A cool and unique place to check out in the byward market area, Zak's is a '50s style diner that has an extensive menu full of greasy items. While not for someone looking for the healthiest items, they have made an effort to include salad's and healthier alternatives. The fries are ok, the burgers are good, and the milkshakes are out of this world. The great part of Zak's is that it's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It gets really busy late on friday and saturday night, when the clubbers and bar-goers come here after partying. Mornings can also be busy, as people flock here for its famous pankcakes and waffles. I might have a soft spot for Zak's because it's where my sister and now brother in law kick-started their romance. I know, not exactly the most romantic establishment, but its cozy charm does have its merits! read more

Zak's Diner - Diners Near Me - Ottawa, Ontario

The service here was great, food was good, but above all else the decor was the best. It was a true diner experience! Vanilla milkshake: Perfectly creamy, it felt like a bit too much for me so I probably wouldn't get it again but it's a must if you've never had one before! We also got a breakfast plate and a burger, both were very very filling but not incredibly memorable. I'm not in a rush to go back, but I wouldn't be against it either. read more

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I was tired of a bland breakfast at this hotshot hotel in byward market. Decided to try the local diner and this came out to be a great place. Food - Good Service - Excellent Choices - Many Location - central to byward market read more

5 stars in the greasy all night diner category. I had a zak attack burger and a mint-chip milk shake. Both were awesome but the FRIES alone are five stars. read more

Honestly, the worst english breakfast I've ever had. no butter with the toast, frozen potatoes, beans were disguting and sausage tasted like plastic. read more

Amazing brunch before going back to Toronto ! Best milkshake ever !!! We wanted to sit outside as the weather was really nice, but there was no spot ! Even sitting inside the experience was just perfect! The price ok for what it is !!! Good good good !!! read more

Zak's Diner - Diners Near Me - Ottawa, Ontario

Spiked shakes - must try. Service is awesome, Food is great!! We tried nachos, quesadillas, and burritos- without meat - and it was delicious!! read more

Burgers were good, nice size and good amount of toppings. The small salad came with a rock hard bun. Service was really slow tonight. read more

Amazing milkshake!! One milkshake could be easily shared between 2 people! Vanilla was the best in my opinion but the banana chocolate is also very good! Plates are big and prices are fair enough. Try to arrive earlier because the waiting time is long if you don't have a reservation. read more

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Food was overpriced and tasted subpar. Burger paddy was a frozen Costco one. Don't advertise a great burger then chef up a frozen paddy. Why is so hard for restaurants to use fresh meat . read more

Waited about 15 minutes to be seated when I went with my friend at about 9PM on a Friday night. Had a smoked meat poutine. The meat was smoke-y indeed and poutine was quite scrumptious. The poutine was large enough to be a meal in itself! Staff were friendly and though they were clearly quite busy (the line up appeared to grow after we arrived), they were still professional and made small talk with us as we paid for our bill. Looking forward to try out their milkshakes and perhaps dessert next time! read more

Zak's Diner - Smoked meat poutine - Diners Near Me - Ottawa, Ontario

My wife and I finally decided to give this place a try and that was a mistake. I ordered a Cheeseburger and Fries, something you would have thought would have been outstanding given the price but no. 5 Guys is cheaper and a much better burger. My wife's wrap was also less than satisfying considering the cost. The service was very good but the food was just not what we had hoped for. read more

I come here every time I visit Ottawa! They have a slightly more limited menu (at least from what I remember) but their food is delicious as always. Whenever I come here, I always make sure to have a milkshake-they are the best I've ever had! Even in the colder weather, I was happy to have the option to sit outside and was well taken care of by my server. I always recommend my friends visiting to get a milkshake here- so yummy! read more

We have gone here twice on our week long vacation for breakfast and we really enjoyed it! It's your classic diner with tons of food options. I got the zaks big breakfast both times and it was your standard breakfast food. The toast wasn't very buttery but they do have jelly and peanut butter at the table. Portions are decent. The 2nd time we ate I added a side of French toast to my order and it was very stiff and hard to cut with your fork (not my favorite). The breakfast potatoes are BOMB. So good! Service was great and we really didn't have any complaints. read more

I think Zak's is very over-rated. It has location, location, location and not much else. It's a tourist trap. I recently had the basic burger and rings, both obviously frozen. My friend had soup, also obviously Frozen, and a club. He said the club was ok but nothing special. Service was very slow. It took the waiter ten minutes to ask if I wanted anything. (I did obviously. Why else would I be there!). He didn't know what the soup of the day was. They don't take debit, apparently because the owner makes money from the ATM outside. There are better diners in this town. read more

