2014-2015, 2017-2019
Best Mexican
2016-2017
Best. Restaurant. Period.
FEATURED STORY FROM THE Best of BG – 2016 ISSUE
El Zarape:
El Zarape Features Authentic Food and Family Atmosphere
It’s always a family affair at Bowling Green’s El Zarape. Even when David Olivarez’s dining room isn’t packed close to capacity with dozens of smiling customers, it’s filled with his real family and there is no shortage of warmth, smiles or laughter.
“This is a unique situation here, my mom and dad work here along with my brother and sister. We have five or six cousins and three uncles that decided to work with me,” says Olivarez. He admits that working with family can be challenging at times but they also provide a level of support regular employees can’t always produce.
Olivarez is committed to family, food, authenticity and atmosphere and that commitment is part of what makes El Zarape the gold standard for Mexican food in Bowling Green. Nothing comes out of a can in Olivarez’s kitchen. All ingredients are shipped from local vendors; the salsas and guacamole is handmade daily and it’s one of the reasons their customers keep coming back.
The atmosphere is worth noting too. El Zarape doesn’t play some tired old playlist from the early 2000’s to its diners. The music is authentically Mexican and the same goes for the artwork displayed on its bright yellow walls.
David Olivarez is a 35-year-old family man and solid veteran of the restaurant industry. His parents worked in restaurants and he’s worked in restaurants since high school. He cut his teeth at a restaurant in Kentucky where he graduated high school. It was called Puerto Vallarta and Olivarez started as a dishwasher primarily but he also did some moonlighting on the grill. From there he moved on to the front of the house, cleaning and waiting tables. Back then it was a fun job that helped him make a little extra cash for the weekends.
After high school David enrolled at Western Kentucky University but left because he got homesick and went back to the industry he loved working as a waiter. The owner of the eatery David was working at saw potential in him and knew he could be more than just a waiter. He promoted Olivarez to a management position and once he saw that Olivarez had the chops he made him a partner and the two of them opened El Zarape. So what made them settle in Bowling Green instead of larger cities like Toledo or Columbus?
The simple answer is market domination. “Bowling Green didn’t have an authentic Mexican restaurant at the time. We really liked the mix of students, locals, and people from all over the world and we jumped on it,
15 years later we’re still here,” says Olivarez.
And to take things further, Olivarez is looking to expand. At one point he owned two restaurants, the second was called Guajillo’s but it closed its doors months ago. But Olivarez says it’s coming back later this summer. It’ll be open later and food will fly out of the kitchen faster because the menu will have a lot of specialized tacos sandwiches and soups. It’s designed to give late night eaters more options than Taco Bell or Chipotle.
David Olivarez, originally from Modesto, Calif., has lived all over the country. He’s spent time in Kentucky, Missouri, and even Mexico, and he’s come a long way from working as a dishwasher. The BGSU graduate has become an accomplished restaurateur and on the off chance El Zarape has flown under your radar, there’s a reason this restaurant made “The Best of BG” list.
AN ADDITIONAL FEATURED STORY ABOUT EL ZARAPE CAN BE FOUND IN THE Best of BG – 2012 ISSUE