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

I am not a big fan for Mexican cuisine, but this place is awesome. The ambiance is great,the service is very knowledgeable on the menu and even helps to provide you specialty dishes. The food is extremely delicious. Always freshly prepared. It's one of my favorite restaurants in Cornelius area. read more

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

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Good Mexican food in Cornelius. We've been here a few times and have yet to be disappointed. Tonight, I had a jumbo house margarita, which was generous on the tequila but not too strong and not too sweet, and the combination platter with a beef taco and chicken chimichanga. Both were very good. Portions are good and not obnoxiously large, like some Mexican restaurants. Zapatas and El Toro are the 2 best Mexican options in the area, in my opinion. read more

By far one of favorite spots for me and the family! Enjoyed their menu for over 10 years, my weakness the Chicken Taquitos (appetizer not on the menu but staff will know) ;) 2 large flour tortillas filled with marinated chicken covered in their amazing queso! Cut into 6 sections with a side of citrus pico and Guac. Enough for 2 but I'm greedy and make it my meal. Keep up the good work Zapata's! read more

YUM! My favorite Mexican restaurant in the Lake Norman area. I'm a huge fan of the chimichangas, and I've had their fajitas a few times as well. Delicious food, attentive staff, and nice atmosphere. Try it for yourself! read more

I got the Marco Polo tacos for the first time. Bacon wrapped shrimp in a taco with delicious coleslaw and a sauce. Absolutely delicious!! I'll definitely be back to get that again!!! Also great service, friendly staff and reasonable prices. read more

I've been to these chain Mexican restaurants before, but I have never had these types of tacos before. The "hawaiano" ones might best ones I've had outside of eating at a food truck. Defiantly recommend, and service is good for it being a Friday night. read more

Good service. Bad food. Chimichanga was bland and soft not crispy. Calamari taco was mediocre. By the Yelp reviews, we had expected better food. Very disappointed. read more

This Zapata's appears to be one of three in the Charlotte area. It is almost hidden in a shopping center that takes considerable effort to get into. The restaurant itself is both bigger and much nicer inside than the storefront would suggest. The service is prompt and efficient. The portions are generous, the prices are modest, and the food is quite good. read more

This was my first time eating there, service was a little slow it took him awhile to take the drink order. Food was good, but not amazing, I have had better Mexican food. The restaurant is really nice though and has a great atmosphere. read more

YUM! Soooooo good! Excellent menu - lots to choose from. This SoCal girl is very happy! Cadillac margarita was excellent, too. I will be back..... read more

I'm from Texas. Can I just tell you how much I miss really good Mexican food? Zapata's makes me homesick. The food is soooo good and so close to "home" for me. Excellent and by far the bast Mexican restaurant I have found since I moved here. Yuuuuummmmmmyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!! :) read more

This place has a pretty good selection of food, the quality is good, and the service is prompt. Its a shame that this place didn't have a better location. It is smaller and hard to find. I thinks its a great place to sit down and get a great meal quickly. I think kids eat free on Sunday. read more

Well, I finally figured I would give this place a shot. I have lived in the area for almost 2 years and been by many times. I stopped in for lunch and was pleasantly surprised! The place was very clean and the staff is very friendly with management swinging by every table to make sure everything was perfect. The food was hot and tasty and served very fast. What a great value... read more

This is your best mexican option for the Lake Norman area. They are run extremely well and have great ownership. I highly suggest trying the ritas...I have not found a better tasting margarita anywhere else. Another must try is the homemade verde salsa, absolutely unreal. Chips always come out hot and every dish I've tried has been fantastic. read more

The food was decent but I couldn't get past the cleanliness and the filthy table that my arm kept sticking too. Way too pricey for this kind of Mexican food. read more

I got the chicken fajitas with refried beans and rice. It was really good, definitely better than most American chains like Chili's and Applebee's. My only reason for not giving it 5 stars was the salsa was just kind of bland both in the mild and medium varieties. read more

Delicious! Guacamole was fresh and authentic! It was nice to be able to sit outside and enjoy the scenery. Staff was very attentive.

