Food is always great. Service is great. Ambiance is great. Have had many different dishes here and I would recommend anything off their menu. read more

Great atmosphere. Wonderful serving staff. Excellent menu, especially the margaritas. Big fan of the Pollo Fundido (crispy)! Wish we lived closer because we'd be there every day! read more

Matt our server was excellent .Food was great. Will definitely go back.True ethnic atmosphere

The Mexican stir fry was the best! The serving was so big I had leftovers for the next day. I'm definitely going back for more.

Was not busy at all. Bad service waiter was slow, rude & inconsiderate and forgot to put in a simple beer order. By the time he brought me the beer I said forget it. Second time I have had slow service here and will never return. read more

I have been a loyal customer for over eight years... the pork carnitas tacos are the best around.. that being said.. today I ordered chips and queso ONLY, when I opened it, there was only enough queso to barely cover the bottom of the bowl. I Just spent 12$ PLUS TIP, on enough queso for three chips with NO SALSA!!!! Will be going up the street to El toro. read more

Zapata's - Mexican Near Me - Cornelius, North Carolina

If I could leave less than a star, I would. Let's start off with the service at the front (I was picking up take out). My total was $28. I gave him $40, he asked if I wanted change. As a server, I would never ask if they needed change- that's so rude. Moving on. Took forever to bring change back- it was $1 short. Finally got my food home, and it was possibly the worst Mexican food. Taco Bell would've been 100x better. Our Pollo Fundido was 3 lumps of chicken with half-melted Kraft singles on top. Absolutely disgusting, but the chicken and the rice itself tasted OK. Queso was cold, too. First and last visit there. Currently looking for other options to eat tonight because this was beyond awful. (Picture is halfway through trying to pick it apart to make it somewhat edible) read more

Zapata's - Mexican Near Me - Cornelius, North Carolina

I love this place. The food is great quality,good service. The servers, the cooking, the one lady who works here is a very hard worker. I have tried several other Mexican Restaurants none other compare for me.Thank you Zapatas. read more

Tuesday night here for dinner. Seems like everything closes early on a weekday. Called restaurant to make sure they open for it was 9:15 PM. They said they were going to close at 10 PM. It was a rough day. Sort of like a Seinfield episode or Murphy's Law. My friend's car broke down, he had to get rental, could not get rental for his license expired on his birthday. Went to DMV and had to take test. Sweating bullets and worried about not test will not get licence therefore no rental car. OMG! No wheels in NC. DMV was great up in Huntersville, just need to pass test by identifying road signs. Got 10 out of 12- Thank goodness passed. Now, able to rent car. Life is good again. Reached Zapata's by 9:38 PM and we were the only one's at the restaurant. We had the Guacamole- Freshly made and so good. Fiesta time with a glass of Margarita and a Corona. Like the filling in both the Chicken Quesadilla and Shrimp Quesadilla with rice and beans. Life is good. Day was not so bad and for it ended with a delicious meal and drinks to boot. Will be back here for lunch and late night dinners. read more

I always remember Zapata's due to my rudimentary knowledge of Spanish. According to what I learned, this place translated into English is called Shoes! Who wouldn't want to eat at Shoes? Actually, Zapata's is one of my favorite Mexican restaurants. The interior decor is a bit nicer and more upscale than your usual places, and the cheese dip is excellent! The chips come out hot, the mild salsa isn't like marinara sauce and the hot salsa isn't too spicy to enjoy. One of my standby dishes at any mexican place, the chicken quesadilla, is large and stuffed with chicken. While Zapata's does a good business, it is rarely so crowded that you have to wait on a table, which makes it the perfect place to go at the last-minute, whether for lunch or dinner. Appetizers run anywhere from $4 to $10, and entrees from $8 to $15, so it is a bit pricier than your average strip mall mexican joints, but in my opinion it is worth it. read more

Zapata's - Mexican Near Me - Cornelius, North Carolina

Great Mexican food. Ordered over the phone and picked it up. Enchiladas were perfect and delicious. So much food that there was plenty for dinner the next day. read more

We had a great experience at dinner the other day, would absolutely recommend! They had a special running for Birria Tacos, I truly hope they add this to the menu, if so we will be in every week! The staff did really well with COVID parameters and spacing customers read more

My favorite place for Mexican!! I eat here in the regular with my mom and we always enjoy the queso, tacos and more. Try the Cadillac margaritas read more

Possibly the best Mexican in the area. Ingredients are always fresh and service is solid. I love the arroz con pollo though some may think the sauce is a little too much on the tomato side. They flash fry a jalapeño if you want it o the side and it is the perfect mix of cooked and raw jalapeño flavor and texture. Chips and salsa are always generous and refilled. They do very good flavored pork for their pork dishes. read more

See all

I enjoyed my food at this place. Good tasting and quality food. Great service from my waiter.

