Zapata’s Mexican Prime Grill — Restaurant in Renton

Went to Zapata's yesterday afternoon with my wife and daughter intending to have an early dinner. Turns out we arrived in the heart of hora feliz (happy hour) so naturally we went straight to the bar area for margaritas and appetizers. Margaritas: Cadillac for my wife, House for my daughter and I tried the Prime which I chose to have made with Don Julio tequila, yes you get to choose. Served in a substantial martini style glass, the kicker was that the bartender left the full size shaker on the table so I could pour my own, which filled my glass about 3 times. Excellent margarita and if I had to guess I'd say the mixer was made fresh in-house not a pre made bottled mix. I highly recommend the Prime margarita, excellent flavor!! We never did order dinner but opted for queso fundido with chorizo and an order of nachos. The flavors of both appetizers was absolutely delicious. No goopy orange imitation cheese concoction you find at sporting events. Instead, they appeared to be made with REAL cheese, the kind that melts into long stringy threads when lifted from the serving dishes...the likes of which I haven't seen since I was a kid. Very well crafted!! The steak in the nachos was cut into long, thin strips and had an excellent chard flavor!! Our server, Erica was friendly, always smiling, and just the right amount of attention, not overly attentive which we very much appreciated. I ramble, but I can't say enough about the great experience we had at Zapata's. Excellent food, drink, service and atmosphere. I highly recommend Zapata's. Can't wait to go back and enjoy...

We visited Zapata's for lunch on a Saturday.

Service: The service was attentive and staff were very friendly.

Food: We got the ribeye and salmon. Since the grilled items are served on a very hot lava rock, I do suggest ordering one level more rare than you normally order if you order steak since it will continue to cook after you get it. The server did suggest I do that but I didn't and I should have listened to her. All the food tasted excellent, including the rice and black beans.

Atmosphere: The decor is nice with lots of pictures of ladies with guns and chairs with hand-painted artwork on the chair backs. I deducted one star for atmosphere due to the noise level. They had a soccer match on TV in the main dining room, which is OK, but the TV volume was too loud and some alarm was going off somewhere in the restaurant during our entire meal, which was annoying.

Value: reasonable given the quality of food and service.

Overall, 5 stars. We will definitely be back and will...

Spread the word…go eat at Zapata’s! They have the BEST happy hour around with $7 made-from-scratch margaritas and lots of great appetizers (Mon-Fri 3-6pm). The steak nachos & stuffed jalapeños are some of our favorites but everything we’ve tried is delicious. We’ll definitely be back for dinner, the steaks look amazing and the prices are very reasonable. The owners & staff are wonderful, all very attentive and friendly. These guys are doing everything right and are still in the early days of building business so stop in, you won’t be disappointed. And...