This Greek family owned restaurant and ice cream parlor has been around for 120 years!! You will be transformed back in time. When you walk in to your right is a huge marble soda fountain bar made out of marble. There's a reason this place was one of the "Top 50 Things Every Hoosier Must Do" by Indianapolis Monthly. It was also listed in National Geographic Travelers 50 Dream Drives. It is just a place you can't recreate anymore the ambiance and the feel you get when you walk into someplace that's over 100 years old. It just doesn't happen that often. Walking in you see the stain-glassed doors and original maple floors that lead you to the marble soda fountain bar. This is where you can sit and see them making all different kinds of floats and sundaes as well as filling soda fountains the old fashioned way. The Gom sandwich is a favorite - a sloppy Joe spiced just right as they say and served on thick white bread and then grilled. My personal choice for the sundae is vanilla ice cream with the peanut butter syrup and whipped cream. It's very good. They have so many great options to choose from it's hard to pick. They serve them in old fashioned glass sundae bowls and serve the syrups in metal dishes with handles. :-) If you get a chance to visit Columbus head to Zaharako's. It will be worth the visit to take pictures and enjoy a piece of history while eating great food! read more

What an amazing blast from the past! A beautiful little restaurant. Delicious food & ice cream. Absolutely worth the visit if you happen to be in the area. read more

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Twiglight zone. The restaurant is beautiful, full of empty tables, but staff looks crazy busy. We waited 30 minutes for a table. We were seated, waited 15 minutes at the table and no one ever came by. We ended up leaving, none of the staff even noticed. My kids were so upset, we ordered ice cream to go, took 10 minutes. Great ice cream. Order to go and sit at one of the empty tables. Staff will tell you it's not allowed but if it's anything like our experience they won't notice. read more

Museum gets five stars. The music machines still work. The parlor is authentic. The handles and flavoring brought back a lot of old memories. The ice cream gets three stars. I was making better chocolate sodas and I learned just from watching the local soda "jerks". The Green River was green. That's about it. Not much taste. Overall disappointing. read more

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Food was great. Service and atmosphere were pleasant. Glad we stopped in here for brunch. I recommend coming here if you're in the area.

The food was great. I especially enjoyed the ice-cream. However, my father became confused when presented with the many flavors. Our server, Keely was incredible, even recommending an ice-cream flavor when she noticed his confusion. It was on her recommendation that we ordered pistachio. She stayed and talked with us even after we had already ordered, sharing several witty anecdotes. She was amazing and made the meal one of the best I ever had! I will definitely be returning! read more

This is a really cool historic place and a great stop if in or passing through Columbus. We enjoyed an ice cream and walked around looking at the historic soda fountains they have on display. Would like to try the food. I recommend stopping by for a briefly walk back in time! read more

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Incredible nostalgia!!!!! Everything about this place is incredible! Bring your family- and a pocket full of quarters!!!! Food is amazing and the ice cream deserts are incomparable!! Order your ice cream with your food and bring a cushion for your chair- if you're gonna take a while eating;))) lol! Have a blast! read more

The ambiance is fantastic. The old soda fountain really is a nice touch. The ice cream floats were delicious! The food,sadly, was subpar at best. Fried pickles were dry and salty. The chicken on my sandwich was dry. The Mac n cheese with chicken was lukewarm. The hotdog with Gom sauce was a disappointment. Great place overall. Will stick to ice cream and floats next time. The wait staff did great under the overwhelming circumstances. They were busting their rears. read more

Has an amazing atmosphere and awesome Ice Cream. The turn of the century soda bar was amazing to see, they still make sodas like they used to! read more

I haven't had Zaharako's for years and was recently surprised at work when a coworker treated us with a selection of all their yummy flavors. My personal favorite was the raspberry chocolate chip and the cookies-n-cream but everyone raved about their choices. What a generous and tasty unexpected treat it was! I'm now scouring the food menu and looking forward to returning with my family for dinner soon. Can't wait to go try more than ice cream! read more

Such a unique and nostalgic place to get some great food and ice cream. Personally love the GOM sandwich- there's nothing like it anywhere else! read more

Great place with a great ambiance. Only go Once a year around Christmas. First time we had dinner here and it was good. Place has been there for a long time. read more

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It is a place full of history and beautiful old objects. I appreciated the reservation system - I went to the bakery and made a reservation, then I was notified by phone when to go to the table. The wait was not long - 20 minutes. read more

The best part of my day was when my coworker had brought in a taste of this amazing ice cream. I'm not kidding when I say it is the best ice cream ever! The flavors are unique and delicious. This will definitely be both mine and my husband's go-to spot for ice cream. Can't wait to visit. I've tried many ice cream places, but this one stands out. The quality and taste are top-notch. Its definitely a must-visit!" read more

Amazing! Our meals were tasty and the ice cream spectacular. A walk around the museum was interesting too.

