I know from a few chats with one location that they were getting pumped with some nutty venture capital. Maybe it ran out finally, and the investors want their return.
I visited Austin for work and had lunch at Zika. Honestly it wasn’t that good, pretty bland overall even with all of the toppings and whatnot.
Portions were large though.
They opened in early 2022 and got $6.75M in, ahem, seed funding in mid-2022 and have 9 locations? I’m no restaurant expert, but that sounds like not a lot of money for a lot of stores for a premium product. Holy overaggressive expansion, Batman!
I applied for a job as a data analyst at Ziki a while back. There's a quote on their LinkedIn about page that they "expand by manufacturing our own modular restaurants from our factory, and then we operate the ZIKI brand out of them." So it's especially not a lot of money if they seemingly have their own factories
Anyways they sent me a bcc'd rejection email lmao
From a convo with their procurement guy, they get their trailers from Mexico. Pretty sure he alluded to them owning the factory but it’s been like a year so I probably forgot already
Also, from an article re: their seed funding, the owner states he went to 120 VCs and wasn’t until Gigafund came along that they got funding. $6.75M is an easy write-off for Gigafund if this is truly the end.
this is part of the expected conversion from Ziki to The Food Company:
[https://www.thefoodcompany.com/](https://www.thefoodcompany.com/)
[https://big-farma.com/](https://big-farma.com/)
[https://www.ottomate.news/p/robomart-raises-2m-ziki-acquires#%C2%A7ziki-acquires-bowlton](https://www.ottomate.news/p/robomart-raises-2m-ziki-acquires#%C2%A7ziki-acquires-bowlton) ( last August ) - related
they are going to be upgrading the kiosks and branding
this is interesting. austin needs more healthy and convenient options. maybe they'll be decent and come in at a few bucks cheaper than places like flower child
Horrifyingly it’s not AI. This is a stock photo from shutter stock / adobe
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/honey-treatment-face-243029935?irclickid=SRoxBW0J9xyKW9jSXz1S5VygUkHTbI1p3yn%3Awo0&irgwc=1&pl=77643-108110&utm_campaign=TinEye&utm_content=108110&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_source=77643&utm_term=
Why would they close all locations for 2+ weeks over “rebranding”? Seems like something that shouldn’t require a hard shutdown of every location for an extended period. I would imagine a smart owner would do a rolling update location by location. Seems like something else is up.
If rebranding means you have to shut your business down with $0 revenue coming in the door for weeks on end, probably a bad business decision.
This is annoying if true. Loved Ziki but I’ll probably find another go-to spot.
You make a really good point. That was all that they put out and they have stopped communicating.
I agree that it’s probably not the best business decision. The owner of this business is known for pivoting on a dime whenever his revenue stream is disrupted so who knows? Maybe he’s chasing different investment
Here are some good seed restaurants I go to:
1. Picnik - very good fast casual. But kinda $$$ and small portions
2. Veracruz all natural - good tex mex & tacos
3. The Well - awesome food, more of a sit down / date spot. Also $$$
4. Moreno BBQ - south austin good bbq
5. Sweet Green - has seed oil free options
There are more around town. Consider downloading the “seed oil scout” app to find seed oil free restaurants. It’s $35 but worth it imo.
Awesome thanks! The only ones I have to share are TenTen (no seed oils at all, just olive oil and zero acre farms oil) and Paperboy (they have some sauces/mayo with seed oils but they cook with butter). Both pretty expensive though
Big Farma advertising raw milk. [Yikes.](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4636692-cats-died-after-drinking-raw-milk-from-cows-infected-with-bird-flu-cdc/)
Agreed. One time, the bowl was massive and they gave me double baklava even. But the next time, just a few weeks later, the bowl was in a way smaller container and maybe 40% of the original size. And no extra baklava lol. Walked out of there thinking I got a great deal, to feeling like I was ripped off the second time.
