Great diner atmosphere. A little slow for service - wasn't very full so I was surprised. But it was still reasonable. It's not speedy like some breakfast places. Food was good but not outstanding. Eggs Benedict were very good though. Vegan milkshake was very good! Kids menu has good variety.

It's a good place to have your breakfast, all day long. They have all the breakfast options you can think off. Although some room for improvement, like the omelette could've been thicker with onion or other garnish. They are always busy on weekends so have an extra patience, their staff just doing their best.

Officially took pole position on our worst breakfast places list. She ordered the pancakes and one hour later received a plate with four bland commercial circle cardboard things covered with powered sugar. In Canada's Capital city, she got freaking corn syrup! (You wouldn't get that in Québec, home of real sirop d'érable). I ordered the breakfast burrito. They messed it up so it was also late. I first received a plate with dried potatoes with ketchup. Twenty minutes later, they presented me with a mess that tasted like freezer wrapped in a tortilla. Awful experience all around. Rest of Ottawa was great though!

Good for the price. The food wasn't outstanding but it was good for the price. The crispy chicken wrap was my favorite. It was tasty and flavorful. Their fries are usually good too but get the regular fries. The curly fries were not good. The salad is okay.

The tables outside were spaced very well and cleaned immediately after people left. The server wore his mask all the time, though he was hard to get ahold of at times. The food was delicious, I highly recommend the Zak’s big breakfast, the over easy eggs were done to perfection and the home fries were nice and crispy. A few too many wasps buzzing around, and while I know that can’t be helped, it still detracted from overall enjoyment

The food was absolutely delicious, I had the cauliflower wings and a Nutella banana milkshake, but what really stood out was the staff. During this pandemic, restrictions, protests the staff is extra stressed, but still offer amazing service. I was super impressed, 100% recommended. Thank you for doing what you do Zaks! You guys rock!

This was our first visit to a Canadian diner and unfortunately the experience wasn’t that great. The service was very slow, the food was mediocre and the waitress never came back to our table to ask how things were going or if we needed anything else. I ordered Lox and cream cheese and the cream cheese was two small containers of Philadelphia. We’d heard so much about Canadian bagels but these seemed like supermarket bought bagels and not from any bagel store or homemade. Maybe that was just my impression.

During our stay in Ottawa we visited Zak’s twice, the atmosphere was great, service was excellent and the food was amazing, especially the poutine. The strawberry milkshake was delicious.

Nice service, large size portions with good prices. The food was great, the Milkshake was awesome! I just wish the place was a little bit cleaner.

I just went there after a show, I took a place outside at night and from there you can see the enlighted place and saw a traffic with all kinds of car types passing so clearly not quite but it worth if you like city ambiance. For dinner I took cocktail served in old style flat glass and it was very good then I took the zak's burger a monster burger few people manage to finish it but I could and the waiter was suprised. Yeah in all, worth a stop.

Went for breakfast at 10am. Restaurant was almost empty. The manager was waiting our table, ordered eggs and beacon, one hour after I still didnt get our food and she never came by to see if we needed coffee. Poor service, cancelled our order and left without ever seeing our food. The price for breakfast is outragous there also. Eggs, beacon and sausage was as expensive as their dinner plates if not more on most of them. It's really too bad as we were looking forward in trying their food. Would I recommend them to sombody? Absolutely not.

The food taste good pretty typical / standard, the ambience is fun! We got unlimited coffee with our breakfast. I wouldn't consider it a great value as it was a bit pricey for what it was. The washroom is upstairs so not super UA friendly.

Came here for breakfast with colleagues and the food and atmosphere were very good..... It's what you would expect a dinner to be😁 Service was absolutely fantastic!! Will definitely be back. Enjoy.

Not bad, but not exceptional either. Service was fast and friendly. Food portion is just right for the price. My only nitpick is the taste of the meal I got (Benny Pacific) was so bland. I had to put a lot salt and pepper for taste.

Love the poutine and the coffee is average strength but tastes good . Kids chicken nuggets tasty also. Service very prompt and i like the large booths that can accommodate 6 people at one table .. nice ! Order the shakes !! They are awesome.!!

