I had already eaten but I really wanted to stop in to see all the cool things in person that I had seen online. On a busy Wednesday afternoon I popped in Zaharakos to see all the cool old timey soda fountains. When I got inside there was only seating and no actual bar area where I could sit like an old 50's diner and get a milkshake. No big deal. I order a couple scoops to go and have time to walk around looking at all the old soda fountains while I wait. Customer service was 10/10. Super friendly people who were more than happy to give information about the machines. It was really cool walking through the mini museum and reading all about the soda fountains and music machines. read more

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FOOD - Root Beer Float: tasty ice cream in hand pulled root beer. Delicious! 4.5/5 - My kids enjoyed their chocolate and strawberry ice cream. 4.5/5 SERVICE: Our server was friendly but it took her forever to wait on us after we sat down. People who came after us got to order before us. It was pretty busy but we should have been waited on before people who came after us. 3/5 FINAL THOUGHTS: I would come back but hopefully they provide better service next time. read more

Zaharakos - Root beer float - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Columbus, Indiana

Came here a couple of years ago and had an absolutely delightful experience. This time around was not great. We were here for nearly 2 hours and there was just a handful of tables. Staff running around like chickens with their heads cut off and not organized. Everything felt wildly chaotic. read more

Extremely slow service- from putting in our name, until leaving the restaurant, we spent 3 hours of our day there. Food was subpar- my daughter and I got the cheese burger and it tasted like the burger patty was previously frozen. Many fast food restaurants have a better tasting cheese burger. The ice cream itself tastes pretty good and the atmosphere is nostalgic. If you choose to try this place out, I suggest only going for ice cream and even then, it's not amazing. read more

Got the Avocado grill sandwich and a brownie sundae with vanilla and strawberry ice cream! Food tasted great, service was great, ambience spectacular. It's got an old time style on it, real nice place! read more

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Zaharakos is definitely worth a stop since you'll feel like you've been transported in time once you walk inside. Really cool old school ice cream and soda shop that has been kept up and restored over the years. The ambiance itself was a highlight. Apparently this spot has been around since 1900. On a Friday night around 6pm we were seated immediately. Our server got our drink and food order first. Aside from your usual soda offerings, they also have a variety of retro fountain soda options which are hand mixed. Make sure you specify if you want a fountain soda. As for the food, it was fine. Basic diner fare and the price point is pretty cheap. We tried the burger and grilled cheese. We were both asked if we wanted a side of fries or fruit when we ordered so we tried both. Sides are up charges though so keep that in mind. My bad for not paying more attention to the menu I suppose, but at least they were cheap ($2-2.50). After making sure we saved room for dessert, we ordered our ice cream. I went with a one scoop sundae - raspberry chocolate chip ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry. My partner ordered a single scoop of vanilla topped with sprinkles and mini chocolate chips. They brought a small cup of chocolate chips on the side too since they didn't stick well. The ice cream was decent, and the portion sizes were HUGE. A one scoop sundae was $5.25 and I could barely even finish half of it. The hot fudge was very good. We saw someone else order a banana split that was bigger than my head. Definitely a fun place to grab an indulgent dessert to share. Overall our service was fine, and I would recommend stopping in once for the experience if you're in the area. You can skip the food and stick with the ice cream, but if you need to eat, it's not bad. read more

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The tenderloin was excellent. As was the root beer float! What a fun atmosphere! I would absolutely recommend this place to anyone in the area. A one of a kind experience read more

We came here just for ice cream, ie dessert. The ambiance of this place is fantastic. Established in 1900, I have never been in a place this authentic as it reminds me of the ice cream parlor on Main Street at Disneyland. The nostalgia from the previous turn of the century is unparalleled with its automated organ and museum. read more

A relic from the past, I am really happy that places like this are still open. Came here with my nephew to get him some ice cream, had a very pleasant experience and friendly service. read more

We waited an hour to be seated. They had tables open and yet had so many people waiting by the door. We then waited longer and longer for 4 people to just get ice cream. We dget how they could be low staffed and have a lot of customers, but this was unreasonable. We had somewhere to be and our server payed absolutely no attention to us what so ever. Each one of us ordered water and it came out about 25-30 minutes later than when we sat down. The ice cream is very mediocre. We all thought the ice cream would be better at UDF, or Dairy Queen. Next time, we know not to come here and waste 2 hours of our time when we could have a better Ice cream experience overall at somewhere cheaper and faster. read more

Food was good however service was poor. We waited to be seated about 15 minutes. After being seated it took awhile for waitress to come ! She was very inattentive and after she dropped the food off we never saw her ! Cute restaurant and food was good however service can ruin it. read more

Cute place, good ice cream! There was a section in the restaurant separate from the main area that had soda fountains, and a bit of the history of the restaurant- was a fun thing to stroll into. read more

