Zalate Taqueria

102 Stekoia Ln, Knoxville
(865) 512-9492

Recent Reviews

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Abby Bible

One of our favorite places! We eat here all the time are always happy :) They have the best margaritas!

David Littlefield

Great service and food. Lots of choices for street tacos.

Tia Lykins

Zalate did *not* disappoint! The street corn, queso, chips, and fries were all absolutely delicious—perfectly seasoned and full of flavor. The blackberry margarita was so refreshing and hit the spot. We had apps, sides, drinks, and even a refill of chips and salsa for two people, and it all came to just \\$60 before tip. Incredible value for such great quality. Our waiter was fantastic—friendly, attentive, and made the experience even better. We’ll definitely be back!

Ron Swanson

Everyone was really friendly, had a super great lunch. Highly recommend the birria tacos and street corn

Andy F

When they first opened the food was really good. Now, the food takes forever and tastes like Taco Bell. Burnt meat in tacos, trash in the rice, cold corn, etc..

Allie Seltz

Absolutely wonderful! Food was flavorful, drinks were delicious, and the service was outstanding! We loved our server Eduardo. He was attentive and polite. Would recommend to friends and family, and will definitely be returning!

Titus Andromedon

Fantastic service! Everyone was so attentive and kind. The food was absolutely delicious. Best salsa and guacamole we’ve had in a long time.

Spookie Hyperbole

Southern California Mexican food snob here. This is only 1 of 2 Mexican food places I will ever recommend in East Tennessee. I’ve been here at least 30 times in the past 2 years. I’ve also tried at least 15 other Mexican restaurants in East TN, they ALL suck except for Zalate and one other.

Only complaint is that it’s the first sit-down Mexican restaurant I’v ever been to that doesn’t provide complimentary chips and salsa.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Tim

This is one of those over-priced, trendy places with just "alright" food.

I ran in for a to-go lunch, and I was charged a "to-go" fee of 45 cents. Why? This is just asking your customers to not return.

On top of that, when placing my order, I asked the worker if chips & salsa comes with the meal. She said yes. Then I looked at my bill a minute later and saw a charge of $3.50 for it.

Chorizo quesadilla had hardly any cheese on it and was very bland. $11 and it didn't even come with diced tomatoes or sourcream.

This was a bad first impression that makes me think the owners are trying to charge for their vibe, rather than the food. If you want to pay extra because you Instagram your meal and tag yourself, maybe this is your place. If you just want a good meal for a fair price, maybe look elsewhere.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 4

Wesley Kirkland

I want the owner to respond to me. The owner was exceptionally rude to me tonight and they violated their own menu prices. I paid for a hot chicken burrito which on the menu was $11 and I explicitly called in to pay the $11 price rather than ordering it online. When I went to go pay they charged me $12.50. I pointed on the on the menu and they argued with me over the price. Then they got in a verbal argument with me over the price of it refuse to refund me at first until I demanded it. Then they locked the door on me at the end of the night. When I asked to speak to the owner they refuse to call me saying that it wasn't worth it and the manager was the dead all authority. But then she also stated that she had no power to actually honor the menu. I stated that she was violating Tennessee state law and she refused to accept that. All of this is on video and I hope that the owner sees how rude their employees were and they all get fired. They let him perfectly good burrito and food go to waste and go in the trash and piss off a customer and get this god-awful Google review all over $1.50 plus a $0.45 takeout fee that I never agreed to and the top it off. They actually have good food but I refuse to be treated like the scum of the Earth.

I forgot the best part the "manager" out of pure spite tore up my refund receipt right in front of my face. That is a level of pure spite and disrespectful. I truly hope she is disciplined and learns to NEVER treat a customer with this level of disrespect again. She most likely will be looking for a new job after the owner calls me over this incident. They were supposed to take down my information and then refused to.

For the owner this is a CLEAR violation of the TCPA law of 1977, about 10 minutes of Googling made it clear that you're in direct violation of state law.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

B H

We tried this for the first time for lunch today. The food and service was excellent!! I had the hot fried chicken huarache it was delicious!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Chips and Queso

Sandra Nunez

We went for a late lunch on Sunday and ordered a couple of margaritas, a beer and tacos and their chicken bowls. ALL of the food was super tasty (as always) and service was perfect! I enjoy taking my friends here because the food is always fresh and tasty and their drinks and service are stellar!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Burrito Bowl, Street Tacos, Avocado

Jon Coffee

Love this place! The food is delicious and the plates don't have a bunch of filler sides on it. The quality is excellent. My favorite dish is the carnitas verde

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Street Tacos, Fried Plantains, Pastor

Kacey Manning

I don't normally give bad reviews because I try to see the good in everything.. but this place really disappointed me. Not only were there no free chips and salsa (I believe they charge $3.50 for chips), they had chips on their warmers the entire time we were there an no one ordered them. We ordered the fries as an appetizer and it was $11 for a tiny portion, but the flavor was decent. We didn't finish it. My husband ordered pork belly tacos which were $7 for 2. No add on because they charge $1.25 for each topping for each taco. No thanks. He said the pork belly tasted like frozen ham chunks. The tacos were tiny. He ate them in 2-3 bites and was still hungry. I ordered the barbacoa ramen because I'm a ramen fanatic. It was I believe $15 or $16. The meat was mostly blubbery fat. Inedible. I ate the ramen part mostly but it was bland, despite it smelling pretty good. The presentation was pretty on it. But the ramen was just instant ramen, which i don't expect a Mexican restaurant to be experts in ramen... but still. Even the waiter was saying the place is too expensive for the quality. We will not be back.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 2

Victoria Willingham

Wish they had a bit more variety, but they're new so I'm not too worried about that. The food was very good, will definitely come back.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 3

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