Viva Zapatas Mexican Restaurant & Cantina

The good thing? The food is delicious. The bad thing? Waiter doesn’t speak nor understand English very much! It was easier to point out what I wanted then speak to him. Ummm, this is America, people, learn the language! Great atmosphere with someone singing and playing the keyboard. The servers were attentive to our needs but it felt like overkill being watched as I ate. As soon as I put down my bowl, someone was ready to take it away. The tables are a bit small to place all our food and drinks on and it took forever to get our bill. I don’t know if we will be back.

This place is beyond amazing!!! It’s authentic Mexican food! The place is so clean and the waiters are very nice and helpful. Next time were in Vegas, we’re here!!!

Fast and friendly service. My glass was never empty and chips and salsa never stopped. Highly recommend!

Wow. I have been here many times and can’t i’ve never reviewed them. This is not your typical Mexican restaurant. The small innocuous restaurant serves up some incredible food with friendly fast and efficient service.
It seems like everything is made in house including the corn and flour tortillas. To start with you going to get chips with refried beans and a nice medium — hot salsa. The challenge is they are so good not to fill up on them prior to your meal arriving.
The meals come with a bowl of soup which consists of a nice consommé with micro noodles. Very flavorful and enjoyable. While they have the typical Mexican dishes on the menu, there are many things that I’m sure you’ve never tried before but need exploration. We had the fish fillet stuffed with octopus and shrimp which was incredible. We also had the pork chili Verde pork was quite tender and flavorful and nice fresh chili verde sauce. The flavor quite complex and very enjoyable.
The servers are friendly, knowledgeable, and seem to really enjoy being there. They had live music consisting of a guitar player who also saying and it helped create a great atmosphere.
Don’t be concerned about the number of stars on Unilocal as the reviews for real. This place is really that good.

Really good Mexican restaurant!
The Good: The service was impeccable, unlike any Mexican restaurant Ive seen in the valley. The drinks were always refilled, the food was tasty and the servers were professional and polite, and tentative. The décor is awesome I couldnt stop looking around at all the cool shit they have on the walls. but it didnt seem that tacky.
The Bad: Nothing was really bad here. the Hostess was a little bland but Ive come to accept that from the valley and the food wasnt that great and it def isnt that cheap. I still dont understand how they do their pricing.
The Ugly: I would say the only ugly thing is the location. This restaurant has very little parking and it is out of the way in North Las Vegas, but im glad it exists.

Viva Zapatas is Muy Bueno! YUM! (Hope I don’t offend anyone with my limited Spanish… originally from Hawaii… so sorry) In Hawaii, we say «Ono!».
Anyways, off track, here we go with the review!
The restaurant is located on the north side of town going towards the Speedway just off of I15 on East Craig located next to a gas station. It is 1 block off I15. For you folks in Las Vegas or Henderson, this Mexican restaurant is well worth the drive north.
I had lunch with some co-​workers after volunteering at Three Square (I highly recommend if you like to volunteer and give back to the community). There was a bit of a wait since it was about lunchtime on a Tuesday. Plus, we had to park on the other side of the gas station. Parking spaces are very limited next to tis restaurant.
I love the ambience inside the restaurant. High ceilings and vintage décor. Cool and comfortable as well.
The food was great. I had one of the lunch specials. I had the cheese enchilada with a beef taco. It came with rice and beans. While we waited for the meals to come out, we enjoyed chips with salsa and bean dip. Good Stuff! Their regular size margarita was cool and refreshing. Glad I had the regular size, it was big as it was. I can’t imagine the larger size.
So get your sombrero on and Vámonoso to Viva Zapatas soon!

Been in Las Vegas since 09′ and my wife’s coworkers drove from the base to check it out. She was pleased so I decided we would try it out together.
The chips were nice and hot also very fresh. Bean dip is superb. The salsa they use is… different. I like chunky salsa and spicy. This salsa isn’t. But there food is good and always good portions. Glad to know this place is here.
I’ll go back again!

