My new coworkers invited me to go get \""cheap mexican\"" with them for lunch. Now, from where I work, you could walk to more skeevy, run down looking, hole in the wall mexican joints than you can count on a hand, and I'm pretty sure at least a few of them would be absolutely delicious (as hole in the wall restaurants tend to be). Unfortunately, I can not report on any of them, because we drove by them and went to Zapatas.\n\nI won't say that Zapata's was bad, partially because i don't think it is deserved and partially because it feels like I am giving credit for more effort than they earned. While the salsa that came with our gratis basket of chips was full of cilantro and onion flavor, that was the high point of the meal. We ate off the lunch menu, and I went with the enchilada and taco plate. The meat in both was slightly greasy and not particularly flavorful. The taco shell tasted like it was pulled out of the grocery store box on my pantry shelf. The rice was bland and slightly overcooked. I do have to give them credit for the enchilada sauce being kinda tasty, but nothing I wouldn't expect from a jarred sauce. The low point was definitely the refried beans, which are often my favorite part. I took one mouthful, found them utterly disgusting and left the rest of them on my plate to form a sad, cold congealed mess.\n\nI have often thought that quality service can redeem an otherwise forgettable meal, well in that case creepy, unpleasant service can cement a bad impression. Despite our party of three being one of less than a handful of patrons in his section, our waiter was slow to get to our table even after being called over. He gave off a used car salesman type of aura and loses additional point for trying to talk me into drinking tequila on my lunch break.\n\nThe only reason I can imagine returning to Zapata's would be at my coworkers request, and even then I might think about sticking with the tuna sandwich I brought from home. Oh, and as for that \""cheap\"" bit. The lunch pricing is in the 6-10 dollar range, which isn't particularly remarkable when there are tacos to be found for under 2 bucks.