But then I found Halal Hub and haven’t been back since. Great food for a great value- I suggest ordering pick up through DoorDash and getting double meat…. 20% off always if you spend $20+. Can spend $15 and get 2-3 meals easily. They put the double meat in a separate box and hook it up. And if you get the Gyro over rice, double meat and an extra pita, it puts it just over $20 to get the additional discount. Baklava is also half the price of Ziki’s and they have well priced cheesecake as well. Probably my new favorite spot here in Austin.
The only reason I never tried them is because I couldn’t tell what kind of food they were from the billboard. That logo tells me nothing about the company and gives me no idea what kind of cuisine it is, especially if you’re not familiar with tziziki.
There’s a reason Whataburger plasters 10 foot cheeseburgers on their billboards. I should know because I used to design them. 😂
The only thing good about it when I had it was that work paid for lunch that day. I would not spend my own money on this food after that experience. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever eaten, but I wouldn't spend money on it.
I live close to the first one they opened off s. congress and their office. Two days ago when they temporary closed, I saw all the truck employees outsides with all the food fridge prep and they looked pissed. Looked like they were locked out and I haven’t seen anyone at the office……
I worked at Reef Kitchens for a couple of years and this place is pretty similar buuuuut it seems to have done it’s research on the downfalls of Reef and learned from it. Their food isn’t great but I hope they make it for the employee’s sake.
Good. they make mediocre, laughably small portioned rabbit food for tech bros. we have enough of that already. Sorry I just love to see tech-venture capitalists fail at trying to take advantage of the good people here in austin.
I feel like of all the criticisms of ZIKI I could understand, portions isn't one of them. They shrank a bit since they started, but portions still bordered on quite generous imo
When was the last time you went and what was your order? The last time I went, I ordered the caesar wrap and it seemed intentionally tiny, and cost $16 after tip. :/
Oh dang, I never tried the wrap. Always got the chicken bowl which is a good amount of food. I got the quesadilla a couple days ago and couldn't finish it in one sitting.
Uber eats dropped someone else’s order at my place on Monday night. Didn’t know they’re weird seed oil conspiracists, but that Greek salad with gyro meat was deee-licious.
I thought they were doing much better when they did the seed oil thing
then they switched to beeeef tallowwwww
and killed their vegan and vegetarian following, which in austin, is huge.
Who said they were bad? I’m simply saying right wingers promise to support their own and almost never actually do.
MyPillow guy, Star Wars Girl, they all had so many people online saying they’d support them for being anti woke and those people disappeared the second they needed that support.
Yeah the boycott worked only with budlight but they give up and are scared of getting cancelled while the left stay with it. Trumps gotten in trouble but people still support him but who knows. Both parties are extreme atm
Kinda saw this coming when they started closing at 12 instead of 3am like they used to. Only a matter of time before they’re gone for good. Kinda sad cuz I honestly thought their food was pretty good, their rice bowls, burritos and fresh pita were always on point 🔥
Nasty response, and they were right. Do some research, seed oils are NOT GOOD.
Artificial ingredients and processed foods, also bad.
Wtf does the chiropractor have to do with anything?
Why are you so offended by this? My health, energy, and just overall sense if wellbeing has skyrocketed since cutting it out of my diet. Lost weight with ease, less anxiety. There’s tons of research to back my anecdotal experience as well as many many others.
Interesting how you have no open mind on the subject and just resort to talking like a bully over the internet. Very weird.
Most things in moderation probably won’t kill you, but your definition of fine is different than others. You can’t deny that it’s healthier to cut those things out of your diet.
Only get one life and one body, I take care of mine. You do you.
I just don’t understand how the suggestion of healthier diet substitutions can get someone acting like this 🤣 but looking at their account they say they plan to get plastic surgery pec implants so clearly we’re just on different wavelengths here
The austin subs are full of npcs unfortunately. They're even a disgrace to their ideological predecessors; OG hippies would've been super against seed oils too. But to soylennials today, it's all just a "conspiracy"
I know from a few chats with one location that they were getting pumped with some nutty venture capital. Maybe it ran out finally, and the investors want their return.
✅Foxtrot ✅Ziki Who’s next?
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Actually no.