I am new to the area and absolutely love Mexican food. I have been trying out as many Mexican restaurants to find my top 5 favorites. I feel confident for now to add this one to my list. Friendly staff with reasonable prices serving very tasty food! Fresh guacamole, salsa, chips delisciuos. Hearty flavorful food portions. Cleaned and traditional decorations. I will be back again soon. read more

Great Mexican food in Cornelius. The chips and salsa is good, and so are the house margaritas. They allow dogs on the patio outside, but there are only 4 patio tables so you might have to wait if you go at a busy time. read more

This place is AMAZING!! some of the best food i've ever had. I got the choripollo (Grilled chicken topped with queso and chorizo) and it was so good. I also had some of the Baja fish tacos and those were just as amazing. Their queso, guac and salsa are super good as well. Amazing food, and GREAT service! we were a party of 12 and were seated immediately and got our food very quick. read more

Great food great service. The salsas are excellent and authentic Mexican flavors. Beautiful artwork all around to look at. Would definitely go back. read more

See all

Absolutely excellent take out. Food was fresh, exactly as we ordered and delicious!! Recommend for authentic Mexican.

Ordered birria tacos and omg so delicious. First time my husband ever tried them and he fell in love also.

Back though the area and had to stop at my favorite restaurant in the Queen City. Best food, fast attentive family friendly service, great prices and portions. Place leaves me happy every time I come here! read more

Great services, food, and margaritas! What's not to love about Zapata's! Always our go-to for great Mexican food!

We hadn't been here in a while, but we always came here. Most times we'd get the Tacos el Carbon. The meat was so good! But this time we decided to read the menu & find something different. And let me tell you, it's fantastic. It looks like we'll be coming back more often. We even started dancing with the music! read more

See all

We absolutely love Zapata's! We are originally from California and this restaurant, by far is the best Mexican restaurant in the Lake Norman area. Great food -trust us we know! Great margaritas, great service and wonderful atmosphere. We highly recommend Zapata's if you're looking for delicious Mexican food at reasonable price. We will happily return! read more

They changed the recipe to the chicken soup with vegetables and now it has no flavor at all. Terrible idea.

I moved from Cornelius to Uptown Charlotte about a year ago and there are a handful of places I miss eating at "up at the lake". This is one of them. I stopped in yesterday for my birthday dinner and I'm so glad to say the quality of the food surpassed even my memories. Starting with the warm, bottomless basket of nacho chips, we added a side of cheese dip (yum!). I had the fish tacos and a margarita. From the food to the service, absolutely EXCELLENT on all accounts. There are several Mexican restaurants to choose from now (and I've ate at at least two other ones on Exit 25 and 28) and review Zapata's the highest. read more

Zapata's - The fish tacos were delicious! - Mexican Near Me - Cornelius, North Carolina

Zapata's is, I think, a local only chain as my Google search only found three unless they are connected to the one in Shanghai, China (http://www.zapatas-shanghai.com/). Atmosphere - Upon arriving, I noticed it was pretty crowded for a Sunday evening w/ every table filled with families (I later found out that Sundays are "kids eat free" day. I wish I was a kid!!). The décor is traditional Mexican/ American styled restaurant, similar to the tasty places I have visited in Chicago, so my expectations were heightened by this atmosphere. The staff was dressed nicely in a red or an amber polo w/ black pants. Service - The host that greeted us at the front was friendly and quickly placed us at a table. During our meal we were served by two waiters, one that handled ordering and entrée serving and one server for the refill of drinks. This was excellent service for this price point. Food - Besides the free chips and salsa, I had the Pollo Yucatan (grilled, boneless, & skinless butterflied chicken breast marinated in citrus juice, Yucatan achoite paste (mostly tomato and spices). This came w/ warm corn tortillas and Mexican rice. Plus, I was able to substitute refried beans w/ black beans at no additional cost. The chicken was tasty and tender and all the sides were great. The salsa was a little runny, but was still ok. My date's steak fajita, which I sampled, was also tender w/ excellent flavor. Overall - Two entrees and two drinks w/ numerous ice tea refills came to $35 that included a nice sized tip. Zapata's is my favorite place for Mexican in the CLT area (and apparently in China too)!! read more