Great spot, classic diner style food with that classic diner look. I had the banquet burger and it was easily one of the best burgers I've ever had. Service was top notch and the price was fair. Worth the 5 stars.

This was my first time at this location. I ordered the Zak's Big Breakfast and I was disappointed with the quantity and quality for the price. Sorry I forgot to take a picture to show you. Especially when you compare a two egg breakfast almost across the street at Lieutenant's Pump is $10.95 compared to the $14.49 here and I'd say the Pump has better quality and quantity. I did have their Raspberry Milkshake as well. That was delicious and was huge. Definitely worth the price for that item.

Service was great, staff accommodated our group on the patio as best they could. Food came out quickly and was delicious. Staff were friendly and offered great suggestions for the menu.

Zak’s is a big chain diner with lots of food to choose from. The milkshakes here legendary as rightfully advertised on their menu! The food options on their menu are quite a a handful to choose from! The bacons are good and so are the house fries. Loved the baked beans at place as well! The ambience reminds me of the scenes from the popular comic- Archies! The French toast could be better and I have had better Benedict’s. All in all, for the quantity of food we ordered, we found the diner on the less expensive side.

This place is a mystery try !! Let’s start by the amazing and friendly service , as well as some recommendations on popular dishes , by the waiter . All the plates were hot and fresh , not greasy. Bacon was nice and crispy , beans were delicious and the coffee was on point . French toast were nice and golden , with a little crisp to them , topped off with bananas and strawberries with a drizzle of maple syrup or Nutella ! I highly recommend this place , definitely worth the drive .

Diner with a classic 50s era atmosphere. Came with my family and a friend on a Thursday afternoon. Dine in was mostly empty with only one other table other than ours. Service was quick and friendly. Portions are pretty generous but I found the prices a little high which I suppose is to be expected so close to the tourist areas of Ottawa. Ordered the banquet burger and a side of soup. Soup was very good although almost certainly canned. Burger was very plain, overcooked and the bun was not great either. It wasn't bad so much as it wasn't good. Nothing to write home about as they say. If I come back I would try something from the breakfast menu as that was a lot better according to the other people in our party

We had a Nice breakfast, eggs Benny was okay. Pancakes are really good and we had the best milk shake ever. Service was good.

This is such a fun place to go for kids of the 80's 90's. The staff was exceptionally nice and let us store our e-scooters in the restaurant. The food was delicioous!

The shakes are excellent

Love it

Server was awesome, very friendly and helpful in choosing what's good on the menu as it was our first time here. Ended up with 4 amazing items! Chocolate chip pancakes, chicken wrap, Zak's Club and Burger with onion rings on it. Everything we ate was phenomenal. Super fresh and well cared for. Will be back tomorrow as we hear they also have the best milkshakes (we didn't have room LOL) Definitely a spot to check out!

Our best dining experience in Ottawa. Huge and tasty portions (if you don’t eat too much, you can share with someone), great service and soooo nice decor (80s inspired!). Well priced. Parking at Elgin street.

Very nice place. Good variety of menu for breakfast or lunch. Food took a moment to arrive. It was fresh and well prepared. Milkshakes are very good too. Would definitely come back.

Cute diner with a nice, homey ambience. Club sandwich and cheese burger were pretty good. Sides of sweet potato fries are so good! Unfortunately, poutine was so-so. Chicken wings and fries were very mediocre too. Would have rated the restaurant 5 stars otherwise.

We are used to go to the other location by the center. We are vegan and choose to go there for their vegan options. Server comes to take our orders and no head up for any dish or options that are not available anymore so when we order one of their breakfast with vegan egg, we are told that unfortunately they run out of the vegan egg...so we had to end up ordering something from their lunch menu as anything else on the breakfast menu cannot be made vegan... They did not fill up our coffee cups frequently (came when we were done ...) Big generous portion (would be nice to offer half portion for the people with a small appetite to avoid food waste). Friendly staff.

