Took the day off today. We had a pitcher of gold margaritas, enchiladas with mole sauce, reillenos, and the chips and salsa. Great lunch! Great service! Perfecto! I live this restaurant! read more

LEGIT short & sweet this place is legit. Great food here. Bro had the ground beef enchiladas, best he ever had. Fantastic. I did the 2 x Mexican tacos $10. Fresh hard shell, ground beef, guacamole, cheese sour cream. Muy bueno! Nice little place great music too. John skrtic on twitter recommended it & he was right on. Private parking lot in the back. Nice girls & GOOD FOOD HERE. wow. 5 stars easy. See pic. read more

Villa Y Zapata - $10 Mexican tacos , GB enchiladas back there. GOOD FOOD ALERT!!!! - Mexican Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

I live right down the block from Villa Y Zapata and although I've driven past a hundred times, I never stopped in until this past weekend and I am so glad that I did! My husband and I decided to share the Tinga Chicken and potato Chimichanga and both were extremely tasty. The Tinga is basically a stew with chipotle peppers in and although it was not something that I would typically order at a Mexican restaurant, I was extremely delighted! The Chimichanga was awesome too, fried to perfection and crispy! Even the side of refried beans was top-notch with memorable flavors and awesome texture. My only complaint is their weird-ass margaritas that glow an alien green and taste very chemically. That's OK though, I forgive them and next time will just order something else to drink. I am so happy that I live so close by and this will definitely be my new go-to Mexican spot. read more

I gave this place a good review 7 years ago. Just went back last weekend and it has declined to painfully average at best, I am sorry to say. The margaritas are obviously made with a commercial mix, I don't think that was the case 7 years ago. And if it was a little run down before--it is now in need of a serious renovation. Between the mediocre food, bad margs, and run down decor, I won't be going back. read more

Update! This time (given we are now fully vaccinated) we ventured indoor here for another meal. Wow...soooo much better when it is hot and fresh! We shared a bowl of soup, scarfed down their chips and salsa then each had our own dinner meal. The chicken soup with rice had an oniony broth and was full of tender shredded chicken. My wife's dinner huarache with veggies and green sauce (which she loves) would have been better with steak or chicken, not just an all-veggie version. I had the tinga poblana made with smokey shredded chicken braised in chipotle seasoning and served with potatoes, tomatoes, onions and sour cream. Portions were big enough to take some home and we each had a lunch meal for the next day! Cheap beer specials, warm service and fantastic food...what else could you possibly need?!?!? read more

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One of the few Mexican restaurants left in Cleveland with traditional Mexican offerings. The food is fine. Nothing special but hits the spot. But the place stinks and is in dire need of a face lift and deep cleaning. And pls replace that god-awful carpet It stinks to high heaven. But I do love the little bar at the back entrance. read more

always love stopping here! The food is delicious hot & fresh every time. My husband enjoys the quesadilla and I love getting the flatutas. Service is always great and are quick to bring us anything we need. The space seems small but is surprisingly bigger on the inside than expected. Love getting a margarita with sugar rim while I enjoy my dinner. Always excited to go back! read more

Went to celebrate my daughter and my sisters birthday,with a couple family and friends. Everything was great from the salsa to the chips, margaritas , and the Dinners were perfect! I'm so sorry I didn't take pictures. I had my favorite, chile rellenos with rice and beans. Delicious read more

Villa Y Zapata - Chile Rellenos - Mexican Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

Waitress was lovely. Authentic, except the queso (thick and lumpy) and pre-made margaritas (like drinking a huggie.) read more

Villa Y Zapata - Menu - Mexican Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

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Authentic Mexican food. Never disappointed. Customer since the'80s . Wait staff is always helpful

This is my second review for this place and it's still just fantastic. Definitely one of the best, authentic Mexican restaurants in Cleveland. Family owned, the father cooks, and two sisters serve and bartend. They're really sweet, lovely girls. The food is excellent! The tacos are way overstuffed, one taco is basically as large as two average tacos. The mole is rich with great depth of flavor, so I almost always have to get enchilada in addition to whatever else I order. Also, prices are totally reasonable. read more

