Zapatista

The Zapatista in Northbrook is open and I'm wondering if anyone has been here.

Zapatista Cantina
992 Willow Road
Northbrook, IL 60062

$20 for $40 Groupon offer today - http://www.groupon.com/deals/zapatista- ... omcast.net

I was there for lunch sometime in November. They have molcajetes on every table so I thought that meant guacamole prepared table-side. Instead, the waiter asked how spicy we wanted it (we said very), then took our molcajete away and returned with it filled with a very bland guacamole.

I had the skirt steak, which was probably 3/4 inch thick and seasoned very well. It was also very tender. The other people at the table had the mahi mahi tacos, which they enjoyed.

Despite the disappointing guacamole, the rest of the meal was very good, though everything on the menu seems to be about $4-$5 more expensive than I would have paid in the city. I will probably back since it is pretty much across the street from where I work, but Monica's in Prospect Heights is a much better value.

Place is average at best.

I ordered the cochinita pibil after asking the waiter his opinion. Either he has pretty an undiscriminating palate or just fibbed. My guess....the latter. Tasted like an over done roasted pork shoulder. Very dry and pretty tasteless. So much for asking waiters about their opinions

My last two cochinita pibil orders were at Frontera (outstanding) & Xni-Pec (very good).

Zapatista's version did not compare.......In fact they should probably rename the dish in deference to the other versions I've mentioned

I was there last night to meet some of my wife's co-workers for cinco de mayo.
God, was the place loud. The food, though, was a lot better -- I was dreading what Glenviewers would expect out of a Chi-Chi's.

The Margarita Fresca was tasty, but nothing special, and at $7.75, probably overpriced -- as fujisan said above, the prices are somewhat high, but not for this neighborhood.

Again, I agree with fujisan -- the guac is bland. Their "medium" didn't even move the Scoville needle. The table salsa though, is very smoky and flavorful. I ate a boatload of chips (the food wait was long due to the CdeM crowd), and while they're not my favorite style (coarse corn), they had good crunch and are served warm.

I had the cochinita pibil, and despite two Worst Lately posts, I loved it. Smoky and rich, not dry. The shoestring potatoes didn't add much, and I could have used more pickled onions, but I liked the wilted spinach with it. I had to ask for tortillas (I guess they figure the shredded spuds are all the starch you need), and their flour tortillas are house-made, and nicely chewy.

MrsF had the barbacoa enchiladas -- that and the cochinita were the professed faves of the server. I thought they were OK, but the poblano crema sauce nothing special.

While I'm not likely to go back given my fondness for Monica's -- boy, it really seems like fujisan said it all already -- I have to say that I enjoyed everything I ate.

Today’s TravelZoo deal ($39/dinner for two at Zapatista with margaritas) reminded me that I needed to write about a recent visit to Zapatista’s in Naperville. I think it’s their newest location, and though the place got lukewarm LTH reviews, it was my friend’s birthday and she picked the place. Luckily, it was a beautiful summer Monday night. We sat outside and shared the patio with a few other diners and several people sitting around a cozy fire pit. We commented on the nice fire pit and the glassware, which all three of us liked.

But other than our friendships, our glassware and the weather, there was not much else wonderful about our experience.

One friend arrived first and she was having a drink and some guacamole. The waiter came by to take our drink order. I asked if they had a tequila flight. They don’t, but the waiter thought that would be a great idea. The waiter brought drinks to me and my other friend. We had no napkins, just drinks. When it was time to order, I asked our waiter what he liked most. He said the tortas, which he realized as he tried to find them on the menu, was not a listed item.

Again, we were fine. Our waiter was friendly and the night was young. Two of ordered vegetable fajitas and the other ordered steak enchiladas. In addition to the items found in all the their fajitas, the vegetable fajitas are listed on the menu as including “grilled zucchini, yellow squash, shitake, button and oyster mushrooms, red bell peppers.” My friend wanted no mushrooms on hers. Our dinner took quite some time.

When the food finally arrived, we still had no silverware or napkins. We did, however, now have two huge pig-shaped molajetes in front of us. We asked which one had the mushrooms and the person who delivered the food said neither. I said mine was supposed to have them. He went back to the kitchen and returned telling us that he checked with the cooks and that the fajitas never had mushrooms. What??? It listed several different kinds on the menu. Our first waiter returned and we mentioned the mushroom mystery. He said he would bring me some mushrooms and of course our silverware and napkins. We asked and we did receive.

Once we had forks, one friend realized that she wanted salt and pepper. We never saw our server, so she flagged a third server finally brought her some salt. He handed it to her and asked, “did you want pepper too?” My friend did, so he had to trek back inside. (Each trip back inside was a time commitment, which made the lack of trying to consolidate trips even more confusing.) By this time, we were wondering if perhaps there was a language barrier, but I really don’t think that was the case.

When my friend tried her enchiladas, she found them cold on the inside. Back they went. Meanwhile, we’re ready for more drinks. We placed our order and waited…and waited. We finally saw a manager-type and asked her if she could check on our drinks and my friend’s missing enchiladas. Eventually, all arrived. Only my friend’s enchiladas were no longer cold, now they were just barely warm. She didn’t want to send them back a second time, so she ate them, but she was not a happy camper. (First world problems, I know, but it was her birthday). The manager comped my friend’s dinner and she did send out a free dessert: “platanos estilo foster” caramelized plantains, cream, vanilla infused tequila and vanilla ice cream served table side. As the flames were doused and we wished my friend a happy birthday, she laughed and said, “well, at least the ice cream is hot.”

Side note, on a trip to the ladies’ room after dinner, we walked by the bar a young guy and gal were chatting it up at the hostess station. He was standing right next to a huge puddle on the tile floor. It was an accident waiting to happen. We stepped around it and I was going to say something, but there was no way they could have missed this. It was sad that the employees didn’t seem to care a bit about this mess or their customers’ experiences. We talked about it and thought everyone in the place needed some training. Our experience was far from the one described on their website:

“Zapatista explores the lands of Mexico by offering rustic, updated Mexican cuisine. Guests experience outstanding service and enjoy a colorful, warm, and romantic atmosphere.”