Zama Mexican — Restaurant in Georgia

We decided to eat here last nite after google rave reviews. This location is where one of our favorite restaurants (Raffertys) used to be prior to closing over a year ago. We arrived hungry and couldn't wait to eat some delicious food. We entered doors to hostess stand where we had been told that the wait time would be 25 minutes. While we sat next to the hostess stand, we witnessed many tables for 2 exit. When we were finally called 35 minutes later, we walked clear across the restaurant where 4 tables sat vacant. We sat and waited for our server. The first thing we noticed was the Very loud DJ on the microphone. The music was extremely loud. So loud that the bass vibration literally pounded through your body and the entire restaurant was yelling to be heard by othersOur waitress appeared and we asked for 2- 20-oz reg. Margaretas. We literally had to yell over the music and conversation and she seemed to not understand. She took the orders and ran without checking what we wanted to order. We finally caught her eye, and she kept going on about the drinks were coming and the kitchen being behind and crazy tonite. Again, we told her we were ready to order. I ordered the shrimp fajitas as I usually do for Mexican food. My husband ordered the Chipotle shrimp, which was supposed to be grilled, but clearly not. His meal was also supposed to come with mashed potatoes asparagus and coleslaw. My husband asked if he could possibly exchange the asparagus and coleslaw out for corn or something else because he didnt eat either, and she told him no. My husbands meal arrived in a bowl of some kind of Chipotle sauce and appeared to look like a shrimp bisque. Not just a Chipotle sauce OVER. Grilled shrimp. His meal was also void of coleslaw. I tasted his shrimp and spit out the unseasoned slop in his bowl and couldn't believe they would serve him that. My meal arrived with very little peppers and onions. I immediately asked delivery person for more. My meal was also void of wraps to make the fajitas. The plate of beans and rice accompanied with 1 teaspoon pico de gallo, 1tsp guacamole, 1 tsp sour cream. I was also supposed to have jalapeños which was asked upon odering. The meal should have had 12 shrimp, instead i was served 10 medium sized that appeared to be lost on hot plate. I waited for server and complained about all the above, i was handed a tiny package of 3 hard & burnt wraps? I waited to spot server again. I was then handed a tiny foil pkg. Of corn wraps? Sitting and waiting for server, i finally demanded flour wraps straight from the package without cooking. I attempted to make my st tiny wrap and spit it out. Everything on my plate was unseasoned and bland mush. Mushy peppers and onions without browning and unseasoned, rubber shrimp which was tasteless and un browned. Almost like the same garbage they served my husband. When I finally flagged our server, we explained the issues and she said sorry and blamed kitchen. She then asked if we would like to- go boxes? I boxed the pile up and trashed so they couldn't sell to someone else. The server then disappeared until we could flag her for the check. She brought out the check, we both laughed when we realized it was for another table. I litterally took to my feet to find our server. The kitchen and entire restaurant was consumed with smoke. I finally asked another sever to find her. She took the other tables check and brought ours. I was charged 1.99 for the tasteless pepper and onions, I was charged 1.99 for the horrible mess up with wraps as if I had eaten them, I was charged for the tiny amount of jalapeños that came out after the fact. Our drinks arrived and were melting before they hit the table. Obviously, this is a Margareta bar that clearly doesn't make fresh Margareta mix. You could taste this premade bucket mixer a mile away. Disgustingly sweet and made with cheap tequila. (Helloo morning headache). We will Never return here, nor would we reccomend this establishment. This was hands down the worst Mexican food that we've ever had the...

