El Mexicano Zapata Cantina Auckland — Restaurant in Whau

We were absolute fans of the Rotorua restaurant when down that way, so we were excited to see it come to town and now in Auckland. Headed along for the opening night, and food was amazing, no first night slip ups, staff were fun and friendly, and as good as in Rotorua. If I had to nit pick, the Nachos while they were great, i think Rotorua was better with a lighter tortilla chip and more of a puled beef for the meat. but im talking a 9/10 versus a 10/10 for rotorua, and still better than anyone elses, Honestly this place is amazing, and will take off in Auckland, the other restaurants on the street looked empty and this place looks lively, colorful and vibrant,

We met the owner out on the street (forgive me if I am wrong, bad with names Tony ?) and great to hear how passionate he is about mexican food..

Auckland has been needing this place for...

We popped in four days early to make a reservation for two and specifically requested the cosy corner table by the window. The waitress was super friendly and confirmed it was no problem.

Fast forward to the night of our booking, we arrived to find our requested table already occupied. We were given a bad excuse about not being able to sit there anymore and were instead offered possibly the worst seats in the house, right next to the kitchen and toilets.

We decided to cancel and went next door to Chiu Chiu (first time and an amazing experience!).

We won’t be booking again or recommending this place. Disappointing service, and frankly, we’re sticking to Settebello and Chiu Chiu from now on. Glad we walked away...

Dined on a relatively busy Saturday night so the place had great vibes, cool decor too.

Took almost 25mins for my drink to come but staff did apologize for the delay - it was super yum at least.

Food was average at best. The cheese and chorizo starter was just a bowl of melted cheese that had a thick layer of oil on top and as it congealed it got very awkward to eat. Both of the mains (fish tacos and chicken empanada) were very salty unfortunately. The soft tortilla themselves were nice. Staff were friendly and we were seated quickly despite it being busy, just took along time for drinks. Disappointed as the reviews were great but won't be back as there are plenty of other Mexican...