Cafe Zona Rosa

Our group of 5 decided to visit this place tonight for dinner. The place was slightly busy and we were seated immediately. The waitress took our drink order and delivered the drinks in a timely fashion.

I'm not a fan of Mexican food but the people I was with were fans. I ordered a simple bacon cheeseburger. The meal was delivered in about 20-25 minutes. Everyone said the meal was average in flavor and taste but quantity was plentiful. My burger was very good for a place that specializes in Mexican food.

The value was off as it was pretty expensive but this is a tourist town.

DO NOT EAT HERE!!

This place make Taco Bell seem like gourmet food!!

Everything is pre-packaged and overpriced!

First off chips and salsa cost .99
Queso 1.99 (queso was nacho cheese dip you can get at any concession stand across America) and salsa tasted like some super chunky crap you buy at Sam's or Costco
To have rice a beans it's an additional.99 and rice was boxed rice or rice in a bag and beans were canned and so thick you could barely eat them!
Ordered 2 margaritas (tiny) cost $6.50 each and one had no alcohol and the other had too much
Chicken fajita quesadilla was the only edible item but not worth $11.99

I'm from Texas where the Mexican food is real and made from scratch not served and heated from some pre-packaged stuff....oh and chips and homemade salsa are always complementary and usually homemade tortillas too...

Long story short I could've made better Mexican food at home for my whole family cheaper then my $35 nasty lunch!!!

Can I give zero stars? Ugh. At least this place will be memorable as the place I finally learned that, if you see only white people in the Mexican restaurant, just turn around and leave. This place is staffed with mostly middle-aged white women who, along with the white boy in the kitchen, made not a single person of color on the staff. The salsa seemed ok at first. Not really fresh but well spiced and enjoyable enough. The chips were good with a nice balance of salty and non-salty in the mix and cooked to a great consistency. The guac was bland and was like an avocado took a pretty dump into the bowl. There was some citrus (likely a preservative) overarching flavor but nothing that made it like real guacamole. It probably could have been saved if the kitchen had added some fresh, coarsely chopped tomato and onion. The cheese sauce was seriously like the kind in a giant can at the ball park. You know, that stuff they pump onto your chips? It ended up being the most tasty thing to eat with the chips. We tried mixing it with the salsa and/or guacamole to see if we could improve the flavors... to no real success.
I take it back, the most edible thing on the table was the beer, a Sol for $2. That was the best part of the meal. Then the chips. Then the orange nacho cheese sauce from a can.
I did another Yelp review on another "Mexican" place up here where I coined the term MinneMexican. This restaurant also succeeds in redefining Mexican... and not in a good way. There are lots of nice things about Minnesota, but MinneMexican ain't one of 'em.
Until you see a real Mexican in the kitchen here, don't bother eating anything but the chips.

I was a bit apprehensive to eat here after I had seen the Yelp reviews but I had a burrito craving. We were seated on the patio which unfortunately is on the opposite side from the lake so no view. The hostess and the waitress were both pleasant and attentive.

I ordered the stuffed chicken burrito with sour ream on the side. My burrito was pretty good or maybe I have lowered my expectations for Mexican food after a summer spent in northern Minnesota, The atmosphere was good and it was a lovely day and I enjoyed a beer and a burrito.

This was the worst place we have eaten at ever!
A Mexican restaurant, an no refried beans? Poor management! Said we would be seated in 20 minutes and it was 35 minutes, not bad but no body took our order for another 25 minutes.
I ordered the Stuff Burrito. It had very little fajita mix lots of black beans and rice. On the side was black beans and rice! What's with that???
Let me remind you NEVER AGAIN!

I've been here a few times and this was absolutely the worst service I've ever had, here or anywhere. Waited 45 minutes for my food and they got the order wrong. When I told the waitress, she laughed and didn't care even though I have a food allergy. Discounted the cost of the meal I didn't eat and the drink. Big whoop. I was there with my daughters and granddaughter and they were all put off by the attitude of the waitress. When we spoke with the manager, the response was apologetic but not willing to do anything about it.

I try to stop by at least once a month, but not any more. Thoroughly the worst eating experience I've ever had.

Me and my family went to the cafe Zona Rosa for lunch. The hostess told us it would be a 15-20 minute wait. No problem so we walked around outside for that time. Upon our arrival back we wait approximately 10 more minutes for our table to be cleaned. After we were seated the wait continued. We got our drinks and and some chips. Chips were cold. We placed our order. Approximately an hour and a half later later we finally got our food. Myself ordering a California burger with fries. I got a plain burger and cold fries. Another family member got the especial. He was not enjoying his food. Waitress never checked in on us. Others were not happy with food. Only one member was happy and they ordered a chicken Caesar salad. Food didn't come out together. Members had to continue waiting for their food and watch others eat. Waitress didn't attempt to check in on us. Waitresses were standing around. We had the waitress with red hair I believe named Hannah.This is a never again place for us. I did contact the manager about the issue. He did ask us to come back and give them another chance.
Update: this time it was only myself and my husband. The waitress we got named Leslie was phenomenal. She greeted us right away and we got our drinks and chips. Chips were borderline warm/cold. My husband and I looked at the menu online and figured out what we wanted ahead of time. I ordered the chicken Alfredo while my husband ordered the steak/chkn/ shrimp fajitas. The waitress brought us our food. Food temperature was perfect, great portion sizes. After we were finished they treated us with fried ice cream and a churro for dessert. I started with giving this place a 1 Star. I'll give it 2 stars due to Leslie being an amazing server and the manager giving a second chance to change the mind.

Pretty sure the pitcher of margarita we ordered was lime Gatorade and triple sec. Giving two stars instead of one because the nachos were average.

Went there for the first time tonight.
Ever been to a Mexican restaurant where you cant buy a taco? This is the place. You have to buy two. They wont sell you just one to add on to your meal. But the tacos were good. The chicken enchiladas---the chicken was mushy with very little flavor. The mini burrito was ok as it had flavor. The chili relleno was TERRIBLE. It was freaking crunchy. It had a very thick batter that had a funky taste and was way over cooked. Plus there were some flavors in the sauce that I have never tasted before that werent pleasant. The fajitas was good even though it was over cooked.
Tortilla chips were very hard.

63.00 Two people Never again

Cafe Zona Rosa should be renamed...Cafe Zona Awful! What was good? The Beer. What else? Nothing. If this is a Mexican restaurant, why do they have Chinese buffet on Wednesday?

Chips and salsa were salty and barely edible. At our table we had three entrees. Fish tacos, shredded beef tacos, and chicken fajita salad. The quantity of food on the plates were generous, but if it's not good, what's the point. The fish tacos were overly breaded. The shredded beef was too chunky, no flavor, and lacked character. The chicken in the salad was not cooked, it was DEHYDRATED!

If you want REALLY AUTHENTIC Mexican food... drive to Grand Rapids and try El Potro! They know how to do it right!!