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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30

We went to Zak’s twice during our visit to Ottawa. The first was for breakfast. The staff was less than personable. We were seated immediately as it wasn’t overly busy. However, it took close to 45 minutes to get our food. Portions were huge and food was decent. Egg texture was rubbery. We noticed a few people get milkshakes so we thought we would go back for dinner a few days later. Again, we were seated immediately. There were only three seated tables so it was not busy at all. We were seated for over 10 minutes and no one came to the table. No water or drink order, no acknowledgment from our server (assuming we had one). There were two employees standing behind the counter chatting the whole time we were waiting. We got up and walked out, passing the two talking, again no acknowledgment. We went to a great Italian restaurant next door. Funny enough a family that was sitting at Zak’s ended up coming in shortly afterwards. Clearly they were ignored at Zak’s, as well. We will never return or recommend this place.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Breakfast
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 3
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 2

Had a very poor experience there. We waited an hour for our food. I feel like anyone with any experience in a restaurant should know this: 1) If someone's order is forgotten about then THAT ORDER BECOMES A PRIORITY 2) Don't serve people who arrived after those whose meal has been forgotten BEFORE you serve us. If we complain our food has been forgotten then we will be the next to be served - not the people at the next table who ordered AFTER we told you our food was late! 3) Don't make us ask FOUR times where our food is 4) When you have a delay of an hour, at least bring the cutlery to the table - YOU HAVE A LOT OF TIME - so people can eat as soon as their food FINALLY arrives. 5) When we then have to ask for cutlery, bring it. Don't bring ONLY knives and explain that there are no forks to be had. That just makes us think you are punishing us for complaining about our late food. 6) Offer a discount - in fact when I ran a food establishment if anything like this happened I automatically made the meal free. At least offer a coupon for the price of our next meal. Terrible service. Would not recommend.

I am really impressed with Zak's Diner Elgin Street. My friend and I had an AWESOME time! We had a server named MINDY and she outdid herself. MINDY had EXCELLENT people skills and is truly a people person. In all the restaurants I have been to I have never been treated as,well as I did on Tuesday, September 19, 2023. My friend and I were super impressed and it made us want to go back to that ZAK'S DINER. My friend had a coffee milkshake and he said it was A+++.He loves his coffee and that was indeed high praise from him. I tried it and I HATE coffee but I loved the coffee milkshake. The food and the service was PHENOMINAL!!!! MINDY made us feel welcome and it was AWESOME to talk to her. MINDY is an INTELLIGENT, WARM, FRIENDLY and one AWESOME person and server. I WOULD GLADLY GO AGAIN AND AGAIN TO THE ELGIN STREET ZAK'S DINER. YOU ALSO SHOULD GO TO THIS LOCATION.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Greek Salad, Burgers

The manager gave my husband a broom to sweep the floor. She said it was because he gave a 5 dollar tip. The manager was beyond rude and asked us to "Get out" even after we let her know we would add to the tip after she said that was how the staff got paid. I have been around the world and never been spoken to condescendingly and "harassed" for a tip before. And I do tip. Maybe the manager was biased because of our color...who knows? I actually care less what she thinks. But I would like others to have this information before going there. Our server, bless her heart was wonderful. But the whole experience left a bad taste in our mouth after eating.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Breakfast
Food: 3
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 3

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Brunch
Price per person
$20–30

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$30–40
Food: 3
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Vegetarian options
Ordered a veggie burger with tomato and tortellini soup.

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$30–40
Food: 3
Service: 2
Atmosphere: 2

I had the Eggs Benedict. The Hollandaise sauce was incredibly lumpy and looked unappetizing. I thought well maybe that is how they do it, 10 minutes later another table had the same order but with normal smooth looking hollandaise sauce and even a shake of paprika on top. I was so disappointed that not only the kitchen let my order out but my waitress did not even ask them to redo do it, given how it should look. Poor customer care and food consistency. Will not go back.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Breakfast
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 3

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Breakfast
Price per person
$30–40

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$30–40

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.

I have been to this dinner many times before with my family. But now this dinner is very bad the food is tasteless the service mediocre. Kids asked for the milkshake all taste the same vanilla even though they asked for the mango and maple syrup ones. After complaining to the server she was hidden and never came by our table. Took forever to give my bill even though just had 3 tables occupied in the dinner. NEVER NO MORE!! take my family to another place.
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 1

I really fun place to eat when you're in Ottawa. Not just for the all day breakfasts but for just about any kind of meal you want to have. I like the place on Elgin Street but it's other location in the Byward market is perhaps a little bit more fun. It's a funky sort of retro place with comfortable booths and oldies music from bygone eras. Stuff is always super friendly and engaging.
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$10–20
Recommended dishes
Zak's Big Breakfast, Sandwich

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 .

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
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Breakfast
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Other
Price per person
$1–10
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 4
Kid-friendliness
Waitress was very nice to the kids

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Breakfast
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 4
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 5

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!

Although the byward one is legendary, the Elgin street one is soooooo nice! I went for a drag show and the vibe was great, food Good, freiend staff. Would go back definitely
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$30–40
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Breakfast Burrito, Vegan, Zak's Big Breakfast, Sandwich

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.!!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 4
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 4

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Brunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 3
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 4

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Breakfast

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Breakfast
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

A real hamburger, not some generic patty. Best burger I've had in a very long time. Food was great, staff was great and atmosphere is cool. Loved it
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Burgers

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Brunch
Price per person
$20–30

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Brunch
Price per person
$20–30

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.

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.

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.
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

Best breakfast sausage I've had since my last trip to Ireland. Excellent. Well done breakfast overall, a little pricey, small eggs but good coffee and loved the potatoes too. Benjamin, our server, was very helpful and chatted readily. Thank you.

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Breakfast
Recommended dishes
Zak's Big Breakfast

It was the nice experience. I ordered chicken burger with salad and greek salad with chicken for my wife. Overall food quality is great. Thank you.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20

Great service, very hip ambiance. A true diner with great quality. The hot cocoa had marshmallows hidden under the whipped cream which was a wonderful surprise
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

Lovely place to breakfast, lunch or dinner in retro restaurant
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Brunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

great ambiance but food was not warm when they served it(basing on what we experienced).
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 3
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 5

Food was great, probably the best broccoli cheese soup I have ever had!! Service was a bit to be desired.
Food: 4
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 4

Good food, especially the shakes. The day we went they were understaffed and the wait was long.