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    Zapata's

    3.3 (255 reviews)
    ModerateMexican
    Closed 11:00 am - 10:30 pm

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    ZAPATA'S ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Outdoor seating
    Good for groups

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    Create Your Own Combo Lunch

    We stopped by Zapata's for lunch on Sunday and the food was good but very over priced. One of the interesting things about moving to Charlotte was the difference in Mexican food. Down here, ACP has red sauce on it?? At Zapata's you're looking at an $18 price tag for ACP and $1.50 extra if you want cheese dip on top. My husband got a combination platter that had a good size portion, and I ordered 1 soft taco with a side of rice. The beef in the taco was very flavorful but the taco shell was just a regular store bought flour tortilla. When the bill came, the taco was $4.50 which makes sense, but my side of rice was a whopping $6! How in the world does a side of plain rice cost that much? We'll continue trying Mexican eateries in the area but we have yet to find one that sticks.

    Poblano chicken at the top
    Joan R.

    Four of us had dinner here; a very colorful atmosphere and an extensive menu. The service was very attentive. Chips and salsa came to the table. I requested a milder salsa and it was also placed on the table. We ordered guacamole appetizer which was made fresh, Pollo borracho, a chicken dish with a cilantro wine cream sauce which I didnt care for, polo poblano with a chocolate based sauce, which my friend liked, traditional quesadilla and a Bombay chimichanga All came out hot. Most all tasty. Rice and bean sides all tasty. I like the coleslaw salad side. Prices on par for the area. However my friends poblano chicken came out almost 10 minutes after all 3 of us had our food and started eating . We weren't sure why this happened. I would probably return and try another menu item. I found out one can make a reservation but only for 8 people or more.

    Cadillac Margarita  Cheese Quesidilla
    Maria J.

    Upon entering the restaurant, I was greeted by the warm and inviting atmosphere, complete with vibrant colors, traditional decor, and lively music. The staff was very friendly and attentive, making me feel welcome and valued. During my recent visit to Zapata's, I had the pleasure of trying their Cadillac Margarita and quesadillas. In conclusion, my dining experience at Zapata's Mexican Restaurant was great. From the warm welcome I received upon entering and several staff members greeting me and ensuring I am all set, to the expertly crafted Cadillac Margarita and delectable quesadillas I enjoyed during my meal - every aspect of my visit exceeded my expectations. If you are looking for an authentic Mexican dining experience in Charlotte or simply desire a delicious meal prepared with care and attention to detail - look no further than Zapata's!

    CARNE ASADA CHIMICHANGA
    Shay J.

    My family and I Stopped in for lunch. I didn't check the reviews prior to walking though the door. Honestly, we were heading to Bad Daddy's, but my husband said the food was good here. From the outside I expected this restaurant to be small inside. To my surprise it's quite a large space. And the interior is beautiful. I'm obsessed with the light fixtures. We were greeting with a warm smile by the hostess who was disinfecting the menus at the stand. We were shown to our table. I should note my husband and I brought our toddler along. Don't worry she didn't destroy anything. Our booth was clean, our server was patient and kind. Food: We were given a kids menu aka coloring page, which my daughter enjoyed. The kids menu has five or six times listed (I think). We ordered a chicken quesadilla and fries for my daughter. Her food arrived piping HOT. The portion was huge. I had to ask for a booster seat. I wish this was offered when we sat down. The regular menu offers a great selection. Here's what we ordered: Trio Enchiladas - a combination of three enchiladas, one chicken, one cheese and one beef. Topped with three different enchilada sauces. Served with sour cream. Carne Asada Chimichanga - Stuffed with skirt steak, roasted corn, caramelized onions, roasted pimiento peppers, mushrooms and queso fresco. Topped a roasted poblano cream sauce, guacamole and sour cream. We shared our meals. Everything was hot, fresh, and delicious. Not to mention our food was beautifully plated. I would definitely dine here again in the future. We had a delicious experience.

    Bombay Chimichanga
    Rayshel W.

    Great and quick service. Carne Asada Chimichangas hits the spot, EVERY SINGLE TIME. This meal was no different. Not only is the presentation beautiful but the food was delicious. Guess what you guys, they have a nice VEGETARIAN menu as well. Bombay Chimichanga is the way to go if you want leftovers for another day. Margaritas was standard but no complaints. Diana was our waitress and she was both friendly but not too chatty. My type of gal. She was quick with providing additional items to our table and answering any questions we had. I normally go to the JM Keynes location but I like that this spot provided to a more intimate setting. I would definitely return.

    Steak fajita bowl
    Melody McCord S.