Perfect greasy breakfast for a Sunday morning. Reasonably priced, and the breakfast poutine was outstanding. I could’ve eaten a lot more! Cool oldies diner vibe and I love the branding of Zak’s on t-shirts and mugs.

I would give it 3 stars for the ambience, location and staff. The coffee refill wasn’t offered more than once. Specially in comparison to the diner nearby it was little mediocre. Food was ok. Pancakes too slimy but the Salmon was good. Cost for two people breakfast is about $60. But today I am changing my rating to 1 star. Because you know an omelette shouldn’t take soooooo long when there are not that many people to serve at 12:38. not a mistake of the servers. They are overwhelmed because this place is understaffed.

Zak's arguably has the best milkshakes in Ottawa, which is why I keep coming back. Their food, on the other hand, is simply average. On my latest visit I ordered a pina colada milkshake that was awesome. In fact, it was so good, I finished it in less than 5 minutes. The soup and veggie burger combo that I ate, in contrast, was just OK. Although the quality of burger has improved since the last time I went to Zak's, it is still nothing special. Note: With tax and tip included, my meal was $40.

Great experience here! Stopped in for breakfast as it was just around the corner from our hotel. Atmosphere was definitely upped by the great music played--these two Boomers quite enjoyed it. Carol took our orders quickly and food was super delicious. Great coffee, too. Appreciated that Carol took a few moments to chat with us tourists 😄

On February 19, 2023 at 9:30 PM. I reached Zak’s Diner with my friends for dinner. I have already been here a couple of times and had very good experience. However, I decided to write a review this time for a very specific reason. I am a student at the University of Ottawa with the access to SPC discount. This one specific server (waiter) was good to us until it comes to paying the bills. We were asked if we would like to pay separately as each one of us were friends. We told the server to give us individual bills. After he got us the bills, we realized that we could use our SPC discount of 15% on the bill and save some bucks. The server was not happy with our request for the discount as he would have to reprint all the bills. The server gave us an angry look. The waiter got us the separate bills with SPC discount applied. One specific thing the waiter said to us “If you tell me for any discount after I have printed the bills, I will charge you guys double.” I was furious to see such behaviour from a person who’s profession demands to have excellent customer service. I as a customer do not expect the server to be rude. Another thing we realized that the same server did not put whipped cream on our milkshakes, which is a common practice at any diner. In the picture, you can see we had to request for the whipped cream separately which was brought to us in a small glass. Given the food was brilliant. Sometimes, the customer service can be an issue and can spoil your mood. I hope the management takes note of this as I have given the date and time.

The food was great, service was excellent and the old school diner memorabilia and atmosphere were fantastic. Their milkshakes are to die for. Despite how great the experience was I felt the prices were a little steep for the breakfast items.

Came here just for the milkshakes, and it did not disappoint! Had the chocolate-banana milkshake, and was pleasantly surprised when the waitress brought the extras that didn’t fit into the glass. Service was great. Waitress was friendly and efficient.

First time there. Reminds me of a family diner popular in the 50s and 60s. Loved the atmosphere. Service was great. Had breakfast. Their tater tots are the best I ever had. I plan on going back and will bring a friend.

ordered from them a few times on uber eats. their boneless wings and cauliflower wings were great, and the milkshakes are something else!!

I went with my mom and we both had the classic breakfast which was delicious and a nice portion!

Great food and very friendly service!

They have Vegan Options and their milkshakes are great.

Who doesn't have breakfast available at 10 a.m.

Good people. Great service

Great food and service!

Wonderful...Just as I remembered from my University days

I had high hopes although the eggs benny were tasteless and cold. Very disappointing. Waitress was kind, although a bit slow with service. Won't be going back.

Had breakfast with my girlfriend here. I ordered the huevos plate, it was 2 corn tortillas with a slight bit of garnish in the middle, an egg and brown guacamole. It looked like they were playing a joke on me but no that was the actual plate haha. Girlfriend got eggs benny, not joking, the peameal bacon was sour. Grey and tasted like rotten meat, we both tried it and spit it out. We don't like to complain but we did mention the peameal, guy serving us said that's how it's supposed to taste. Last time I go to a breakfast chain anywhere, there's always a better option. This place was the worst experience I've had eating out in a long time, a complete waste if time.