One of the BEST authentic Mexican restaurants in Cleveland. We've been going to Villa y Zapata for 20+ years. Everything on the menu is great...but if you can pull yourself away from the traditional fare such as the burritos and tacos and order some of their tasty authentic entrees, you'll be in for a real treat! Try the Chile Rellenos, Tinga Poblana or the piping hot Fajitas! The margaritas are pretty fantastic as well. Villa y is family owned and the service is great! read more

Villa Y Zapata - Tinga Poblana....my favorite! - Mexican Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

Visited here after reading about this place being authentic Mexican. The server and service was very nice, but the food was lacking authenticity. Very bland and what I would call "watered down mexican" I would actually give them 3.5 stars because of the service. I'm guessing they service who visits here the most. I ordered the American Tacos and the Mexican tacos. I wanted hard shells and let's just say of the 5 I didn't eat the shells of 2 of them. The rice and beans were just blah.. Might not be to my liking, but there were others here, who swore by them. read more

Food was horrible I asked for cilantro on top of my taco extra 1.50 For the top of my 1 taco The quesadilla had no lettuce No sour cream No tomatoes The queso is like Velveeta cheese I would not come back read more

Open for dine in during Covid, and everyone is extremely serious about your safety. Masks, sanitizer, menus cleaned between guests, the works. Being off the beaten path, this is one of the very very few places I am always comfortable eating with my family. It's never crowded. But this also worries me, because if my precious Villa Y Zapata were no more I would lose a piece of personal history. 30 years guys. I've been coming here and celebrating, lamenting, throwing on that ridiculous sombrero, and just simply relishing in the comfort only a favorite restaurant can bring. Both of my kids are on the wall. The staff know my phone number and my family and it's precious. So please skip the chains and give these guys a try. You may see me here. Say hi, I'll buy you a margarita. read more

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A hidden gem. It's been around forever and sometimes overlooked with all the other Mexican dining options now available. Small and quaint with great margaritas and good food. Worth a visit if you're a fan of Mexican restaurants. read more

Hands down best Mexican cuisine in Cleveland. If you have not gone yet do yourself a favor and try it.

I didn't taste the food here. The restaurant is so dirty. There is a foul smell the moment you walk into the restaurant. The restaurant is filthy. The walls, carpet and tables are grimy. I'm amazed anyone would eat there. If the front of the restaurant is disgusting I can't imagine what the kitchen is like. There is no excuse for having a filthy restaurant. Even if you have no money to decorate you can at least clean. The carpet doesn't look or smell as if it's been cleaned since the 1970s. It's so gross. read more

Food was just okay - ambiance and service were terrible. Went in with a few friends at 8:30 on a Friday night. It was weirdly quiet (no music, which is kind of weird for a Mexican restaurant) and empty. Our server had a pretty bad attitude (and whatever, we all have bad nights), but it went beyond grumpiness. She took our orders, but didn't bring us water. We asked for water 4 times throughout the meal. The server rolled her eyes and begrudgingly brought me water halfway through the meal (lol). No one else at the table got water, guess they didn't ask hard enough. On the bright side, my friends said the margaritas were great. The food was okay, but probably not worth the price - considering the relatively small serving size. I had the steak fajitas - lots of onions and peppers, kind of lacking in the steak. I don't think I'll be back. Bad service is okay if the food is great, and great service can make up for mediocre food. But I don't think I'll spend any more money on mediocre food and bad service. read more

Mom and pop restaurant with personable service. Once we were inside we helped ourselves to the seat as no one was there to greet. The salsa and chips were tasty, especially the salsa. The portion size for the entree was huge. Shrimp tacos were good, didn't care for the mashed beans. Tequila chicken with jalapeños was delicious. The alcohol is priced cheap and the double margarita was a humongous hangover inducing portion and be prepared to take Advil to avoid a headache the next day. read more

