I come weekly so I an a "regular." See familiar, friendly faces every week. I love the atmosphere and just being able to hang out (I sit is the bar area). I've started trying new dishes every week and that has been fun and, more importantly, not disappointing. This week I got the San Jose Chicken Special. It comes in the cast iron pan and was excellent! Best home fries in Florence (for you northerners). Next time I order it, I will ask for white rice. read more

Loved it here I wouldn't mind going back just scared of the location too much traffic.

Great food delivered fast. I was on lunch and their prompt service helped me return in time.

Me and my family have been coming to this restaurant for years now it's basically an every week thing that even the servers notice us. Every one there is very friendly this place is one of my favorites and has a special place in my heart. Ive never seen a bug or roach in it before and the bathrooms seem pretty clean.there cheese dip is awesome and I recommend this place to everyone .I have a lot of memories from this place from birthdays to just playing in the arcade with my sister. read more

Food is great & service was excellent. Pretty busy place with plenty of parking! We took friends who were in town. Next time they visited they asked to go again even though we said there were other Mexican restaurants in the area! read more

Kind of your typical local Mexican spot (it's also got a small arcade on the side). It's always busy but the food and customer service are also always pretty good. read more

this place is so delicious. I love the variety of foods and if you have children, they are arcade has so many different variety of new games and the employees are so nice if you want to try different kind of Mexican foods, then you should come to zapatas Girl. read more

We have eaten here for years in the restaurant and for take out, and enjoyed it very much. Today, it was different. We noticed that it wasn't as crowded as usual. Strange. Usually you can't get a parking space. We sat down, in the arcade because we had our grandson with us. We immediately noticed that the tables were sticky. I opened the menu..plastic coated..and they were sticky. We ordered our food, it was okay. Not as usual. I always get the Yolanda's..not this time, I opted for the Pollo Borracho. Very good. My husband had the Texas Fajitas, also very good. We just had issues with the cleanliness. The service had a lot to be desired too. The other issue we had were the kids running around. Now in an arcade I understand it happens, but these were kids of the employees. All in all, it's a good place for Mexican food, but there are better. And cleaner. read more

we have been here before with no problems but today my husband ordered fajitas and the rice and beans came out but not the fajita. my order came out at the same time. I ate all my food and we were still waiting for his fajita's. I don't care where you eat at the meals should come together. waiter had zero personality to boot. South Carolina needs good rest and to us this one just my as well have closed their doors read more

Their food is delicious and very reasonably priced.. you get your moneys worth.. nice friendly service

The nice thing about Zapatas is there is a large selection of food to choose from. I had the steak fajitas. They were decent. Overall, the food was okay. I have definitely had better in Florence. My biggest issue is that they say ya in the arcade section. Super loud and made the experience less enjoyable. Also, the service wasn't that great. Amount of food for the price was good. But overall, not my favorite Mexican place on Florence. read more

I have always eaten at Zapatas. We have never had any issues but today, there were other plans in store for us‍ We sat down to eat our dinner and everything was great. I was drinking my water in a CLEAR cup, and there was a screw, yes a metal screw in the bottom. We told our waitress we wanted the manager, so she looks at the bottom of my cup and proceeds to get her manager. He came over and said he didn't know how it happened, okay, well obviously it came from somewhere. So we were leaving and my stepdad decided to check his cup, well there was a moth. Yes a moth. Safe to say, we will not be back. The manager took %50 off at first, but decided he didn't want a scene so told us to go ahead and leave. Our waitress was not good. So please be aware before you eat here!! read more

Zapatas Grill Mexican Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Florence, South Carolina

The food at this place is AMAZING. The staff is good and the restaurant itself is cute. The only drawback and I do mean the ONLY drawback is the parking lot. You know that everyone in Florence drives a F-150 & larger so fix the parking lot to fit those big trucks! read more

This restaurant has one of my favorite dishes in town - the Molcajete. It's keto friendly when you don't get rice, beans or tortillas and tastes amazing on its own with a HUGE dinner serving! Zapata's has a rustic, authentic, feel. I probably wouldn't go on a date here but as an everyday Mexican places with great lunch specials and good service, I'll take it! They also have an arcade that my niece and nephew like to play in. I attached pictures of a to-go menu for all offerings and prices. read more