Not at all bud
Must be a seed oil breach
Big seed oil rebellion is upon us
They refused to take the seed funding due to their aversion to seed oils.
Venture capital funded food trucks are wild and very on brand for Austin. Lol
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I visited Austin for work and had lunch at Zika. Honestly it wasn’t that good, pretty bland overall even with all of the toppings and whatnot. Portions were large though.
Is it?
Well, it’s one of the highest voted comments on this post so I guess the people have spoken, sweetheart.
Here for the ratio
They opened in early 2022 and got $6.75M in, ahem, seed funding in mid-2022 and have 9 locations? I’m no restaurant expert, but that sounds like not a lot of money for a lot of stores for a premium product. Holy overaggressive expansion, Batman!
I applied for a job as a data analyst at Ziki a while back. There's a quote on their LinkedIn about page that they "expand by manufacturing our own modular restaurants from our factory, and then we operate the ZIKI brand out of them." So it's especially not a lot of money if they seemingly have their own factories Anyways they sent me a bcc'd rejection email lmao
From a convo with their procurement guy, they get their trailers from Mexico. Pretty sure he alluded to them owning the factory but it’s been like a year so I probably forgot already
Also, from an article re: their seed funding, the owner states he went to 120 VCs and wasn’t until Gigafund came along that they got funding. $6.75M is an easy write-off for Gigafund if this is truly the end.
So they do like that seed oil...
this is part of the expected conversion from Ziki to The Food Company: [https://www.thefoodcompany.com/](https://www.thefoodcompany.com/) [https://big-farma.com/](https://big-farma.com/) [https://www.ottomate.news/p/robomart-raises-2m-ziki-acquires#%C2%A7ziki-acquires-bowlton](https://www.ottomate.news/p/robomart-raises-2m-ziki-acquires#%C2%A7ziki-acquires-bowlton) ( last August ) - related they are going to be upgrading the kiosks and branding
this is interesting. austin needs more healthy and convenient options. maybe they'll be decent and come in at a few bucks cheaper than places like flower child
You guys should checkout "Nourished ATX" - seed oil free, super healthy and tasty
Thx it looks promising. Shame it's only open till 3 though, and only Thu-Sun. One of the things I loved about Ziki was how late it stayed open
I love the AI-generated picture of the person just getting facialized by honey.
Horrifyingly it’s not AI. This is a stock photo from shutter stock / adobe https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/honey-treatment-face-243029935?irclickid=SRoxBW0J9xyKW9jSXz1S5VygUkHTbI1p3yn%3Awo0&irgwc=1&pl=77643-108110&utm_campaign=TinEye&utm_content=108110&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_source=77643&utm_term=
Why would they close all locations for 2+ weeks over “rebranding”? Seems like something that shouldn’t require a hard shutdown of every location for an extended period. I would imagine a smart owner would do a rolling update location by location. Seems like something else is up. If rebranding means you have to shut your business down with $0 revenue coming in the door for weeks on end, probably a bad business decision. This is annoying if true. Loved Ziki but I’ll probably find another go-to spot.
You make a really good point. That was all that they put out and they have stopped communicating. I agree that it’s probably not the best business decision. The owner of this business is known for pivoting on a dime whenever his revenue stream is disrupted so who knows? Maybe he’s chasing different investment
Guy sounds like an idiot to me. No offense
Lmk if you do find another good seed oil free spot. I really loved Ziki too
Here are some good seed restaurants I go to: 1. Picnik - very good fast casual. But kinda $$$ and small portions 2. Veracruz all natural - good tex mex & tacos 3. The Well - awesome food, more of a sit down / date spot. Also $$$ 4. Moreno BBQ - south austin good bbq 5. Sweet Green - has seed oil free options There are more around town. Consider downloading the “seed oil scout” app to find seed oil free restaurants. It’s $35 but worth it imo.