Great Museum for soda fountain memorabilia! We were disappointed in the restaurant. I'm not sure if we hit a bad day or if it is always like this. We arrived around 5:00 on a Saturday there weren't many people there, a lot of open tables and no one seated at the ice cream bar. We had to be placed on the waitlist. The place had several uncleared tables and debris on the floor around these and other tables. The staff was pleasant but there was a lot of inter-staff talk about problems with staff members, being the only one working and no one keeps me informed, etc. We saw 1 food order come out of the kitchen and the ice cream bar was backed up with orders the entire time we were there. We left after a 50 min wait. read more

Ice cream may be decent, but service is horrible. The staff are very good at apologizing for their poor management, but their friendliness isn't enough to make up for their incompetence. read more

We had a large gathering over the Christmas holiday and it was GREAT! From scheduling to staff to food to service to overall experience, it was wonderful! Our food was delicious and hot! Dessert was amazing! Staff took such great care of us and bent over backwards to make our experience a wonderful one! Highly recommend trips to Zaharakos! read more

Recommend you reserve your table online. They are extremely understaffed! We had shakes and malts and they were very good. Burgers were good, sent the Mac and cheese back as it was barely warm and fries were warm and limp. Server was sweet but needs trained. We had no ketsup or mayo on table. After waiting several minutes for her to return we finally helped ourselves to some at the empty table beside us. She returns and says she went to the basement to get them for us. She also delivered food in that time we were waiting. Really cool atmosphere. Next time we'll just go for ice cream.! read more

Nice place but rude staff. There Allways seems to be some problem there interfering with service. I am crossing it off my list of plàces to go. read more

I drove from Indy for what I thought would be a good dinner! Well I ordered a water and a Coke was brought, then we waited forever for our food which i ordered a chef salad without onions, and it came with onions, the final straw is I ordered a chocolate sundae and it came with no chocolate. I will not plan on going back! read more

We went on parade night....not knowing it was parade night. Made a reservation....there was a table ready right on time. Our server was busy but we were not neglected. Soda drinks always take a bit longer but that is somewhat expected. Food is comparable to an old diner. My burger was great. The atmosphere is second to none. Make sure to take a few quarters with you to play a couple of old machines. So very cool. read more

Zaharakos - Beautiful old counters - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Columbus, Indiana

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The ice cream is really good and the ambiance of the old ice cream shop is nice. Service was slow unfortunately due to too few preparers behind the bar. Overall an enjoyable experience though and the kids loved it. read more

A step back in time. I have never seen anything like this place. When I think of an ice cream parlor I think old school but not this old. There is a lot of history here and you'll want to take your time taking it all in. From the antique equipment to the architecture inside. Walking in your olfactory is immediately pleased with the smells of sweets and waffle cones. The menu has old timey classics like floats and ice cream sodas so of course an ice cream soda was in order. Having old style soda is the difference maker. The whole aura of this place probably makes everything taste better but I'm not here to argue that. read more

I loved how cute this place was!! It definitely gave off ice cream parlor vibes :) I thought it was amazing that they made soda the old fashioned way. They even had a nice $8 lunch special that included half an entree and a side dish :) it definitely felt like a good deal. While eating I heard the organ play and they had Christmas music playing as well. It had me in the Christmas spirit! Another thing I took note of was how they have a small kids table which was adorable. For anyone looking to explore Columbus, IN, you should make a stop here and take in the amazing food, ice cream desserts and ambiance. read more

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Going here is like stepping back in time to an ice cream parlor of yesterday. We had lunch which was tasty followed by ice cream for dessert, which was the creamiest I've ever tasted. Putting some coins in the for music added just the right ambience for our day! read more

This is a mini gem in the middle of Columbus IN downtown. We just happened to walk in this place and were taken by surprise. They serve ice cream and chocolates and maybe some food too. We did not eat food. I just bought some chocolates and coloring books from their museum. Their museum is attached to the store which is a small place but has old musical instruments. You can listen to music if you put it in quarters. The customer service was quick and easy. This will be a fun place for families with kids. I highly recommend this place. read more

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We never got food. Or ice cream. After an hour wait for a table )while we could see plenty of empty tables)!we were finally seated.. She took me out orders for ice cream only and for the next 45 minutes we watched hundreds of orders be packaged in front of us and sent out.. she told me I really shouldn't come on the weekend. It's too busy, but it wasn't too busy for the locals getting their ice cream to go. I don't care how charming the places it's a pathetic establishment for customers. read more

The ice cream is absolutely amazing. Quaint establishment with a vast selection of functioning player pianos. Pleasant atmosphere, clean and excellent staff. The food menu has a good selection and tasty: but the visit is all about the ice cream. read more

Good homecooked food, delicious Ice cream, the nostolgia of an old soda fountain was very enjoyable.

