I'll start with 1 star because it can't get any lower. I don't often do reviews but today has changed that. Stay and read, it will be to your benefit. I apologize for the length. We sat roughly between 5:45-6pm today. Not very busy but a large table was ahead of us (10-12 people) that were waiting on food. Initially we ordered cheese dip, dr.pepper and a water. All was fine. Then when I got my first water refill, it came back as starry, did not think much of it and maybe the server got mixed up with another's. No big deal at that time. Then we ordered food, it arrived approx 45 min later. While waiting for food, we had 2 baskets of chips and give or take 10-12 salsas brought to us, not all were eaten but the server never informed us of a possible delay. Just put more salsa out than people sitting which seemed odd. The item I ordered was a quesadilla fajita supreme. Now everywhere else I've been it's been meat, cheese and bell peppers/ onions. My own fault for not reading all the way because this one was meat cheese and mushrooms, again my own fault but definitely not a fajita quesadilla if I've seen one. The server. Very minimal English, especially in a tourist town. No words the whole night until it was time to collect his money. He threw food down and did not say much ever and kinda wandered around (not very big floor space so a lot of pacing). Time for the check. Now initially it was supposed to be water, dr.pepper, queso, fajita quesadilla supreme, and a chicken quesadilla. Well since the server thought to bring me a starry instead of water, I now was charged an additional $4.47 because he wanted to charge higher? I don't know but this sucked a lot. I see why there hasn't been reviews in a good bit, if you're on vacation or even live here, DONT GO. oh and this whole cash vs credit card price, like I get there's a credit card fee but just charge one price. I don't always have cash on me but it's part of business. I don't see dicks sporting goods offering discounts because I pay cash. I don't know just weird stuff and awful experience. read more

First time here for me, but my daughter who was visiting out of town said she had been here before when younger. She wanted Mexican being from California and said let's go. I have to give Alvaro five stars. He was funny and paid attention to us but did not hover over us. Appitizer- Stuffed jalapenos $5.25- do not get them. The breading was not right. It fell off the jalapeno and was also doughy. Very disappointed. Mixed Fajitas $13.45- it was bland and got cold quickly. Had one fajitas and the meat was cold. We took it home and doctored it up and had it for lunch the next day. The size it large and plentiful. The chips and salsa were better than other Mexican places we have been to. The bathroom was clean and the restaurant was comfortable. I probably would not go back unless I wanted a drink and to say to Alvaro so he could make us laugh again. 12/18/21 evening read more

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This is not the first time that I've ordered choriqueso and gotten black beans instead. The food is good. But if you order on door-dash, be expecting your order to be incorrect. read more

Today it was raining cats and dogs, seriously it was a frig strangler. So I asked my coworker, do you want to go find a good Mexican meal? Of course I consulted Yelp to find something close by with decent reviews. When we caught a break in the rain we high tailed it down the street. First of all our server was phenomenal. She was informative and pleasant. After reviewing the expansive menu we choose burritos. The server assured us we had made great choices. In short order our burritos were on the table and the dishes were extremely hot. I used my fork versus picking up the humongous burrito. After the first bite I stopped and took a picture so I would assure to write a review. That was my best Mexican food experiences in ages. The freshness of the food was a surprise. And I didn't feel like I had eaten a heavy meal later even with the rice and beans. I will definitely be back. read more

El Zarape Mexican Restaurant - Caritas Burrito - Mexican Near Me - Morehead City, North Carolina

I really enjoyed this place. Their food was delicious and the service was spectacular. If you're looking for an authentic mexican restaraunt this is not your place. However, it's not Tex-Mex either. I feel it's your run of the mill mexican restaraung but with so many more choices of food. My family got the nachos supreme, Carnegie asada tacos, Carnegie asada burrito, and then the green chicken burrito. The portions are HUGE and the price is around $10 each. Personally, I had the crane asada tacos and the meat was flavorful and tender. The meat was cut thicker than most carbs asada I have had but I really didn't care after tasting it. Also, it came with the spicy tomatillo sauce, I didn't even have to ask for it. If anyone is at the beach craving mexican food then I highly recommend this place. read more