See all

Zapata's is a good, not great, tex-mex restaurant that operates as a local chain of three in the Florence SC area. Zapata's features a fairly in-depth menu of many of the dishes you'll find at such places across the Southeast United States. The interior is split into two sections, the restaurant, and their arcade, with a bar in between them. Once you are seated, expect chips and salsa much like any other tex-mex joint. On a recent visit for dinner at 4:30pm, the chips came out lukewarm with two salsas. Both are red, and are lacking any texture or finesse. You'll find no cilantro or onions, and only a slight hint of garlic. One of the salsas is spicier with jalapeño seeds, but still lacks substantial flavor. Contrary to other reviews, we had no issues with the waitstaff service. Once we ordered, the food arrived very quickly, and drinks were constantly refilled. For vegetarians, Zapata's fortunately offers a full vegetarian menu with mushroom and spinach quesadillas, the taco loco salad found at many tex-mex restaurants, chiles poblanos, fajitas, and many different combination plates. I sampled both the mushroom quesadillas and the chiles poblanos. The Quesadillas arrived on a plate with a guacamole salads in a mini tortilla shell, which was a nice touch. However, the tortillas themselves tasted like they had been cooked in very old oil at a much too high temperature. The outside of each tortilla was slightly overcooked with a bitter oil taste. The chiles poblanos, accompanied by sour cream and a special sauce, held an unappetizing bitter, sour taste. The overall taste was quite the opposite of what I was expecting from the dish. If you are in the Florence area and in desperate need of tex-mex, Zapatas offers a familiar, middle of the road, but entirely uninspired experience. Stick with the basics and you should be fine. read more

See all

I have never had any complaints on my favorite restaurant. But, the last 2 times I've been there I have gotten scolded and told we can not have more salsa unless we have to pay for it. Never in 20 years have I been treated like this by a waiter. He treated like us like we were idiots. I told him ok the 1st time he told us. But then he had to keep telling us like we didn't understand. I am hoping we never have him as a waiter again. read more

This place has gone down significantly over the years. Super slow. Ran out of drink numerous times we ended up giving ourselves refills. Order was wrong. Cheese dip looked like someone poured milk into a bowl. read more

Delicious! I was worried that this was going to be like any other strip mall Mexican restaurant, but I was pleasantly surprised. The restaurant was very clean inside and the employees were friendly. I got one of their lunch specials for just $5! My husband got the steak burritos combo. Their steak was perfectly cooked, nicely seasoned and the side of rice was the perfect amount. They have an extensive menu and we can't wait to go back and try more. read more

Favorite Mexican place ever all I want to eat since I've been pregnant this time it's always great!!! read more

Zapatas Grill Mexican Restaurant - So great love this! - Mexican Near Me - Florence, South Carolina

See all

Great service and excellent food!!! Had the Texas fajitas. Perfect size. Not too loud but great atmosphere read more

Zapatas Grill Mexican Restaurant - All gone!!! - Mexican Near Me - Florence, South Carolina

Favorite Mexican restaurant in town! Good cheese dip and salsa. Always get the quesadilla with chicken i would recommend it!

We have been visiting this location since moving here in 2000. Last week we utilized their website which clearly states, "Reservations are recommended to ensure we have a table for you!" in addition to the heading at the top of their landing page showing, "Cinco De Mayo - Grab your best fiesta hat and join us for Cinco de Mayo!" As such, we took their advice and made a reservation for the Zapatas here in Ballantyne. They just now called me after 5 days and indicated they are not taking reservations. We have out-of-town guests flying in and this is pure inconvenience. I called back and asked to speak with the manager. All he would say was "Sorry about that" (which is of absolutely no help) and that his manager told him just this morning that they're not taking reservations! Needless to say, we're not happy and are just left hanging. This is extremely poor customer service/relations and we will never visit this establishment. read more

This is one of my few experiences with semi-decent Mexican food on the east coast. Being a former native of the west coast, I miss my southwestern flavored cuisine. The taste for some reason just cannot be recreated. However, this restaurant left me with a smile on my face. I ordered the Spanish rice with flautas. I got both chicken and beef flautas. The beef flautas were quite delectable! Tons of flavor juicy meet and just the right amount of crunch! The rice was awesome. Nice and fluffy and great flavoring. I'm excited to go back and try different menu items. I'm glad I finally found something that had great flavor and a giant selection to choose from! read more

the food and atmosphere were okay but the customer service was not what i was expecting. half our food came out 30 minutes after we received the first meal. then our waitress i believe her name was morena only came back at the end with the last part of the order when we were finished eating. when we told her we didn't like something she asked why and explained that everyone else liked it and came back only with the check. will not be returning. read more