This place is amazing! Old fashioned drinks are the best! Definitely try the banana split! We will definitely be back! read more

Zaharakos - Banana Split - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Columbus, Indiana

Amazing place full of fun history. Good food and sodas and ice cream. It's a very neat bit of American history.

Day tripped down to Columbus to check out Zaharakos after reading about it on the visit Indy website. Unfortunately it was a very strange experience, and one I will not repeat. First, it is beautiful inside. There is free street parking and the interior restoration is incredible to look at. That being said, it was also very eerie and creepy. We were 2 of 8 people inside...and it was silent. We whispered at our table because it was that quiet. No music, no talking, nothing. It was almost like being in a Twilight Zone episode. Ordered lunch to start, which was fine. Food was nothing outstanding but it was good. Service was really really lacking. After getting out food, our server and the entire front staff disappeared for literally 20 minutes. Other patrons came in and waited at the door with no one greeting them or seating them at a table. We walked to the back and couldn't find anyone working there! Very weird. Eventually someone did come out. We ordered ice cream next. Our sundae sat behind the counter where sadly we watched it slowly melt. It was strange to have such slow service being the only ones there. The manager came to the front once, was where we over heard her (again silent restaurant everything was heard) disrespectfully talk to her employee, never a cool move by a boss. Overall this place had average food and ice cream with severely lacking service. The interior was cool, it was fun to explore a new part of Indiana, but it did not live up to the hype. read more

Zaharakos - Menu - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Columbus, Indiana

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A great ice cream shop to visit. They have Antique Soda Fountains from the turn of the 1900's and Old time music players. Their Ice Cream is great with Generous scoops. The Potato soup is great but stay away from the Turkey Club. Over all a fun place to visit. read more

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Very unorganized. Put on a waitlist. Was 14th. Waitlist never moved. Came in 35 minutes later and asked how close and got seated immediately in front of the party who was 13th in line. Placed ice cream order and waited another 40 minutes. We still had over a 2 hour trip home. We could have been home if we would have left instead of putting our name on the waitlist. Ice cream was great. read more

Awesome place! Whenever we visit Columbus, we make sure to eat here. The shakes are top notch and it is such a nostalgic place!

I thought the food was not good at all and the ice cream was mid. Staff were not very friendly and very slow. Atmosphere was not what I thought it would be. read more

Visiting from out of state, Zaharakos is a must! Though the wait can be a bit lengthy at times, it is 100% worth it for the fresh, made to order food, and delicious homemade ice cream! It is such a fun place to visit and bring the littles! read more

Wow! This place is GORGEOUS during the Christmas season! It's decked out and makes the already beautiful, historic building even grander. Zaharkos is an Indiana landmark, it dates back to 1900 - the history of it is fascinating. The woodwork, marble, and Tiffany stained glass features are worth a visit alone. It's inspired by the 1904 World Fair in St. Louis. There is a small museum exhibit of old fashion soda machines that line the wall on the first floor for visitors to see. And old mechanical music machines and an organ play music. It's so unique and feels like you are stepping back into time! The original soda fountain does work! We enjoyed a sundae and malt. The Cinnamon Coke Malt tastes like a Christmas drink - it's delicious. They are understaffed right now (as most places are), so have patience if you go and go during less busy times. There were only 2 servers working. You WILL wait longer & this should just be expected anywhere (especially popular destinations). Businesses are struggling to gain employees. We went during a weekday and it wasn't too busy, but I know this place is very popular during the evening and weekends - especially during the holidays. read more

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Went to this wonderful little gem after shopping at the outlet mall. This place is very popular and service is excellent. Staff was quick on getting refills and asking if everything was going well. This was my first time here and I will be returning so I can enjoy with other family members. read more

We went here with a big group (14 people) and they definitely looked hesitant about wanting to seat us, almost as if it was an inconvenience. They were not busy so it shouldn't have been a problem. The ice cream was good and came out quickly. The inside is beautiful and worth the trip. They do add gratuity for large parties so do pay attention to that. Besides the slight attitude, everything else was amazing. read more

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What a trip through the past with this beautiful and authentic parlor. Read the history and fun facts. Hats off to those who spent the time, effort and funds to restore this Indiana gem. The ice cream products were exceptional and plentiful. The young men and women were very neat, polite and served well. Thank you. read more

