Zachary’s By the Lake

First time eating here. We had a buy one get one free coupon. I had the bbq sandwich and my fiancé had the pastrami sandwich. He kinda liked it. Mine was pretty good. I would definitely go back when I can enjoy something from the rest of the menu.

Closed now. Building is for lease.

Awful. The service was the worst part of the experience. First, we were eaten alive by mosquitos — most outdoor venues know to treat the area so diners can dine, not be main course. Neither of the two appetizers we ordered were available, but the sugar came shrimp were pretty good. Next, after waiting 30 minutes, they served the child we had with us, but our food didn’t come for another 30 minutes. When the food finally came, it was only ok. Not New Orleans calibur. We asked for a manager, but there was no manager on duty — imagine that! No manager on site on a friday night. For our trouble, we were comped 2 beers.
This location has been a few other restaurants in the past — I am sure Zachary’s will be replaced soon.

Zachary’s is my new favorite place to go after a day of sailing for some food and a couple of drinks before I head back home. I used to go to Landry’s, but this place is cheaper, better quality, and has a much friendlier and more personal atmosphere.
The regulars (who either don’t have computers, or are just trying to keep the place for themselves) and the waitstaff were both friendly and talkative. The food was good, I had the bbq shrimp poboy and the bacon wrapped sugar cane shrimp is awesome. Lots of outdoor seating, and several tvs inside by the bar. Its really all I could ask for in a Bucktown establishment. Looking forward to going there more often as the weather gets nicer.

Why oh Why did I not read the reviews BEFORE going to this place? Bad Elite Member… BAD!
Went for Sunday breakfast and Russel’s was (of course) packed. From the outside this palce looked nice and charming they had a sign that said «Sunday Breakfast — eggs, omelets, pancakes $ 3.5 Bloodys and mimosas» good enough right? wrong! The outside is cute and charming the inside is a crimson seedy lake bar. a handful of tables and you get the impression this is more of a bar than an actual restaurant. We walked in and 4 waiters are there and a bartender not ONE person said «hi, screw you. NOTHING!» We just went ahead and sat ourselves. The rode hard put up wet scallywag, beach worn waitstaff finally greeted us with the simple menu of literally omelets, eggs, and pancake choices.
The coffee was good and that was about the only thing. I ordered a veggie omelet and my friend got the «Zach Slam» which was 2 eggs 2 pancakes toast and bacon. The Veggie omelet came with… wait for it… a frozen mix of broccoli cauliflower and carrots LOL and I am DEAD serious. Never in my life have I ordered a veggie omelet to have it come out like this, usually it has tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, mushrooms, etc. I couldn’t even believe it. Oh and it had a slice of yucky government like american cheese on the top. The egg portion of the omelet was crispy on the edges and rubbery, beyond anything I would ever want to eat. the «toast» (I use that term loosely) had the most miraculous thing going on that I have ever seen in my life. it was warmed bread in the middle (not toasted at all) and burnt black edges. It really defied the laws of science. I should have saved it for prosperity as i doubt I will ever see anything like it again. Oh and the bread since it was just bread in the middle had no butter, it was as if it was too much work for the «chef» to actually butter the toast, and tasted like the plastic bag I am certain it was housed in. The grits were pasty and cold, the hashbrowns were overwhelmed with Tony’s seasoning and it seemed clear they were not fresh made. They tasted like they were cooked a few hours before we arrived, re heated and cooled off. A blend of salty over seasoned, cold greasy burnt-​ness. Like I said basically the only decent thing was the coffee.
The service was terrible and the waitstaff seemed very inconvenienced by the few people that were in there. We asked them what was included in some items and they had to run into the kitchen to find out. On top of that my friend asked for sauteed mushrooms (again she had to check with the kitchen) the waitress told us they had it but when the plate came she said «oh we ran out.» Yeah I think it was more like she forgot to put it on the order and didn’t want to go back and fix it.
I was a bit mad at myself because I have seen enough episodes of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares to know that this place had all the red flags! I totally ignored all of them. Funny thing is they have comment cards (which I actually filled out) but I doubt that they will take the comments seriously. If they want comments, they should read Unilocal!Needless to say I won’t be back, and don’t recommend that you waste your time going there. Head to Russell’s and just endure the wait to get a good meal.

This is my second try at this place and there won’t be a 3^rd visit. First visit food was ok but extremely long wait on food which was a simple order club sandwich and burger. – Sad part is that only one customer was at the bar, so it wasn’t that they had a lot of food to prepare. Second and last visit 3 drinks ordered all were flat we were told that the machine was checked and she could offer water, tea or a diet coke which was in a 2 liter. One diet coke ordered and yes it was flat but did charge us $ 2.50 for one diet coke poured out of a 2 liter bottle and we know that 2 liter didn’t cost $ 2.50. Very disappointed in the food. Sorry but that was last visit.

I went there Sunday for the first time for breakfast, won’t go again. The place was full, all 15 tables I guess. They were having a real hard time getting the food out of the kitchen. The staff were all flustered including what looked to be the wife of the owner. The power in the kitchen kept going out, it was a mess. We waited 40 minutes for breakfast and when it finally came we were so disappointed. How can you screw up breakfast. The food was terrible, the soft drinks were worse, when we complained about the sodas they poured us one out of a two ltr, this was worse then the fountain. Bring your own sodas. It is a bar trying to sell breakfast, they should stop and focus on breakfast.

I’m a fan of Zachary’s. I only popped in here on my lunch break and I will come back.
Louise was a doll behind the bar and called me by name and was extremely helpful.
I explained to her that I ate a very disappointing Ruben sandwhich the day before and wanted to get it out of my system. She offered me their Ruben with pastrami added to it and assured me that it would be delish. IT WAS. They also serve homemade french fries that were hot and delicious as well.
The place is small and homey and this particular day there were several gentlemen having lunch and pretend participating in the National Spelling Bee on the TV. It was great listening to those Bucktown accents trying to spell Cymotrichous. Love dat accent! If you know then you know. If you don’t, then head on down to Zachary’s at lunch time.

We stopped in here for a quick lunch on a sunny Friday. They have a few daily specials. With quite a bit of outdoor seating; we sat on their deck. There was large group having lunch so the waitress was a little distracted but still attentive. I ordered the special, fried catfish fillet and potato salad. The fish was nicely seasoned and the potato salad was great. This restaurant only gets three stars because I would not come here on my own, but I would if my boss was paying.