I go there fairly often, and it's always good. Food is always very fresh and you get plenty of it. Service has been pretty great each time I've gone as well. One of the better Mexican restaurants in eastern NC. Tip: Best time to go is around 3-5. read more

We just tried to get dinner there, on a Wednesday, in the off season. We stood up front waiting to be sitted for 5 minutes while barely being acknowledged by the very limited staff. My husband asked for a booth when the server/host came up and he replies, Sir, we are very busy. So my husband told him we could wait, no problem. He then told us they only had two servers. We told him we could just leave if he wanted. And goes, okay thanks?!?!?! So we left. So rude. Would never recommend this place. read more

We went for lunch while on vacation and had a great meal. Our waitress was friendly, the food was really tasty. We ordered off the lunch menu so the price was right too! The restaurant is really spacious and family friendly. read more

Worst experience in decades. Waited 20 minutes for a table. While waiting, we went to the bar for a drink. After 10 minutes we were informed there was no bartender. The manager stepped in to serve us. Once we sat down, we were promptly delivered fresh chips and salsa. The chips were good and hot. For the next twenty minutes, no one showed up to serve us. We never figured out who our server was supposed to be. After twenty minutes without a hello, we stood up and left. Went across the street McCurrey's across the street. McCurrey's was great. read more

Ordered the Sincronizada. This was just a disappointing quesadilla with about 4 SMALL avocado chunks sporadically thrown in. The overall presentation of this was lazy, messy and looks quickly thrown together. Could've gotten a better meal from taco bell for 1/10 of the price. read more

Never again will I visit this location. Had a party of 6 and spent a lot of money. We ordered guacamole with the chips and found a huge stainless steel S hook in the middle of the guacamole while eating it. Called over the server and he said in the kitchen they have bags of avocados hanging on these hooks and it must have accidentally fallen in. "Sorry" He did not offer to bring us a replacement or remove it from the bill. I certainly did not expect a free meal but did expect that to be removed under the circumstances! When we said something he acted irritated and told us if he removed it- they would take it out of his pay so of course we dropped it. When we asked for a manager- we waited 30 minutes and no one showed. We just left and pledged never to return to that location. We have a vacation home in the area and visit frequently. Maybe they thought we were tourists passing through and didn't care? Bad mistake read more

good food, bad service. employees are extremely rude and condescending. if you can stand the employees I would highly recommend it, because the food is great. the employee's attitudes towards customers needs work though. read more

Good Mexican food - service is always very quick. We have enjoyed going to El Zarape's.

Lucky I'm giving one star here. Went in today and stood in front for 15 minutes waiting for someone to come sit me. No one came. They weren't busy. There was three guys sitting at bar area watching the tv. Saw me didn't say anything. Not sure if they were customers or employees. Was looking forward to some good food. But no one ever came so I left very disappointed. Here was no one in sight. read more

Ate here a month or two ago; off season.Will not go back. Service spotty, Food is below average for tex-mex. Room is cavernous and noisy.

The server was friendly but the service was extremely slow. I ordered the Chilaquiles Mexicanos and it was very spicy. The menu did not indicate that it would be. . I've ordered it at other Mexican restaurants and it has never been spicy. The rice was tasteless and dry. I don't think we will go back. read more

Should be called "el zaCRAPÈ" not good, service took forever, ran out of water....don't go!

We have owned a place at AB for over 25 years and this is my first bad review. This place is HORRIBLE! We aren't picky but everything was bad. First we notice the place isn't busy at all but it was crowded when we drove by on the weekend. We were brought chips and salsa right away (only things good about tonight.). Then we were not waited on for at least 15 min and probably longer! A waiter and waitress just looked at us and would go to other tables. Finally, a waiter came and asked what we wanted to drink and I said we would also like to order food. He said they only had him and one waitress waiting tables tonight. If you don't have enough staff to run the restaurant, you shouldn't be open!!! We ordered and my son orders a chicken burrito and asked to add rice to it inside please. He said he only wanted chicken, cheese, lettuce and rice. He received a rice burrito with sour cream, tomatoes and lettuce on top. No chicken! The rest of the food was just greasy and very bland. The waiter never refilled our drinks. He never checked on us again. I wanted to order my son something else. I had to ask twice for the check. We used to come here every summer several times. Last summer it was bad too and this is the very last time we will visit! We love Mexican food and aren't picky about it but this wasn't appetizing at all! AB, Morehead has many wonderful places, but this isn't one of them!!! read more

