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    El Zarape

    4.1 (111 reviews)
    InexpensiveMexican
    Open 6:30 am - 8:30 pm

    Order El Zarape Takeout or Delivery

    El Zarape Photos

    EL ZARAPE ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Good for kids
    Outdoor seating

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    Recommended Reviews - El Zarape

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    Reviews With Photos

    Alambre de Camaron
    Angela R.

    If you're looking for that hole in the wall Mexican restaurant, then look no further! El Zarape is the place to dine at if you're craving abuelita's home style cooked food. They offer daily specials such as caldo de res or pollo, mole rojo de pollo, menudo, pozole rojo, Carne de puerco and much more that are ready to serve. Each day is different though, so be sure to check out their IG Page: el_zarape_sb On my most recent visit I had their chicken enchiladas. I wasn't expecting 4 enchiladas, but I was happy to get my money's worth! I paid around $12 for my meal and that is a deal compared to other places in town. I was a little disappointed though with the lack of chicken inside the enchiladas. Despite that issue, they were still good. The nachos are a must here! You get a very generous serving and they are delicious. The tacos are piled with meat or seafood depending on your preference and everything is made to order. My son enjoyed his shrimp alambres. They are cooked with red and green bell peppers, onion and cheese. Now for the bad news! They have no salsa bar nor do they offer a decent tasting salsa or variety for that matter. I find this to be very odd for a Mexican restaurant that serves up good food! There is a very watered down salsa that looks like a pinkish juice and the other is too spicy. I had to go across the street to Super Cucas to get their salsa because they didn't have any on the day I came here. How bizarre! Overall, the food is great here and the prices are reasonable, but you might just need to bring your own salsa if you can't live without it lol.

    the interior of a restaurant
    Paige H.

    This was some pretty amazing Mexican food. You know I had to get my favorite carne asada tacos and they just so happened to be cooked just the way I like. These tacos are currently ranking in the top 3 best tacos I've ever eaten. The chile verde also happened to be top notch. If I were to choose between the fancy Mexican outdoor patio restaurant down the street and this little hole in the wall, I would choose El Zarape all day!

    Cockroaches

    Don't go to this nasty place!!! It got me sick the time I ate there. You'll see cockroaches running around. You can see employees in the back placing containers with food right on their very dirty floor in the back. The place and equipment are very old and one of the workers there mentioned that the owner is very cheap. I contacted the city and this shit got inspected and the city inspector notified me that they did find cockroaches. The only reason they even get one star is because there's no other option. Stay away from this shithole!! If you want good authentic Mexican food there are much better tasting options and super clean like Taqueria Cuernavaca and Taqueria Santa Barbara.

    2 asada 1 al pastor
    Ricky E.

    I'm happy to have found this place. There are so many places in SB to get tacos and I'm still looking for my go-to place. I ordered 2 asada and 1 al pastor. Not bad. I would come back. I loved how affordable and simple the tacos were. The only downside is that it was my first time so I guess I thought they'd put some salsa, a lime slice, napkins in the to-go bag but they didn't. I got home and realized they didn't provide any of that so I'm bummed about that. Lesson learned, though. Will definitely ask next time for salsa and lime or they could've instructed me to visit their salsa bar if they had one.

    Pasilla Breakfast Burrito Week Special
    Jema H.

    I had the Pasilla Breakfast Burrito (special for burrito week) and thought it was pretty good although a little on the plain side flavor wise. But, they have some decently spicy and tasty salsa that took care of that and I am satisfied for sure. It was quite hearty too as I had more than half left for a second breakfast in a few hours. And, it seemed like the ingredients were fresh and I was left feeling great and satisfied. I will be back for sure to try some other menu items and update.

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    My personal favorite breakfast burrito option in Santa Barbara. Amazing ingredients, tortilla and salsa options. Highly recommend!

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    Need some real California Mexican food? This is the spot. Everything is incredible. My mouth waters thinking of the carnitas.

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    Page 1 of 3

    Ask the Community - El Zarape

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    Hmmm..... Where to start!?!…read more It was cool watching all the cooks in the open kitchen, the staff looked happy and I was so impressed with the scale of business coming out of such a small kitchen. I did notice that workers were going back and forth to a house nextdoor picking up stuff-- cooked food, veggies and such... The restaurant itself is pretty cute-- open seating inside, nice outdoor seating. The older gent who took my order was sweet and kind. I was looking so forward to this place. But sadly, it simply wasn't worth the wait or cost. This is a picture the remaining portions---yes we ate most of it because we chose to not eat ANYTHING before getting there and the hungry anticipation took over--- we really tried to like the food, but it was just not great. #1 beef taco-- on the white plate--dry dry dry. No flavor. Just dried out beef jerky shavings on a tortilla. Didn't eat it. #18 Julia child's favorite --on Black plates- weird pork meat with crunchy peppers, and globs of melted cheese-- not great. Over-hyped. No flavor, no sauce, pork was soft, had no chew- it was strange. We had a special tamale item on the banana leaf. Chicken mole-- way too sweet, no sauce on top, and somehow it was super wet-- moist and too soft. We ordered a chili releno, but the guy didn't hear, so we didn't taste that-- I asked for some of the crema that comes with it and was charged 75¢ for a small 1oz portion-- tasted like hot cream. Watery and lacking body. No flavor. Cinnamon coffee was served in tiny cups-- super hot, no cream. Asked for cream-- and one of the guys said " no cream" was rude and wasn't interested in helping ---we only got one lid, so I mentioned that there is no way to carry scalding hot coffee with no lid-- someone finally brought the smallest amount of milk. Old coffee with cinnamon stick flavor-- not even good. Guacamole was really sad. Super whipped smooth shinny avocado with tons of pico in it. No citrus, no salt, just crunchy pico-- zero avocado chunks or flavor. The avocado is served on and with fresh tortillas -- the tortillas were great, but they are served with everything, so it felt like a waste. NO LIMES!! The salsas were decent. But NO LIMES!!! Negro Modelo especial beers were ice cold, refreshing and delicious-- the beers had limes. We paid $68 for the food and drinks- I left $10 for a tip. I don't really feel like this was authentic Mexican food at all. I am not sure what to call it. It seemed like it has been "gringo'ed" down-- no heat, no chiles, no spice, no flavor, no limes, no love. Glad I can mark this joint off the list.

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    Flor De Maiz - Scallops chiltepin

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    This place is hyped as a date place…read more It's in a fancy location near the beach, nice patio. It is good food but overhyped IMO. $16 for patatas bravas is a bit on the silly end. lts also one of thoses places that defaults to 20% tip on the low end. I have no problem with paying a 20% tip but the service was poor on my visit. We gave one instructions/request that were just completely disregarded. Very little in terms of service other than attempts to upsell with more Tapas when we were done. Sorry, just being honest.

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    El Zarape - mexican - Updated May 2026

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