Zak's in Ballard

The Burger (5 of 10): Brady warned us: "All I can say is get ready for a noticeable jump in cholesterol and lipid levels, have your AED charged up and on stand-by, and don’t plan to get on a scale for a week or two after eating there." Maybe this Burger Quest is raising my tolerance, but even after having a "Big Johnson," I managed to waddle out pretty well. There seems to be a class of burgers that are so full of greens, onions, and the like that the burger itself is kind of lost. The Big Johnson falls in that category. The bacon was really just a hunk of undercooked fat. The whole thing wasn't bad, but nothing to write home about. The regular burgers might make more sense. A couple of ravenous teenagers in our group were unable to finish the regular burger after having a milkshake.

Other Stuff (10 of 10): One of the gang said that the black bean veggie burger was "the best she'd ever had." (She ate my pickles, too!) Cool!

Sides (10 of 10): The fries were pretty good -- commercial but well-cooked. But the standout was the chocolate milk shake: WOW! It came in one of those metal cups directly out of the shake machine that one hardly sees any more. Not only that, it was topped with a full scoop of chocolate ice cream. I must say that I'm totally spoiled now. Even when I get a real shake someplace else, I catch the tell-tale taste of Hershey's chocolate syrup, which Zak's shake didn't have at all.

Ambience (5 of 10): Our crowd took over the long table in the middle, which could easily seat 20+. But the place didn't feel overly crowded on a sunny Sunday night. The walls are decorated with license plates and other memorabilia.

Service (6 of 10): Didn't take too long, given the big crowd. They didn't offer to split checks, so we took a while figuring out who owed what.

Overall (6 of 10)

Zak's in Ballard
2040 NW Market St., Ballard
(206) 706 9257