Villa Y Zapata

8505 Madison Ave.
Cleveland, OH
(216) 961-4369
www.villayzapata.com


Villa Y Zapata on Cleveland's West Side is a small and simple Mexican restaurant. You can't miss the red, green, and white striped building sitting on the corner of an otherwise drab area of Cleveland.
The ceiling of the small restaurant is adorned with intertwined colored paper rings that remind me of something I used to make as a kid to decorate for someone's birthday. The food is simple and filling. The lime margaritas are an electric green color that is somewhat discomforting, but after a couple, you don't seem to mind anymore. The staff is always very nice and attentive. This last visit, we started with the Flamiado. A Chorizo and cheese concoction topped with slices of Jalapeños, and served with flour tortillas.
It was rich, cheesy, and satisfying. Next, I ordered the Guisado Bistec and my companion the Guisado Puerco. The first was strips of steak marinated and cooked in a tomato-based sauce with cactus, onion, potato, and Jalapeños. The second was marinated pork in a green sauce. Both were tasty, but the flavors were a bit lacking and didn't have much umph, although the pork was superbly tender.
We finished with the Cajeta dessert. It is a bowl of caramel gooeyness spotted with crystallized sugar bits and topped with whipped cream. It is dangerously delicious, even though we found out that it comes in a can with no label. Which in itself is scary enough.
Villa Y Zapata; when you are in the mood for Mexican simplicity and the feeling of walking in on a constant subdued celebration.