We drove from Indianapolis down to take my grandkids to see what I was told a great neat ice cream parlor. Didn't realize we could make reservations. There was a 45 minute wait time which I totally understood. We finally get our text the kids are so excited. We go in wait another 10 minutes till they finally come back. I show them my text the table is ready only to be told they just gave that table away and it'll be another hour. We ended up going somewhere else. I understood the wait but to get the text get the kids all excited just to be told oh no I'm sorry you have to wait another hour. Not sure I would ever take that chance again. read more

It's still amazing. Great BLT and great Ice cream. The pints are only $7 and worth a lot more.

We were told we would be seated in 30 minutes, we waited over an hour and never got seated. We saw open tables and asked if we could have those and we were told that we couldn't because their servers weren't able to help us. The waitress had a very bad attitude and suggested we order to-go instead. We kept asking for a table and the waitress was visibly angry at us just for asking for a table after an hour of waiting. This was unacceptable service. 1/10 wouldn't recommend. read more

Awesome atmosphere. All of the servers are extremely pleasant. The ice cream scoops are the size of softballs- you'll be fine with getting one scoop. But off you want the brownie get the two scoops because it'll end up being the same price - the brownie a la carte and one scoop versus the brownie sundae. Delicious!! read more

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Brown County, IN and Columbus, IN are destination visits for us. We always visit Zaharakos in Columbus, IN for ice cream and a trip back in time. Zaharakos was founded in 1900, and this business is preserved in history. We recommend a tour of the photographs at zaharakos.com. Zaharakos is a magnet calling us to ice cream. is a longstanding Columbus tradition. We like that Zaharakos is in the center of Columbus; we like that there is adequate parking. This shop is busy year round. We enjoy a visit to Columbus; neat shops, restaurants, and parking. Products Five Star Service Four Star Ambience Four Star My favorite ice cream always begins with C. My wife is aft to adventure through the menu. The ambience is dairy fresh and diary clean. We like the service. The tariff is appropriate for the fare. read more

Great unique dining experience in Columbus. Food was very good, and the ice cream was better. Would recommend the call ahead seating as the crowd size fluctuates on a nice weekend day and you could be waiting for a while. Totally recommend. Moderately priced. read more

This is one of those times where I wish I could give 3.5 stars. The food and especially our ice cream drinks were phenomenal. However, it took a really long time to get our food. I could kind of understand, as they seated a very large party just before we arrived. But two other tables who came after us were served before us - one table even finished their food and paid before our food came out. My order was wrong, but I'm not sure the server could fully hear me order. They have a VERY LOUD player piano and it started playing right as she was trying to take my order. Looking back, I wish she would have read it back to me to confirm it was right. It wasn't a terrible experience, and we will definitely be back, if only for the ice cream. I'm hopeful we will have a better experience on the service side. read more

Amazing ice cream parlor!!! Food was ok. The ice cream was amazing. They have old time soda fountain drinks. A must visit if you are in Columbus, Indiana read more

So good. So nostalgic. Ambiance feels like you're stepping back in time. HUGE scoops of delicious ice cream. Love this place. Service is friendly and quick. So fun read more

Zaharakos - Two scoops of strawberry ice cream - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Columbus, Indiana

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I recently had my husband's celebration of life gathering at Zaharkos!!! My husband loved loved loved ice cream!!! So when trying to decide on a place for the celebration Zaharkos was the first place that came to mind.. the service as great and the staff was there to make sure everything ran smoothly... I would highly recommend it !! read more

The ice cream is amazing and the building is historic and beautiful. Portions are VERY generous.

First of all this place was packed! The narrow space does not make social distancing very easy and covid protocols do not seem to be enforced. We had to wait 20 minutes to order a soda float. Menus were not easy to locate for take out people, so you should check on your phone and know what you want ahead of time. We stepped outside to wait because there were so many people inside, and came back after a few minutes. The float we ordered had an almost non existent amount of ice cream which was disappointing, but the soda was good. The interior building is beautiful, and they are one of the only places for miles around Indy that I've seen serve green river soda, but the anxiety from ordering and subpar ice cream just doesn't feel worth it. read more

Zaharakos - Picture of crowded interior - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Columbus, Indiana

We came to Zaharakos on a business trip and wanted to rent out their green river room to end the trip with a special dinner, and everything was fantastic! First off, the place is so beautiful and historic. It's truly a very cool pace to visit that I would recommend to anyone. Additionally, the food was great, and the staff was very accommodating. I also want to give a special shoutout to Carol Frische, their event manager, as she was so extremely helpful and nice to work with when planning the event. We had a great evening! read more