El Zarape is hit or miss. If it is not crowded, the food is delicious and you get served almost immediately. If it is crowded, it takes a long long time to get your food and the service is downright pitiful. I think they are just understaffed when it gets busy. I also wish they would utilize the outdoor area upstairs for a change. read more

We had no problem at all with service. Our waitress was Crystal and she was so attentive..and had a ball playing around with my son. We all had various burritos and a crab quesadilla and they all arrived hot and delicious. She constantly refilled our drinks and checked on us. There seemed to be plenty of help and everyone was being seated quickly. We will definetly come back! read more

We arrived about an hour after opening and were seated quickly. They weren't busy, so service was as expected, very quick. The waiter was great. The food, I shared a Chicken Alambre with my wife, and our daughter ordered a Cheese Quesadilla and Beef Enchilada. Everything was great. The Salsa was fantastic!!! I certainly recommend this restaurant for Mexican. read more

I visited El Zarape for dinner tonight, and had a wonderful experience. As a vegetarian, I found their options to be numerous, highly accommodating, and reasonably priced. I ordered the Sincronizada to go. First of all, the portion size was very generous. I would say definitely enough for two hungry people. I was hungry, but couldn't finish the meal, even in 2 sittings. It came with the actual sandwich, tortilla chips and salsa, and a large side of rice or beans (I chose rice). The sandwich itself was excellent - fresh vegetables, excellently seasoned. Crunchy onions, flavorful mushrooms, fresh avocado, and spicy jalapeños. It was a very large, very filling sandwich. The chip bag was huge! Salsas good, nicely spicy. The rice was well seasoned, and had corn and some other veggies mixed in. Also, excellent customer service! I'm just visiting, so I asked the host (or whomever was at the front) for some nice spots to eat outdoors, given the lovely weather. He recommended the pier, which was an excellent place to watch the sun set. I'll definitely visit this place again next time I'm at Atlantic Beach! read more

I'm through with this place! They seat you and then forget you. SLOWWWWWWW service. They get the order wrong and everyone doesn't eat together, I gave them a chance over and over because it is convenient, ..... never again! read more

Very awful experience here. We were seated quickly and the waiter came to our table to take our drink order. My friend and I ordered the monster margaritas which was about the size of a fish bowl. There was no alcohol to be tasted in these "monster" drinks whatsoever. We asked our waiter if they could be made stronger because they were so weak and he said he could charge us for a 6 dollar shot of tequila to an already 11 dollar drink. We said no and come to find out there was absolutely no alcohol in these drinks. None at all. We paid 11 dollars for juice. When our food came our group had all had some special (but simple requests) for our meals. They were ALL wrong. We tried to get our waiters attention within 2 minutes of getting our food so it could be made right and we were ignored. We understand that this was not our waiters fault that the food was messed up he continued to avoid our table for the next 30 mins after multiple times of getting ignored and picking around the parts of our food that we asked to be left out he finally came over and we explained the problem. He said "we should have let him know in the beginning" and when we confronted him for ignoring us he claimed he would get manager. 10 minutes later he comes back and said his manager was on the phone and gave us $4 dollars off our 80 dollar meal. Mistakes happen and my party understand that. But when nothing is done to make it right that's when we got upset. There's plenty of awesome food in Atlantic beach. Don't waste your time or money here. read more

Loved this restaurant! They give huge portions for cheap and they have some very authentic dishes. Great and fast service and delicious drinks! One of my favorite Mexican restaurants by far and I am Mexican so you can take my word for it :) read more

The service is excellent. The waitresses were awesome. The food was terrible. Way too salty, has a bad after taste and too expensive for what you get. My husband had a few shrimp in a plate full of salsa. It had lettuce and rice. $14. Maybe it's just us but it was way too salty and cheap for the amount we paid. read more

this place sucks. incredibly horrific. had to wait 15 minutes to get our drinks ordered after we sat down and there were 3 tables in the place. i ordered a burrito with chicken, rice, lettuce, and cheese only. it came out with sour cream, tomatoes, cheese, and lettuce ON TOP of the burrito along with salsa. Then in the burrito it was only rice. no chicken. worst place i've ever eaten. read more

Delicious Mexican food and as many chips and salsa as you can eat! Great and fast service at very affordable prices. I love going here with just a friend or a big group. I highly recommend the margaritas ;) Yum! read more

This place was horrid. Waited over 30 minutes to be seated with a group of 10, and after telling the staff we didn't mind being split up even if it we were in three different groups it didn't matter. We watched other groups walk in and be seated for another 10 minutes before leaving on the basis that we could easily find much better service elsewhere. read more