Zocalo

Update: Since my last review, I’ve been to brunch here to celebrate my graduation and more recently for a business trip. Happy to report that the quality of food and service are still top notch. I love chilaquiles and the ones here were pretty good. I have a go-to chilaquiles place in San Francisco that is my gold standard, and the ones here at Zocalo are close. The chips were tossed in a red sauce, and the plate also included the cilantro rice, black beans, and scrambled eggs. My only critique is that I’d rather have more chilaquiles and take out the rice and beans. I also got the blackberry margarita sub vodka and that was delicious! Recently, I got a pretty big lunch of the the potato flautas to start and mole enchiladas. I also got a virgin blackberry margarita. It was so much food, though they did give me a generous helping of chips and salsa. I had plenty of leftovers for dinner. The mole enchiladas were so delicious! I wish I could bottle that sauce. Service was welcoming and friendly. When I found out I was going to travel to Sacramento months ago, I knew that I was going to dine here. And I will continue to do so whenever I’m in town. ——————————————————————- I was in Sacramento for business and Zocalo was one of the places my boss recommended to me. I’m very lucky my boss is a fellow foodie because this place was excellent! It was so good, I went twice during the week I was in the area. I went for happy hour the first night of my stay to take advantage of sampling their menu while keeping costs down since I don’t get much back in reimbursement. I ordered a virgin mango margarita, fish tacos, and the potato/spinach flautas. Everything was delicious! My only issue was that the liquid from the salsa made the dishes soggy, though I will note I was taking pictures and videos. So maybe I need to dig in faster. I have a feeling the happy hour fish tacos are smaller, but I’m glad they were because I was stuffed by the time I finished the flautas. Each plate came with two each. And the mango margarita was so refreshing on such a hot day! The second time I went I ordered takeout because I had a separate evening class that I needed to prepare for after a day of working. I ordered the trio of enchiladas and cilantro rice. The trio came with an enchilada in a red sauce, one with a green sauce, and the final one with mole. Out of the three, I preferred the mole. But they were all yummy! The mole had so much depth in flavor. At first I found it to be slightly sweet, and then it turned savory as I progressed through the dish. I will be ordering that again! I also liked the cilantro rice. I am one of those people that think cilantro tastes weird. The rice was full of cilantro flavor, but I was able to eat it. I won’t order it again in the future (I just wanted to try it and I’m glad I did). But if you love cilantro, you will enjoy this rice. Service was friendly! It did take awhile to get a table, but I know they were busy because I can see the to-go bags piling from online orders. One of my colleagues went the next day and she said the place was packed! I’m not surprised because the food is really good. I would love to come back, even if I had a craving for just chips and salsa, which were also really good. I definitely want try more of their menu, and I hope to get the opportunity soon.

Service was prompt from beginning to end. Wait staff were attentive. The food was delicious and flavorful. I ordered the enchiladas and a salad. The atmosphere was hard to describe because it was peaceful yet fast-paced and filled with chatter. The crowd varied most customers appeared to be mid 20-40s. Customers were cheerful and most dressed casual - business casual. There are soft white lights all around, adding warmth to the ambiance. Lighting wasn't too dim or too bright, I was able to see my food and didn't need sunglasses. The white walls open up the space and give it a clean feel. Restrooms were well maintained. Prices appeared average when compared to a chain steak house. Overall, it was a refreshing dining experience for so many reasons. This is definitely a new go-to spot. I don't know what the average wait time is, but having reservations offered a seamless experience.

Let's start with food. Food was actually very good. It was my first time having cilantro rice and I would go back there just for that. Their drinks on the menu were all good. Just don't order special drinks tho. I asked for French 75, but they put a slice of cucumber. It tasted like my green smoothie, not French 75. The place was packed and server was busy taking care of other tables. But food came out within 5 minutes after we ordered. Table had some spots needed to be wiped better and my menu had some food on. Not the cleanest place but their dishes were good.

Great atmosphere. The food was 6/10. I have high expectations as Mexican. The meat in the tacos was dry as well as the shrimp. We were there for a conference and a coworker wanted to try it. The place was beautiful with great service. The plus point were the chips and the super spicy habanero sauce that we asked for; it was crazy spicy and delicious. The guacamole was good too. We were there during happy hour.