Viva Zapata

an honestly haunting experience. Waitress was truly one of the most shockingly slow displays of service I have ever seen. Their cinco de mayo deal was a mere two dollars off pitchers of margs – the damn place is called Viva Zapata! How can you give such a Scrooge like special on CINCO baby!!! Good thing Chipotle is only a few blocks from here haha I wish I had friends to come here with. Maybe next time!

I love this place. Great staff, love they chicken enchiladas and refried beans. Fresh chips and salsa. It’s rustic and charming and a great place to go and hang out and have a margarita. It’s also very reasonably priced.

3.5−4 stars. A classic college student haunt on campus. While Viva’s may not be the classiest venue, it is definitely a clean, respectable place that serves up some delicious (and cheap) drinks. Most people come here for their pitchers of margaritas, which come in a variety of flavors and are just delicious (and strong)! My personal favorite is the mango margarita on the rocks (you can also get it in slush form). Their sangria is also solid.
I’ve tried some of the food here and the chicken nachos in particular are on point. Comes as a big heaping amount of goodness on a tray-​super satisfying to dig into during late nights.
This place is great for groups and never too too crowded. They’re also generally chill with people under 21 coming in as long as they’re eating and not drinking. A solid spot for some pitchers with friends!

The food was great. The drinks were great. But Carrie, our server, was excellent. I hadn’t been there in about 7 years, but it still had its charm and comfort.

A Mexican spot that is kinda divey. The pps are good, drinks are well poured, but slow service with a bartender with a short attention span. The atmosphere is cool and I can always run into a familiar face. I will be back.

Great dive bar. Greasy Mexican food hits the spot. We came in intending for a quick bite and a beer. Stayed for 6 hours, having a great time with the amazing bartender and other bar patrons. on a Tuesday.

I ordered dinner from Viva’s tonight. I had their chicken nachos which were delicious and their Cajun wings which were okay. We also had their chicken quesadilla which the tortilla on the bottom was extremely soggy and as a whole was extremely bland. I also ordered the shrimp fajitas for two which was a huge disappointment for almost $ 30.00. The shrimp were the small cocktail shrimp which were over cooked and flavorless. I called back to speak to the manager but was kept on hold. I haven’t eaten at Viva’s in a while and now I remember why.

Love the place! My family and I went about a week ago and like to go every so often. I got the enchiladas, there are 5 choices of what kind and you get to pick 3, 2 chicken and 1 beef. All were very good although the chicken was a little dry. We always see the same woman working there who is always very helpful and accommodating. The inside, although a bit rustic and dark, adds to the feel of the authentic food and creates a unique dining experience. It can be a bit pricey but the portions are large which makes up for that. Definitely recommend!

I have never written a post about any place that I have been too, but I need to use this as a forum in regards to this establishment.
Last night after a couple of hours of studying my girlfriends and I decided to go to Viva’s to get something to eat. When we walked in there wasn’t anyone at the door so we decided to sit on the bar side which is to the right as you walk in. We chose a table and sat down. As time went on we wondered if there was anyone that was going to take our order. 15 minutes passed and my girlfriend spoke up and ask the bartender if anyone was coming to take our order. Now keep in mind we were right next to the bar and the bartender Dawn saw when we walked in, she saw when we sat down, and she saw that we were waiting. She was also playing on her phone and totally being unprofessional. The place was empty so there’s wasn’t a huge crowd to maintain. When my friend asked about a waitress the response was the most ignorant thing I have ever heard from this Dawn creature and I call her a creature because a normal human being doesn’t act the way that she did. My friend asked if there was someone coming to take the order she said «if you want food u have to go the the other side to order». My friend asked the creature if she was ever going to tell us that and she said «no I was going to let you guys figure that out yourselves». We were dumbfounded. We literally sat patiently waiting for damn near 20 mins and you weren’t going to say not a damn thing! How rude! Your a business in the heart of New Haven and deemed to be one of the oldest restaurants in the area. Why treat people like that for no apparent reason. Aren’t you suppose to provide a service to everyone that walks in your doors. Is this not an establishment where you seat down and eat. I have never been treated like that ever. It was so uncalled for and totally unnecessary. To completely ignore us and play on the phone. It says a lot about customer service in this place. Never again will I ever step foot in this place. My girlfriends and I work at Yale as well and we will be sure to spread the word not to step foot into that establishment at all. BEWARE OF THE CREATURE NAMED DAWN!