My girlfriend and I have waited over a year for this restaurant to finally open and I can tell you we were not disappointed. This place definitely deserves an in-depth review. We are both restaurant connoisseurs, we very much enjoy traveling and checking out different culinary experiences. As soon as we arrived we noticed that there was music playing on the outside porch that was upbeat but not loud enough to where you couldn't hear the person sitting next to you. The interior of this place was extremely well decorated and I have to say they had these lights hanging from the ceiling that were ran through knotted ropes that was probably my favorite piece of decoration in the building. Our waitress was named Kitty and she was all smiles good times and positive vibes from the moment we sat down. The service that she gave us was outstanding. The restaurant was very busy being a Saturday night and our drinks, appetizers, and food all came out in a timely manner . She definitely checked on us to keep us updated and see if we needed anything while we were waiting for each course. Some restaurants you go to and you end up having awkward forced conversation with the wait staff, I can assure you this was not one of those situations she was very friendly and had a good taste in music as that was a topic we ended up embarking upon. The food was phenomenal, someone who grew up in Southern California I can definitely say that it was as close to home as I have had since I left the Golden State. We ordered the carne asada platter and brisket enchiladas in both were cooked to perfection. The appetizers we had were the sweet plantains and they were not overpowered by an excess amount of cinnamon or any other ingredient. We also ended getting one of the 20 oz Paradise Margaritas a piece and let's just say that I am 6 ft 7 280 lb and the alcohol content in that drink was more than enough to leave me satisfied but the dangerous part is that I couldn't even taste it. Whoever was mixing drinks that night was definitely on their A-game. Everyone around seem to have a genuine smile on their face the atmosphere was what you would expect being in a college / professional / shopping district. The manager was sure to walk around every couple of minutes and oversee the restaurant and offer help where it was needed I was able to have a brief conversation with him after our meal and he was very appreciative of the kind words and you could tell he was proud of the establishment that he was representing and overseeing. This is one of the best dining experiences I've had in quite some time and I would highly recommend it for date night or even just a casual night out with friends. They do not accept reservations on Saturdays but even though the place was completely slammed packed we literally only had to wait 3 minutes to get a seat. I hope that your experience is as great as ours was and we definitely plan on returning. Make sure you ask for Kitty the next time you're in and tell her the "Lana Del Rey West Coast...

10%, 12% or 15% for servers until they take pride in their job!

This is a really pretty restaurant with a very nice patio and bar, but it's too bad the food and service do not match the atmosphere. I have been to this one a few times. Originally discovered Zama at the Smyrna location and thought the food was awesome, so I was happy that they opened this one closer to me in Kennesaw. Got an entree salad: CAMPESTRE CHICKEN SALAD (a salad with chicken, cranberries, mandarins, gorgonzola and tortilla strips). I was shocked at the tiny amount of lettuce they gave me on this salad. I literally ate the amount of salad in 2 & 1/2 bites, it was almost like the kitchen was playing a prank on me. I couldn't see the tiny amount of field greens because they were covered up by the chicken and a bunch of green fried tortilla strips on top. So when the food runner dropped our food and took off, they didn't say anything and I couldn't let them know. Then the server took FOREVER to come back, so I basically ate grilled chicken and mandarins for lunch. When she finally came back, I told her about my salad...the greens were gone and there was plenty of chicken left so she could see there was hardly any salad served. She brought me back a large bowl of WILTED almost ROTTEN field greens. Zama was obviously trying to ration the small amount of decent salad greens they had left instead of 86-ing the salads until someone ran to the store to get fresh greens. I mean this was ridiculous...this salad was almost $15.00. Really unacceptable and the kitchen needs to take more pride in the food that they serve. Also, we ordered guacamole to start and the server came back about 7 minutes later asking if we ordered cheese dip or guacamole. They brought our entrees out and still no guacamole...I told the server and they could have cared less. Then we get our guacamole after our entrees. Never refilled water. This place wasn't even that busy. It was about 4:00 on a Saturday. Service and food quality is just atrocious all over the place these days, yet everyone expects a 20% tip. This was one of the few times in my life that I left a 16% tip...always feel guilty since I used to work in food/beverage for so long. But you know what?? I'm gonna give Zama, Kennesaw another try and if I get crappy service and a server who doesn't care about my experience, I will leave 15%, maybe even 10%...excellent service gets a 20% or more tip. I recently went to Portugal and Spain and servers work their butts off to give excellent service and tipping is NOT customary. I hope this place can get it together. I am over the laziness and entitlement the service industry has AND while expecting 20% or...