Zapata’s Mexican Food & Taqueria

$ 15 just to park here, the fish tacos better be the best in town. Not very friendly here.

Because I wrote a negative review, George, who either owns this place or is an employee, started sending abusive messages on Unilocal.This is despicable. Bad food, abusive staff! These people are horrendous.

To truly enjoy Zapatas, you need to have the right expectations. Gourmet food this is not. Even for a taqueria, this place is not fancy.
What does it have going for it? Divey charm, decent tacos, burritos and quesadillas, dirt cheap alcohol, a central location (right next to SAP), great live music on Sat Nights, friendly people, always an open table…
Dropping a star for the dirty bathroom, it’s borderline gas station status in there.
Updating review to 5 Stars because just saw this picture on the counter. Props to you Zapatas!

First time here, I ordered a chicken street taco and a carnitas street taco. Came with onion, cilantro and salsa… well sort of. It was thrown together with a few bits of cilantro and onion that looked like scraps. The chicken was dry and you could tell it had been previously cooked and that they fried it to warm it up which dried it out further. It had a strange seasoning on it too, not sure what it was but it tasted odd and dry. The carnitas were drowning in grease and tasted like grease… again, reheated by frying them. Overall, food was terrible and I took a bite or two of each and tossed them. They even cost more than most Tacquierias too…$ 2.50 each. Bottom line, it’s hard to ruin a taco but they did. Save your money and eat elsewhere… I don’t think anything else on the menu is going to be an improvement if they use the same meat and cooking techniques.

It’s crazy to see how divisive this place is. Kinda like funding out your spouse has a secert family a few states over. 1-​star reviews??? Zapata’s, we’ve known each other for YEARS.
I think most of the disappointment comes from misaligned expectations. This isn’t going to be the world’s greatest food. This isn’t the transcendent hole in the wall experience Unilocalers punch themselves in the face over. And hell yeah service isn’t instant, there’s like two or three people working.
Anyways, the owner is the nicest dude alive. The tacos have always treated me well. The beer is cheap as hell for San Jose.
This is a corner that Zapatas has brought good vibes to for like half a decade, I say good for them.

Not very good. Got the nachos and they put nacho cheese on it, not authentic! Would not go here again.

This place is trash. 2.50 for some tiny ass tacos n 8.50 for the tiniest burrito of all time. Really flavorless al pastor. They have signs through out the area sayin 2 $ beers but its only canned budweiser hella wack fuck this place

Best place before sharks or concerts to get a fish taco and beer before you get HAMMERED on prices inside the tank. George the owner is there all the time and if you aren’t happy with anything «Like Stephanie who gave one stars but you look at all her reviews and that’s all she does «he will make it right. Behind the tank on Julian one block away.

Not too impressed. Very few food options during lent. My friend tried to order fish tacos and they only had enough for one taco! It’s 12:30 in the afternoon and the place is almost empty. I had the grilled chicken enchilada and the meat tasted gross. They charge .50 for credit card transactions. May skip this place in the future.

Yum! We were very curious to try Zapatas after reading the reviews. I wanted to see if they deserved the 5 or 1 star reviews. I say 5. I had a regular burrito with carnitas which was delicious. My husband has a super burrito with chicken and said the same. If we weren’t leaving SJC today, we’d most surely return.

Really tasty! And nice service! Perfect place for a quick bite before a concert or game at the SAP center :)

Something real shady going on with the pricing. Came in today in the afternoon and ordered a steak torta which was listed on their board for $ 6.00. I also ordered a bottle of Modelo, which is listed at $ 3.70. My total came out to $ 12.02 which seems like highway robbery. Seriously shady business practices going on here. HEY MANAGEMENT! WHAT ARE YOUR ACTUAL PRICES!!!

Let me starts off by saying the first time I tried to order from this place they were closed. So we decided to try again. It was not great the super nachos had hard cheese stale chips and no sour cream. worst nachos I have ever had from a Mexican taqueria if they would have told me when I ordered the food they were out of sour cream I would have not gotten them the guacamole was brown as well I won’t eat them a waste of money. When I called to let them know the girl who answered to food was rude she did not apologize just said there have been out of sour cream for 2 days and when I said then why didn’t you tell me and she didn’t have an answer just deflected to the manager who was not there and she had no idea when the manager would be in. What a disappointment i will never eat here again and will tell all my friends to stay clear.