Best spot for breakfast in Ottawa. Old fashion big breakfast with Juke boxes on each table

This diner really could have easily gotten 3 stars, but our food was served COMPLETELY COLD, and in no universe do cold eggs and hash browns taste good. Came on a Saturday around noon. Despite being packed and a lot of people waiting at the entrance, our party of two got seated in about 15 minutes. Server was really nice but hard to get a hold of since it was so busy. Menu has lots of options. My blueberry/strawberry smoothie ($7) came out fast and was delicious. Our shared meal of eggs/sausage/homefries/toast ($12) + an original poutine ($11) came about 15 minutes later (about 25 minutes after ordering) and although had the potential to be good was COLD. Not even slightly warm, but cold cold like they had been sitting out for a long time. Cold fries are terrible, and cold poutine even worse. Wish I had told our server but we didn't see her for a while and decided to just eat what we could before it got any more cold and stale. Yuck. read more

Yes, I'm absolutely a fan! There's no other place in the city that is always open, serving decent food with pleasant service (and before you tell me the service isn't always pleasant, please remember that they are generally dealing with wasted partygoers). Yes, it's a fantastic spot to go after the bar, but it's also a great place to go if you're an insomniac, work weird shifts, or need some emergency girlfriend advice in the middle of the night. I like their poutine after the bar, but would actually come sober for the breakfast. read more

Pretty decent food, a little pricey for what you get, a sandwich with poutine fries and my sons kids meal came up to over $30. The poutine was better then some others I've had, with a ton of cheese curds and was so large i couldn't finish it. I also got the smoked meat Rueben which i enjoyed, the waiter did let me know that the ciabatta turned out smaller then normal before i ordered, but it still was a large sandwich. The noisy atmosphere was perfect for us since after a day in the capital my son was worn out and fussy. A good place with decent food, especially if you have kids, and a great location. I would say Elgin St. diner is better, but it is so far out of the way from the tourist areas we frequent. read more

Zak's Diner - Diners Near Me - Ottawa, Ontario

I came here to experience their Poutine and because I love "diner" restaurants. I was happy to see they had a counter since I was alone (I hate taking up a full booth by myself). It was around noon and they were pretty busy. Normally, you get good service at the counter, but that was not the case for me. I pretty much sat there for about ten minutes trying to make eye contact with the servers who kind-of clumped together near the far end of the counter near the kitchen exit. Usually, even if a place is really busy, the waiter/waitress will stop by and ask you if you want any coffee (a definite yes for me), drop it off, and then come back when they can. That didn't happen here. Maybe my morning face was too scary due to lack of coffee ... not sure. Eventually other people started siting at the counter, then a waiter decided to wait on all of us. Maybe we had to get to some kind of critical mass? Anyway, the Poutine was just OK (I managed to eat all of it), but I still think that Chili-Cheese Fries would give it a good run! I think they should have a Poutine vs Chili-Cheese Fries contest. My time at Zak's was just ok. read more

My first visit in about 5 years. An Ottawa staple. It is more fun to be a spectator around 2:30am...I have visited Zak's over the years and love their consistency and warm service. For me, it is always breakfast time. You will not go wrong. I really wanted to compliment a shake with my meal-----perhaps next time. Save my 5 year absence----Zak's has been the silver lining for over 10+ years. it should be highlighted in Canada's 150th Celebration! read more

3 words: All day breakfast ... and milkshakes that are fantastic. I always go to this place if I'm hungry and nearby because their breakfast is always great! Love the service and food so I 100% recommend. read more

Still A-OK. Came here today with a friend after we decided we wanted dessert. Yeah, there's better places to get dessert but this place has deep fried mars bars so that was clearly why we chose it. I didn't realize it got insanely busy during the day too, apparently these people don't know that you can get better food elsewhere. But we had to wait for a seat. I mentioned to my friend that this place sold breakfast poutine, and of course after I mentioned that she ordered one. So if you're unfamiliar with breakfast poutine, it is hash browns, cheese curds and hollandaise sauce and it is very good. I got the deep fried mars bar of course, my friend got a cheesecake for dessert. You can't really go wrong with a deep fried mars bar. It is delicious. It is a mars bar wrapped in phyllo that is deep fried and served over ice cream. My friend's cheesecake looked boring and she said it was nothing special, but it satisfied her cheesecake craving. Breakfast poutine was good as always too, can't go wrong with cheese curds and hollandaise. There is always a better place to get food than Zak's during the day, but at night it is fantastic drunk food. The service is usually fast and friendly and they've been playing cool music from their jukebox recently so that's always nice. read more

