I decided to try that. The hubs had warned me that the line was sometimes really long, but when we went there were only a few people ahead of us. I ordered a piece of lasagna that was about the size of a brick and got marinara sauce on it, since the meat sauce contained pork. The staff was friendly and fast and knowledgable (at least about their meat sauce containing pork). The lasagna and a Diet Coke came to $11, which is pretty steep for a one course meal if you ask me. Plus, for some reason I felt the need to tip on the credit slip, so I was out a few more bucks.

Anyway, back at my desk, I dug into the lasagna. After about two bites, I was full because it was honestly at least four inches thick. But I kept at it, because it was amazing. It was just cheese lasagna, but there were about a trillion layers to it and oh, man it was good. I managed to eat half of it before I ran out of room, and marinara sauce.

I was going to try to tackle the other half the next day, but I'm really not a fan of leftovers.

AH likes: It was delicious. Definitely worth the hike. If you work on the south side of downtown, get to Zelino's ASAP and order yourself some lasagna (to split with a friend).
AH would skip: I would have liked a little more sauce, if I had eaten the rest the next day there wouldn't have been any sauce on it. Also, $11 is pricey, but if you split it into two meals it's not too bad.