On the way back to Vegas from the Manheim Car Auction at lunchtime, I searched for Mexican Food on my trusty Unilocal App, and found another Comida Paradise in Las Vegas. One would think I would have had my fill of Comida after El Sombrero but as my Uncle Chuck is fond of saying, in my family Mexican Food is just called «Food».
To start with, the exterior looks suspect, parked in the shadow of a gas station and just off the I15 Interstate Freeway, one would expect this place to be yet another Gringo Mexican Chevy’s Franchise — but no, far from it, this place serves up some serious SouthWest Mex. I ordered the platter with chicken enchilada, taco and tostada — y ay caramba! Sabrosa! Even if you don’t gamble, it would be worth moving to Vegas and finding a home midway between this place and El Sombrero.

The food was delicious, they took kind of long to bring us our food but other than that
They have good service.

Went to Viva Zapata’s a couple weeks ago on the recommendation of a friend.
Every thing was tasty, we’ll prepared, plentiful portions and our party of four all took some leftovers home in a doggy bag.
I tried the coca cola steak and really enjoyed it. I Also added a tostada it also was plentiful and the Pico de Gallo was the bomb.
The only reason that I’m not giving 5 stars is the service was a little bit slow even though we were doing dinner a little early and well outside their busy time.
I would recommend and return.

Amazing food! No parking. There are literally less than 20 spots. We parked at the gas station next door. The wait was fast for a holiday. Service was a bit slow, they forgot one of our drinks. But what they lack in service, they make up in food! Fresh tortilla makers behind a glass wall. Nice music. Great chips and salsa. Small place but my goodness worth coming back again for.

Consistently amazing service and food. Table side guacamole, delicious shrimp dishes and 5 star service. And the homemade tortillas to die for. Jesus was our excellent waiter.

I had the opportunity to come to this restaurant on a weekend trip in Vegas. While in North Vegas I searched for good Mexican food and saw the amount of reviews in the amount of stars at this restaurant had received. I can honestly tell you that it may have been low in regards to star quantity! This Mexican restaurant was absolutely amazing and the staff is great but I think the most impressive part of this restaurant is how clean it was. If you ever find yourself near this restaurant you owe it to yourself, considering the prices, to come in and experience it for yourself!

I was so glad to stumble on to this place! This Mexican Eatery has been here for about 16 years, so not sure how we did not know of this place.
As soon as you park your car you can already sniff out some wonderful aromas.
Upon entering you are greeted and your eyes will immediately start admiring some of the Mexican Revolution pieces placed throughout the restaurant. Totally transports you to that era. Just awesome! There are also 2 ladies making fresh tortillas.
We were seated and immediately greeted with some chips accompanied by salsa and warm refried beans. The salsa was not great but the beans were very tasty. I knew I wanted to try their Menudo but I am always hesitant to try Menudo anywhere but home since it can be horribly executed at times. But I took my chances and I was so glad I did. It was delicious and came with fresh made corn and flour tortillas and all the little condiments that make this dish alone something I would come back for. The bowl is very big and I definitely took some home. It may seem a little steep at $ 12 but it really is a meal all on its own.
I also sampled some of my husband’s combo which consisted of a beef tamale, enchilada, chile relleno with beans and rice and a side order of an asada taco. The tamale had good flavor but was a little on the dense side, the enchilada was very tasty as well as the chile relleno but the taco was horrible, beans and rice were nice.
For dessert we were recommended their Fried Ice Cream, I am not usually a fan of if anywhere else but we opted to try especially since they were sold out of their flan. It was actually really good but I would not call it Fried Ice Cream, it was more like a round ball of vanilla ice cream coated with some cinnamon toast crunch and coconut flakes. Still was very tasty.
Service was excellent and overall very nice place I will definitely try this place again and maybe try some their amazing looking drinks we saw leaving their bar to accompany my Menudo. Salud!

This honestly is a little, hidden gem of a restaurant in north Las Vegas. I work right down the street so this is usually my go to place on pay day Friday’s.
They have tons of lunch specials but my favorites are the taco salad and camarones con rayas y crema. The taco salad is huge and comes with everything you’d ever desire. I always mix in some of the salsa too in order to spice it up a bit. The camarones are probably my number one favorite, but they’re a bit pricier around $ 11. This plate comes with rice, beans and your choice of tortillas. The shrimp has a creamy sauce along with some peppers. Honestly it’s so good, you just have to try it!
The lunch specials here also come with a drink and one refill which is nice. The food has always been great with anything I try and I especially love their bean dip which comes complementary with any meal.
The only reason I’d give them a four star instead of five is how the service can be shoddy sometimes. It’s either very good and quick or terribly slow and not very attentive. I guess it just depends what day of the week you come. Either way I’ll always be back for more!