Villa Y Zapata - Chicken tequila with jalapeños - Mexican Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

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I really really wanted to like this place. But it did not live up to the d hype. Service - four stars Server was friendly. She appeared to be the only one around, though, so a few refills went missed. Otherwise she was prompt and courteous. Food - Two Stars I was eager to try self-proclaimed "authentic Mexican food" in the nearby Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood. As an appetizer for the table, we ordered "Mexican guacamole." Someone in the back went crazy on the onion that it overwhelmed the dish. That was ok with me bc I don't mind onion but if you hate onion, you'll hate this dish. One in my party ordered fajitas. Flavors were on point there. I wished I had gotten that. It was served with flour tortillas and beans and rice. And another got a guisado bistec which is a steak dish with beans and rice and it was all too salty for her. I ordered a super greasy pork and potato dish with red sauce. It was OK on the flavor, nothing special, but it was heavily greasy. Value - one star Compared to other local "authentic Mexican" restaurants, this place is pricy. Pop for two (other had waters) and the dishes above plus tip were $60+. And what we had was not worth $20/person. Additionally, the item which prompted me to write this section is the nickel and diming. To be fair, it's all on the menu but still irked me. Only one refill on fountain drinks and extra cost for chips. Atmosphere - Two stars While it has its own lot, it fills up fast. So you have to park on the street if it's full and that area is a little sketchy. read more

Villa Y Zapata - Mexican Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

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Came here because it was listed as one of Cleveland's top Mexican restaurants. Unfortunately, I have to disagree. Service was slow, our server seemed annoyed that she had to wait on us, and the order came out wrong. Maybe they were short-handed? Food was okay, but I've definitely had better Mexican. Margaritas were made from a mix and were neon green. Will not be back. read more

Take out or dine in, these ladies know what's up when it comes to authentic Mexican yummies. And by ladies I mean the last time I ate there the owner and her daughter actually came to our table to make sure everything was delicious! We ordered too much food and couldn't eat it all (pretty big portions here, folks)--they noticed and were worried we didn't enjoy ourselves. On the contrary! We were gluttonous and left full and happy. But I appreciated the attention--and the fact that they offered to take some of the food off our bill, which we politely declined--after reassuring them everything was awesome, of course. This is not a fancy restaurant by any means. It's definitely a little "hole-in-the-wall" ish, but not nearly as bad as some of the diners I've been to. Sometimes your arms stick to the tables or the menus, but the food makes up for it. Also, I hear some complaints about the area, but I've never had a problem. My guy swears by their chicken taquitos, but I'm always trying something different. Their chicken burrito is great, I love their salsa and really I haven't had anything I didn't like here. Take out orders are usually ready in under 15 mins. And some might gripe about only one or two free baskets of chips and salsa before they charge you, but come on. Think about what you're complaining about. I'm sure you'll see you sound silly. Two FREE large portions are more than enough, and it's not like they have that limited for large parties. Also.. they have a parking lot. Free, ample parking is such a nice luxury! read more

'Course, I can't say I seen London, and I never been to France, and I ain't never seen no queen in her damn undies. And I never been to Mexico. I imagine Mexico would be a lot more like Villa Y Zapata and a lot less like the restaurants that use the super bright paint and all look the same (El Jalapenos, Cozumel etc...). The exterior paint job is impressive as the food itself. The pricing is pretty standard for Mexican ($10-$13). The guacamole add on for $2 is well worth it. read more

Villa Y Zapata - Mexican Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

Service was a bit dry and in welcoming I felt like I was more of a bother than a customer.

