El Zarape Mexican Grill - Mexican restaurant in Fort Smith - 8909 Rogers Ave, USA

Tried this place today. Pretty darn good! Saw the last few bad reviews and my husband was like, “Let’s not.”……and I was like, “NOPE! looks delish let’s go!” Glad we did. $2 margaritas! What?!? Even though I thought I was getting one of the $2 margis… the waitress tricked me into an $11 one… but it was reeeeeealllly good! Hubs loved his $2 margaritas. Loved his food (carne asada w/ enchiladas and a side of refried beans which was huge), I got spinach chicken which was really good… would’ve loved me some mex rice and refried beans instead of the rice and beans served with the chicken, but it was still very good. I like to go out before the crowd arrives, so only like 3 groups of people were there= great service! very friendly. I’m so glad I discarded the bad reviews for the past few months! Please remember to give grace to the servers/cooks, they may be new, short handed, the pay prob sucks… be patient. Be kind. It’s a rough world these days, you never know the whole story. Overall it was Very good! We will be back… and deff gonna get me some $2 margis next time!!! Oh and loved the chips and salsa too!

I have to start this review with the salsa. They have a nice tomato based salsa that is served with the chips. Ask for the hot stuff. It is probably the best flavored hot restaurant salsa I have ever had. I cannot figure out exactly what was in it, I am guessing habanero with garlic and some other spices that gave it a wonderful flavor. It was hot, but not just hot, it had a complexity of flavor. As you ate it with the chips, the endorphins kicked in and you had trouble stopping! They have a great lunch menu and very reasonable prices. I had the lunch beef fajitas (with 2 chili toreados) and my wife had beef burrito. The fajitas are not served in the hot skillet you expect. However, it comes with caramelized onions, Spanish rice, barracho beans or refried beans and guacamole salad. The barracho beans had a great bacon/smoky flavor. I normally skip the tortillas, but I tried their flour tortillas. They had been very lightly brushed with oil and then warmed on a flat top grill or in a pan. Excellent! Very reasonable prices on their lunch menu and the service was great. If you are looking for other Mexican restaurants in the area, check out my reviews in my collection "Jalapeno Highway" on Yelp. I've probably been there.

This place is amazing. Everything was delicious. Staff was friendly, service was fast, prices are fair…. Wonderful experience.

Table side guacamole to go. Opened when I got home half an hour drive. Not even half of a small styrofoam coffee cup.

Add another favorite to the list. The borracho beans great! Some of the best I’ve had. The one cup serving came with the lunch fajitas. I must say I was expecting the lunch portion to be small, but it would have been plenty for two. Why spend the extra money for extra food when you could be adding on a margarita instead. And what fun! The rice came in a pyramid shape. It’s the little things that make the experience. The made from scratch tortillas and guacamole were good. The grilled onions were amazing though. Really good seasoning. The best thing about the lunch fajitas is that they separate the onions from the chicken. I usually eat veggie fajitas and my wife eats chicken fajitas. This makes sorting out a bit easier. We had another fantastic waiter. Still lovin’ this some El Zarape. Year ago: Carlos and our waitress did and excellent job yesterday. Carlos’ was personable with us and the children, and our waitress was friendly as well. Chips were good. House salsa was okay. I prefer grilled salsa, but this was still good. Not too watery, sticks great to the chips. Ask for the hot salsa though. It’s green and has tomatillos in it for a little bit different flavor. If it’s too hot for you, just mix the two salsas together. The chicken fajitas for 2 was huge. It could have fed all four of us with leftovers to take home. If you have two mega hungry people though, this will do the trick. It comes with two full plates of rice, beans, guacamole, pico, and lettuce in addition to a shared plate of chicken fajitas. The tortillas were good, appearing to be made in house. The kids orders were large as well. No one’s going hungry at El Zarape. The cheese sauce on the kids bean burrito was really good, but it was the waffle fries with spices that were amazing. The extra touch was sending us away with another bag of chips and tub of salsa. It was all good, but my favorites were the guacamole and waffle fries. Nice interior decor, patio, and clean bathrooms. This is now our favorite Mexican restaurant in Fort Smith. Thank you El Zarape, Carlos, and waitress for a great experience.

David was an excellent server. Winston the general manager is a major asset. His hospitality was amazing. The food, the music the ceviche is all worth your drive. Very authentic. I'm from West Little Rock, I would most definitely visit El Zarape again when visiting in town. BUENO SERVICO Y TRABAJO DAVID!!!!!!

Usually El Zerape is very good. But this last time the food was not correct, and had barley any meat and just not very good at all. And salsa wasn't good either. Maybe just a off day?

The food was delicious and not over priced, our waiter was extremely nice and attentive. I would highly recommend this restaurant!