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This is my FAVORITE restaurant in Morehead City, as I go to this place at least once a week, but I am BAFFLED by the terrible experience I had tonight. Not only was I bombarded by the terrible customer service at the door as the host was complaining, but I did not receive an entire ENTREE, BOTH of the cheese dips I ordered, and the guacamole I ordered. I am very upset; and I will not be frequenting this restaurant anymore. (Reference the photo) was all of the things I did not receive DESPITE paying for everything in full. THEY ALSO told another lady beside that fame in prior to me they didn't have any more chips?? Which they obvious boy did because i got 2 bags. read more

El Zarape Mexican Restaurant - the receipt - Mexican Near Me - Morehead City, North Carolina

Food was great! Every booth and table was occupied. Service was a little slow because of the pandemic and the fact that they are short staffed, but all of our meals were wonderful! We got tacos locos, shrimp quesadilla, guacamole salad, tacos asada and a couple of kids meals. Owner apologized for the slow service, but we understood. We are just visiting the area but would definitely come back if we were local. read more

We had a large family gathering on July 4th weekend. We decided to do take out and get chips, queso, and guacamole to supplement our meal. We paid over $100 for a small bowl of salsa, 15 small bags of chips, a large queso, and a tiny guacamole (supposedly a large). The amount of food did not justify these prices. The portions were tiny and the manager was rude once we communicated our disappointment. I do not recommend getting take out from here. read more

This place was horrible. The waiter was so rude and service was terrible. To put the cherry on top, both of the people in our party who ate the shrimp got food poisoning. read more

I ordered a vegetarian burrito, beans, guac, mushrooms, and spinach. Why did I get a burrito with JUST beans in it? Rice and beans on the side? Why when I have an only bean burrito? Terrible. Also, why was my burrito drenched in sauce? I thought we're supposed to pick up and hold a burrito.... not cut it with a fork and knife. This was just not it at all. read more

My family and I had our worst ever dining experience at El Zarape this evening. TLDR; the server was very sweet but the kitchen messed up most of our order, the OWNER refused to comp meals that were inedible or that we didn't receive, and he VERY maturely punched the candy machine when I confronted him inside the restaurant about our problems after he refused to come to our table to discuss. We will never return to any of their locations. We arrived at 7:30pm and waited to be served anything other than chips for about 20 minutes. Once our server was able to take our order things seemed okay; however, we didn't receive any food until 8:30pm and it was only half our order. Some of our food trickled out over the next half hour but four of our meals were either missing items or the beans were ice cold and inedible. One meal came out with flour tortillas (after specifying we needed corn due to an allergy) and when we tried to send it back we were told they couldn't (or wouldn't) remake it. Our server tried to get items removed from our bill after no luck getting the items we ordered, and asked the manager and owner to come speak with us. He apparently refused and left the items on the bill (including the one we had to send back). I eventually got fed up and went into the restaurant to confront the manager/owner myself. When I told him we had been there for two hours, had only received or could eat half the food we ordered, and that I wanted items removed from our bill, his only response was "well I'm short staffed." I explained that I understood that, but didn't want to pay for food we didn't receive or couldn't eat. He twice pretended to remove items and then aggressively shoved the same bill at me and ran away. After the second time of me finding and cornering him to fix the issue he walked off and very maturely punched the candy machine as he walked by, grumbling something to himself. Throughout all of this, the owner was also treating the server horribly while she apologized profusely to us about our experience. We ultimately paid the bill despite our extreme frustration with the owner and his lack of customer service and professionalism, but only because we did not want our server to be stuck with paying our bill. There were several other tables that also appeared dissatisfied and one large group that was turned away at 8pm. I wish we had been so lucky. We can understand mistakes and slow service but the level of disrespect and lack of professionalism was inexcusable. We will never return to any of his restaurants. read more

Great food and bar! Love Brian the bartender! Very attentive and there for whatever you need! Will definitely be back!