While waiting for the Rush concert at the «Shark Tank» I found this little joint on Unilocal.Ordered the street tacos and they perfectly made with carne asada, cilantro and onion. Special mention to the service as it was packed and they were friendly and fast.

We almost didn’t go because they had a 3-​star average. What are you shittin’ me!!! Tacos are rock solid at 11pm with awesome music and sound and right across from the pavilion. You tell me what else you can ask for after a concert, hungry, late night and adjacent to the parking lot. Screw the masses, I’ll take Zapata’s any day of the week!

I drove past this restaurant and decided to give it a try.
ATMOSPHERE:
I walked in and it was clean and quiet. I was greeted kindly by a nice lady. It was quite empty when I walked in to order. They have a little patio outside with two tables.
FOOD:
I ordered the fish taco since they had a poster that said that they were voted the best fish taco. I tried one and it was kind of big. I must say that their fish taco was AMAZING and I highly recommend it. It has this flavorful taste from your first bite to your last.
CUSTOMER SERVICE:
The lady that took my order and served my food was kind. The food came out fast too which I like.
Would I come back here? YAAAS. Would I recommend eating here? YAAAS! I’d love to try more of their food and see what else is in store.

Food was very disappointing and not very tasty, it was actually pretty bland. I ordered the super nachos which were described as having meat, sour cream, salsa, and guacamole. What I actually received were corn chips drizzled with canned nacho cheese and salsa. The steak was hard, cold and lacking in flavor. There was only a minuscule amount of sour cream and no guacamole. For 9.00 nachos I was expecting a little bit more.
The service was ok and the waitresses were nice and friendly. The place is small with a patio area on the front but you cant bring your drink outside.
Also, there is a flyer posted next to the register which states that if you «like» the place on facebook you will receive a dollar off your meal or get a free soft drink. So we did precisely that, we showed it to the man at the register, but he did not give me a dollar off and in addition he gave me the wrong change. I paid with a $ 20 for $ 9 nachos and he gave me $ 9 back. At that point I just wanted to get my food and go so I didn’t make a big deal out of the $ 1 off since it was JUST a dollar discount, but I did ask for the correct change.
The bathroom was pretty gross but thats what I’d expect from a bar. No soap, no seat covers, and a pretty pungent urine smell.

It’s my standard order. A jumbo carnitas burrito and super nachos. Both of which are always delicious. I’m always here cos it’s always good.

I’ve tried ordering online on two occasions on different days of the week with this restaurant.
The first time, I was informed they didn’t have a driver, and didn’t find this out until checking my voicemail a couple hours later.
The second time, they’re closed during business ours.
Looks like Zapata’s needs to get their sh*t together.

Arriving to the SAP early for parking meant we had some time to grub. Zaps is an iconic taco shop and has probably seen its fair share of Shark and Sabercat fans over the years. The place is worn but don’t let the looks fool you, this is funky little shack that runs efficiently. When you can get $ 2 buck even Tecate Light in a can, you take it. The Zap is supposedly known for their fish tacos. It is clearly stated, Voted the best fish taco. It carried some weight but I had to examine the goods before I could exalt to the title. The beers can fast and our order can furiously. Nachos were deliciously soaked in Carinitas. The meat was seasoned, sweet, and had a bite of garlic. The chips were hot, crunchy and definitely not from a bag. The fish tacos covered their the plate and it was difficult to tell where they started and ended. Trying to grab the edge of the tortilla was like trying to put a sleeper hold on Randy Macho Man Savage. Damn near impossible. We carefully opened the tortillas and welcomed the fresh crips romaine lettuce and pieces of fish. The accompanying guacamole sauce was flavorful and the fish portions was flakey and perfected seasoned. The only item missing was the lime. This would have definitely moved the fish taco to the top of the best list. We finished our afternoon lunch and headed out. I took another glance at the ‘Voted best fish taco’ and noticed underneath in small print, ‘by Shark fans’ I chuckled as we made our way to the SAP. My brother asked me what was funny, and I said, ‘Sharks need to be introduced to Limes’.