Zapata

Was so excited to try this place but the experience was way less than impressive. First of all when we walked in at lunch time an employee sitting at the bar was counting cash… as if preparing a deposit. All I could think of was why? Wouldn’t it make more sense and be safer to prepare that in the back like out of sight!?! Made for some uneasiness needless to say. Ok now on to the food/​service. The food/​service was a bit below average. We ordered the chicken soup (can’t think of formal name) and 3 tacos. The soup came out cold even a potato in the soup tasted cold. Had to send them back to be made warm/​hot. The tacos (shrimp, chicken, fish) were to be desired as far as flavor. The shrimp and fish in the taco was very few and all I could taste was the breading. The price of the tacos was 6.50 for three however the «three» was marked over with a pen on the menu. The waitress said it was 6.50 for 2 then we were charged another 2.50 for the third taco. Want cheese or guac on taco it was another .75 cents each? Bad business practices. I’ve never had a taco without cheese and to be «charged»? $ 9.00 for 3 way below average tacos? The waitress was a bit «smug». Had to ask for most everything needed even though the place wasn’t busy at all. Now that we’ve tried this place most likely won’t return.

Zapatas has slipped into into a less than ordinary restaurant– lacking quality in the kitchen and a deplorable wait staff. Unless you want a step above Taco Bell would not recommend.
On recent visit waited over hour (with waits of over 20 minutes between sightings of waiter) to receive entrees with restaurant half full. While we had dishes ordered in past there was no comparison to these dishes. Guac was devoid of any ingredients other than mashed avocado– no tomatoes, onions, cilantro or lime– essential ingredients in guac. When complained was brought «special» guac which was chunks of avocado –no tomato, onions etc but topped with cold chunks of hard mexican cheese– really!
After 70 mins we finally received entrees– both underwhelming in presentation and taste– and to add insult — cold. Our waiter didn’t even have a vein of customer service to bring our food once it hit the window.
To say the least– our last time at Zapatas. My only hope is that a new restaurant takes its place in wonderful downtown Norcross.

When this first opened in the quirky new-​ish Downtown Norcross plaza, my wife and I loved this place. It was a refreshing change of pace in comparison to the myriad of Tex-​Mex restaurants littered throughout Metro Atlanta. We normally get the enchiladas verde (vegetarian) and the vegetarian Molcajete.
The service has always been lacking, but the food generally compensated well enough for that.
However, the service has degraded to the point where we’ll have to seriously consider dining elsewhere on future occasions. We’ve recently been told that their Scoutmob deal is only valid on bills over $ 20 and that we’d have to purchase at least two entrees to use it. That isn’t what the fine print of the deal entails nor had we had any issue in the past.
Plus, they’ve increased their prices (from $ 13 to $ 15 on the veggie Molcajete). $ 15 is a little steep. At a higher-​end gourmet establishment, I’d understand those prices. Not here though.
That’s pretty pricey in comparison to the competition — especially for subpar food (our enchiladas last night were undercooked). Our waitress never came to check on us, refill our salsa, or refill my drink. We had to flag her down multiple times to get our check — and we were the last remaining table of the evening — so it wasn’t exactly busy.
The only saving grace for this place are the Molcajetes… which are usually on point.
I wish this place got their act together and focused on the needs of its customers and improving the service of its waitstaff. It used to be one of our favorite go-​to places to eat. Not no mo’.

My wife and I went to Zapata on Sunday evening. We were seated and the server asked for our drink orders. I asked what the options were for draft beer and the server had to pull out an iPad and show me. We made our choices. Then the second server arrived with the chips and salsa. He was a bit upset that the first server had taken his table… awkward! Server 1 came back and told us that our beer choices were not available… back to the iPad. We gave our dinner orders and a few minutes later server 1 returned and guess what… our entrees were not available, but the more expensive ones were? At this point we finally got our third choice of beers and decided to cut our losses and leave. I am hoping that it was just a bad night. We have been there before without much issue.

A friend recommended this place & looking forward to the food, and we were not disappointed.
I had the sopes de pollo, which were very flavorful & fresh. My husband ordered the Molcajete Azteca, which included steak, chicken, nopales & chorizo (he actually didn’t have the chorizo, I’m allergic & they were out), all served over an almost souplike green tomatillo salsa, that was still bubbling as it came out.
So, why only three stars you ask? Initially, the service was terrible. We sat down & it took our waitress about 15 minutes to come back to take our drink order, an horchata & a Jamaica. She seemed to be frazzled, seemed like there were only about 3 waiters for a fairly busy night. Several minutes later & still no drinks, and certainly she had not come back for our dinner order. At this point, another waiter, Josue, came back by and asked us if we had been helped. He proceeded to take our drink order, but told is they didn’t have horchata or Jamaica, put in our order for cokes, and took our dinner order. About five minutes after, the original waitress came back & asked if we were ready to order, and a explained the young man had helped us. At that point, she thought it appropriate to make a comment about how someone kept stealing her tables. Then proceeded to come back and basically throw down our drinks at the table, and didn’t bother to even look at us.
Josue was rushing around with seemingly no helped, and really saved the whole experience. I will definitely be back & hope that there is an altogether better service.