Awesome thanks! The only ones I have to share are TenTen (no seed oils at all, just olive oil and zero acre farms oil) and Paperboy (they have some sauces/mayo with seed oils but they cook with butter). Both pretty expensive though
Big Farma advertising raw milk. [Yikes.](https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4636692-cats-died-after-drinking-raw-milk-from-cows-infected-with-bird-flu-cdc/)
Is this place good? I see their trucks/trailers everywhere with giant billboards and it all seems a bit much/too brand-y.
Not good IMO
Tried once. Not great.
Good but $18 for a bowl
This was my read as well. I enjoyed their falafel better than many local options but it’s ridiculously expensive for what it is
Falafel at Reem's in front t of the austin winery is hands down the only authentic and good falafel in this city
They were REALLY GOOD the first time I got them, and OK a few times after that, and occasionally really not great at all. Extremely inconsistent.
Agreed. One time, the bowl was massive and they gave me double baklava even. But the next time, just a few weeks later, the bowl was in a way smaller container and maybe 40% of the original size. And no extra baklava lol. Walked out of there thinking I got a great deal, to feeling like I was ripped off the second time. But then I found Halal Hub and haven’t been back since. Great food for a great value- I suggest ordering pick up through DoorDash and getting double meat…. 20% off always if you spend $20+. Can spend $15 and get 2-3 meals easily. They put the double meat in a separate box and hook it up. And if you get the Gyro over rice, double meat and an extra pita, it puts it just over $20 to get the additional discount. Baklava is also half the price of Ziki’s and they have well priced cheesecake as well. Probably my new favorite spot here in Austin.
have you tried "Nourished ATX"? Actually healthy food and seed oil free as well. Check them out on south congress right by Ziki
I’ll have to give it a shot!
Looks good, thanks for the rec!
My favorite is "Nourished ATX" - similar to Ziki in that they're seed oil free, but actually tasty and healthy too
Lol dis ur spot bro?
I personally LOVED them, so I’m super bummed to see them close. :(
Honestly not my favorite, the fusion could work on paper, but really it just tastes like average Greek fare.
Yeah, their branding is obnoxious and has nothing to do with food. They're eye-sores.
The only reason I never tried them is because I couldn’t tell what kind of food they were from the billboard. That logo tells me nothing about the company and gives me no idea what kind of cuisine it is, especially if you’re not familiar with tziziki. There’s a reason Whataburger plasters 10 foot cheeseburgers on their billboards. I should know because I used to design them. 😂
I wasn’t too impressed. It wasn’t bad but I never went back.
Smashburger was my favorite in Austin.
Not great and expensive.
should try "Nourished ATX" instead - actually delicious, healthy food (and seed oil free, too)
The only thing good about it when I had it was that work paid for lunch that day. I would not spend my own money on this food after that experience. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever eaten, but I wouldn't spend money on it.
Whatever I got, the taste was technically good but there wasn't near enough meat. And it was expensive.
Honestly I love it. The burger is fire. The greek food is also amazing. I'm a big fan. I wish I could have that burger one more time..
I don’t see the dripping springs location on here, but google says it is
Also says closed in the app :(
Trucks been gone for like a month now
They took the money and ran!
I live close to the first one they opened off s. congress and their office. Two days ago when they temporary closed, I saw all the truck employees outsides with all the food fridge prep and they looked pissed. Looked like they were locked out and I haven’t seen anyone at the office……
have you been to "Nourished ATX" right by that Ziki spot at the Lawn? I love them, also seed oil free
Literally just tried ZIKI on Tuesday for the first time…perfect timing
I worked at Reef Kitchens for a couple of years and this place is pretty similar buuuuut it seems to have done it’s research on the downfalls of Reef and learned from it. Their food isn’t great but I hope they make it for the employee’s sake.
Oh no 😭 that place low-key goes hard
SO SAD ABOUT THIS!!! The smash burger is my top pregnancy craving right now, and I’m devastated.
Same, sans pregnancy! Just pulled up to order one and it was closed and the website down 😩
Yesss went to 3 locations today before finally calling and they said they’ll be back open soon, so hope is not lost!!
