Zaharakos

The people were rude as we entered. The food service was fine, but food was underwhelming. The nostalgic charm slightly makes up for the terrible first impression I had walking through the door. I’m from out of town, but don’t see myself stopping here if I ever come back through. I did it once — and would recommend anyone to try it for themselves at least once — but once is enough for me.

I came in just for a dessert and had an ice cream soda. Very hard thing to find. It was super delicious. Did not try food, it was very much diner style food. Maybe next time!

Zaharakos was really an experience. We had heard of it before, and happened to walk by and stop in. They apparently have a full menu, but we were just there for the ice cream. We had a sundae and it was delicious. The inside is awesome looking with the old fashioned soda fountain in use, as well as the museum of other soda fountains. I had a really good time there.

This review is for the ice cream only as I wasn’t even aware that they served food. Went in on a weekday to grab some ice cream and a shake for the rodents. The ice cream is, well ice cream, nothing out of bounds, plenty of selection of shakes, malts, fizzy soda, and other novelties. This is a place you take the kids, let them run around, check out the automated piano and the wonderful restoration work they’ve done here, place is beautiful and full of charm.
If your in Columbus and have some time to kill, and are loaded down with kids I can think of a lot worse places to go. Definitely worth a visit.

The ice cream here is made in-​house and it’s amazing. The mint chip hot fudge sundae is amazing. The regular menu food is hit or miss and pricey. Service can be good but is often slow as most of the wait staff is high school students in their first jobs. Be forewarned that if someone asks them to play the music, they do it. And it is LOUD and long. Like conversation-​drowning loud. Nice to hear once, but then you just want to eat your ice cream in peace. A great place for kids.

The 4 of us had Dinner and dessert here and we’re here for a total of 2hrs, onto the food in a second. Service is a bit «old fashionably slow», but the ambience and historical aspect is top-​notch. This location was ranked 11^th for the most Historical Place in the World! On that list it was also the first place listed in North America. It has a small museum with many soda fountains, original large organ pipe fixtures, original candy counter, very neat old-​fashioned cash register, original tin ceilings and wooden plank floors. They have the old style soda fountain/​candy store heart-​shaped type chairs & tables, the tables and chairs aren’t the most comfortable or ergonomically designed for eating dinner at, but definitely add to the ambience. Our family had the chicken fingers and they looked and tasted amazing! I had the fish sandwich & it was all bun and little fish compared to the oversized bun, the cheeseburger looked and tasted just «ok», it was thick & the tenderloin was good. The fries looked soggy, fruit cup looked amazing, old fashioned chips were standard. We all had soda fountain drinks 2 vanilla cokes and strawberry cokes. These are NOT your Steak ‘n Shake fountain drinks, so if that’s what your wanting you will be highly disappointed. The straws are cardboard – another + for the ambience for this establishment. The strawberry soda was extremely sweet and the vanilla cokes tasted light watered down coffee. We ALL would definitely pass on the soda fountain drinks next time. Now onto the GOOD STUFF… The Cookies and cream milkshake, the brownie sundae and the chocolate ice cream with strawberry syrup sundae was also outstanding. We live only 30 minutes away but this was our first time here. We will definitely return for dessert and I will highly recommend all of my local friends to go try it out for a fun kid experience, that adults will enjoy as well. Our server Emily always had a smile on her face and was a great server.

This place has a ton of character. Definitely worth visiting just because of its uniqueness. We went in for lunch on a Saturday afternoon. It was quite busy — we had a 20 – 30 minute wait for a table of 4. It seems like quite the destination for family occasions. There were 1 – 2 multi-​generational families (more than 12 people each) seated when we walked in. The place is nicely decorated for the Christmas season. The food was quite good … and a good value in my view. Lunch for a family of four, ice cream sodas for two of us plus a large bowl of ice cream and brownie for under $ 50. Can’t find that in many places.
My only complaint is the wait time for the food was longer than we had expected. My daughter’s chicken fingers were very good — not the usual frozen fare you get at many restaurants. I understand waiting for quality and specifically prepared food. But we waited nearly 15 minutes for the hot fudge and ice cream — that I don’t understand. At that point in our visit, the restaurant no longer had a wait and was only ²⁄₃ full. I’d go again, but try to avoid a busy time. An hour and a half for a single course meal, drinks, and a dessert seems a bit much.