I would give this place more stars because the food is amazing but if your black be careful, you will be skipped for the white people. Its sad because as an afro Latino it proves that these guys have a long way to go on the race relationship in the south. I have come here in the past and have been treated wonderful, but the new staff sucks. Do better i have come to this restaurant since it moved to downtown norcross from peachtree corners. Hopefully this impacts the future of this restaurant otherwise, we shall never return. I brought my family here visiting from my college graduation.

We went to this place around 4PM on Saturday. The service was OK but slow even when there is no crowd! We ordered baja calamari, chihuahua — Molcajetes, cheese chile relleno, and a couple of margaritas. The regular margarita was bitter and very sour. The chile relleno was dry and chewy — I had good rellenos in chain restaurants. I am not really impressed with this restaurant. My daughter liked the Molcajetes — so this place got a 3 star rating.

Good Mexican food. They had a fantastic mole sauce. All the food our part of 6 order was great.
Will be back soon as possible.

Best margaritas EVER (and I am super picky marg drinker). Seriously, we tried every flavor and happily stumbled out of the place.

I’ve only been there 2X for business lunch meetings but, had some of the best tasting tacos I’ve ever had and their enchilada mole is yummy.
Got to get beck their for happy hour or dinner to see how their drinks are. They have patio out back that would be perfect as the weather warms up.

I Lovez me some great Mexicano Food especially when I don’t want to cook it so Ladies & gentlemen go eat @ Zapata in Norcross.

Zapata is on my list of favorite restaurants! We have been over a dozen times and the food is always great, never disappoints! The inside is cozy and rustic. They have converted an old building and it looks great! I also love the little deck they have out back, fun when the weather is nice!
My favorite dish here for lunch is the Chilaquiles Verde… I cannot even tell you how delicious their verde sauce is. Slightly spicy and very creamy… it has a wonderful texture. The plate comes with shredded, seasoned chicken, rice and beans. I love Zapata’s refried black beans… they are so flavorful!
My favorite dinner dish is the El Don Miguel… because it comes with a delicious grilled skirt steak… and a helping of chilaquiles!!! So good! The steak is always crispy and charred and the perfect amount of chewy. Tip– ask for a side of the verde sauce to pour over the steak!
On special occasions I order the Molcajete… a big volcanic rock bowl they heat up and cook delicious steak, cheese and veggies on. its so good and a sight to behold.
Zapata has delicious drinks as well… try the tamarindo margarita… strong and delicious!
This place is a don’t miss!

First time visiting. Here on business and looking for a good local place. The reviews on Unilocal were very accurate. Authentic mexican food. Great tasting, nice assortment of fish in addition to Lamb, beef and chicken dishes. Also made good margaritas with fresh squeezed limes. If you like good mexican food you will love this place. I will return.
Tuesday night special $ 2 tacos!

Very bad service, they charger 3 pitchers of xxx and was bud light. Cold food bad taste.

Food was oK. Pricy. No weekend lunch menu. $ 7.50 for a draft beer. I would not eat here again

The food is good, the service is friendly, the atmosphere is fun, and there’s $ 2 taco Tuesday. What more could you ask for?
Note: this place is not Tex-​Mex but more along the lines of «real» Mexican. I think that makes it better.

Honestly just had good fun and good food. I don’t remember all the details.
I would go back again with some friends.
Drinks and food were great, unfortunately I do no remember the names of the dishes.
Guacamole was pretty refreshing with a savory salty taste.
Tacos were kicking my butt delicious with the sauce it came with.
Friends seem to enjoy their food, they got full fast.
Waiters should always ask customers if they want dessert, we wanted some, just forgot.

Chips were average and «salsa» tasted like plain tomato sauce. Very little chicken and veggies in a barely lukewarm bowl of soup. For some reason our party’s cups of soup came out after their entrees!?!

Exceptional food and service. The sopa azteca sometimes shifts between quite-​good and magnificent, but the mole is always top-​notch. Just thinking about it warms the volcanic stone bowl of goodness in my heart.
One time I was here with a friend, who ordered a tamarind margarita. They didn’t have the tamarind, but a server ran out to get it during our meal and comped her a free one in addition to the drink she’d ordered as a second choice. Never had bad customer service here, despite coming for years.