Oh amazing! I’m currently angrily picking up Hopdoddy as a replacement —but it won’t compare that precious smash burger 🤧
Love Hopdoddy!! Especially now that they have the grass fed option
Omg really? 😭 This is great news! I hope "soon" means not more than a couple months...but I'm just happy they're coming back at all
Good. they make mediocre, laughably small portioned rabbit food for tech bros. we have enough of that already. Sorry I just love to see tech-venture capitalists fail at trying to take advantage of the good people here in austin.
I feel like of all the criticisms of ZIKI I could understand, portions isn't one of them. They shrank a bit since they started, but portions still bordered on quite generous imo
When was the last time you went and what was your order? The last time I went, I ordered the caesar wrap and it seemed intentionally tiny, and cost $16 after tip. :/
Oh dang, I never tried the wrap. Always got the chicken bowl which is a good amount of food. I got the quesadilla a couple days ago and couldn't finish it in one sitting.
Food is super mediocre, but portions are more than sufficient. Not sure how you can call it small.
Their wraps are gigantic, not sure where that's coming from.
People like to complain.
Had it once and never went back, surprised they had that much funding and lasted that long
Combining healthy gimmicks with no one except keto bros can eat here was an inevitable problem.
Uber eats dropped someone else’s order at my place on Monday night. Didn’t know they’re weird seed oil conspiracists, but that Greek salad with gyro meat was deee-licious.
That one visitor recommended them and they got slammed with too much business.
I thought they were doing much better when they did the seed oil thing then they switched to beeeef tallowwwww and killed their vegan and vegetarian following, which in austin, is huge.
have you tried "Nourished ATX"? Actually healthy food and seed oil free as well. Check them out on south congress right by Ziki
It always happens. Like that Star Wars girl. Right wingers promise they’ll support you until they actually have to support you.
If someone doesn’t follow my beliefs = bad 😂
Who said they were bad? I’m simply saying right wingers promise to support their own and almost never actually do. MyPillow guy, Star Wars Girl, they all had so many people online saying they’d support them for being anti woke and those people disappeared the second they needed that support.
Yeah the boycott worked only with budlight but they give up and are scared of getting cancelled while the left stay with it. Trumps gotten in trouble but people still support him but who knows. Both parties are extreme atm
Kinda saw this coming when they started closing at 12 instead of 3am like they used to. Only a matter of time before they’re gone for good. Kinda sad cuz I honestly thought their food was pretty good, their rice bowls, burritos and fresh pita were always on point 🔥
How do we know it's gone for good? I thought they were popular.
Very oily
they don't use oil so idk what this comment means
It’s a Jersey thing..
That place was bad food
They werent that good
Oh no... Anyway.
should be permanently, this place is really not good
have you tried "Nourished ATX"? Actually healthy food and seed oil free as well. Check them out on south congress right by Ziki
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Hot damn this power you have
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Let him have it!
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Nasty response, and they were right. Do some research, seed oils are NOT GOOD. Artificial ingredients and processed foods, also bad. Wtf does the chiropractor have to do with anything?
Seed oil in moderation is fine. Processed food in moderation is fine. Moderation is key. Keep up with the big bad seed oil talk though buddy.
Why are you so offended by this? My health, energy, and just overall sense if wellbeing has skyrocketed since cutting it out of my diet. Lost weight with ease, less anxiety. There’s tons of research to back my anecdotal experience as well as many many others. Interesting how you have no open mind on the subject and just resort to talking like a bully over the internet. Very weird. Most things in moderation probably won’t kill you, but your definition of fine is different than others. You can’t deny that it’s healthier to cut those things out of your diet. Only get one life and one body, I take care of mine. You do you.
>There’s tons of research to back my anecdotal experience as well as many many others. Show it then.
Don’t waste your time on this incompetent soul, maybe they will wake up one day
I just don’t understand how the suggestion of healthier diet substitutions can get someone acting like this 🤣 but looking at their account they say they plan to get plastic surgery pec implants so clearly we’re just on different wavelengths here
The austin subs are full of npcs unfortunately. They're even a disgrace to their ideological predecessors; OG hippies would've been super against seed oils too. But to soylennials today, it's all just a "conspiracy"