This place is lovely. It is listed on TripAdvisor as the number one attraction in Columbus, IN so we went for lunch when we visited Columbus.
This store originally opened in 1900 as a candy store. The decorations there are fantastic. Behind the bar there are two functional soda fountains which appear antiques. There is a small ice cream museum in the restaurant with soda fountains, music boxes, old candy store counters, registers, etc.
They are not just an ice cream place. They also serve sandwiches and other food. We got an avocado sandwich, a banana split and a browny Sundae. The sandwich was light and delicious. The banana split was huge! Both ice creams were pretty good. I would not say they were better than the ones you get in other good ice cream stores. But they tasted better in this charming old restaurant. Their straws are made of paper. I like them.
The service was fine. Everyone behind the counter was quite busy. A lot of soda ice creams were prepared nonstop. It appeared browny Sundae was also popular.
One music box in their museum works. You can put a coin to play a song. Some people danced there with the music. Very enjoyable.
We highly recommend this place. Go check it out and have an ice cream, maybe some light food as well.

Say you’re passing through downtown Columbus and you need a nice meal with the family. I would highly recommend Zaharakos if you’re looking for great food but average service. Most of the time the workers here are hustling to get your food done, it just takes them a while. There are plenty more of nice restaurants here in Columbus, but the environment and food at Zaharakos can’t be matched by them.

Was in Columbus for work and stumbled upon this place. The interior is gorgeous with the onyx bar dominating the restaurant (as a geologist I couldn’t not love this). Tried one of the classic sodas and the artisan grilled cheese and avocado. I really loved the parmesan grilled onto the exterior of the sandwich, gave it a wonderful crunch. Definitely stop in if you want an old soda fountain experience.

LOVED the old world charm of this beautiful place! My green lantern and mint choco chip float was yummy and everyone else enjoyed their floats, sodas, sundaes and milkshakes as well. The soda fountains and music pieces are intriguing and the restored candy store on the museum side can turn anyone into a kid again!
On the service — have to agree with other reviewers– it’s way too slow! But Zaharakos is still a must-​visit in my book and I wouldn’t be deterred by the wait time!

The history, atmosphere, and venue are great. The ice cream is … ice cream.
And the service is terrible. We came about 45 minutes before closing — it was reasonably busy, but by no means full. We waited much too long for two sundaes and a float. When they did come, neither sundae had whipped cream or toppings on them. No extra napkins, despite a toddler at the table. No spoon with the float — I ate the ice cream out of the bottom with a fork because our server could hardly be bothered to stop by the table.
We’re not locals, but if you’re looking for a pleasant experience I don’t recommend it.

Service — Terrible. I waited several minutes to order, waited 25 minutes for a turkey sandwich, and only once I’d finished all of my food did the server check back in and ask how everything was. The entire staff was all local HS kids plus one manager-​type who never lifted a finger from what I saw. I even had a server reach in front of me as I was eating to grab some sundae topping she’d forgot!
Food — They have some okay food options but really they should stick to what they’re good at (dessert). Go someplace else for lunch or dinner and grab a sundae here afterwards.
Atmosphere — Since it’s an historic place, the inside is actually really cool. Old fashion soda fountain, ice cream bar, etc. It’s very unique.
Price — Desserts range from $ 3 to $ 10, which for a place this unique I suppose is okay.
I’m glad I stopped in since I had heard such good things but quite honestly I was so turned off by the end of my visit that I ended up ordering an ice cream sundae TO GO! I won’t be back anytime soon.

