Zeke’s Hot Chicken

This place doesn’t look like much from the outside but I’m so glad I tried it! The food was very good and I cannot say enough about the friendly staff! I wish I lived closer but I’ll be back the next time I’m in Carmel.

You CAN’T go in here without feeling like you’re part of the family. I’ve seen that mentioned so many times on Unilocal reviews for Zeke’s (formerly Zacky’s), but it’s the darn truth. I spent a lot of time talking with the owner and he explained that his ministry is very important to him and he loves his church, but his restaurant is just as important because he can minister to his wonderful patrons. I don’t mean talking about any beliefs you don’t want to talk about, I just mean someone who listens to you, cares about your day, smiles at you and just makes you feel better in this crazy world. Sounds crazy about a hot dog place, huh? But I’m 100% honest. Honestly, the food could be semi-​terrible and that alone would make me keep coming back. I leave smiling and feeling better. Where are you going to find that at, these days? But you don’t have to worry because the food is delicious. Don’t go in expecting a gourmet meal, because that’s not the message or the drive of this business. Delicious all-​beef hot dogs, done the good old fashioned American way. And if you liked hot-​fried chicken, then this is the place for you. Hand battered and deep fried to perfection. I have to recommend their fries, but all the other sides are delicious. Go in and spend a few minutes with some great people!

This place is the bomb! The chicken is outstanding. Moist chicken and crispy skin-​the best in town. The beans are also on point. This family and congregation are hard workers doing it the American way! I’ll be visiting here often to support my friends and my faith.
They now have extended hours for the dinner crowd.

There a restaurants that serve food and then there are restaurants that serve food and treat you like family. Everyone is so nice! The owner made his rounds and came over to us and didn’t just say «hey thanks for coming in» he had a genuine conversation with us. He wanted to know what we do, where we are from and wanted to get to know us. I know a year ago or so they were thinking about closing down so they can focus on their ministry… I can tell you this. He has a ministry right where he is! There wasn’t talk about religion or anything but the love… the love was there and that is just as important. Oh and the food. It’s legit. I had the hot chicken and they NAILED it! Everything is made to order and it is high quality, delicious food. I hope they stay open forever.

Made a little lunch run from Westfield today after the craving for a hot dog would not go away! It was totally worth the drive! The food was fresh and made to order. I had a chili cheese dog and, on the advice of another reviewer, macaroni and cheese. Everything was very good, but the mac and cheese… YUM!!! Met the owner as he was making the rounds… super friendly, as was the rest of the staff! Definitely will visit again… looking forward to trying the chicken next time!

So I have been so lucky to have tried authentic hot chicken in Nashville.
Sadly this chicken is close but no cigar.
Now obviously I’m not one to eat at a place once and give a terrible review.
So here it goes.
Service was great.
Ordered on the phone and picked up 20 or so minutes later. I was right on time saw my chicken getting plated.
Now the major differences between this and Princes chicken in Nashville is:
1) Flavor. The flavor is not even close to the same. It’s much more oily and salty down in Nashville.
2) Moist. The way the chicken is prepared in TN is as if there is a glaze on top where the chicken remains super moist. This place… Not so much. A little dry. Then again. Maybe it’s a bad day.
I’ll have to give this place another chance when I have the time. Hopefully next experience for the chicken will be better.
The sides tho…
Had the Mac and cheese. That was great. I could eat that by itself.
And the beans. Similar to TN but not as good. In TN there is more of a Syrup/​honey flavor to the beans.
All in all. It’s a good place to try but much like Philly cheesesteaks or NYC pizza. It’s not the same as the home location.
Happy fooding.

Great hot dogs and chicken! My husband and I love to go here for a quick weekend lunch. The owner and his family are so friendly and always recognize the customers. They make you feel like you are sitting around the kitchen table with friends and family. Always a fun time and the food is GREAT!

I am sad to see some of the hot dogs go the wayside, but this is definitely the best fried chicken in Carmel!

My life will never be the same.
My fiancé and I stopped in for a quick lunch after reading the great Unilocal reviews and wanting something different. I’m so very glad we did.
We both got a chicken breast — mine was without spice/​seasoning, and he got the mild (which has a nice kick — so be warned!). They both came out piping hot, and just like fried chicken should — tender and juicy on the inside, crunchy on the outside. Our sides (fries and mac & cheese) were phenomenal. We can’t wait to go back.
Throw in outstanding service, and you have yourself a restaurant that you want to visit every single day.

Chicken was good; kickin’ hot had only a little kick. Sides were tasty. Chili cheese dog has the right amount of chili, cheese, and onions. Nice little restaurant is owned and operated by a wonderful local family who care about their customers.