I give this place five stars for three main reasons.
1. Atlanta is flooded with Mexican places. Correction Tex-​Mex places. Zapata offers a menu much unlike the Tex-​Mex spots and I can really appreciate the closer to Mexican choice available here. And what I had was good.
2. Their house margarita, although in a small glass, was strong! I hate house mixes that are offered as just a cheap version to the good margaritas. If its house it should be good and its good here.
3. I am all about that customer service. Granted the service I received I think was in part the result of a language barrier, but to error in my favor without a blink of an eye works for me.
I ordered the Chihuahua Molcajetes with beef and chorizo. Because to me, chorizo is like bacon. I was not sure what I was going to get. It comes with rice and beans and I requested no beans and as an alternative, was given the option of extra rice. Yep, Ill take it.
My first dish was a small plate with the rice, two scoops, and chorizo and a side of tortillas. So I was interested on where this was headed since the chorizo was on the side. Then out comes this steaming hot stone dish with the cactus hanging over the side, bulbs of onions floating around in what appeared to look like a cheese soup. Inside were strips of the beef steak. The ingredients list it tomatillo sauce, green onions, tomato and nopal (Mexican Flat Cactus) topped with a slice if queso fresco. I was not prepared for it to be a soup. And honestly I am not sure I ate it correctly but I ate it. And it was gooood!
The rice, was perfectly cooked with butter I believe. The rice alone was excellent. I love good rice. The chorizo was delicious. The dish overall was steaming hot, well season and delicious. It was different and I ate some like a soup and then just slopped some in the tortillas. It all worked for me. My friends ordered some tacos and the Arrachera. The Arrachera came with a huge piece of steak, fresh avocado slices, cream cheese stuffed mushrooms, looked delicious and there was nothing left on the plate.
I could not finish my food, and here is where the customer service came in. Since it was in this huge stone bowl I asked my server to pack it up for me. I also asked for a container for the remaining rice and chorizo. Not, only did I get a container, but it was filled with a fresh order of chorizo, rice and beans. Two thumbs up, thanks! But overall the server checked on us, explained the items when asked about them and even helped with the pronunciation. They were a little slow on water refills, but hey it happens. There were some TV’s in there with Thursday night football and overall the ambiance was cool to hang out with friends or go on a date. I definitely can’t wait to go back!

Best Mexican in the area. Super affordable. I get the Maya 3 every time we go — grilled steak, spring mix with fresh lime dressing, charros beans, and rice. We never have to get a to go box.
You must try the «fancy guac» and fresh chips.
Brilliant.

went with my family for lunch. Service was challenging, with limited number of servers. The food quality was «D». Grandpa, mom, and kids confirmed as much. We all had something different.
The salsa we fair to good; and the décor of the space was neat.

Downtown Norcross is a unique place, and Zapata is the only reason I ever visit. This tequila bar and restaurant is amazing each time I come. I’m in love with their Pollo Relleno dish because I love chicken and I love mushrooms, so when you stuff mushrooms in a chicken you might as well sign my soul away. The other dish that is one of a kind here is their special Molcajete (sp?) that comes put in a piping hot stone vessel with cactus hanging off the side. It looks like a bubbling volcano, and it is absolutely delicious. If you walk in for the first time to Zapata you would think that you’re ITP because the décor is so well thought out and the seating is premium, but you will be happy to find out this place is OTP. The staff is perfect and will go out of their way to help, which seals the deal on this place. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ all three times I have been.

This place is adorable We had a nice afternoon dinner at Zapata when we came right before summer began. The drinks are pretty pricey (I believe about $ 15 for a margarita) but hella delicious and strong.
We had a dish that was like an enchilada without a tortilla, just cheese, and I loved it! We devoured that. Our carne asada dish was also pretty good but not as scrumptious as the former. I was told they have latin music at night on weekends and it gets pretty happening. Would love to return and update my review at some point.

Seems to be a popular place in the little town of Norcross, GA, and authentic Mexican. Chips N Salsa were very good. My enchiladas de Mole were okay, but not spectacular. Decent draft beer selection. Service was a little slow, and prices weren’t bad.

