Zak's Diner — Restaurant in Ottawa

🌱Vegan Friendly🌱 I was torn between four and five stars because there was some room for improvement, but I was so impressed by the service at Zak’s that I had to go with five.

I stumbled across Zak’s by chance when the restaurant I was planning to go for dinner happened to close early for the day. I walked past on my way back and noticed Vegan Shakes on the menu displayed outside 👀 I kept walking at first but kept thinking about the vegan shakes so I doubled back to see the rest of the menu. I was so pleased to see so many options for vegan substitutions such as vegan eggs, beyond meat patties, vegan sausage, vegan cheese, non-dairy milk alternatives, vegan ice cream.

I was greeted and seated within moments of arriving, and the server, Erik, came to the table very shortly thereafter. He was so sweet and seemed genuinely interested in making sure I had a great experience.

I was interested in the beyond burger (which comes with vegan cheese, and plenty of free topping options!) and inquired whether the bun was vegan. Erik went to look into it and came back with an answer: unfortunately, neither their normal buns nor their gluten free buns are vegan, and all their bread options have egg (aforementioned room for improvement📝). I really appreciated him taking the initiative to check about the rest of the breads after determining neither bun option was vegan. It saved me having to follow up with, “are any of your breads vegan?” and feel annoying about doing so.

Erik affirmed they could serve the burger on a lettuce “bun” so I ordered that.

A woman, I didn’t catch her name, delivered my food and though our interaction was brief she came across as so sweet and friendly, and checked to make sure I had everything I needed.

The beyond burger was great! Cooked just right, and I loved all the free toppings. I opted for fried onions, hot peppers, pickles, and mushrooms, in addition to the lettuce and tomato that automatically come with the burger. The fries were also FANTASTIC- hot and crispy. (So, side note, I suspect their “world famous” poutine is as good as they claim)

Erik came to check in a few times to make sure I was satisfied with my meal and see if I needed anything. Of course I had to order a vegan shake! I got the chocolate vegan shake with oreos. It came out pretty shortly thereafter, delivered by the same woman who brought my burger. I saw whipped cream on the shake and started to ask about it and she let me know with a big smile that it was coconut whipped cream :) That was an unexpected surprise! I assumed it would just come without whipped cream. It also came with a cherry on top which made me smile. Better yet, she brought both the classic diner glass AND the mixing cup with the rest of the shake. Second (very minor) room for improvement, the shake was a bit icy. As I was drinking it there were a few spheres of ice which were big enough that I put them on my plate instead of trying to chew through them, but not huge. Maybe like 1 cm in diameter. I imagine they probably use relatively small ice to start with and the pieces I got probably just snuck by untouched. So, I think it could have been blended a bit more, but it was delicious all the same.

Overall, I was really pleased by Zak’s, and appreciated that they seem to genuinely want all patrons to have a great experience and welcome feedback to make that so. This is clear not only in their replies to their Google reviews, but even on their menu they encourage you to let someone know if there is a problem so they can make it right. The two employees I interacted with, Erik and the woman whose name I didn’t get, also both exuded this gracious energy. They were both just so friendly and kind and made me feel so welcome; I just really hope they have a great day every day. 🥹🥲

The food was tasty- definitely the best diner food I’ve had! It would be awesome if there was a vegan bun (or even bread) available, but major props for the abundance of vegan and vegetarian choices that...

My experience at Zak's Dinner in the ByWard Market, Ottawa, was nothing short of a disastrous disappointment. I, along with my friends, decided to give this place a shot August 13th night, a decision that we now deeply regret.

Upon entering the restaurant, we had the unfortunate luck of arriving about an hour before the kitchen was set to close. Hoping to enjoy a decent meal, we placed our orders, fully aware of the time constraints. However, what followed was an excruciatingly agonizing wait of an entire hour for our food to be prepared. It's almost as if they were intentionally trying to test our patience, and when we asked simply how long would it take to get this order ready, the staff told us you always have the option to make it to go!

When our food finally arrived, we were informed that they had run out of the sides I had ordered. I mean, seriously? We initially ordered soup and, in our hunger after such a long wait, reluctantly agreed to whatever was available. The audacity of the staff to label this as a "discount" when they weren't able to provide the complete meal we ordered is beyond comprehension. It's not a discount when you're denying customers what they paid for in the first place.

Naturally, we inquired why this information wasn't conveyed earlier and why there weren't any alternatives offered. The shift manager/supervisor response was utterly appalling. The manager/supervisor shrugged off the situation, casually explaining that the kitchen staff had already clocked out and therefore, they were unable to prepare anything else. This level of unprofessionalism is nothing short of shameful.

The lack of empathy, accountability, and basic customer service skills displayed by both the staff and the shift manager was truly disgraceful. Instead of attempting to salvage the situation, they chose to brush off their mistakes and show a complete disregard for our experience. It's almost as if they believed they could get away with anything.

To add the icing on this awful cake, my girlfriend's tooth broke while attempting to bite into the rock-hard bun of the sandwich. This incident was not just the culmination of a string of unfortunate events; it was the embodiment of the complete and utter failure of Zak's Dinner to provide a satisfactory dining experience.

I am genuinely sorry for the individuals who have to endure such a toxic work environment, managed by individuals who clearly have no understanding of customer service or responsibility. Zak's Dinner in the ByWard Market has managed to leave a lasting impression on us, albeit for all the wrong reasons. This experience will serve as a reminder of how a lack of respect, accountability, and consideration can utterly ruin what should have been a simple...

We were here the first time, got a table fast. People who arrived around 6pm had to wait a very long time. Too less seats and waiter to handle the amount of customers. After we decided what to eat the waitress said she would come fast in just a second to take our order. It took around 5-10 min until she came again. After our order we didn't get any free water. Actually we got the food before we got something to drink. We had to ask for the water again otherwise I think we wouldn't have gotten any. We didn't got any cutlery, after we already ate a lot of the Burgers we got asked if we need cutlery. But we didn't need it. After a while we also realized that they forgot the free coleslaw and pickle they offer with each burger. We had to ask for this included side-dish and it too again around 5 min or more to get it. And then she brought it and without cutlery, we didn't necessarily need cutlery for the Burger but now definitely for the coleslaw salad. In the end we didn't eat the salad anymore because it took too much time to wait for cutlery. When we got up to get the check it again took again several minutes to get the check and then again couldn't pay directly. In-between the waitress did several other things, went in and out to bring others take-away boxes, at this time she could also have brought out the receipt. Someone else came later out with the debit/credit card reading machine for payment. Food was ok, nothing special It's good that you can choose several free toppings like: raw or fried onions, relish, mushrooms, pickle and others.... All in all we were not happy with the visit On the card the especially write down and mention that we should first talk to them before talking to your "followers", I understand that but we mentioned all the problems to the waitress and it didn't improve. Maybe that is a single problem but we also got wrong food send to our table before, that's a very small issue not a big deal and totally fine with me. But aren't the tables with numbers and the food is all ordered with an ipad so every order should be match to each table. I understand that the food and restaurants business is having a shortage of people/waiters/waitresses but the handling of all issues today...