I have only had bad experiences at Zak's. However, take this review with a grain of salt because they may have all been flukes...I'm aware that most people love Zak's. From my experiences, Zak's slogan "Don't starve...eat at Zak's" is pretty accurate because starvation seems like a close second to eating at this diner. My bad experiences haven't even been just my own; the people I came with on separate occasions also had bad meals. We even had to send some items back because they were incorrect, undercooked or the cheese tasted rancid. Honestly, I've probably sent a meal back only six times in my life. But the diner atmosphere is nice and it's a great location for people getting out of Byward Market bars late at night. The staff is very friendly and the prices are moderate. Perhaps I'll try Zak's again someday. I know it's apparently great. read more

Zak's Diner is great in theory- fun ambiance, a huge menu, open 24/7- but it falls short on quality. The food I my table of six had was unseasoned and bland. I had the club sandwich which was all bread, lettuce spines and barely any bacon. The one thing that will keep me coming back though are the milkshakes- super thick and huge enough for 2 glasses! Our waiter also seemed very distracted- he didn't get our order in the first 15 minutes we were sitting down and then we had to ask another waiter for cutlery. I much prefer Elgin Street Diner to Zak's at the end of the day. read more

My girlfriend went sick after eating a burger and a caesar salad at Zaks.. Avoid this diner and choose something else. The food is not good. TOURIST TRAP read more

My love for Zak's will never die, despite the mediocore food, treacherous-after-drinking hike to the washrooms, and efficient but not overly friendly wait staff. It's nothing to be ashamed of - we all do it. Go out Market drinking, need some grease, end up at Zak's. Heed my advice and go the breakfast poutine (not on the menu I don't think, but they'll do it up for you). Your stomach will not thank you but your drink-addled tastebuds will. And try to be nice to your servers - think what they must put up with on an average Friday/Saturday night. read more

I went here once on a very drunk Friday a few years ago and again on a very sober Saturday this last trip. Fresh orange juice and the toast are really the best things on the menu. The food to be quite honest isn't that great even for a diner but its palatable. If you are looking for the true diner experience I would seek other venues. Ottawa has two others that are very decent that I know of. read more

We went here on vacation. It was super hot, and we were looking for someplace to grab quick bite to eat. We got seated pretty much right away. Off to a good start. But then our waitress only asked one of us what we wanted to drink. Then she didn't return for a long time. Then she took our orders and left before we finished (still didn't have a drink at this point). We got our food and it was ok. Nothing spectacular. Again our waitress was gone for a long time, and forgot my fiance's mayo he asked for. When we finished, we waited for at least 10 minutes before getting up and standing at the door. She didn't ask if we wanted anything more, if we wanted our bill, or if we enjoyed the meal. When I went to pay with debit, she explained that they only took cash or credit. That would have been ok if I had known that upfront, and perhaps if I lived there I would have, but there was no sign or anything. I reluctantly handed over my visa and we left, pretty disappointed in the service. read more

We headed here for a lazy Sunday morning breakfast and by arriving before 10 we didn`t have to wait for a seat. A plus too is that if you arrive by car, parking in the ByWard Market is free on Sundays. Sometimes Zak`s can get crowded but the restaurant is just big enough and the turnover fast enough that you never really wait long. If you do have to wait, there`s usually someone interesting that you can watch (either patrons or staff). The decor is 50`s diner, with cute and kitschy ads posted and while I can`t remember any of them (well, it was Sunday morning) they`re written by someone with a campy sense of humour. With lots of aqua vinyl, comfy booths, polished chrome and mirrors it`s bright and soothing at the same time. Service was fast friendly and efficient and the food was excellent. Each member of our party of four ordered something different...the breakfast club, banana pancakes, the big breakfast, and for me (who has a hard time eating before noon) a rich and delicious breakfast smoothy. Usually there`s at least one in my group of very picky eaters that doesn`t like something, but everyone loved their food. They don`t skimp on orange juice and the coffee is good. I`ll be back again. read more

This diner's poutine is awesome. The fries are extra crispy and don't get super soggy with the gravy! I got the poutine with the smoked meat, and it came with a generous amount of meat and a veryyy generous amount of cheese curds. read more

Zak's Diner - Smoked meat poutine - Diners Near Me - Ottawa, Ontario

Been a lonnng time since I have been home to Ottawa - Zak's has been there for me all of my life growing up and through my University years. An Ottawa landmark. A true diner. Today (SUN) we went for a late lunch and had no problem getting a table for 2. Service was great and our coffee cups never went empty. He got a club sandwich which he said was one of the best he has ever tasted (and this is saying a lot). Of course it was the best, he was introduced to Zak's today! The Greek side salad that came with the sandwich was huge! Highly recommended, great value. The bread for the club was very fresh, wonderfully light on the mayo and had delicious chicken and bacon. It stayed together when eating it for each and every bite. I had the poutine - when in Rome, right? Huge portion, just enough gravy, generous on the cheese curds and stay-crispy fries. What more can one ask for? I would get it over and over again at this diner. I trust Zak's. It has always been a good time with amazing food. Ottawa has so many dining choices but when in the Capital, this one should not be missed. read more