We read all the reviews so we had to try for ourselves! I was craving some legit Mexican. I ordered the Carne a La Tampiquena and my husband had the Pork Carnitas. It was good but maybe I expected way TOO much from all the reviews. I enjoyed my cheese enchilada (that was served on the side of my meal) and margarita the most! They have a great happy hour deal and beers on draft. I liked that their tortillas are freshly made (you can see the woman towards the back cooking them). However, I walked away feeling like I missed something. Great service, good food but maybe I ordered the wrong thing since everyone else is raving?!

Came here after NASCAR for dinner with a group of 4. The restaurant is cozy and very well decorated with pictures of Zapata and the history that comes with that. The service was great, they give you chips beans and salsa while you wait. The sopa de Fideo reminds me of moms cooking. The waiter is nice and told us that they have a full bar but no drink menu. We ordered the mango margaritas. I appreciate the salt on the rim but they skipped the salt I guess. I ordered the chile colorado. It was impressive. We also ordered fried ice cream and it was devious. The place is very busy as it is popular. I also liked the dress of the workers and also the tortilla lady making fresh tortillas! Would love to return here but it’s a bit far from my area.

I dined here with some colleagues while in town for work. We chose it due to good Unilocal reviews. Our reviews were a little more mixed.
We arrived on a weeknight, and I inquired about happy hour at the hostess stand. The hostess didn’t know if it was happy hour, and had to go check. She confirmed that it was happy hour, but then took off again, and the three of us stood awkwardly in the entrance waiting for a while for her to seat us. It didn’t seem so busy to warrant that wait, but we waited a while to order and to be served throughout the night.
Our food was good, except for the ceviche appetizer. Something about it was not right — it lacked that nice bite of lime, and the fish was not prepared like I’m used to — the consensus at the table was that it was a miss — and most of it was still in the dish when we left.
The pastor tacos were good — they had pineapple which is often left off of pastor tacos, the table side guac was a nice treat, and my friend’s chicken dish was enjoyed by everyone at the table. We also had a great server — very friendly and helpful.
The uneven service definitely affected our experience, but I would still try it again because I think they have a good menu with a nice variety of authentic dishes.

I came in for lunch and just barely beat the rush. It was just after 11 am and the parking lot filled up quickly. Inside the dining area there is an okay amount of room with options for a booth or table, but sometimes there is still a small wait to be seated since it gets so busy. There was a good amount of staff on hand to take care of the customers and during my visit our server checked on us often. We started with complimentary chips, salsa and bean dip. The salsa had a fresh taste, but I didn’t care for it and it was think instead of thick which I personally prefer. Chips and bean dip were great. The beans really had a nice flavor.
The menu has a lot of options. On the back of the menu there were over 30 different combinations for lunch specials. The specials run from 10 am — 5 pm Monday thru Friday with prices ranging from $ 8.95 — $ 11.95 and meals include rice, beans and drink. Priced at $ 9.95 I chose a beef taco and cheese enchilada. The taco was filled with a nice portion of shredded beef and had tons of freshly grated cheese. I loved the taste of the taco shell and all of the cheese, but the beef lacked flavor for me. The cheese enchilada was really good and they didn’t skimp with cheese inside or out. The beans like the dip didn’t disappoint however there could have been more cheese on the beans. The rice was a bit dry, so I’ll just get all beans next time. I was stuffed at the end of my meal and satisfied. Solid spot for lunch or dinner and great for the whole family.

My hopes were very high with the rave reviews. I’m still on the hunt for the best carne asada burrito in Vegas.
Carne asada burrito Zapatas special– 3 stars. The special has sour cream, guacamole, and some other stuff inside. It was okay… I’ve had better.
Beef chimichanga– 5 star. It was my friend’s dish and it was def better than mine. It was fried to perfection and the shredded beef was delicious!
Free chips and salsa– super super good. I almost want to say their chips are the best I’ve ever had. I keep saying that it seems, but I swear these are reaalllllllly good chips. The salsa was good, only because it has a major kick to it.
Service was excellent.
I’m giving 3.5 stars. I’ll be back for the chips and the chimichanga someday.