You’ll find the fantastic Zapata at15 Jones St NW, Norcross, GA 30 071 — that’s right on the square in the cute town of Norcross. It’s fairly easy to get to either by going North from the perimeter or from I85, cutting across around Jimmy Carter to Buford Hwy until you hit Cemetery Rd. Holcolm Bridge Rd leads right into Cemetery so from the West you pick up Holcolm Bridge then keep traveling East until you reach the railroad tracks — the town of Norcross is on the other side.
I first learned of Zapata while working near Norcross on Technology Pky — this amazing little place sits between Paizano’s near the top of the slight hill, and the Iron Horse Tavern near the bottom. There’s a sculpture out front with a sombero’d gentleman and a stand-​up sign (this night it read «Keep Calm and Drink Tequila»). I’ve mostly come here for lunch but had the occasion to visit for the first time in several years a couple of weekends ago while doing an exploratory mini-​pub-​crawl with my friend Sangam.
Zapata is what I think of as a true Mexican restaurant that’s adapted a bit to be more palatable for Americans. Rather than the gooey cheese-​and-​cheap salsa you see at most Tex-​Mex restaurants, you’ll find some classic better Mexican dishes here, like the Molcajete — these are large stone crocks filled with goodness, tomatillo verde, green onions, tomato and nopal (flat cactus), topped with queso fresco and served with tortillas, black beans and rice. Go all the way and get it with beef, shrimp, chicken and chorizo — you can thank me later. The other dishes I really like here use mole, like the mole chicken encheladas. You’re really getting different flavors and dishes here that you don’t typically see, and the quality is superb.
We sat at the bar and had a few cocktails so service was very good. As I recall from visiting in the past, service in general is very good. There’s also a hidden deck area if you’d rather enjoy the outdoors (too damn hot for me right now). Prices are slightly above what you might pay in your typical Tex-​Mex joint, but still not outrageous.

This restaurant was nice. Open floor plan and busy. Within 5 minutes the cables around us were full. It was Saturday around 4 – 5 pm. Get ready to talk loud to get your point across. The waitstaff was friendly and busy. When the salsas came to the table he didn’t even tell us which one was hit. My friend found out the hard way. I ordered some huge cheese pot with steak chicken and shrimp with cactus. Couldn’t eat it all nice appetizer for big group of 4 – 5. The drinks, woo hoo! Heavy on the liquor I could only drink one, but my friends had 2 – 3. My one friend had the tacos 3 ways– chicken beef and shrimp she said they were delicious. My other friend had chicken quesadilla that was a good size. He also enjoyed his meal. Good group spot. Drinks are great! But you have to be patience with the waitstaff.

They really have a great thing going here at zapata. They have a number of standards along with some more adventurous fare here such as the molcajetes.
You have to grab one of these along with extra salsa to take home. Its seriously some of the best ive had at any restaurant.
The calamari was also an awesome starter to grab for the table.
This area can get a bit busy for parking but they have their own share of a parking lot.

I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing good service on both my visits. Both times I sat at the bar and both times bartenders are very attentive and chatty. I didn’t order appetizer as I didn’t want to get too full too fast, they did give me complementary chips and salsa. The salsa was not good but what do you expect when is free, right? For my meal I had the Chicken Mole which came out after a few short minutes. The plate came with a side of black beans and white rice. Mm that what’s a delish! I also tried their Tamarid margarita which was amazeballs! Only wish they were more generous with their ounces, $ 10 for a small tiny glass of margarita, c’mon! that’s just wrong on so many levels. Overall experience was nice but like I said, gimme more of that delicious margarita!
P.S I typically need only one margarita to get a nice buzz (yes, I’m a light weight) but I didn’t even get a buzz. Boo!

We made it to Thrasher Park for the Friday night concert, but had only packed a few waters and some tasty snacks — not enough for the evening. Fortunately, the restaurants in downtown Norcross all offer to-​go drinks and food. So we stopped into Zapata for tequila and food.
I ordered a Pacifico, Robin got some shots of tequila. We were hoping to get them to go, but by the time our food orders of quesadilla and sopes huastecos arrived, we’d polished off the drinks. The bartender was working hard to provide service for those staying and keep things moving along for the folks wanting to-​go beverages, but he was still the only one taking orders, pouring drinks, opening and closing tabs, and bringing out the food.
As soon as we got our food, we closed out and headed back to the park. The sopes huastecos (I chose one chicken, one mushroom, one chorizo) were tasty. The thick corn tortilla held up well to all the toppings (refried beans, protein, lettuce, and crumbled queso fresco). My favorite protein combination was the mushroom, but they were all tasty. Robin enjoyed her quesadilla, which was huge, though she couldn’t handle the heat from the jalapenos in the pico. Nicely spicy.
I’m not in this area often, and I’m not sure that I would make the drive, but I do highly recommend Zapata to those who are in the area!

I came here because they had a scout mob and I was exploring downtown historic norcross. However, I couldn’t even use the scout mob and I was rushed into making a decision because I guess I came 30 minutes before their kitchen closes lunch. My bad. :X
Chips & salsa were good. I got the ensalda de pollo. Refreshing and summery! I loved the cilanto dressing/​sauce that it came with. My friend got fajitas which I heard were also good.
I would come back for dinner to try some margaritas and other dishes, but the experience I had wasn’t spectacular nor bad.