Zia Taqueria

I went here recently and ordered the beef barbacoa enchiladas with both the red & green sauces. Best enchiladas I’ve ever had! The other items on their menu can be hit or miss but get those enchiladas! Also I love their margaritas with a sangria floater

So, this is one of my all time favorites in Charleston… love the margaritas, love the guacamole, love the enchiladas, love the tacos… it’s all good! And we come back again and again. Service is quick. Never had a bad meal here.

I want to bathe in their Mexican rice, drink their salsa, and swim in their house margaritas!

Went back for the nth time this evening. We like it as a change of pace from P&B on Brevard Road, but for flavors and value it still lags. I do have to say the Baja fish tacos are fantastic. It does have the West Asheville vibe, whereas P&B has more of a country/​Candler feel.

Wow. I can’t believe I felt bad for leaving a scathing review.
I visited 4 times and left a 1* review, but those visits were probably 1.5yrs ago so I decided to give them another shot.
went in, sat at the bar. no acknowledgement from the bartender but another employee (floor server?) dropped chips & a menu, told him I needed a sec to order.
proceeded to sit at the bar for 15minutes and get no attn, no drink offered, no order taken. Two came in an sat by me, they had drinks, order taken, free sample sips of the day’s special cocktail… still the bartender would not even look in my direction. Other employee was back to his section and bartender acted like I was invisible as she stood 3ft away with her back to me wiping down menus.
sat there long enough to eat a basket of chips, still no drink, no hello, no napkin or silverware, & no order taken!
thanks for the free chips, I walked out.
deff avoid, fvck this place they suck

Love these guys. Super fresh food, great pricing, friendly staff. Great for kids, nice patio. We usually get the platos with fish or chicken but the menu contains lots of great items. Salsa is amazing, I could drink the stuff. The only thing I would ovoid is the nachos, not what I expected at all, tasty but slim pickins.

Went for lunch while visiting Asheville. Fish tacos were out of this world. Fresh grilled fish with toppings that complemented the fish instead of competing.

I’ve given Zias a few chances but the food just isn’t great. And with so many awesome options in Wavl I just can’t see myself coming back here. Plus, the bartender definitely doesn’t like kids… We weren’t made to feel welcome on our last visit.
I give 2 stars for decent guac.

Driving back home through Asheville and we decided to stop off and grab a bite and boy am I glad we did! Hands down a great place to eat! The chips & salsa was fresh and excellent. The platos — chicken and steak were the bomb! I’m not easily impressed but this was great! Outdoor patio is cool with the «down home» mountain music in the background.
It is the best Tex-​Mex I have had on the east coast!

Ample outdoor seating ‚(dog friendly) with self serve iced water, extra napkins & hot sauce.
Upon entering, it was kinda confusing but figured it out. Just head to the right to order. The menu is on a chalk board & easily visible. Place your order, get your number, tip for chips & wait for your awesomeness to arrive.
I went for the barbacoa plate with mexi slaw & mexi corn. (you get 2 sides with the plate option). My friend got the fish taco & a barbacoa taco. & we splurged & got the queso with chorizo with chips.
Chips & salsa came within 3 min of us sitting down outside & our guy offered us a delicious hot smokey chipotle sauce as an extra.
The chips were paper thin & fried to perfection with the perfect amount of salt & both salsa’s were delicious & obviously made in house.
Then before we even put a dent in chips & salsa the chorizo queso came… Um awesome!!! silky smooth cheese, spicy chorizo & a few veg sprinkled on top. Delicious.
Barbacoa plate time. Not what i expected. In a good way. For $ 11.99 it was freaking huge. Easily enough for 2 people. Plus you get the option of corn or flour tortillas. I always go with corn. The meat was so tender you didn’t need teeth, seasoned well & just delicious. Mexi slaw was crunchy & refreshing & the perfect addition to my tacos. The corn was kind of a bummer, no seasoning, watery & honestly. Not Mexican street corn. Everything else was spot on. My friends tacos were obviously good because 1– she didn’t offer me a bite & 2– she was done before I had even put a dent in my plate.
Can’t wait to go back & try some more stuff.