Terrific atmosphere in a restored ice cream parlor that dates to 1900. The food is good, too. I had the Gom sandwich (sloppy joe on white toast) with hand-​cut french fries, along with really great hand-​made strawberry milk shake (just like my Grandma’s diner made.) This is a must-​do, when visiting Columbus.
It’d be 4 stars but for service. Admittedly, I’d arrived on a rainy Saturday at 1:00pm — prime lunch time. I learned later that the manager was working with two experienced wait staff, and the rest were new workers. Hence, the hostess struggled between taking names of the arriving customers and taking payment from the exiting patrons. The manager cleared the backlog in about 15 minutes, which was good. As a single guest, I took a seat at the counter, where I could watch the fountain action.
My waitress was extremely prompt, polite, and friendly, making good recommendations from the menu. By observation, her colleagues were struggling — not enough ice cream, whipped cream that was lopsided atop sundaes, cherries that weren’t «on top.» With a little more experienced crew, 4 stars for sure.

This is a neat place to go to in Downtown Columbus.
It has a fun vintage vibe with a little gift shop in the back of the restaurant. You can expect it to be crowded sometimes, because it is a popular business especially for families with children to go.
My friend and I stopped in there and was just super fascinated by the paper straws that came in our drinks. It was a super hot day and that is all that we really stopped in there for, but we didn’t expect to have so much fun. They have the neatest fountains.
It’s places like this that make you excited to go back and try something different each time. I really would love to try some of their ice cream, since it is an ice cream parlor after all.

I came here for lunch. I was looking for something different.
I had a fish sandwich and ice cream Soda
It was so good!
I did not expect for food since this is the ice cream shop.
But I got the perfect fish sandwich!
I recommend to everyone.
It is the cute restaurant !

Ok food. INCREDIBLY SLOW SERVICE.
This place is cool for what it is. An old-​time ice cream bar and all original 1800’s style décor. Just never understood why everyone was so big on this place. The ice cream is ho-​hum, and the food is just alright. My wife and I went twice and neither time was memorable, other than the prices were too high for what you received. With that said, there aren’t really other non-​chain type ice cream places in Columbus, so I suppose you are limited in your choices.

Great collection of antiques, really nice staff
that tries to be very welcoming. Unfortunately the ice cream is just average.
Go for the ambiance, sit out on the sidewalk and watch the world go by, just do not expect to be wowed by the fare.

You must stop by Zaharakos if you are in the Columbus area. It is adorable! I had the avocado grilled cheese for lunch. It was pretty good, but the parmesan crust on the bread was pretty greasy and chewy. Take that off and it was a flavorful sandwich.
I loved seeing the working soda fountain and watching the way they poured the soda from it. Also, music plays from an organ every so often.
I was a bit frustrated with my interaction with the hostess. She asked if we would be interested in sitting at the soda fountain bar, but when we said we would prefer a table she looked extremely irritated. Luckily, our server was very personable, which made me forget (a bit) about the rude hostess.

Established in 1900, Zaharakos is truly a gem amongst today’s ‘fast food’ culture. Located about an hour South of Indianapolis in Columbus, Indiana, this ice cream parlor is as authentic as they come. The craftmanship that surrounds you from the moment you walk in is something rarely seen anymore; complete with marble bar and countertop and vintage fountain machines. The tables and parlor chairs consistently maintain the feel.
In addition to the restaurant, there is a museum attached with a display of soda fountains and equipment from days gone by in pristine condition. Music plays throughout the restaurant from the beautifully restored Welte orchestrion, a self playing pipe organ, complete with a triangle, snare drum, bass drum and cymbal.
We came in for a treat after lunch and my teen enjoyed her first banana split, and my boyfriend ordered their raspberry fountain cola and brownie sundae. I snuck bites of both before checking out the museum area. This was truly a wonderful stop on our Sunday road trip and a highly recommended ‘To Do’ for anyone visiting the area.