Zapata's Mexican Restaurant & Cantina — Restaurant in Collinsville

This is the first time I've ever reviewed a restaurant beacuse usually I just say screw it but this place was bad enough that I had to break my chain of silence. I went to Zapata's for the first time last night and was severly disappointed. I ordered carry out (which I was wary of since I had not been there before but my boyfriend won the coin toss). I get there and my food is already waiting at the counter, which I was impressed by, but then I waited another 7 minutes before someone came to the waiting area took my money- I was the only person there waiting. Got home and realized (of course) that our order was incorrect. My boyfriend ordered a fajita quesadilla and arroz con pollo. He said that that 'dilla was only OK but was small for being $7- which I agreed. It was maybe a 6in flour tortilla. The Arroz con Pollo was a huge disappointment for him because he asked for no veggies (which he recieved) and he was not given any of his beloved cheese sauce that comes with the order. The portion was RIDICULOUSLY small for the $8 we paid- maybe a 1/2 cup of rice, 1/2c of veggies and 1/4 cup of sliced up chicken. The food itself was cold but I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt since we ordered take out. Also, the cheese sauce is melted american white cheese. no spices, no peppers. I'm pretty sure it's just melted velveeta blanco. the only reason I know this is bc we paid $3 for a side of queso with our chips- which ended up being about 1/8c worth of cheese sauce that we had to reheat 3 times. On to my order- I got a fajita chimi, chicken. The chimi was absolutely huge so I was happy with what I paid ($8 im pretty sure) and came with beans and rice. I was supposed to get the option of black beans, refried beans, spanish rice, and white rice as it shows on their menu but when I ordered and asked for black beans and spanish rice they told me there were no options. Whatevs. The chimi itself had all the chicken on one side and all the veggies on the other- WTF. I got to my beans and rice and there was nothing good to say about them. The rice had no flavor - I added salsa to it for a boost which really did not do anything. The beans were OK but I guess I prefer mine with a little more, for lack of a better word, chunk. It's like the beans were cooked and thrown in a food processor until completely smooth. Refried beans out of a can aren't even this smooth. Just a portion of completely smooth bean paste. Honestly, there's no way I'll ever give this restaurant my money again. For the food we recieved we should not have paid more than $20 with tax- our total was $33 I was originally excited to find a place that looked like it had a good atmosphere but the food was so bad that I'd rather just pay for crap and go to TB. After trying this place I would say use your money at Carisilos on Vandalia- better food, better atmosphere, better prices. (Ramons is ok but still a thousand times better...

My GF and I miss our little hole in the wall mex place and thought it was open, so we settled for Zapatas.

The waitress was attentive albeit melancholy in her demeanor. I don't fault her for that, I've been in food service.

The chips and salsa were decent, not great.

The food was very overpriced.

My GF ordered a burrito monterrey. She also loves pico... she took a bite and I thought she was having a seizure. She was banging the table and saying "get it out! Get it out!"... She turned red and began to cry... she said the pico was very very hot... I tried a bit and realized that instead of chilies they used jalapenos and then noticed that they hadn't seeded them either, making for a rather rediculous pico...

The portions were small, and as I mentioned over priced.

I ordered the shrimp with garlic. The garlic sauce was nice... the shrimp were touted as "jumbo" in the menu... I'm sure they were about half the size of what "jumbo" is supposed to be. For some reason, ethnic restaurants seem to get around these kinds of things... just like when you go to a Chinese restraurant and order anything with "crab" it's sure to be some imitation... how do they get away with that?

The dish came with a small bit of pico and a bit of iceberg lettuce, my least favorite thing on the planet! The waitress warned us that the plates were hot, a standard warning, except they were cold, as was our food. The mixed veggies that came with mine were slightly colder than room temperature, poorly plated and hastily doused with store bought seasoned salt. The food came about 5 minutes after we ordered it, which is fast, but more likely it was all pre-cooked and simply plated in that time.

we bought a pitcher of margaritas, which cost us $20 incidentally, which could have been lime kool ade and cheap rail tequila. My teeth still hurt.

We paid our $50 bill and left saying in unison...

I have eaten at many restaurants in this area but this was my first visit to this establishment. When I walked in, there was a lady placing a to-go order, so I had to wait to be greeted and seated. The chairs in this restaurant are so heavy... but what absolutely blew me away was the beautiful tables... the tables were so beautiful that even though holder for the salt and pepper and the sweetners just looked out of place. I had been seated all of 60 Seconds oh, still admiring the beautiful table oh, and a young lady dropped off some chips and salsa. After I ordered I decide to try the chips and salsa after asking if the salsa was spicy because I am not a fan of spicy food. I must say that the batch of salsa I had was absolutely perfect. It was just enough spice to give it a beautiful flavorful Kik without having me crying and sweating at the table... Excellent job and I'm told they make their salsa every single day! Just as I was really enjoying the chips and salsa the server surprise me with my food. I couldn't believe it was ready so fast! And it was hot. I had the California Burrito, and instead of getting it with fries I just got it with the rice. That was a good choice. I chose the steak as my protein and that was a great choice as well. The steak was tender well seasoned delicious. As I finished my burrito and was going back to the chips and salsa because they were so good the server asked me did I have room for dessert? I didn't even know they had dessert. So I had the flan oh, and it was absolutely perfect. Overall this was a really good restaurant and I thoroughly...