Wow! Service here is awful. Took forever to get our drinks and we had to ask for our cheese dip 3 times. We asked one of the managers and he said he would go check on it. He must have been too good to bring it to us himself because he got the waitress to do it. We had been waiting for 45 minutes and still had not gotten our food. The thing is they weren't busy . We could not wait on our food any longer so we just paid for drinks and cheese dip. They need better management and more help. Will not be returning read more

The food was amazing but service is absolutely terrible. I had an old Mexican guy and within our "visit" we were only checked on once, never got a refill or even asked if we needed anything by our waiter. Someone else had to do his job read more

It was ok. Nothing remarkable. Nothing to make this joint stand out from the next. No drink menu. The waitress didn't know how many oz in the margaritas, etc. We ordered fajitas and it was slightly less than we're used to being given at other Mex joints for about $2 more in cost. But that was ok too. Three stars because wasn't awful and wasn't good either read more

The only reason there are two stars is because the food was decent. The service however was awful. Took forever to be helped, had to request refills instead of them just being brought to the table, when our food came my order was incorrect and the waiter was obviously irritated that I asked for it to be corrected. We didn't see our waiter but every 10-15 minutes and then had to flag him down if we needed something. The only thing we got in a timely manner was the check, go figure! read more

Ordered the fried chimichanga. The refried beans were akin to eating a spoonful of salt and the chimichanga was horrible. It was soggy and bland. I've now eaten at all three El Zarape locations and always come away disappointed. Never Again...... read more

Cheap, large portioned, good Mexican food. The salsa was good, but not very spicy, and my meat was too salty. Nothing outstanding about this place, but if you want a big burrito for your buck at a sit-down place, you could do worse than El Zarape. Service was friendly, though our waiter could stand a few English lessons. read more

Taco Tuesday tacos was ok but the servicer I had was kind of rude not friendly gave us old corn tortillas..it's a white Mexican food restaurant ... read more

My favorite Mexican place in Carteret County- always go for lunch and have never had a bad meal. Staff is always friendly and attentive even when it's slammed! Best taco salads around!!! :) read more

I wish I could write a 0 star review for this place. I was so excited to dine with them but waited forever there was no host to be found. We then were seated and flies were sworming our table. Although the margaritas were a 9/10 the flies were so disgusting. Our food came out at a decent time but the quesadilla was cold and the 2nd quesadilla was burnt. Flies also were flying onto our head I was too busy worrying about the flies I couldn't eat. read more

I was refused service because I had my service animal with me. I was told pets aren't allowed even though my service animal was fully dressed with his vest. read more

We bought a tiny Cheese dip Which cost almost $4. See the photo I just added. Its a good thing we didn't order a full meal because I'm sure we would have felt really ripped off! read more

El Zarape Mexican Restaurant - Don't buy cheese dip. A tiny container cost almost $4. Good thing we didn't order a full meal or we'd really feel ripped off! - Mexican Near Me - Morehead City, North Carolina

I really enjoyed eating at El Zarape in Atlantic Beach for the first time. The salsa was great! For lunch, I ordered the Arroz Con Polo (ACP) around $6.50. It was the best I've ever had. They served it with plenty of cheese. It does not come with onions, so I asked for them to be added, which they did without charging extra. On great thing about thsi place is that the Lunch menu is available Mon-Sat. The atomosphere was good, but the wait staff was slow. We had a table of 11 people, and some never received refils on their drinks. We paid individually, and I noticed that we were NOT charged gratuity, which was surprising. I would recommend this mexican restaurant to anyone in the Morehead City/Atlantic Beach area. read more

I ordered a vegetarian sincronizada and they put no spinach, mushrooms, onions, anything. Worst part was they added chicken. The avocado looked nasty. The rice was undercooked. read more

GREAT little hole in the wall, they got bill boards up but I don't feel like they get enough business because of their location. It's easy to miss and kind of a pain in the ass to get into. Every time I've gone here it's been rather quiet and slow but the food does not resemble the business... the FOOD IS Phenomenal, I've gotten a variety of daises from the "carne Asada burrito" to the "ABC" and the "TACOS LOCOS" who's is my absolute favorite it's three tacos that is STUFFED to its max capacity I'm talking about the tortilla will not touch because the amount of meat in it, the three tacos consist of 1.chicken 2.beef 3.chorizo and Monterey Jack cheese also a garnish of Pico de gallo it's delicious and filling for under 10 dollars. Also ask for the extra spicy salsa if you enjoy heat. I think the restaurant does a great job on its food and has the best environment and ambience of all the other Mexican restaurant in the area. Also the bar is top notch. Highly recommend everyone trying it. read more

El Zarape Mexican Restaurant - Tacos locos. Muey Fuego - Mexican Near Me - Morehead City, North Carolina

Awesome food with quick service and great prices! Steak fajitas were wonderful! The staff was very friendly definitely go there again!