This was really disappointing Mexican food. Their decor should've tipped me off to turn away once I entered (ripped seats and worn out tables and carpet, dark lighting), but I foolishly went in anyway. Big mistake. I think their salsa was just diced tomatoes from a can. The rice was flavorless and not worth the calories. I ordered one pork taco and two chicken enchiladas, hoping that I could enjoy leftover enchiladas the next day. Nope. The taco meat was questionable at best, and the chicken enchiladas were cold inside, like they had just been reheated from frozen status in an ineffective microwave. I didn't eat much of my meal and felt like I wasted my money. Their chips were good. Their refried beans were delicious ... but it's pretty hard to mess up refried beans. They ALWAYS have a coupon in the Valpak mailers, but even with that I don't think I'd go again. read more

So far, Zapata's is the best Mexican food I've found in NC. They don't make everything the same - as in using the same base product for a burrito and an enchilada. The chimichangas are BIG and packed w/veggies and meat. The burritos are offered in many varieties and have yet to disappoint. By far, my favorite dish has to be the fajitas. There is enough to share or to bring home for lunch the next day. They are happy to send you home w/extra tortillas for reheating. The guacamole is the most authentic I've found around here - it doesn't seem to be a green, smooth blob from a container. Chips and salsa are fresh and in endless supply. My hubby likes the carnitas and carne asada. He has also enjoys the shrimp fajitas, a huge salad and tacos. My 3yo son loves the food here and -BONUS- kids eat free on Sunday. The service is always excellent and they will go out of their way to accommodate you. In the eight years I've been in western NC, Zapata's in Cornelius has become my favorite for mexican food. read more

This place is awful, I'm shocked by the positive reviews. The house margarita is bright yellow because of an over abundance of sour mix, it's almost too sweet to drink. The salsa is like water, no thickness at all. I had the spinach enchiladas, and you normally expect these to be filled with sauteed spinach and cheese, but at Zapata's, they're filled with spinach dip you buy in tubs at the grocery store to eat with potato chips. While the service was solid, the food leaves much to be desired. read more

Excellent food. Nice family friendly atmosphere. Awesome service. Thanks Wendy!!! Pico de gallo is outstanding. Carnitas is the way to go. Cooked perfectly tender and seasoned to perfection. Get the fresh made guacamole. Yum!!! read more

Zapata's - Taco Tuesday!!! - Mexican Near Me - Cornelius, North Carolina

The absolute BEST Mexican north of Charlotte. Awesome service too! We eat here once a week and have never had a bad experience.

Very disappointed in the food here. We went at lunch and with the sanitation score of 93, we should have turned around and left. I only wanted a plain cheese quesadilla. When it arrived, it was small and had cheddar cheese, not even the Mexican cheese. They charged me $8.45! I even asked about the cost and they said that was it. Very disappointed! My husband ordered the combo with two chicken burritos. They too were very small and had cheddar cheese with barely any chicken. We will not be eating here again. read more

I just placed a DoorDash order to be delivered to my house 1.4 miles away 40 mins before they closed and they cancelled it. I tied to call and order it via phone so I could go pick it up and phone is busy. Thumbs down... read more

It's probably a 4.5 but 4 seemed too low for my second visit and surprisingly awesome lunch! I like the fact that I had the option of choosing both the elements of my combo platter as well as choose the protein or cheese of each one which included carnitas. Come hungry because the platters are huge, and equally tasty. Everything from fresh made chips, salsa and everything on my plate was equally fresh and tasted great. I had only been here once before but plan to add Zapata's to my rotation of favorite Mexican in the area. read more

We were seated immediately. It was very quiet. The decor is perfect for a Mexican food restaurant. We were given chips and salsa. The salsa was very mild so we asked if they had something spicier, they did have but only brought out a little dish which we had to ask for more of. The lunch i had included a tostada, enchilada and a burrito with rice and beans. I was very pleased with the main entrees the rice and its my preference had peas and i am not a fan of those. My husband had a burrito that took up the whole plate. He felt everything was very good except they topped the burrito with a lot of lettuce. Very minor negatives because it was our first time and know now what there cuisine is like. Will definitely be going back. The service was excellent. read more

This is the second time I have been here. Both times the food was very good. First time I had the enchiladas. They were good but I wouldn't say my favorite. Last night I had the street tacos and a cup of tortilla soup. Tacos were great and I would order them again fresh, and all the flavors were great. The soup, by far was my favorite. I will go back for the soup again. I want a bowl next time as a meal instead of the cup. Although, the cup size is very large. The soup tasted like something my grandma got up early and cooked all day. So rich and flavorful. Get the soup! Decor needs a revamp. read more

I had the fajita burrito and it was great. Service was knowledgeable and prompt. Adding this place to my repeat list. Salsa, chips, drink, and large meal for 11 bucks is awesome . read more

Zapata's - Fajita Burrito. Friday June 10th 2016 - Mexican Near Me - Cornelius, North Carolina

Tacos de Asada were fantastic. Authentic and delicious. Great service, reasonable prices. I love Zapata's!