Great food and service, outdoor covered and uncovered dining. Yummy margaritas, fish tacos, chicken verde. Get the black bean side, taco soup, and the slaw or corn, fab. Service is quick always and attentive, drinks, dips and chips were refilled without asking. Everything was flavorful and priced reasonably. The menu is not extensive, but everything is hot and fresh. Parking can be tight when busy. Try it!

We went to their self-​seating just for a quick late dinner, and the food hit the spot. Even though it was self-​seating they still made sure we were okay, and checked in on us. The staff seemed really cool, and the vibe was chill. I had a couple of their tacos, and they did not disappoint. My boyfriend and I are huge taco fans, and this was in our top five best places we have ever been. The salsa and chips were also delicious, and this was our first meal in Asheville, and would come here again on our next visit!

Best Fish Taco (Baja) I’ve ever had! This will definitely be on our list of regular local eateries from now on.

Most components of my meal here were worth three stars. However, that extra star is for legit carnitas and enchilada sauce WITHOUT tomatoes.
I came here with a few friends, including a couple of Asheville natives. We were tired and a little hungover from the night before. I was counting on this meal to really hit the spot. Did it succeed? Overall, I would say yes. But it wasn’t a slam dunk.
Let’s start with the chips and salsa. The chips were fine. The salsa tasted like Pace Picante with extra cilantro added. So at first I was grumpy because Pace and then I was less so because cilantro. I mean, I still didn’t eat much of the salsa. But when I did, I fished for the chunks of fresh cilantro that had been mixed in.
I ordered the carnitas enchiladas with the red chile sauce (after confirming it was tomato-​less) with Mexican rice and Mexican corn as my sides. My SO ordered the huevos rancheros. When my food arrived, my hopes were high. The sauce that covered the enchiladas (and the rest of the plate) was a deep, rich brownish red. Not the brighter orange-​y red of a sauce with tomatoes. So taste-​wise, I was a tad disappointed. There was a slightly bitter, almost acrid, taste to the sauce. It didn’t ruin the sauce but it was a bit of a bummer since it’s so hard to find true red enchilada sauce.
On the flip side, I was very pleased with the carnitas. Let’s talk about the carnitas. Up front, I will say that they were not the best I’ve ever had. One day, someone will care to listen to my story of Carnitas Uruapan and the Best Carnitas I’ve Ever Had in My Life.
But I digress.
So the menu describes the carnitas as cooked in the «traditional» way. The traditional manner of cooking carnitas, if you didn’t know, is braising them for hours in lard until they are super tender and then cranking the heat up to finish them off by essentially frying them. If your arteries just cried out in protest, ignore them. It’s a fantastic dish and besides, it’s not like you’re eating it every day.
The carnitas in my enchiladas were very good. Now, were they cooked in lard? I am leaning toward yes — they had a particular flavor to them that leads me to believe that Zia makes good on their claim. No crispy bits detected, though.
The sides… oh, right. They were there. Both the rice and corn were perfectly serviceable. Nothing outstanding.
No horchata, which is always a bummer. But they had Mexican sodas, including Mexican Cola-​Cola, which is what I ordered.
Service was attentive and timely. It only seemed to take forever because I was hungover.
Overall, a good meal. I would definitely return and perhaps try the carnitas in a taco.
Mmmmm carnitas.

Zia is my West Asheville go-​to. Not only is the food delicious (and it is seriously delicious), but the servers/​bartenders consistently go above and beyond in customer service. Try the beef barbacoa or baha fish tacos for a regular favorite, but their daily specials are great as well.
Have a pup? Bring ‘em! The outdoor seating is comfy (even in winter, with plenty of heaters) and the staff is dog friendly too.
So thankful for this establishment and their staff.

Zia is a solid choice for Mexican in Asheville. Service is consistently accommodating, friendly enough, and quick, as the servers work with a sense of urgency — which is nice to see. It’s also worth mentioning that there’s counter ordering next to the wall painted menu if you want to opt out of table service or get it to-​go.
I haven’t ventured outside of ordering tacos, rice and beans for our toddler, or queso with chorizo as an appetizer, but all of these are exceptionally great. The salsa has got to be some of the tastiest I’ve had, out of all the Mexican places I’ve eaten at across the US. I look forward to that alone. Definitely get a house margarita on the rocks.

