One of the best and largest chicken fried steaks I've ever eaten!!! This restaurant, in Zapata, TX is a regular stop on our way into the Rio Grande Valley and on our way home to Washington, every year it seems. Since it's roughly 100 miles from where we spend Oct thru May every year, we don't visit often, just when traveling to and from The Valley Like far too many restaurants and other businesses, they are having a difficult time hiring and retaining good help. On our last visit in the fall there was only one poor waitress on the floor. It's so bad they've posted a notice on their menu describing the problem. Regardless, she did a great job with our order, drinks and meals. The food is way above par and served in huge portions. We ALWAYS have leftovers. Fortunately even though we no longer have our Rv with a fridge, we do have a ice chest and can safely keep the cool! They are worth the space in the cooler. We WILL be back! read more

Arrived on a slow Sunday which was fine for us. Amazing friendly staff and great verity of choices of food. Chicken cordon bleu arrived hot and fresh, topped with bacon bits! Our waitress was attentive and friendly throughout our visit. Will definitely be coming back when passing through Zapata, TX. Great job! read more

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Best chicken fried steak anywhere in Texas. We drive all the way from Mission Texas for the chicken fried.

The food here at one time was awsome. The service was great. That was some time ago. I recently went to this restaurant that used to pride itself on its chicken fried steaks. Well if you want to cut into thier chicken fried steaks now you get brown grease and dough awful mess. I did asked if they could cook me something else because I was not going to eat it. I asked them to please not charge me for it because it was not going to eat brown grease. Well they made no attempt to make it right with me. Please save your money and stomach and if you want the good quality chicken fried steaks I recommend El Rinco de los Angeles or The Steak House. I don't know who runs this restaurant but it is no longer the same as it used to be. Customer service 0 it is a restaurant that is doomed to collapse unless it works hard to get back where it used to be. I would give it zero stars but in order to post I had to give it one star. read more

If you live in Zapata or happen to be passing by, this restaurant is one you NEED to stop and eat at. Friendly service from the moment you walk in. This place is known for chicken friend steak. The Country Chicken friend steak is more of a traditional plate served with mashed potatoes and corn. Hubby got the Paraiso special which has a more Mexican style to it, has a side of rice and beans and also includes an enchilada and taco. Both were delicious. read more

El Paraiso Restaurant - Country Chicken Fried Steak - Mexican Near Me - Zapata, Texas

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Great food and service. Server and owner were very friendly. They treat you like family. I would recommend this place on your next visit to zapata, Texas I forgot to ask if the would have a bar read more

Food is not good quality for lunch. I don't mind the breakfast. Breakfast is good. The PRICES are crazy expensive for what you get. Way over priced, and the quality of food is not good. Fajitas are tough and not well served. I could count the strips of fajita they gave me on one hand. Do not recommend, unless ur eating breakfast. read more

Chicken fried steak breakfast is as good as any I can make at home. Place was clean and service was prompt.

Food was not good quality. The prices were jacked up high. And I don't mind paying high price for food. But when ur food isn't quality...no go. I will not eat here by choice. The only thing that was good was the half and half tea/lemonade. read more

The best Chicken Fried Steak I've ever had! Flavorful throughout & very tender! Truck Parking Truck Parking Truck Parking Truck Parking read more

Good decent food for small town Texas the waitstaff is friendly ! Good service. .zapata Texas. How many more words to be able to post this review? Ok ok read more

El Paraiso Restaurant - Fresh stiuff - Mexican Near Me - Zapata, Texas

The classic Zapata Restaurant. Good all around basic fare. read more

El Paraiso Restaurant - Hortencia Medina, the grand dame of the Zapata hospitality industry. - Mexican Near Me - Zapata, Texas

Like everyone had stated the chicken fried steak is delicious. I kept reading about how good it was and I had to try it. It is huge so be ready. Also it comes with beans and rice like everything else in the Valley. So make sure you ask for the country fried steak. That options comes with mashed potatoes and corn. read more

El Paraiso Restaurant - Chicken fried steak - Mexican Near Me - Zapata, Texas

Awesome country fried steak. We stopped here on a friends recommendation and didn't regret it. $9.99 country fried steak, $3 beers. Friendly service read more

El Paraiso Restaurant - Country Fried Steak - Mexican Near Me - Zapata, Texas

This is also a beautiful place very friendly food was excellent not good just excellent good place to stop off about the taxes his little bit of restaurants at the quality Inn the care that they put into their product is amazing good place to hang out great place to eat you wouldn't be absolutely happy with this place God bless them and their staff for a beautiful job read more

True Texas-Mexican cuisine, through and through. Come for the chicken fried steak--they're famous. The portions here are huge so make sure to bring a friend. We also recommend the panchos. read more

El Paraiso Restaurant - Chicken fried steak - Mexican Near Me - Zapata, Texas

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Stopped here to celebrate our son's 18th bday and his Dad's father's day. Chips are thick, salsa is spicy and the service was incredibly friendly and fast - especially Andrea. Chicken fried steak dinner was as good as advertised. Son said possibly better than Cracker Barrel. Three tacos dinner was good. Small Mexican Dinner was the largest portioned meal on our table! And daughter normally orders a burger, so this is a big deal that she wanted Mexican food! Dad got the fajitas that included sausage and said it was delicious with extremely generous portions of meat. read more

The correct street address for the El Paraiso Restaurant in Zapata, Texas is 1905 N. U.S. Highway 83, Zapata, TX 78076 Owner: Wendi Mercado - Tel. 956-765-3558 Wendi - owner and everyone working there are the best at serving up friendliness with their famous Chicken Fried Steak dishes. read more