Great spot for a date night. I have been here with my boyfriend as well as my family on several occasions. I think my dad actually used to work here a while ago? Anyways, the staff is very friendly, this is a cool and casual place, very intimate with low lighting, and has a great vibe to it, it’s a great place for groups and has a fun bar area. The food is great I love the seafood enchiladas, and fish tacos, but also I always have nachos when I’m here, the thing I love most about the nachos is that EACH CHIP HAS TOPPINGS ON IT!!! Haha so they are made with a really great amount of toppings. I always leave here very happy and full ^ — ^

Some things never change, for better or worse. For under $ 25 you will get a pitcher of sangria and nachos that will take care of yiur need for a light drink and a snack. I waired and bussed here in 1988 and the place hasnt changed a bit. The crowd is from casting of walking dead, the prices and food are good enough

This place is a dive, but its the kind of dive you can love. It is dark & rustic you can forget the time and lose hours in a pitcher of margaritas (or pitchers). The food isnt quite authentic, but prices are good and the plates are large. I like to order the nachos with broccoli and tomato — they come with rice and beans. Note: they use american cheese on the nachos, it can be weird at first but i like it. They do one layer of chips so the toppings really work with the number chips.
Again this isnt the place to impress a date, but if you like a neighborhood bar definitely check it out.

Stopped by here for drinks with friends on a Friday night and the strong margaritas were greatly appreciated by all. There were a variety of available flavors, from mango to a tropical-​tasting blue.
The bar itself is dark and was filled with thirsty patrons. There are also bookshelves against the walls filled with real books. After going to some places that use blank books to decorate their spaces, this was a welcome surprise.
We didn’t try the food so I can’t comment on that, but overall the alcohol-​generous margaritas would convince me to come back. It’s a solid place to end the night. Viva Zapata!

Let’s just put it this way:
My idea of heaven is a tray of nachos, a taco platter, and a pitcher of margaritas from Viva Zapata.
It’s good bar fare, the margaritas are great, and the staff is friendly. It’s dank and dark (major positives in my opinion) and they have good hours. I think Yale brats are too scared to go in there, so the clientele is usually laid back and quiet. They have a jukebox with some awful music or some good music, depends on who is picking.

I have eaten here several times and was very pleased my visit today was the same as before so that the reason for my stars of choice. The fajita for one did not meet my expectations steak was thick in slices and hard chicken not seasoned and tasty must be a different chef at lunch during the week. The best was my fried IceCream. THE Service by the WATER AND Bartender WAS good. Food SUCKED:(

Terrible place do not go here! the food is less than mediocre and there are always constant fights outside of the restaurant. Out of desperation I ordered some nachos to go and did not even want to step into the place to retrieve wha they called «nachos». Everyone looked at me like they wanted to fight me! I don’t even know how this place is still open! the crowd is shady at best.

Divey Mexican joint whose food was good, but uninspiring. I didn’t partake in their tasty looking drink menu, but it sure did look yummy!

A few friends and I were here the other day because we were hungry around 11 pm and there aren’t a wide variety of places that serve food after 11 pm downtown. Two of us got the chicken burritos and another friend had the nachos. I thought the burrito was tasty, came with rice and beans as well. Definitely a satisfying snack/​meal for a pretty good price ($ 8?). My friend seemed to enjoy his nachos too. The restaurant has an interesting layout and when I first came in, I had no idea where to walk. We were eventually seated by a very nice waitress. Overall, I thought the food was good. Didn’t have any drinks, so I can’t attest to those.

The food is horrible. I swear it tastes like what I would imagine very bad Mexican TV dinners, made by Italians, heated up and transferred to a plate would taste like — although, no where near as atrocious as Su Casa.
I give it two stars because the margaritas are strong (makes the food taste better) and the employees are friendly.

Overall Viva Zapata is a 2.5 stars, I am rounding down for the fact that I don’t think I’ll be back.
The atmosphere is dark and like an old Mexican saloon which is cool except it made everything just seem kind of dirty. I’m just a bit skeptical when I cannot see how clean things really are.
Our waitress was a sweetheart, slow at moments but very sweet. She asked if we wanted chips and salsa making me wonder if they actually charge. The chips and salsa were pretty awful. Mostly because of the stale chips, I’ve had better from the grocery store. The salsa was okay but nothing about it seemed very homemade or fresh.
One thing I appreciated is she always made sure we liked everything in the dish and could substitute what we wanted in our dishes. The fillings are all substitutable, and you can just get different beans if you are vegetarian.
We started with the mini chimichangas for an appetizer and they were very good but had very little cheese inside them, I couldn’t taste any cheese I had to look at them to see if there actually was any cheese inside. I tried their house margarita and it was pretty meh, even with their fresh squeezed lime juice.
For my entrée I had a taco salad, the shell was yummy and it was STUFFED full and at 7.95 there was plenty of meat in there. Really no complaints with the taco salad although I wish I didn’t use their guac as it had a funky taste.
Without good chips and margaritas there is nothing for me here, of course you need good food too but good chips, salsas and margaritas are a must at any Mexican restaurant. There are better options outside of New Haven when I want Mexican food.