My favorite thing about this place is the super-​duper nice staff. Every single employee is friendly and greets you with a smile. They get a gold star in customer service!
This is a very casual, small restaurant. There’s a menu board on the wall by the counter where you order, as well as menus on the counter to pick up. I’m a fan of their Frito boat, although the last time I was there they used Doritos instead of Fritos, which I did not like as well (the Doritos got soggy under the chili and cheese). One of my favorite things is the fried corn nuggets — they are so good!
They have lots of things on their menu, including chicken and hot dogs, and lots of side dishes. It’s not healthy food (lots of fried items) but it’s good! There’s also ice cream, which I haven’t tried yet.
There are tables with red/​white checked table cloths. The staff come out to check if you need refills, which I love.
The downside is the limited hours. They are only open for dinner on Fridays and Saturdays and are closed on Sundays. So I don’t get there as often as I would if they were open for dinner during the week.

This place is GREAT. Located in a small strip mall in Carmel, Zeke’s recently switched their primary focus from hot dogs to Fried Chicken, but their friendly family vibe hasn’t changed at all.
As we walked in, we were immediately greeted and handed menu’s. As we ordered, my 4 yr old l, who makes friends wherever we go, was chatting her up, telling her his name and that he recently had a birthday.
I ordered the southern style fried chicken, mac and cheese, and greens. The fresh fried chicken took some time to cook but they let us know up front that it would. They gave us updates ever few minutes on our order status and then delivered perfectly cooked piping hot chicken. It hit the spot. Is there anything better than family recipe fried chicken?
At the end of the meal, they played a happy birthday song, and brought my kid a hat with his name on it, along with a sucker and donuts. He was ecstatic and I was very pleased with their service.
This is one of those places that you want to go to everyday. Highly recommend.

Great food and Zack and his family are so friendly and welcoming! Try the new Hot Chicken — Nashville, TN style. It’s the best chicken now in Carmel. Pair it with the greens and baked beans and you have a delicious, home style, gluten-​free meal.

We go here pretty much every weekend because of how nice the staff is and how much we like the food. The Chicago dog is consistently awesome and the new fried chicken is both great tasting and unique. You can’t get spicy fried chicken in Carmel… until now. The owner and his family are great people. They always recognize us and treat us like royalty. I hope they get a bigger place with a larger dining room but don’t dare move out of Carmel, Zacky!
I would suggest doing fresh cut fries. If I saw tons of potatoes in there and knew I was getting fresh cut fries, it would add to the already great down-​home feel. The accordion style fries are just kind of bland I feel like. You could easily get tons of Indiana-​grown potatoes in there and people would pay extra for them.
All in all, if you live on the north side you should really go try this soon. It’s the nicest, warmest staff at any restaurant in Carmel and the margin between Zacky’s and 2^nd place isn’t even close.

Love Zacky’s. Long time patron first time reviewer. Corn dogs are awesome as are the hotdogs with shredded cheese and the true Chicago dog. But the best thing at Zacky’s is his Mac&Cheese. Best ever. Make sure you ask for some of the baked brown top. OMGolly gosh you won’t be sorry.

Great food, great price
I got the Chicago dog wow so full
Nap time. The now have ice cream just what I needed after a big meal

My friend and I started an ABC dining group that worked through the alphabet visiting new, local, non-​chain restaurants, and we finally made it to «Z» 4.5 years later… There’s not many Z places to go, but thankfully we found Zacky’s! From the minute we walked in we were greeted with a smile and hello! None of us had been there before so we browsed the menu, saw the wonderful display of homemade ice cream, which we sampled prior to our meal! The food was good, but the service is definitely what will draw me back to this place again! It’s a bit of a drive from my house, but if you are ever in the Carmel area, please check this place out! And be sure to finish of the evening with some ice cream! You won’t regret the decision! I had the Indy Blue hot dog which had lots of blue cheese, bacon and grilled onions! Very delicious for a blue cheese fan!
Check it out!:)

We’ve had the dogs here and they are good. But today we stopped for BBQ. Big mistake. We had high expectations — dashed to the ground. We bought a brisket sandwich and $ 17.99 «platter» of bbq with your choice of 2 meats.
First of all we waited patiently and realized after awhile that staff were socializing rather than putting our food together. We waited.
Food finally came and when we saw the «platter» and i use that word very loosely, we thought there had been a mistake. A French fry basket with meat. 2 small sides. $ 17.99.
Bbq was not good. Dry and suspiciously uniform. Rib tips are not a uniform meat. But these pieces were all exactly the same. Considering the price I expect good quality meat.
Pretty disappointed. Could have eaten real quality food on real plates down the road at Pizzology

Amazing chili dogs and the best ice cream I have ever had. Try the Key Lime Pie flavor! The Key Lime tastes better than most home made Key Lime Pies and is very creamy and smooth, it even has bits of graham cracker crust mixed in.
Zacky’s has the best customer service. Everyone is very friendly and they never forget a face. I stopped going for a few months because I moved, but when I came back they remembered my name.