    Large place, always plenty of seating and short waits. Typically, if I'm in the university area and I want Mexican in gonna eat here. I can't say I ever gone wrong. Usually, I order my norm, a chicken taco salad, fish tacos, or a fajita, BUT this time I ordered the steak fajita bowl and OMGOODNESS it was delicious! The steak was flavorful, and tender mixed with all the ingredients in the bowl was the perfect mix of flavors bursting in my mouth. Lots of veggies, in the shrimp fajita bowl, as a matter of fact, my friend and I said a little too many onions. The fajita bowl is definitely my new favorite and will definitely be ordering it again.

    Cynthia R.

    I don't know if you can ever go wrong with Mexican food any day of the week. I was seated fast and the food came out fast as well. Was piping hot and seasoned perfectly. I got the birria tacos, so yummy! They are right on the lake at the boardwalk so great place to eat dinner and then walk it off enjoying the lake or just sitting and relaxing taking in the scene.

    Chimichanga

    Got a to-go order and started eating 5 mins after picked up. Got a cold enchilada with shredded cheddar cheese that wasn't melted. So gross. Chimichanga wasnt even deep fried, just rolled up burrito with salsa on top. Beans were watered down, almost needed a spoon. Again more shredded unmelted cheese on cold beans. This place will probably close soon. Oh yeah the price at the restaurant is $3 more than the menu on their website. Count your days...

    Chimichanga
    Brittney W.

    Nice sized portions. It did take a bot for the staff to seat us and take our order even though they were not busy. Food was hot and fresh.

    liv s.

    Came here for lunch- and left a bit unsatisfied. I would consider this food more authentic Mexican vs Tex Mex - started with the chips + queso/salsa (they are included so bonus points) and they were pretty good! Ordered the traditional quesadilla & it was okay- underwhelming with the chicken and slacking on the cheese. Both my friends got the tacos and said "they weren't the BEST ever but they were good" The interior was decorated very "Encanto" vibes - best description I got.... Lastly lots of parking out front! Overall, subpar experience - don't think I would go back.

    Pollo Poblano w/Black Beans
    Penny H.

    My husband and I enjoyed our lunch at this lovely restaurant. The decor is bright and inviting and service was excellent. When the food arrived, it was hot and flavorful. My husband had the pollo poblano and I the the pollo borracho. The little side of slaw was terrific! This was our third time here and we've enjoyed every visit.

    Lovely art

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    The service was pretty good not amazing but the food was definitely bland. 2nd time trying before made this review.

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    4 years ago

    Small portions, over priced, and not very good. Left very disappointed, time to find another Mexican restaurant to try.

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    4 years ago

    Food is always very tasty! Big portion We are living near, so it's our favorite place to take over.

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    4 years ago

    This is definitely the Best Mexican Restaurant in town, delicious food and amazing service. Our family loves Zapatas.

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    Azul Tacos & Beer

    Azul Tacos & Beer

    4.5(243 reviews)
    12.6 mi
    $$
    Family-owned & operated
    Sports on TV

    Visited Charlotte for the weekend and were wanting some Mexican food. Last meal before my flight…read moreout ended up being at Azul tacos, which was an outstanding choice. I opted for a California burrito with asada, this hit the spot. Not only was the burrito well wrapped but it was very savory and filled to where it left me full. The place is a counter service restaurant with a bar as well so you can go and order your food first then order your beer/cocktails of choice. They also have a salsa bar but chips are extra. The restaurant is slightly noisy and can probably fill fast during peak hours. Overall I would come back, definitely highlight to my Charlotte trip!

    I was in the mood to try and possibly find a new gem in the city and saw this place. The pics…read morelooked good and the reviews seemed to be good as well. This place gets one star from me. The food was extremely mediocre in taste and portions. I ordered the two-taco combo plate that comes with two sides. I chose Mexican Rice & Refried Beans as my side and the tacos I chose were Birria. Let's start there. There is no option to order anything other but the same two tacos so for example, I wanted to order one chicken and one birria or one shrimp taco and one birria taco, that option was not available. Most places allow you to customize your taco orders. I arrived to pick up my food and noticed the bag was NOTICEABLY light...which is a stark contrast to when I order this same kind of meal from my regular go to taco spots. I get home and start taking the food out of the bag and the taco presentation was good. They looked good and had pretty much what you would expect to be on them. I then go to open the containers that had my sides and noticed that the containers barely had any sides in them. I'm talking about the containers were less than half full of the rice and beans...to where it looks like they only put a couple of spoonfuls in each container. Which explains why the bag was so light. The rice looked like the typical Mexican rice and smelled about the same. It tasted very average, nothing special. The refried beans however, had no texture to them and looked like someone just put all the beans into a blender and turned them into a thick paste of some sort. They were completely flavorless and also didn't have the layer of cheese on top on them that most authentic places put on there. The three tacos were also very flavorless. The meats had absolutely NO flavor to them which is crazy for a birria taco. They were full enough with meat, salsa, onions, etc. but the meat had very little seasoning. I also found two VERY hard and sharp pieces of BONE in one of my birria tacos. I have braces and thought one of my back brackets had come loose. Imagine my surprise when I spit everything out and saw a decent chuck of bone shard. I set i aside and took another bit of ended up with yet another piece, albeit smaller, of shard in my mouth. As someone who moved here from Los Angeles and prior to that lived in Texas, this place just doesn't cut it for tacos. Not even for a chain restaurant quality of tacos. It's just like so many of these trendy restaurants popping up all over Charlotte with mediocre food trying to make a quick buck before it's eventually shut down for whatever reason . I'll be sticking to my two go to places which are very authentic taco spots where I have NEVER been disappointed. They are little pricier, but quantity and quality are worth it at this point. I have attached pics and you can see the pathetic amount of rice and beans that they gave me in that entire container, smh. You can see it from the top view and the side view where you can see the shadow lines of how full the containers were. For comparison, the container was about the size of a medium Mac N Cheese from Chick-fil-A. Rice and beans are literally the CHEAPEST items to acquire and add to meals so being stingy with them is a really bad look.