I wanted to update.... they've remodeled the front facade. Goodbye horror show, hello same brilliant Mexican food. I've done a lot of menu exploring over the past year and everything I've tried is amazing. My current favorite is the Dinner Huarache. Pro tip: go on or around Cinco de Mayo and get their special stuffed poblano entree. read more

My family has been coming here for..30 years?! Never disappoints. Easily my favorite Mexican food. So good that my mom and I were underwhelmed by the food we ate IN Mexico. Came right back to 'Villa's' as soon as we got home lol read more

First time newb to this place. They were remodeling their storefront at the time of my visit. Got the chicken burrito and shredded beef taco's. Everything was great. Authentic and meat marinated well with very good flavor. Price reasonable and credit card friendly. Service was excellent. They appreciated my business and treated me like the mayor of a city. As I was leaving the kitchen staff yelled out the door "thank you for coming". One of the top tier mexican places in Cleveland. read more

Villa Y Zapata - Tacos and burrito. - Mexican Near Me - Cleveland, Ohio

One of tge easiest 5 stars ive given. This place is really amazing. Just like some others pointed out, this place look like a horror show. It really was a hole-in-the-wall kind of place, but more often than not, this is also the kind of place that will give you that serious, no pretentious, downright amazing food. We went for dinner on a monday evening. We drove past the place, couldnt find the place and thought we were lost. Turned out that the entrance wasnt in Madison Ave but by the other side of the road. Once we figured out how to get in, we were seated promptly. There was only one server, but she was very efficient. She handled all the tables with grace and very attentive. We were immediately given chips and salsa. The salsa was amazing .. spicy and very flavorful. I havent had salsa this good for quite a while. We ordered guac, beef fajitas, tacos a la plancha, came con chile (as recommended by our server). The guac was reallllyyyyyyy good .. very creamy and full of flavor. All the food portion were huge so really good value for the money. Three of us could have just ordered 2 dishes and that would be more than enough, but oh well, our eyes are almost always bigger than our stomach. Tacos for me was just average, but once i slathered some of those awesome salsa, it became super good. Beef fajitas was sizzling hot on a hot plate. It was also full of flavor. The star of the night though was Came con chile. We asked our server what would she recommend for something spicy, and she told us that this was her favorite. Boy were we glad we ordered that dish. It was really good, spicy, full of flavor. Beef was very tender, and the sauce was tomato-based, which we really liked. We loved this dish and would highly recommend. All in all, it was a wonderful experience. The service was really good and the food was amazing. read more

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All of the bad reviews are from dull white people, and the ones that arent have been kickin it with dull white people for too long. Yall wouldnt last for a bowl of chips in a real taqueria on the west coast. This place is complete authentic and the salsa tastes like home. "I ordered the chicken fuh jie tuhs and there were no carrots in the rice", moral of the story; killjoy karen and morose michael know nothing about true mexican cuisine. read more

TL;DR: the food was good but nothing special. Wife (Mexican-American) and I were confused why so many people were calling it 'authentic' - take it from my wife, this place was nowhere near authentic. Even judging by the low bar we set for Cleveland, this place didn't come close. They tried to pull a fast one on us for dessert and it really soured the entire experiance. I'd heard such great things about this place that my wife and I were excited to finally try it out a while back. We decided to go in for an early dinner around 5:30 on a weekend. When we arrived, we were impressed with the menu. They had nectar!! I was thrilled to finally have guava nectar at a restaurant. Now if only they had horchata. The food was ok, good but nothing to write home about, until we got to dessert. My wife got sopapilla, which is her standard go to dessert. It was okay - what I've come to call "sopapilla". Most sopapilla in the area looks like cinnamon sugar tortilla chips, while sopapilla is normally made to be puffy (and normally is square/rectangular though not always) so the center is light and airy. I can live with that, as it's par for the course in the area. But my fried ice cream ... Was not fried ice cream. It was a scoop of plain vanilla surrounded by four "sopapilla" on the plate. It was essentially sopapilla a la mode. When I clarified with the server if thia was the fried ice cream, she confirmed. I was pretty stunned. I've had the dish everywhere from LA to Chicago to DC to Cleveland. I knew it wasn't fried ice cream and have no idea if this is what they pass off as fried ice cream or if the person working couldn't make it (in which case, please just tell the customer. There's no need to serve me something I don't want and insult my intelligence). I'd recommend if you want a quick dinner or lunch cheap and arent looking for anything super authentic. I wouldn't recommend for service nor for dessert. read more