Excellent, long-lasting Mexican restaurant in Cornelius. Great service and quality food prepared extremely well! The best place for a great tasting margarita. The street tacos are the ticket! read more

Love this place! I used to eat here all the time, but then moved away. Work brought me back into town, so I had to stop in for lunch. It hasn't changed. Food is absolutely delicious and the price is right. A little backstory: I didn't eat Mexican food for over 15 years because I couldn't find any I liked...Zapatas is the restaurant that intrigued my Mexican tastebuds. Best Mexican restaurant I've ever eaten at. read more

We were looking to try a new Mexican place in the area and Zapatas came up. Between the reviews and the fact that they had carnitas on the menu I was sold on checking it out. We made a reservation for seven of us and arrived at 6:30 for our dinner. It was a bit busy when we first got in, so we waited a few minutes before being seated. A server soon came by and dropped off chips/salsa and took our drink orders. The chips came out nice and hot and the salsa was pretty good with plenty of chunks in it. The staff were extremely friendly and collected, despite the busy environment, and even the manager came over to see how things were going. It took a bit longer for a server to come back and take our meal orders. Like I said, it was busy and we were in no rush, so we didn't mind. We all split an order of the taquitos which were pretty amazing. The shell was crisp and the chicken filling was delicious...was nice and tender and a bit spicy. For dinner I ordered the carnitas, and I have to say that they were the best I ever had. They came served in a tomato-esque sauce, and this turned me off initially as I tend to look down on over-flavored/sauced carnitas. However, this was not the case. The sauce offered a very slight spicy element, but in no way overpowered or hid the full-on porky flavor, which was dynamite. The pork was ridiculously tender, had a bit of char on the edges, and was one of the least fatty carnitas dishes I've ever had! Then you add on all the other fixins' that came with it. The pickled onions were done very well and added a great taste to the plate. The rice and beans were what you would expect...nothing mind blowing but got the job done. The carnitas also came with sour cream and guac, which you don't always get. Put all these items into a folded flour tortilla and you have yourself one heck of a tastetacular meal! Oh, and the portion size was INSANE! I got close to twice as much meat as I normally get at other Mexican restaurants and definitely have another for a lunch and a half. The miss' ordered the chicken pablano, which consisted of chicken breast smothered in a mole sauce. She wasn't as big a fan and said she had had better mole elsewhere. I had a bit of a taste and it was ok, but it didn't really do anything for me. Then again I'm not a fan of mole in general, so I don't really have anything to compare it to. All in all, I was very impressed and pleased with the food and service at Zapatas. The staff are all warm and friendly folks and are clearly concerned with making sure everyone gets what they want and are comfortable. The food was hot, fresh and delivered in heaping portions. This is the best Mexican I've had in the area and will likely become our go-to for carnitas and other Mexican eats. read more

Excellent margaritas and I love the beans and rice. Staff is very friendly

I once looked forward to visiting this great Mexican restaurant. It has truly hit bottom. The food is careless, the portions have shrank, the quality is gone and it is obvious that no one is paying attention to food. I used to be a regular here, but I will never go back! As the only Mexican restaurant in Cornelius just skip your cravings or head off to Charlotte! read more

Went here for lunch. Food tasted AMAZING! Service was super friendly and helpful and the food came out pretty fast. Try one of their margaritas, they are delicious! I'll definitely be coming back here sometime soon! read more

Hmmm...sat at the bar to watch the game and eat some good Mx food. Food was great and drinks were good when I could get them. The service at the bar was horrible! I had to beg my server for attention. I am not even sure there is a bartender that works there as a "bartender". I used to love this place but now, eh. Sad. read more