My absolute favorite. I've been over 100 times, I'm certain. If you want to try something new, try the California Quesadilla. It's delicious, I've never seen it on a menu anywhere else. And order the sweet nachos instead of cheese dip, you won't regret it! Their veg fajitas and enchiladas usually come with more vegetables than just pepper and onions, which is a bit plus for some. For more classic Mexican dishes I recommend the chimichangas. Delish! The restaurant has is separated into three sections, the restaurant, a bar and an arcade area. There is karaoke on Thursdays in the bar and the arcade offer games to win tickets and a prize area to redeem the tickets. It's a lot of fun for kids. Get a margarita and let your child win some tickets. Not all of the games are always in working order, but still a fun family night. If you're in the restaurant, you wouldn't even notice the arcade which makes it a nice date night too! read more

This place is really good to eat at, but I would not recommend spending your money on the arcade. Me and my brother played in the arcade and waited for someone to show up so we could give them tickets but me and him waited 30 minutes until someone finally came. Me and him tried using a bunch a coins on a certain game and our second round, it broke. This is why I would recommend this place but don't let your kids spend money on the arcade. read more

We've given a handful of Mexican places a chance down here, and so far, Zapata's is the best. The meals are affordable, the chicken is tasty, the steak is good, and the rice is good. The service is always fast, and the waitstaff is polite. I will keep coming back to this place! read more

This is one of two Tex/Mex places I wouldn't be embarrassed to invite someone to. The other being Mi Tierra. Most of the times I've been in there, the food has been consistently good and affordably priced. I loved the seafood enchilada. It's the shining star of Zapatas menu, but their specialty dishes don't quite have the kick that Mi Tierras do. The real reason for the three stars is their service. Mediocre at best. It can be frustrating to try to flag down wait staff, and if you have a problem, I've actually had trouble on a couple of occasions getting someone that could speak fluent english. read more

My family and I eat at Zapatas at least twice a week. The staff and food is amazing and they have one of the best margaritas you could ask for in town! It's called the Zapatas special! The management team is also awesome and if any problems are experienced they will make things right!Best mexican restaurant in town!!! I highly recommend!!!! read more

There are several Mexican restaurants in Florence with most being above average to good but in my opinion Zapatas is the best. It is locally owned and the owners give back to the community. It is also growing, having recently opened two new locations. Pros: Large selection with several house specialties, my favorites being seafood enchiladas, California casadia and the fajita burrito. Fast service, cheap beer and well packaged take out. Cons: no authentic Chile relleno's but don't waste your time looking anywhere else cause they are not to be found anywhere else in town either. read more

The best darn Mexican food experience in Florence. Feels authentic! The food is great! The queso is soooo good! Me and my husband will often order out queso for dinner! It is out of this world! read more

Probably one of my favorite Mexican restraunts. Food was brought out fast an the atmosphere was fun an relaxed. love the queso an chips. will be back here soon. read more

The food isn't horrible but I wouldn't suggest coming here. The service is ok but I've had much better service elsewhere. I am disappointed with this place because when we got our food, one of the three of us didn't get the right side and was brought white rice that looked like it came from the bottom of the pot because it was hard and sticky. My shrimp was not fully cleaned either. read more

Zapatas Grill Mexican Restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Florence, South Carolina

I've eaten here maybe 5 times since they opened and have never been satisfied with their food. There are so many other better places for Mexican food to choose from. I feel I've given them 5 times to change my mind, but not. I find the food bland and when you ask for mild salsa, they bring out their hot tomato sauce, which is not the cold salsa you would anticipate. I've wasted my time and money enough on this place. Wasn't that clean either, as the table and menu were sticky. Won't be going back. read more

Try the hot salsa! Excellent flavor without being too warm! Clean restaurant and pleasant staff.

Well my wife and i travel to Mexico often and my wife grew up on Latin food. We tried this place and I can tell you 100% certainly that they do not serve anything like REAL Mexican food. The food has no taste or flavors of true Mexican food. Real Mexican food is wonderful and what they serve is not even close. If you don't know REAL Mexican food, this might be ok, but folks rest assured the food here is far from it. read more

Food is good. When you go to pay for your food they just ring you up, take your money, and hand you a receipt. They don't look at you, speak to you, or tell you goodbye. Poor customer service. read more

Good cheese dip... Good salsa..... Try the Pollo Fundido.

This is my favorite mexican place in the city. Prices are a bit high but I feel its worth it here. Recommend the molojetes

This is some of the best Mexican food around. The prices are good and the beer is cold. Service is a B+. The jalapeño skins are the bomb. This place rocks they even have a side for kid bday parties. read more