They lucky to get that food is nasty only thing good is chips and guacamole food is very soggy meat is not season and not to mention idk wtf kind of meat it was never again 40$ waste read more

Best. Restaurant. In. Cleveland. This place has the best Mexican food in Cleveland. Anyone who says anything different should be put in a home for insane people. And the people that were already in that home should be put in a different home because they will realize how less insane they are than the guy who came in talking trash about VZAP. Carne con chile. Best plate of anything in the city. read more

This review is long overdue. I've been coming to Villa Y Zapata for years and it's fantastic. I had dinner there again earlier this week, and felt compelled to share my love for this quirky little place. Villa Y Zapata's chile relleno ranks among the top 10 greatest things I have ever eaten in my life. If something went horribly wrong and I turned from being a peace-loving pacifist into a crazed, violent super villian who was captured and sentenced to be nixed in the big house after a dramatic high speed chase (that was undoubtedly peppered with explosions and maniacal laughter), Villa Y Zapata's chile relleno would be my final meal request. If I should ever find myself crawling on my belly to the safety of Edgewater's shore after bobbing helplessly for days in mighty Lake Erie, I would summon the strength to make it to the brighly striped facade of Villa Y Zapata so I can feast on this plate of magic. This place is a gem in our wonderful city, and it deserves your business. read more

Every time I go the food is amazing and authentic. The prices are great, note that there are some special rules for using coupons there. It's not is the best part of town so be smart when parking. Last week I ordered my usual potato and spinach chimichanga along with a cheese enchilada w/ mole sauce. The fried ice cream is perfect for sharing because they serve it on cinnamon sugar toasted tortilla shells. The service is always on point also, and the bathroom is CLEAN!!!! read more

This place isn't fancy but the food is amazing. It's not well equipped to deal with a large group of people (from a prior experience) but they are fine for 7 or less. I recently had dinner with 2 friends. I highly recommend the mole sauce! Their guacamole is really tasty but only game with about 5 chips. They brought me a basket of them once I asked, but let me know that I was only allowed one refill of chips (& complimentary salsa) without being charged. The chips aren't anything to write home about (Trader Joe's house tortilla chips with lime are far superior, but I'm also biased because those chips are among some of my favorite munchies). The enchiladas are always amazing and I appreciate how much of the menu is vegetarian friendly. At least 1/3 of the menu (I'm guessing on that number, I'm not great at math) can be made vegetarian, with chicken or beef. read more

Some of my more timid friends get sketched out going to this neighborhood because the only news coming out of this area is bad news. Bunch of namby-pamby babies... Reminds me of someones grandparents basement. The kind where they have one of those bars where your their grandma likes to make people drinks. Except this one has really good mexican food. And margaritas that look a lot like lime Kool-Aid. It's almost the same green as the stripes on the outside of the building. Don't panic when you get there and try to open the front door and it's locked. You are supposed to enter through the rear of the building by their tiny parking lot. I love when people exclaim how this place is "authentic"... Have you seen the paint on this place? Of course it's authentic. read more

Great selection. Friendly staff. The best margaritas! Wish the decor could be updated but none the less, it's a great local spot.

This is where I take family for Mexican Food when they come to town! It's good for meateaters, vegetarians, and vegans. They're attentive and will remember if you ask for no cheese or sour cream on your food. A few things I really appreciate about the place are the guacamole and the variety or hot sauces! read more

This is seriously the finest Mexican food in Ohio. I have been frequenting this establishment for the last 20+ years and nothing can beat the quality of food. There was a change in ownership about a decade ago, but everything is just as wonderful as it has always been. I make it a point to bring friends here and they are always impressed at how good and authentic a good number of the selections are. The standout dish is the Chiles Rellenos. This is by far the best I've had outside of Mexico and SoCal. Other highlights are the sopes, tinga poblana, shredded beef tacos dorados and their cheese enchiladas with mole. read more