Yuck. Somehow my last review gave 3 stars. That was 2 too many. So this is a correction since i could not seem to edit it. I cannot imagine ever going back. If they are willing to serve soggy nachos to a table who knows what is going on that you can't see. read more

Ate here last night for the first time and it did not disappoint at all! The food portions are HUGE and so good, we were so impressed. Our waiter was also very attentive. Will definitely be back! read more

We were hungry and in Moorhead City. We stopped by here on a whim and man it was good. I think that this is the first review that I have ever done. I had the fajitas Vallarta and my wife had the camarones cancun. They were both outstanding. Also be sure to try the queso with chorizo for an appetizer, outstanding. Also Wednesday and Thursday all kids meals are $1.99 with maybe 15 choices. Can't beat that. read more

I got the tacos locos. They were incredible! Just the right about of spice and full of flavor. My server was polite and very easy going.

Walked in on a Wednesday evening . It was somewhat busy. We were escorted to our table by the hostess at the front door who couldn't even crack a smile or greet us. We waited at least 12 minutes before our waiter came for our drink order. The chips were cold and stale and our white queso looked like it sat out all day. Overall, the main course wasn't bad, it was a bit pricey, but the atmosphere wasn't very inviting. We won't be going back. I gave it two stars only because the food was hot and not bad. read more

I don't know why the Mexican resturants around here just don't care about being authentic? Just bland

Best Mexican restaurant in Morehead City. Friendly service, good food with good prices.

Good food, fast service. . Nothing better for a lunch with the grand daughter. She said her taco meat was too spicy but she loved the salsa and chips so she didn't leave hungry. We liked our fajitas and burritos. We'd go again read more

We were discouraged after a bad experience last night at a so-called Gourmet grille. The we met Brian at El Zerape. He was the most charming waiter. He made us glad we had come out in the rain on this cold evening. The food was excellent, prices reasonable, and the hospitality priceless. read more

Excellent experience. And importantly, the outdoor patio is pet-friendly (which makes this place a rare gem in Morehead City). The staff is always so nice to my little dog, and this is what keeps us coming back. The menu has a surprisingly large selection of dishes (with a good number of seafood-based dishes and vegetarian options). The portions are quite large and filling, and the food is good, which makes everything a great value for the price. If you're in the area and looking for an affordable, dog-friendly restaurant, this is the place! read more

Amazing! Our waiter was Victor and he was SO sweet and helpful! He suggested the Tacos Locos which was not on the menu. It was perfect and huge portions! It was a wonderful mix of chicken, beef and chorizo smothered in Mexican cheeses with peppers and onions with a side of Pico de gallo and lime. His customer service was beyond stellar and I'm a huge stickler for customer service. There is no excuse for poor customer service and Victor made us feel like a part of the family. My husband got the XXL California Carne Asada Burrito and true to its name, it was MASSIVE! The entire meal and experience was legit. The decor is clean and fresh. Terra cotta paint and decorative windows open up the second floor into the cathedral ceiling over the main dining room. I felt like I was in a summer home in Spain. I could only eat one of the three tacos because I was so full. We each ordered sodas, shared cheese dip and our entrees and the total was 28 bucks. Amazing quality, service and experience for the price. I would definitely recommend to anyone. read more

El Zarape Mexican Restaurant - Tacos Locos! Beef, chicken and chorizo! Delicious! It's not on the menu but ask for it! 7.99! - Mexican Near Me - Morehead City, North Carolina

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The one across from Kmart is very good. They changed their menu and so it takes me a little longer. I like the vegetarian entrees and they offer that. It is very good. The sauce and cheese make the entrees so good. I have been to some Mexican restaurants that are very skimpy with cheese, not El Zarape. Good Mexican food. read more

We dropped in for margaritas and dinner for Cinco de Mayo. While the bar was packed, we were able to snag a seat and were given expedient and friendly service. The gentleman bartending was cheerful and cracking jokes with folks at the bar but still gave us due attention. While we weren't particularly fond of the food, we enjoyed the experience. read more