Good chili cheese dogs, but not great. I went in with really high expectations, based on all of the great reviews. And don’t get me wrong, my hot dog was good, but was it $ 3.99-good? Meh — it was probably $ 2.50-good. The fries were nothing to shout about, ether. We also ordered the breaded mushrooms, which were just OK — kind of bland.
They make their own ice cream in-​house, which is awesome, and we tasted two scoops of two different flavors. It was good and creamy. I’ll probably be back because it’s hot dogs and there aren’t too many other places that sell hot dogs that aren’t chain restaurants.
Edited to Add: OK, I visited again, and I’m changing my review to four stars instead of three because of two things: awesome chili cheese fries, and the fact that they play jazz music in the dining room area. Yes!

I found this place to be a bit over-​rated. The Italian Beef was small, dry and uninteresting; the spicy giardiniera wasn’t spicy, and only vaguely resembled giardiniera. My wife’s hot dog was limp, uninteresting, and served on a tasteless bun that did about as much for her dog as that billy goat did for the Cubs.
If you’re looking for something in Carmel that’s casual and unpretentious, the pickings are slim indeed! So in that case, you might give Zacky’s a try. On the other hand, if you were looking for something casual and unpretentious, you probably wouldn’t be in Carmel in the first place!

Disclaimer: I am not really a hot dog person. For that reason, I admit that this place would not have even been on my radar. However, based on the hubs LOVING hot dogs, a fellow Unilocal friend’s recommendation, and seeing that they also had «BBQ» in the name, I figured why not give it a shot?
Let me just say this from jump — you will NOT find a nicer person than the lovely lady taking our order at our visit. She was *so* patient as we waded through the menu, changed our minds a thousand times, and she had great suggestions as well. Come to find out, they actually visit the Vienna Beef factory where the dogs come from and she reassured me that they were legit. She even came out to ensure that we were enjoying our food and answered our many random questions about the business. (They are family owned and operated and have been there 5 years, by the way…)
As far as the food, I was pleased to see that they did offer a turkey polish dog — which I ordered with grilled green peppers and BBQ sauce. It was served split down the middle, loaded with messy, delicious toppings, and served on an Aunt Millie’s Bun I believe. Yummo! The hubs got a chili dog and I actually branched out and took a taste — pretty darn good for a hot dog! Being that I am a bit of a sides-​hog, I got the mac and cheese, corn nuggets, and shared the hub’s spiced chips. The mac and cheese was super cheesy (read strings of cheese from spoon to mouth) and creamy and perhaps was my fav side that I tried.
We also opted for the home made peach cobbler to split for dessert (sans ice cream). Of note, the peach cobbler was SUPER-​duper sweet (brown sugar all the way), a bit too soupy for me, and the crust was minimal, dry, hard, and flour-​y despite being immersed in the soupy brown sugar-​ness. Sad face. I really wanted the cobbler to be the WOW factor for me.
My take-​aways from our visit were that I love the fact that they are family run and the staff was so kind. The space has somewhat limited seating and they began to fill up QUICK toward the end of our visit, so I can see where it may be hard for larger groups/​families to get a spot when they are busy. I felt the price tag was a bit high — $ 23.49 for a couple of dogs, drinks, and sides — and dessert added another $ 3.50-ish. I would say the food was more around 2 ½ — 3 stars for me, but the service easily makes up for it and bumps the rating to a 4.
With all of that said, we will still return in the future to try some of the BBQ options that we didn’t get to try today. I have my eye on the sampler… :)

We spontaneously stopped by Zacky’s Hot Dogs today, and loved it!
The staff was so friendly, and our food was just as awesome.
I ordered The Indy Blue that had bacon, blue cheese crumbles and ranch on a jumbo dog with macaroni and cheese as the side. Delicious. The mac and cheese was perfect, and the dog had the best flavor.
Two thumbs up for Zacky’s!

Oh my word this place is full of friendly people! I was all smiles from the moment I stepped in the door as I was cordially greeted by the lovely lady ready to take my order.
Today I came with a challenge; is a hot dog a snack or a meal? I was hungry so I was hoping «meal» would win the battle. I ordered the Chicago Dog, jumbo sized it for $ 1.00 (why not?), added a side order of mac n cheese, combed it with a drink, making my total a little under $ 9.00.
As I sat in anticipation for the arrival of my meal I noticed these premium Vienna Beef dogs take some time to prepare. Each dog is made to order and hand crafted. The end result is a nice sized dog packed with toppings. This meal was messy but in a good way. With mustard all over my face, I made sure I grabbed extra napkins (luckily they were stocked on the table). I don’t often eat hot dogs but this one made me a believer. The mac n cheese was creamy and it still had that nice homemade crusty top I love. I can’t say it was the best I ever had but it was very good and hit the spot. To answer my challenge question of the day; these hot dogs are meals! I most definitely stuffed my face. I think I left with a bit of mustard on my chin and warm fuzzy’s from the sweet staff. Thank you Zacky for making my belly full!

The chicken is southern hot authentic. Beautiful crunch. Only thing better than the chicken is their service.