We were looking for a casual, budget-​friendly place on the westside for our last night in Asheville, wanting to avoid downtown traffic. We had passed Zia’s a few times, cutting back and forth across town, and decided to visit on a Friday night. The parking lot was packed, but we easily found a table in the sit-​down portion of the restaurant. We were given free chips and two (2) salsas, a milder pico and a much spicier smoky version.
Instead of the typical margarita, we both ordered a Palapa Mas, which was a mix of mint lemonade, white tequila, and crème de cassis; it was welcomingly strong and refreshing. My dining partner advised her pollo verde taco was the best taco she ever hard, but was «meh» on the beef barbacoa’s flavor in her burrito. I ordered a carne asada torta, which came with a side of elote. While the meat could have been a little rarer, I enjoyed how the torta’s flavors melded (i.e. black bean purée, caramelized onions, avocado, and cilantro-​jalapeño spread). We shared a side of Mexi-​slaw, which was simple and tart… a good palate cleanser. The overall bill was surprisingly cheap for the quality of food and the strong amount of alcohol in our drinks.
Items to note: 1) For sit-​down service, you have to eat inside in the immediate left-​side section. Outside dining or to-​go orders need to stand in the right-​side take-​out line. 2) The milder salsa is refilled, so go crazy on the free chips & salsa. 3) The entrees took a while due to a packed house, so make sure to order an appetizer if chips & salsa do not suffice. 4) You’ll probably have multiple servers covering your table. 5) Palapa Mas… y mas!

After over 5 years of living in Asheville, we’ve finally been to Zia, and I’m a bit sad that I haven’t been before now. We’d avoided it because a couple of people had steered us away, but I’m sorry we listened to them, Zia. Please forgive us.
I am not a fan of cilantro. As a result, this menu is not easy to navigate. Nearly everything has it as an ingredient, which is not surprising, and I don’t fault them for it obviously, but it does make choosing something difficult. Regardless, I found a chorizo and egg taco, as well as a Chicken Yucatan enchilada, and both of them were fantastic.
I think NOT having a salsa bar is actually a point in Zia’s favor. I am so tired of going into place after place in this town, only to find virtually the exact same menu and salsa bar as the other 14 Mexican places in town. This was a refreshing change, and we’ll absolutely be back.

Visited Zia Taqueria a few weeks ago and was thoroughly impressed. I visited with 2 other people at around 7pm on a Saturday, restaurant prime time. The wait was manageable, only fifteen minutes or so.
From the beginning:
The chips are fresh and crispy, not a soggy or overly greasy messy consistency that makes me cringe.
The salsa was flavorful and colorful, with a nice helping of cilantro that made it extra tasty.
I tried three different tacos, all of which I was very satisfied with. The nopales taco is incredible. A fried helping of cactus (don’t be intimidated, it’s not prickly) served with a creamy white sauce that was out of this world. Next was the chorizo and egg taco, another home run in my book, with spicy chorizo (a personal favorite) and scrambled eggs it was an unexpected surprise that was highly recommended by the staff. Lastly I had a carne asada taco that was pretty standard. Nothing special but also nothing terrible.
The other members of my party had tacos and a salad, both of which were tasty.
My only reason for no five star review was the slightly rushed service and the very mediocre carne asada taco. Other than that this place was a great choice for a quality informal Mexican meal.

I don’t do 5 stars… seriously. Ever. I’m making an exception for Zia as I’ve had Mexican all over the country AND Mexico. Zia is «tex-​mex», more regional southwest/​mexican, but OMFG…
I’d not had a true Torta in years. Everything about it was completely spot on. The roll, the dressing, the carnitas. Did I mention the CARNITAS? Perfectly flavored, beautifully pulled into yummy chunks/​pieces. Ask for the Esciva on the side, omg…
My friend had the nachos, and is a regular there. Also over the top yummy.
The Monday specials are great (and open Mondays!) Rachel, our bartender, was a peach, as was the rest of the service personell. Won’t be having any kind of Mexican locally EVER.