This is literally the worst quality fast food I ever had. Even McDonalds tastes better :( I expected more from their advertisement and location...

Went to Zak's on Elgin right before the new lockdown started, and there was very well spaced seating and servers were attentive, friendly and wore masks properly. Portion sizes were generous and worth the money. Plan to go back once we are allowed!

Loved the place! Due to pandemic, it was mostly not filled as usual! The best milk shake in Ottawa along with sweet potato fries are a must try to anyone who's visiting it the first time! Everything else is good enough and good place to hangout with friends and family for lunch or dinner!

Pretty good food and service. Very good safety measures taken during Covid.

Food is really good and delivered to your table quickly. Servers are really nice. I love the decor and the music they play, it's like a step back in time and very relaxing. They serve all day breakfast which is a big plus. Prices are a bit steep but the food is good so I don't mind paying it as a treat from time to time.

I ordered some fish tacos from Ubereats and they were horrible. At $16 a plate, you would expect something tasty but instead I got reheated taco shells with plain fish and brown limes (they were clearly rotten). I don’t know what happened since covid but they have gone downhill. I probably won’t be back

I always was sceptical about burgers. Even after trying burgers in 8 different countries around the globe, I usually considered them as a low quality fast food, created to fight immediate hunger. BUT, now this thoughts are in the past! In a late evening, after hard working day, I just bought a random burger (I still don't remember which one it was) from a restaurant I came across on my route home. That evening, Zak's Diner, opened a completely new door to the world of burgers... It was not just an ordinary burger, it was a miracle! The concept Zak (I don't know who he is, but he definitely deserves a HUGE respect!) brought to the burgers gave me an opportunity to discover and experience the full potential one burger could give. Each bite was completely different from the previous one. The design it is being served (take out), is perfectly arranged to reveal different tastes of the same burger... I could write more, but it is always better to feel once, rather than read/hear hundred times... Thank you Zak's !!!

Called in an order on Valentine's Day. I was able to place my order on the phone then go pick it up in person at the time I preferred. My order was ready when I arrived to pick it up, and distancing/sanitization measures were in effect. Great service and the food was excellent as always!

Little pricey for diner food Service was good though !

We really enjoyed the milkshakes and the food portions were huge especially the pancakes! Service was friendly and they are taking precautions for covid. I think my crispy chicken wrap was mediocre and the onion rings were mostly batter, so that explains the 4 stars. Try to get their breakfast food rather than their regular menu.

Good!

The food was excellent and the wait staff were as well

Quick service, yummy food, friendly staff. First time at the new location and it was great!

Service is friendly Just very busy due the the situation now it is acceptable for the time consuming.

Kitchy, very expensive (for breakfast). Seems solid, but still overpriced. May update review, post COVID, but first impressions seemed too little for too much.

Great service & great food!

Nice place and delicious breakfast. The service is marvelous.

Great server, food is amazing

Great food, amazing staff and atmosphere, just a little on the pricey side to have a big breakfast there frequently.

Great service, great breakfast.

Our server was sweet but the food was mediocre. We went for breakfast.

Verry good

Had a horrible experience at Zacks diner in the market and never received the gift cart when asked for my address. Pathetic ! My gf wented to give them a second chance at that location so we went and the service was fantastic and the food was tasty enough. 50$ for 2 adults and a kid that was my budget and they matched it. They should use more spices and lower their breakfast price tought

Great variety, great music, great service! An iconic spot on Elgin.

We love this place Nice service This place have to open every where in the world The chef was so nice and very helpful I hope to visit them soon Merci

Ordered january 22/24 clubhouse with side salad through uber eats. I got mixed greens not romaine and the lettuce was rotton, slimy and black. The diced cucumbers looked sketchy as well starting to turn colour. Clubhouse barely had any chicken and bread was not toasted. First and last time ordering here. I'm not sure who put that garbage out to serve. would you really serve that to a friend or family member? Disgusting, salvaged what I could because I was hungry. Pictures attached.