Zona Cantina + Cocina

Had to bring my twin here and she's obsessed!! We did the Poke Nachos and Fish Ceviche Tostada for apps, trying something new but had to stick with our most loved item, the surf and turf tacos - the bartender was amazing as usual! Sat outside and the heaters kept everything warm. Love love love this place!!

Ordered the nachos and ended up with food posioning. Luckily for me the nachos were so bad that I only ate about half the plate or it would have been an even worse night of being sick. I've eaten here four times. Tried four different meals. Everything comes out on fancy plates and the presentation is like something from a television cooking contest show, looks very nice, very fancy. But that's the problem. It's too fancy. They take simple, delicious dishes and add so many other, odd, ingredients that they ruin practically every dish. The nachos were so sweet, drenched in some kind of sweet sauce (like they took the sweet sauce from Sweet and Sour Chicken and blended it with sour cream?), it became a whole different dish from nachos. Unacceptable. Who, that likes nachos, would ever want this? Unacceptable.The service was not acceptable either. The waitress seemed annoyed the whole time with us. There were three couples, six of us total. Just looking to have some drinks, some good Mexican food and a nice time. She seemed insistent on getting our order and when we said we weren't ready yet (we had just been seated about two minutes) she stood there. Just stood there, waiting. So we had to hurry and order apparently. Okay, so we did.At the end of our dinner, she brought one check. As we were three couples, all in our 40's and 50's, we preferred separate checks. This seems perfectly acceptable and normal to me and very common. She took a deep breath and gave a big huff, like we were really annoying her. But she took the checks and we clarified which pairs were couples. She couldn't' remember who had what so it was a bit of a struggle clarifying to her what we ordered through her and was served to each of us. Okay, we figured, we'll be good to go.Now, the menu clearly said "Groups of six or more may have the gratuity included in the bill," or something very close to that. MAY. I have been here four times, each time with exactly six people, each time with three separate bills, and each time with the same menus, same gratuity notice. We were not automatically charged the tip with the bill. If it's going to be automatically included, when the menu says "may" then TELL US up front, right?So the bills come and we all pay her. Two couples paid with cards, I paid with cash. After we got the final receipts back, one couple noticed that we had all been charged 18% gratuity. So the other two couples didn't put any additional money down for the tip. Since I paid with cash and included the tip in cash, I ended up tipping almost 50%. And she didn't say a word other than "do you want your change?" I said no, believing I had tipped $20 and change when in reality I had tipped over $33. On a bill around $72. That's a 46% tip. For someone that was unpleasant the whole time.Between this recent less-than-friendly service experience, this bull with the gratuity, and the food being so over-the-top, unnecessarily complex and fancy, I have had more than my fill of Zona. And what the heck is with their Nachos anyway? You couldn't even see any of the chips there was so much sauce on them and why were they drenched with that sweet, sugary sauce? These are not like any nachos I've ever had anywhere, ever. Trying way too hard to be so fancy and original that they're wrecking their food and making people sick.I'll never go back there again and when asked, I'll tell others to avoid that place too. I wish I felt different, but too many bad experiences, of every kind a restaurant can have, with this place.

Decor was all off for cantina. Is this a wanna be disco?Service was non existent. Barely got our drinks set as food was being carried. We were preparing to tell them to forget the drinks, so for this...look out: a Convenience Fee of 3% was on the itemization for a table for two!!!! Laughable really.Not worth the effort, OR the extra fees!Oh, and yeah the drinks were not what we ordered, but since they came so late, we pretty much gave up on getting much right out of this over rated discombobulated joint.

Upscale Mexican restaurant with decent food and service. The quest fundido was great just wish it came with chips tooThe grilled chicken platter was great - plenty to share if you get an appetizer Service was a little lacky but the food was great

We've been coming here for the last year and every single time the food is delivered and been outstanding. The service is always fantastic and the drinks are strong. It's definitely a mid range price point and up, but the food is well worth it and one of the best spots in AZ in my opinion. The inside is clean but a bit small if you're having a large party make sure you make a reservation there is a patio as well. Make sure you check this place out. It's awesome.

What a great hidden gem in Mesa! My girlfriend and I were looking for Mexican and this was listed as one the top places to try in the east valley and I 100% agree. We were seated right away on a Wednesday night. Every night there are specials and happy hour. The portions are large and everything comes out quick. The menu has a great take on Mexican and sushi type dishes. The firecracker shrimp was so well prepared and perfect to split between 2-3 people. Our server suggested my entree and I was shocked when I got it. Its got crab mixed with the warm rice and veggies. I describe it as a large sushi roll. There is a patio for outside seating. The staff was so friendly and the owner Danny came around to make sure we were enjoying our meal. I can't wait to come back

Good food! Definitely make a reservation for early dinner. We got right in with one. Great food!

I recently dined at ZONA and I must say, I was extremely disappointed with the experience. We have been here many times, and understand that the prices are too high, but the food has been good so we've never complained. Firstly, they charge $5 for chips and salsa, which I guess is fine to recoup some of those costs, but when we received the bill the waitress had charged us for $5 for every basket of chips and salsa we received! We were charged $15 for 3 chips/salsa and a random $3 for chips, not to mention the 3% "service fee" they tack onto the bill. Total of over $20 of unwarranted charges. Their food is already overpriced, now they're just straight up gouging customers. No thanks Zona. In addition, their wait staff is wildly inconsistent. The waitress we had was unfriendly and obviously less than honest, and didn't crack a smile once time as she provided her soul-less service. Despite the poor service and attempted overcharge, I must admit that the food at ZONA is actually quite good. The dishes were flavorful and well-prepared, which made the overall experience slightly more bearable. However, the poor service and dishonesty of the staff greatly overshadowed any positive aspects of the meal.In conclusion, I cannot in good conscience recommend this joint due to the terrible service and dishonest practices I experienced. While the food may be delicious, it is not worth putting up with such unprofessionalism. I hope the management takes steps to improve their staff and practices in the future.

Zona is truly a hidden gem. Me and my bestie came on Saturday for brunch hour. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was not packed. The restaurant itself is so cute and clean. We decided to sit on the patio in she shade, since the weather wasn't too bad. They offer bottomless Mimosas, which is what we got. The bartender was so wonderful and made sure we were never low on our drinks. Now for the food! They have brunch menu items, but i really like that you dont have to stick to it during brunch hours, and can get anything on the menu. We got the mar y tierra roll, the chicken flauta appetizer, and the churro tower with ice cream for dessert. Everything was truly delicious! The roll had alot of great flavors. The flautas were nice and crispy, and I loved all the sauces and dips that came with them. Dessert was also perfect! I will definitely be back again and again!

1. Delicious Jalapeño Margarita (4/5)2.Rude staff and snobby guy bartender. We ordered a drink and the person walked away then sent someone else to take our order. Not to mention the rude attitude we were received with. I wanted to love this place, but honestly, it's just a "social media hype" wanna be "mexican cantina" like all the other ones. Disappointed.