El Zarape

Your typical Mexican restaurant. We had a large group and they were very nice and accommodating. When I received my taco, it was very cold so I asked for a new one. The waiter was very kind and brought me a hot taco. The service is always good, even if the food misses the mark.

Best frozen strawberry margaritas! My go to meal is chicken enchiladas or a chicken chimichanga, cheese quesadilla, and rice. Endless free chips and salsa. Fast service.

The best Mexican restaurant I’ve ever been to. They have abundant seating despite being almost constantly busy during dinner hours, have fast & friendly service, unlimited chips & salsa (so good), as well as a vegetarian section on the menu. The price is very affordable as well! They’re also well known for their margaritas… You can get HUGE ones if you’re so inclined. Oh, and if it’s your birthday, they’ll sing an exciting song for you. Highly recommend if you’re in the area!

The atmosphere at El Zarape is fun. There are many TVs to watch various sports games. The food is delicious even though it doesn’t always seem fresh. The margaritas are often made very strong and well worth the money. Overalls, El Zarape is a good restaurant that offers good food and drinks for a decent price.

The service was great and everyone else at my table had great looking food. I on the other hand ordered their chicken tropical meal. It was a very thin piece of chicken with a slice of ham that looked like it came from a package and one pinapple slice on top. If I ordered something else it would of been a higher rating than it got.

For Bowling Green, an excellent Mexican restaurant. Good chips and salsa when you sit down. Mouth puckering delicious margaritas. My favorite menu item is their soup! Chock full of chicken, rice, and guacamole. Warning: it’s addicting! All menu selections are good. Their sister restaurant near Krogers on N. Main is just as good.

The people who work here are very nice…
But damn, this place is gross.
Their enchilada sauce tastes like chef boyardee. Their chile relleno was limp and the sauces were all way too sweet.
No thanks.

Absolutely love this place. The servers are excellent and the restaurant just gives off an awesome vibe. Chips and salsa are to die for– I always eat so much I’m full before my food comes out. If you’re in BG and in the mood for Mexican this is hands down the place to go

The food here is very bland and everything taste the same. Kinda reminded me of toco bell. The service was ok and the drinks were week.

Not the best mexican food I have ever had, but definitely the best in Bowling Green. The employees are very nice. This place will not disappoint you.

If you are coming here from places like California, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, or Texas you will be very disappointed. The chips and salsa they bring out are not very good — the salsa especially is some of the cheapest I’ve ever tasted. The beef in my enchilada was dry, un-​spiced and reminiscent of cafeteria food.
On the positive side the service in my experience has been good. The food not so much.

Decent food, friendly service, moderately priced. Entrees averaged $ 10. Margaritas were a bit weak but I ordered their «regular» so ordering their premium might be the key there. As far as Mexican food goes, I’m spoiled coming from Chicago. This was a valiant effort for a college town in BG Ohio but not what I’m used to.

I went here one evening about three years ago because so many people raved that this was the place to go for Mexican food. I haven’t been back since. Why? It’s not Mexican.

This is THE place to dine for Mexican food in BG. Great service and prices, good food, clean restrooms.

Ok, I’ve had one good, one bad experience with El Zarape.
For my first time, I got a combination platter that had nothing but dishes with their regular ground beef in it. The beef was dry and not seasoned at all. I had to douse my entire meal in hot sauce to make it edible. I later received advice from a regular there to only get the chicken, and never the beef.
For my second experience, I ordered the enchilada platter, which was outstanding. They offered one enchilada of chicken, pork, bean, cheese, shredded beef, and ground beef. Yet again, the ground beef was incredibly dry, but everything else was splendid. Also, while I did not drink, everyone else in my party tried the margaritas and said they were to die for!
Was this review helpful? Yes | No

Avoid this place. There are plenty of other places in town to get much better Mexican food. I went there on a Friday night with a group of 6 friends. They took over an hour to bring the food and never refilled our salsa. Also, the fajitas were totally burnt. If all that wasn’t enough, they forgot about my order and I had to wait another 15 minutes after everyone else got their food. If you must come here, don’t go when they are busy.

I went here once with a friend, once with my father. While the food was good, the second time I went the staff insulted me when I asked them where the bathroom was (I was using a cane to walk at the time, because of fractures). They said «Look at the cripple» in Spanish. I speak Spanish – as do an increasing number of Americans.
Don’t insult your customers – even in your native tongue, especially if it’s a common as Spanish.
I won’t be eating here again.
Good food, butI took off two stars for the manners of the staff.

After coming to Bowling Green from California, I decided to try some Mexican food. I ate here first to see what the level of quality was like.
They start off with chips and what looks like salsa. The chips are chips and when I dip my chip into the ‘salsa’ and eat it I think to myself, «What is this? This tastes familiar.» After a few more bites I realize what they did. Instead of using actual salsa, they’ve taken cans of tomato sauce and call it salsa. «So that was just plain awful,» I thought to myself. They then bring me my food.
I usually order a combo plate with rice, beans, a hard-​shell taco, and an enchilada to see how they handle it. It’s a good litmus test for the general quality and amount of effort they put into their food. My chicken taco was in a store bought shell, although the chicken was alright. The enchilada was just dried crumbles of ground beef rolled into a tortilla with their ‘salsa’ poured over it. The beans were mushy and uninteresting as well. I don’t remember the rice.
So come on down to El Zarape and prepare to yearn for good food the whole way through. Or, if you want ACTUAL Mexican food, go to Casa de Fiesta.

Do not buy the combo platters. They were exclusively (no rice, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, cheese) filled with ground beef. The burrito, enchalada, etc. All the same.
On the other hand. Do buy the queso. Everything else looked delicious. Excited to go back and not have a combo

Awesome food, quick and attentive service, fast refills without asking on drinks and chips/​salsa. A great place to take kids to dine out as you can usually be in and out relatively quickly.
They frequently have coupons in local mailers for a percentage off of your meal. BonusZ,