El Zarape — Restaurant in Juneau

So no photos because everything was gone before we got our phones out, but El Zarape, tucked back behind Costco and O'Reilly, back a bit on the left, is AMAZING!

My timing has been terrible to go in previously, but I finally got to have lunch here and it was stupendous! Expect about $10-$12 a plate, plenty of food, super friendly and welcoming atmosphere, and the best taste for Mexican food you'll have found in a long while. Unquestionably the best in Juneau.

They accept cash and card (though cash means more goes to them and less to the card processors) and they have a straightforward menu of Mexican goods which they are excellent at preparing.

People come to Juneau super excited to try some fresh local salmon or the like, but I would actually insist on going here first with anyone visiting me for the first time in Alaska. Its simply more worth their while than even our staple fresh fish.

Also worth noting, when I came in for the first time I presented quite masculine but was wearing a cute skirt and carrying a purse (I do like skirts) and was treated with exactly the same courtesy and respect as the two nurses eating lunch a table over, and equally as well as the rest of my family. Good food and good people, they deserve your business and you deserve their delightful...

As a soup lover, I can honestly say that El Zarape’s chicken posole soup is my absolute favorite thing here, and I get it every time my family has EZ for dinner. The taste is simply fantastic and the chicken is so nice and juicy. This is such a wonderful soup to eat on a cold day or when I’m feeling sick. The reason I’m giving only four stars, however, is because each time I get this soup, there are shards of bones in it. I am okay with there being the whole leg bones without any pieces missing, but there are also many little pieces of bones, especially towards when I’m about finished, that I would much rather not have in my soup. Each time I get this soup, I am about to enjoy a spoonful, when I feel something sharp and hard in my mouth and have to take it out so I don’t swallow it or cut my tongue. I would really love to be able to enjoy this wonderful soup without having to stop and spit out a piece of bone every ten seconds. Also, it could be dangerous if somebody were to swallow a piece of bone, as they can be (painfully) sharp. So if there’s any way the bones could be removed, that would move my rating up to a full five. Other than that, I hope El Zarape keeps on serving chicken posole as long as this restaurant is operating, which I hope is a...

The food was fresh and served hot. The atmosphere was that of a lunch break and the decor was very bright and sunny! However I don't have the best of impressions of the two men at the counter. One of them was the cook and the other was at the register. Both men seemed irritated with me and didn't cover it up. They were short in their answers and were really irritated that I was asking for anything. I wasn't given silverware so the cook had to bring it to me and he just threw it down on front of me. My friend wasn't treated like this. They were very kind and courteous to her. So I don't recommend eating lunch here. Especially if you are me. The food was fresh but the service made the experience very...