Wow, I've come here a lot more times than I care to admit. What keeps the crowds coming back? The selection and appeal to all taste buds and most importantly, the hours. 24 HOURS, PEOPLE. Rare and very important to know of in Ottawa. The food is exactly what you should expect so as long as you have that in check, you'll enjoy yourself. Sometimes the food will be a little too this or that, salty or overcooked, etc. Personally, I liked the hamburger and triple decker grilled cheese. I think you'll be safer with the classics! The service! I've never had a bad experience. The waters are always full, the orders get in quickly, and the servers always accommodating. They must only put pro's on during the late night hours, people who can handle all sorts of numbers and people. There's a even new system in place where they have to stamp everyone's paid bills before they can leave the restaurant. Hopefully that cuts down on people running out on their bills! Zak's is in the heart of the market and a welcome addition to any night out. read more

Has always been a favourite since my high school days! Would always go here for the curly fries and nachos! They make a mean quesadilla as well... And most everything to be honest :) just... Don't go for the guac... Kind of a sad excuse xD Milkshakes? Breakfast? Anything really? They can help you out :) and they're open aaaaaallllllll the time ;D Cool staff- gadget thing works guys :) (and they're really good at getting your order right if you tell them exactly what you want) Only thing! (Aside from the GUAC) is that their poached eggs aren't made traditionally (in water with vinegar) they're made in the "poaching pan" read more

Food was ok but service was terrible. Never got a refill on coffee, had to get my own cutlery from a table beside us. Had to wait until my coffee was cold before getting cream. Anytime you had to wait for the waiter to come back with something took at least 5-10mins. Not once did a single waiter glance over at me or ask how I was doing. Everyone working there looks liked they wanted to kill themselves, very miserable atmosphere read more

I had a pleasant brunch experience here. My friend and I seated ourselves as the servers were busy. Once we had a server, he was attentive and helpful. I ordered Zak's Big Breakfast ($10.49) and it was quite delicious. However, I expected more food for the price I paid, and I had to choose between meat and fruit, when most brunch spots I've been to give both. As well, they do not take debit, only cash and credit, which is a bit annoying, but I had both, and they have an ATM if you're really desperate. I would return if a friend asked. read more

So just got back to the hotel. Came here after a night of heavy drinking. By all I could tell, so did most of the other people... service was nice and the food was pretty good for a 24/7 place. Only thing I didn't like was that they make you show a signed receipt on the way out. I'm sure thats based on experience though, nothing can say here... Also for 2 am, pretty packed. Had to squeeze into the table. read more

I've been to Zak's Diner numerous times in the past. The service and food are always great. It has an 'old skool' feel with the decor and posters. I was there on a Saturday almost at the close of the bar scene (2:30am). There was a security guard checking receipts to stop any dine and dash attempts. Completely fair! There was a line up but it didn't take long to get a seat. The waitress was friendly and courteous, even after having to put up with masses of drunk clubbers. They had a reduced menu but again just to help speed up service. I was looking for a healthy last night snack and the closest thing was a breakfast sandwich. Two eggs over easy between sour dough bread. Perfectly stacked with tomatoes and lettuce. Home fries were well cooked and seasoned. My only gripe would be the shot glass amount of baked beans - can never have enough baked beans!! For a place that was jam packed at 2:30am the food and service was exceptional. read more

Went with my girlfriend for a lunch date, have been going to Zak's regularly for about 8 months since moving, the fries, milk shakes, and ambiance are easily the best things about this place. Food is decent, good even for a diner, but the retro classic look of the diner is what makes you want to stay. Zaks is always crowded and a reservation is strongly recommended for groups of 4 or more Food is a 3 Service and setting is a 5 Overall a solid 4 worth going to, would go again read more

I love this place for the atmosphere and the decent food. However, the food is kinda pricey for what it is (especially the milkshakes!). I really like how you can add a shot of alcohol to the milkshakes though, that is pretty great! I always bring my friends here when they come up to visit Ottawa. It's a great place for groups. The service is usual pretty slow, even when their aren't that many people in the restaurant. But the staff is nice and the environment is really laid-back. Overall, very good place to eat! read more