Zak's Diner Elgin St — Restaurant in Ottawa

Edit: We both got sick and called it an early night because of the food. One star it is.

Me and my roommate came to try the new location, and were the first there to be seated. We ordered dessert first, for fun, but wanted meals later, which we mentioned. Atmosphere was quiet, but filled with cheesy romantic music (thanks ABBA), but got quite a bit louder as many students came in. Our table was soaked, and my menu needed cleaning.

My espresso float was made incorrectly and I inhaled two whole coffee beans and it was filled with coffee grounds. Mentioned it and just got an "Oh." and the server skittered away. Our main server was watching Netflix while we waiting 20 minutes to get an order in. The other just disappeared for more than 3/4s of the time we were there. The people beside us gave up, went to the bar and ordered shakes but flagged down the waitress to lay and leave a few minutes later.

The food was expensive but fine, with typical post inflation prices. My poutine was too greasy to finish; extra cheese but short on gravy. Bacon was well cooked, but breakfast sausage doesn't go well with this dish as its far too greasy on top of deep fried potatoes. The gravy was powdery, and had a hint of turkey in it for some reason, which my roommate confirmed. It was made technically well, but poorly balanced, with quality clearly cut.

Honestly, it was one of the worst experiences we've had in a while. Cost more money for much, much less. The cooks did their thing, but the service staff don't care at all, and clearly were not trained well. Disappointing; I...

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...

Honestly the worse restaurant experience we had in Ottawa yet. We held high exceptions from many people recommending this restaurant to us based off their experiences however we will never return and won’t recommend to others.

My meal was incorrect on 3 items, it was brought to the waitress’s attention and none of the issues were fixed or compensated for.

For one example : I ordered a meal with a side of fruit salad, which only included 4 pieces of pineapple, upon mentioning to the waiter, she then stated that’s all the kitchen had but it wasn’t mentioned upon order. But we were still charged for a fruit “salad” with an up charge of $5.49.

We were checked on once on our seated visit, which we had ordered coffee. As stated on menu “includes bottomless coffee”, which in fact is not true if it’s not brought around.

In ending comment, Just truly wasn’t the place to have a meal at, it did not uphold to everything other costumers have recommended, and no problems were resolved. Just wasn’t worth the $50.00 by any means. Also wasn’t worth wasting our last breakfast meal in Ottawa here when we could have went back to a family style restaurant down the street with understanding staff and great food!

PROS : -atmosphere was okay

CONS : If you want a bowl of fruit salad (as on the menu) as your selected side, expect only pineapple. Nothing else.

No bottomless coffee as stated on menu.

Your eggs will be incorrect,...