    Photos
    Azul Tacos & Beer - Queso Loko

    Queso Loko

    Azul Tacos & Beer - Come Hungry

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    Azul Tacos & Beer - Asada Fries

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    Asada Fries

    Dos Caminos

    Dos Caminos

    3.8(289 reviews)
    11.8 miUptown
    $$

    Overall, I believe I might go back to this What impressed me was the authentic decor it's large…read moreand I hear they have live music on certain evenings although there was none our evening, but they did have a good playlist. We were seated pretty quickly on the patio. It was a nice breezy evening perfect for alfresco dining. Initially our service was fast. Our server came over. Took care of our water brought our additional drink orders and then took our order for food, but then it took a while. Eventually we did get it and I was surprised how well I liked the refried black beans and their rice I opted for their Birria tacos and they were very flavorful and the consommé was delicious. My husband opted for the fish tacos and well he had to fish for the fish in the fish tacos. It was very little and that was very disappointing. I asked him if he would return and he said he would, but he would either not get the fish tacos because they don't have near enough fish to be called a fish taco or he would ask that they put an adequate amount of fish in the taco. It was more slaw and cilantro than fish. But he did agree that the refried black beans were extremely delicious and the rice was very flavorful as well. We both like their chips, which are served with their house salsa. I was not a fan of the salsa. I like mine with a little bit more sweet nod, but my husband did enjoy the salsa. Overall, it was a good first time experience and I usually give a restaurant 2 to 3 tries before I figure if they're just not for me so we'll definitely come back again

    Went with a group of 5 on a Saturday night, we arrived at 8:35 PM and they warned us they were…read moreclosing the kitchen in 20 min. So we needed to get orders in asap. (Sat night, DT Charlotte NC?) the service was nice though, and the food was good, nothing revolutionary or unique, but solid American Mexican chain vibes. Maybe come for happy hour? The chips and salsa stood out more than Barria tacos though if that's a good barometer

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    Dos Caminos
    Dos Caminos
    Dos Caminos

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    Azteca Mexican Restaurant - Our huge fried icecream

    Azteca Mexican Restaurant

    3.5(347 reviews)
    20.6 mi
    $$

    First impression- nicely decorated and seemed like a fun atmosphere. I had to use the women's…read morerestroom right away. There was an employee fixing her hair. I took the first stall and discovered too late there was no toilet paper (even though they were the 2 large roll dispensers). One of my biggest all time pet peeves for sure. I checked the other two stalls and found both dispensers were totally empty. There was a large roll sitting on top of the second stall dispenser and an almost empty roll in the third stall. Needless to say I chose the wrong stall. As I was washing my hands the girl came in with a broom and I advised her of the issue. I'm thinking she didn't know how to fill the dispensers. Anyway, the margarita my husband had and the food was very good and the service was up to par. The star I dropped was for the bathroom situation and I wanted to drop it to 3 after I discovered after dinner the second stall had no toilet paper. So weird!

    Party of four on a Friday night - walked right in and was able to sit in a booth. Our waiter was…read morefriendly and attentive. We ordered the big guacamole and a man comes around with a cart and makes it tableside. Everything looked fresh - it was under seasoned. When the cheese dip came out my mom and I both thought it may be the best we've ever had. Ever. And we had it before at this location and it was normal good. But it was fight over the leftovers good this time. The kids meal with shrimp for my son came out fast and he loved it. The enchiladas with tomatillo sauce was yummy. My husband had a very unique beef dish with cactus in the middle that was recommended by our waiter and liked it. The sweet tea was good. The women's bathroom was clean and stocked. I recommend.

