The Steak House — Local services in Zapata

Visited several times; tried their various steak cuts.

I do like being served a cup of soup in addition to the chips & salsa every visit.

The staff is very nice; just go ahead and seat yourself when arriving.

I see myself continuing to visit and going through the rest of their menu, but I do have to critique their steak. The cuts seems large, but for as think as their cross section is, they seem to be cooking them at lower heat, for a longer amount of time.

Even on a Medium-Rare, I would expect more of a char or grill, along with a variation of the cooked state of the meat in the cut. Medium-Rare here is really Medium. My expectations of a steakhouse are seasoning I can identify them by, and either flame or good grilling on the steak done at high heats -as in "Browning," where the Maillard Reaction is taking place in the cut, transforming the amino acids and sugar in the meat to wonderful flavors.

Did I get a good value for my money; yes you get a lot of food -but I'm willing to pay more for a higher quality product. I would encourage The Steak House to realize their potential and go crazy on seasoning their cuts heavier than they are now and upping the intensity on the cooking heat.

They have one of the bigger lots in the city, and the dining room is certainly up there in comparison to the other Zapata restaurants. This would definitely be a place I'd bring visiting family over to if the appetite leaned towards beef for...

Zapata, Texas......didn't expect to find such a nice restaurant. Sorry Zapata, Walking through the impressive double doors led into a well decorated, clean South Texas style home,...but it was a restaurant. Beautiful grey tiled "wood" floors gave it a Western style. Warm lighting and a permanent Manger scene gave the atmosphere a very "homey" feel. Great menu with lots of choices, but I was instructed to try the steak plate complete with a ground beef crispy taco, cheese enchilada, rice, beans and two chicken fried steaks covered in white gravy amd yellow cheese! To top it off....a large scoop of aguacate! Delicious. Every bite was great however, I had heard that there was a battle for the title of best chicken fried steak between a few Zapata restaurants and having tried the chicken fried steak at El Paraiso....I personally liked El Paraiso's steak better. Other than that this place shined. The service was extremely attentive despite the lunch rush and they were genuinely friendly, not the fake friendly you get at some restaurants. Tons of great parking too. Now i like to put the restroom in my reviews. If the restrooms are clean and smell good my meal feels so much better and makes me feel like the kitchen is probably clean too. The restrooms were beautiful and clean. Soap in every dispenser and all the hand dryers worked. Paper towels for drying so you have a rag to open the door is...

Today is County Fried steak day. And I heard of a place in Zapata Texas that has some of the best country fried steak around. Well of course I had to try this mystical plate. I had the chicken fried steak with cheese and gravy. I know I know... I thought the same thing. That did not sound good to me at all. But I had to try it to see for myself and I have to tell you it was a great experience. You've had the old chicken fried steak before but the cheese changes everything!!!! It's a totally different dish. The place was great. A large building with tables in the middle. The bar looked cool too but it was closed. The staff is very friendly. And the price point is not bad. The only bad thing is that I have to travel an 1 and half to have this dish. If it were closer I'd go all the time- but in my case I'm going to have to make an every once in a while kinda trip. Over all a great...