Zesty Lemon Brings A ‘Fresh-Squeezed’ Quality To Its New Saint John Bistro
SAINT JOHN– A restaurant catering to those craving something fresh is now open on the north end of Saint John.
The Zesty Lemon, located on 535 Somerset Street, offers fresh, zesty, food options such as soups, salads and sandwiches. After spending the whole summer renovating, training staff and perfecting offerings, co-owner Lisa Hovey says she’s excited to have the restaurant finally open.
“We really excited. We’re a little bit nervous, but we feel that everybody will love the concept. It works great for the area and so far the feedback has been tremendous, a lot of great support,” says Hovey. “People that have stopped in love what we’ve done with the interior, what we’ve done with the building and they just wanted us to be open as soon as possible.”
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The Zesty Lemon is a bistro-style establishment serving soups, salads, desserts, and signature sandwiches made from ham, roast beef, chicken and bacon, all of which will be cooked daily on site. The restaurant seats up to 40 people and also features an “herb wall” that it will use in its dishes.
“It’s a very simple concept and that’s what we wanted. I think people will enjoy it. I think people really like the atmosphere here that we created,” says Hovey.
“We’re having a signature smoked-meat sandwich, which is going to be fantastic and we’ve been utilizing a lot of our herbs from our herb garden in our recipes.”
The restaurant will be managed by Hovey’s business partners, Bill and Cindy Gray, who previously worked as the long-time managers of a deli in the Saint John City Market. They say they are looking forward to their new journey and hope to see some familiar faces at the Zesty Lemon.
“We’re really excited to be working with Lisa because I just love her vision of what we’ve done here. I think it’s going to be fantastic,” says Cindy.
“We’ve met a lot of people over the years and you get to know them on a first-name basis. We hope they come to see us here at Zesty Lemon or call us,” adds Bill. “We’re a little nervous because this is all new. Opening a new spot is a lot of work … but we’re really excited to get going.”
The Zesty Lemon’s menu is simple to start out with, says Hovey, but later this year customers can expect a line of take-home meals, and more menu options such as pizzas.
“We have a lot to look forward to and people around here I think will really love it all once we get it out there,” she says.
Ultimately Hovey and the Grays hope the Zesty Lemon will become a spot people come for a good meal with family and friends.
“We hope that we made it so comfortable that when they come in, they can ask us for anything and we’ll be happy to help,” says Hovey. “We look forward to looking after our customers here whether it’s on-site or off-site catering or take-home meals. We just want them to feel very welcomed here.”