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    Azteca Mexican Restaurant
    Azteca Mexican Restaurant
    Azteca Mexican Restaurant - Menu

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    Menu

    Tacos El Nevado

    Tacos El Nevado

    4.0(217 reviews)
    8.8 mi
    $$

    I just left this place and I had a decent experience up until when I went to leave. Basically I got…read morethree Quesabirria tacos, a steak taco and two bottled Coca-Cola's. I originally was going to place the order online, but they're online option said it was unavailable so I went inside and sat down at the bar. The service was OK though it seemed most people did not speak English, which is fine. It just made it kind of harder to communicate. That said the food was decent but the reason why I gave two stars was because I feel very misled on pricing. The menu showed Que Siberia tacos three for $12. Steak/Asada tacos for three dollars which brings my total to 15+ the two drinks. I thought she said it was $20.80 so I paid it with my card and gave her five dollars cash for a tip. I get to the car just to double check the transaction and she charged me 3499 on my card and took the cash. I went back inside to confront her about this advising. She completely overcharged me, and she only offered to give my six dollars tip back to me. I am now going to dispute the transaction with my bank because I was unable to resolve this issue. That's sad.

    As a Bay Area transplant and lifelong foodie, I'm always chasing recommendations for great local…read moreeats. Tacos El Nevado came highly recommended, so I headed over for lunch with high hopes. The restaurant was packed when I arrived around 1:30 p.m., which is usually a good sign. It appears to be a converted fast-food building with its own parking lot, outdoor patio, and a casual, family-friendly atmosphere. Despite the Charlotte heat pushing triple digits, the dining room was comfortable and bustling. Service was friendly from the start, and I was quickly seated with ice water, lemon, fresh chips, and three house-made salsas. The chips were excellent--fresh, crisp, and clearly made in-house. The standout salsa for me was the red salsa, which packed plenty of heat and flavor. There was also a tomatillo salsa and a creamy green avocado-style salsa. Both were good, although the tomatillo leaned a little too tart for my taste. The menu is extensive, with everything from seafood dishes and quesadillas to tacos and larger combination plates. As someone who loves sampling a little of everything, I was hoping for more traditional combo options, but this menu takes a different approach. I ordered the crispy taco plate with rice and beans. The presentation was attractive, with the tacos served upright in a metal rack alongside refried beans and Mexican rice. The rice and beans were both delicious and easily the highlight of the plate. Where things got mixed for me was the taco filling. I was expecting a straightforward seasoned ground beef taco, but the beef filling tasted more like a guisado-style preparation with a softer texture and a slightly tangy flavor profile. It may simply be a regional style or a misunderstanding when ordering, but it wasn't what I had anticipated. The chicken taco, however, was excellent. Tender, flavorful, and clearly made with higher-quality chicken than you typically find in a crispy taco. After trying it, I immediately wished I had ordered all chicken. While this visit didn't completely win me over, I don't think it's fair to judge a restaurant by one dish. The packed dining room, friendly service, fresh chips, excellent salsas, and strong chicken taco all suggest there's more to explore here. Next time, I'd skip the crispy beef tacos and dive into the street tacos or some of the house specialties that seem to be what many regulars were ordering. Tacos El Nevado didn't become my favorite Mexican restaurant in Charlotte on this visit, but it earned a second chance. Life is too short not to eat well, Charlotte. Keep exploring. Sometimes the next great meal is just one menu item away.

    Photos
    Tacos El Nevado
    Tacos El Nevado - Chips & queso

    Chips & queso

    Tacos El Nevado - Steak, chicken, & shrimp burrito

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    Steak, chicken, & shrimp burrito

    Superica - Cheese  enchiladas

    Superica

    4.1(866 reviews)
    11.0 miSouth End, Dilworth
    $$

    Had a nice dinner with friends here on Monday night. It was quite packed at 7 PM and we were seated…read moreat a round table for 6. It was really loud for me and could only hear the people next to me. Ordered some drinks and they seemed to be backed up as it took awhile, but their cocktails were very good and yummy. I do like their family style of chips and salsa, especially the spicy green sauce in the bottle. However, it would be nice to have some spoons to share the salsa for the group. I had the cheese enchiladas and it was really delicious. The enchilada sauce was tasty. The rice and beans are also family style and was a nice addition. I did try the chorizo queso and it was a bit too watery for my taste. Service was great and would be back for the Tex Mex food here again.

    I recommend, I guess…read more I wasn't impressed, and this was extremely disappointing. I see and have heard people brag about Superica and it was not worth the hype. I ordered their special Strawberry Margarita with sugar which was good. A basic margarita. I ordered their crispy tacos THE BLANDEST tacos I have ever had in my life. Yes they were crispy, hot and fresh. Served with refried beans and rice, the beans were delicious! Service was prompt. This is a very large restaurant so group sizes have plenty of room. Yet I will not be returning. I hope that you enjoy this text makes way more than I did.

    Photos
    Superica
    Superica - Nachos Chicken

    Nachos Chicken

    Superica

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    Zapata's - mexican - Updated September 2026

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