2nd time eating here. Our friends took us and told us all about something on the munu. When our food came she got something completely different than she ordered and the server argued that the ordered wrong. Not wanting to be difficult she kept what she was brought. While eating they started to vacume the carpets around our table,kept trying to take our plates before we were done. We asked for two checks and we got one with the orders broken down but still one total. Needless to say, too many red flags for us. Too bad because the food was good.. read more

Worse service possible. One waitress was lying down in a booth. The only people working was the manager and the guy who brings the chips. Order was brought out wrong. Then was overcharged for our meal. The bad part is, they were no where busy. What a waste of time and money. read more

This is our go-to Sunday dinner. Kids eat free so the price is very good on Sunday. The mole is pretty good and the burritos are gigantic. I don't think I've ever had anything that wasn't good, but the more authentic plates are definitely better than the Americanized options. Surprisingly, the burger is not bad. read more

It is just good, solid * not fancy* mexican fare. Service is good and friendly. Always welcoming. We go a couple times a month. Is it the absolute Best I have ever had, no, but I do not live near Abuleos. Good solid food that we keep going back to. Better than most in the area. read more

Updated menu with lots of great, refreshing choices. The Maui quesadilla was fantastic!

This place is nowhere I'd go anytime soon. This is the greater Charlotte area and there are 50 different mexican restaurants, I put this near the bottom. Service took their time, the Margaritas everyone raves about was watered down (I know 10 other places with better margs) and the food just was not appetizing. What hurt the most was how much I paid for that entire meal. You'll go broke for a taco bell quality taco, it's a trap haha. read more

Being native Phoenicians and Hispanic, we are tough critics for Mexican food in the Charlotte area, but Zapata's is one of the most authentic Sonoran Mexico food we have found here. The food is pretty basic Mexican food, the rice and beans are really good, and the meat is seasoned nicely. Ask for more hot salsa and you'll get a green and a spicier red, both are wonderful and reminiscent of back home for us. We've lived here 6 years and haven't found a place that stands up to any of our favorites in the Valley of the Sun, but Zapata's is pretty darn close. The prices are very reasonable as well. read more

Really great Mexican food with awesome waitstaff. Pollo Asada Burrito was different what I've had before, but still good. The place was crowded with two full tables that spanned the restaurant, but our waitress was pleasant and attentive. Portions were good sizes and the price was awesome. Will be back! read more

Great food! Guacamole was delicious and the server was very friendly. My chimichangas were cooked to perfection.

Great chips, below average ketchupy salsa, great refried beans, other than that ..way over rated, my steak fajitas were chopped so fine it resembled hamburger, seriously over cooked, waiter asked if I liked the food, I said no, it was actually way below average, he said oh, and walked away, he came back with our check and started away again, I asked if I could make a comment, what disturbed me most is that you don't care why I didn't eat my fajitas. Needless to say I won't be returning. read more

Great food and even better service every time I'm here. Servers take the time to talk to you and genuinely get to know you, which keeps me coming back every week. I'll definitely update this review if anything changes. Margaritas are moy excellente! read more

Came here for lunch on a weekday around 1:30. Place was dead. There were at least 3 servers but the service was terrible. I ordered 2 items for $5.99, chicken enchilada and carnitas chimichanga. The food was delicious but the service was really bad. No refills on chips and salsa or drinks. No one ever came to check on me so I assume they don't value me as a customer. Too bad; it seemed like a pretty nice place. So many choices for great Mexican food so I will go elsewhere next time. read more

I payed a certain amount for my food and I didn't tip because there service was horrible but they charged my account $2 more then what was on my bill. They are giving themselves tips. read more

The absolute best Mexican food in North Carolina. Great food and great service. You cannot go wrong with that! I especially love that their food is not loaded with cheese sauce and you can actually taste the flavor of the food. Their arroz con pollo is one of my favorite dishes! read more

Not your best bet for the area. Atmosphere is nice, salsa is mediocre and food is not very authentic.