Zaharakos - Ice cream bar. - Ice Cream & Frozen Yogurt Near Me - Columbus, Indiana

I stopped in here with some friends for Memorial Day Weekend. It was a cute, classic I've cream parlor with classic small town American vibes. It opened in 1900, and the decor inside and staff uniforms (white shirts with bow ties) stay true to that heritage. I had a classic root beer, made in house, and a butter pecan sundae. It was a refreshing treat while walking around downtown Columbus. read more

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Wow! Stopped in at 3:30 today. About 20 people waiting with an empty dining room. I asked the manager how long the wait would be - Scott wearing a nametag stating General Manager. He replied "I don't care, I'm scooping ice cream." They were at the tail end of a summer camp group of children (who were incredibly well behaved). So disappointed as we have been coming here for years & today is our anniversary. I hope the summer camp tipped Scott's hard working staff. read more

This is always a delightful place to visit. A homemade root beer float and a sundae were enough for today. Next time we'll stop for a full meal. The hamburger looked wonderful. We toured the antiques and just enjoyed the ambience of the place. read more

Very fun sundaes and floats at this classic ice cream shop in downtown Columbus. This is probably a must-stop if you're in the area. There is a lot of history in this building. Staff was friendly enough, but there did seem to be some odd tensions amongst themselves. read more

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

Walking into this restaurant is like taking a trip to the past! They've kept so many classic elements and it feels like you're dining in a museum. The ice cream was phenomenal and you can definitely tell that it's homemade. The flavor selection wasn't super extensive, but I could understand how they would be limited in terms of space. My only small complaint is that the cups were so full of ice cream that it was nearly impossible to avoid making a big mess, but I will definitely be back on my next visit to Columbus! read more

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Very fub ambiance. Not too busy. The food was ok. The server was fantastic. It took a long time to get our sundae and it was very melty.

Just had ice cream sundaes, but they were tasty and the ambience was delightful. Staff was friendly, the sundaes were nicely sized

I'm disappointed and surprised. I went in for lunch and had the $8 deal. The salad was small and didn't have the egg or cucumber, as the menu promised. Ranch dressing was provided although I wasn't given an option of what to choose. But I got fries, which I wasn't expecting. The turkey sandwich was a bit deceiving as butter was used to warm the bread. If there was an allergy, that would have been a HUGE issue. Salad entrees are not available. But the price of $8 is fabulous during inflation times, although only a single soda refill was given. So... Kinda good. They're trying. read more

Food was good but the wait time was way to long and even for just a ice cream item took just as long as if you ordered a meal .

Stay for the Ice Cream that makes you feel like a kid again, but run away from extremely loud organ that plays when actual kids press the button. Seriously, that thing is the single loudest machine on planet Earth. The ice cream is top notch, 10/10, you should go here, but... that organ... They actually have a table directly in front of it. Who do they put there and they go, "This is fine!"? The screaming baby next to us was a more welcome sound than the organ. Once the song finished and the worst family in the world was satisfied, off in the distance you hear a sound. The sound of a SECOND organ. Sweet baby jesus, why? What possible reason do they have for playing it that loud. I really can't think of any reason other than torture. They punish you... wait that's it! They punish you for eating the ice cream. This is some classical conditioning to associate the worst sound on the planet to eating the most delicious ice cream. Zaharakos is out here making us healthier. I hear the joyous crescendos of Mozart and I put my ice cream cone down and run. Cardio supports heart health. The service was nice. Our server couldn't hear our order and asked to repeat it. You might be going, "Oh, the organ?", but you'd be wrong. They had an ear piece with other employees talking to them and they just weren't listening to us. Funny enough, they waited to talk to us until the organ was done playing, so they have to notice. I wonder if they have a favorite tune. I wonder if they even hear it...wait... the ear piece??!! They don't hear it, they save themselves by wearing ear protection so only WE must endure. This place is something else. Also, the ice cream is really, really good. They take reservations, oddly enough, but unless they let you specify where NOT to be seated, you can just walk in most of the time. read more

Wonderful food, terrific friendly service and fabulous ice cream desserts! The lively music and great holiday decorations are the cherry on top! read more

Went here for the first time today and was completely underwhelmed. Not at all a welcoming atmosphere. We got the brownie sundae and a banana split, with a chocolate coke and blueberry fountain, and none of it was anything to write home about. And, we weren't even allowed to sit at a table. The manager said basically that there are people waiting over an hour for a table, yet there was nobody in there! When we were done eating, the tables were still empty! Cool looking place of history, but will never be back. Sad experience. I had high expectations, and none were met. read more

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