Such a terrible experience all the way around! Staff: Wait staff is absolutely inadequate and seems to be rude on top of uneducated. They act as if they don't want to be working there. They're also slow. The last time I was there, it took about 15 minutes just to get a menu and I had to ask THREE times for silverware before it was brought to our table. On top of that, they don't seem to write down requests customers may make. I asked for no tomatoes in the veggie omelet and I had to send it because they added in tomatoes. The waitress didn't apologize and seemed angry that I wanted the meal the way I'd asked for it. If this was just a one-time mistake, I could understand. But every single time we've gone, it's what my husband orders and they mess it up. It only came correct ONCE. The male owner is extremely friendly, however, and is absolutely courteous. I just wish he'd put some pride into the place and hire a competent staff. Decor: There is no decor! It's just a sea of cheap brown tables covered in cheap plastic. It looks depressing. Tables aren't wiped down completely, either. All they have going for them is a flat screen TV mounted to a far wall that is always tuned to Fox News. Blinds are yellow from age. They also have an awkward one-way mirror set up that leads into a storage room. Why is that even there?! Food: The food is just okay, at best. The CFS is good but I have no idea what they're talking about when they say it's the best in Texas. They use no spice and offer you the option of smothering it in flavorless white gravy or flavorless cheese. Either way, it was a huge disappointment. I also hear they reuse the tortilla chips leftover from baskets they put out. YUCK! And, if you get the water, don't use the limes! On more than one visit, ours have been moldy and old. Overall Experience: I doubt we'll be coming back anytime soon, though we live so close. Prices aren't bad but with the wait staff they have and the just-okay food, we can find better. read more

Chicken fried FAT and 3 waitress's running from the cockroachs in the kitchen. So dinner and a show. I heard they have great CFS but I didn't see it. read more

The 2nd Best Chicken Fried steak I've ever had. Adding cheese to it takes it to a higher level. Known the restaurant since I was in elementary school when it was a small white building. Knew it as "Tenchas" (Mrs Hortencia Barragan Owner) Its current location is a testament to how good its food has been and still is and now run by the children of Dona Tencha. The Best Chicken fried steak is across town at The Steakhouse owned and ran by another one of her kids . read more

Pork chop dinner was good as was the fried fish. My beef stew was tender and a huge serving. We ate here on our second night in Zapata. The atmosphere is more down home than the steak house we tried the first night, but we all like our meals better than what we had at the steak house. read more

Damn good chicken-fried steak. Damn good chips while you wait for your entree, served with decent salsa with a nice kick. Damn reasonable prices. Relaxing atmosphere and friendly service. What more could you ask for? Do yourself a favor if you find yourself in this part of the world with an empty belly and you're on your cheat day or otherwise not worried about your nutrition - get your butt in to El Paraiso and eat to your heart's delight. I can't recommend this place for the CFS highly enough. I'll be back! read more

Let me start with the positives. My wife routinely orders the chicken fried steak from here and sings its praises as the best to be had locally. Also, whatever other shortcomings the place may have, I can genuinely say the owner/manager has always been personable and made a concerted effort to be pleasant. It's really what excuses the rest of the experience and kept me coming back as long as I did. I enjoy their omelets, which can only be had in the morning, and although they're a bit greasy, it's always good to find something on the menu you can enjoy. Now that I've said that though, these are the only enjoyable qualities, overwhelmed by the rest of the reality of the experience. As you enter and look around at the scraped up mostly barren walls you'll notice two one way mirrored areas. Workers will sit behind these on their breaks or when in the kitchen, and apparently not realizing there is just enough light for them to be seen, watch you eat sometimes like voyeuristic creepers. It can be unsettling. Eventually a joyless member of the staff will shamble towards your table to frown a menu at you. Savor it anyway. It's the only table service you'll be getting. The tables are covered in a sticky see through plastic sheet (Think Dexter's kill room.) on which will be set the mandatory serving of cold greasy chips. I've been in and worked at a lot of Mexican restaurants. In none of them would these amenities be considered passable. Did you see that the information says children are okay here? Oh yeah. They have no problem with unsupervised screaming children running about. When my food arrived, I found myself having to spit out bits of chicken feather stubs and other gristly bits, but I didn't so much mind, because honestly it was too bland and greasy for consumption. The fries were cold. Not room temperature. Kill room cold, to match the table. It's not the lack of atmosphere or friendly customer service that bothers me. It's not like we're getting either one of those at McDonald's. It's the fact that we are paying actual restaurant price for this quality of food. I've given them a few chances now, and I can confidently say they won't be getting my money again. I fully expect to see this place in a future episode of Kitchen Nightmares. read more

Love it! my favorite place to eat chicken fried steak. Their enchiladas are sooooo gooooood also.

I have not eaten thire in 8 years and it the same still best chicken fried stake in texas

The chicken fried steak and gravy were tasteless, the fries greasy, the refried beans tasted like they were out of a can, and the Mexican rice too salty. My husband had the double cheeseburger and he said it tasted like a soy burger - not flavorful at all. The place is dirty and run down. Will NOT be going back! read more

The food was ok but the waitress had a horrible attitude. I don't pay to get served by someone who looks like they hate their job. When paying at the register the owner asked how was everything, I told her fine except for the terrible attitude of the waitress. Also, if the waitresses use the same restroom the customers do, I'd like to know how they wash their hands as there was no soap in there! Disgusting. read more