We had a bunch of people recommend EL Jefe Grill, which convinced us to visit, especially since we…read morewere staying nearby. When we walked in for a Sunday dinner, we were greeted with the smell of roasting chicken and charcoal, a promising sign from the very start. It was pretty busy inside, but after ordering at the counter, the food only took about 15 minutes to arrive.
Whole Chicken Meal ($27.74) - The meal comes with two 12 oz sides, an 8oz salsa, and either corn or flour tortillas. For the sides we went with the classic Mexican Rice and the Refried Beans. Both are pretty standard stuff from a Mexican restaurant. The rice is tender with still distinct grains, has an reddish color from tomatoes, and adds a scant amount of veggies mixed through. The beans are mostly smooth throughout, fatty and creamy. We went with the corn tortillas, of which they provide a whole stack of twelve, warmed until steaming, making them hot, soft, and pliable, perfect to eat with the chicken and sides.
The chicken is legitimately amazing. Basically the entire restaurant smells like chicken fat being charred over mesquite. It's a mesmerizing smell that made me salivate upon walking in. The chicken is whole roasted with the dark meat and wings being cooked until succulent and juicy. The interior of the breasts are a bit dry, but there's not much that can be done with this cooking method! Otherwise, the char is excellent, creating an almost crust-like nature to the skin and the spice mix imbues a yellow glow to the entire tray.
They give so much food that we only finished perhaps a quarter of it. We ended up bringing the rest home on our drive up the next day and ate it for another couple of meals. (5/5)
I especially love their salsa bar off to the side of the main counter. There's so much variety, there's surely something to please anyone. They have a mild tomato, a mild but smoky, a spicy and fruity, a green tangy tomatillo, a creamy avocado, a crunchy fresh pico de gallo, a smoky and spicy, and a tangy and spicy salsa - basically all combinations someone could ask for. Even the spiciest additions are still very tolerable to my tastes.
We were impressed enough to visit again the next day for lunch:
Supreme Burrito al Pastor ($14.37) - This is hefty burrito, almost Mission-sized, being around 4 inch in diameter with the weight to match. It's first filled with plenty of Mexican rice, same as with the meal. For some reason, this time, the rice is hard and tough, like they had reached down to scrape the bottom of the rice cooker. It would likely be the most coveted portion of rice in a tagine or clay pot, but in a burrito, the toughness doesn't work well. On top of the rice are the refried beans, spooned over intermittently. It adds creaminess and fat to the otherwise dry exterior layers. Then the layer of meat begins - cubed pork, marinated in a savory and sweet sauce, then mixed up with chopped pineapples. It's more adobada than al pastor, and is on the sweeter end of things with the pineapple. The spice mixture isn't the most notable; they definitely focus on the chicken at El Jefe vs. the pork. Veggies, including lettuce and a pico de gallo mix cover the meat, followed by thinly shredded cheese and sour cream, which is thick and rich, perhaps more resembling crema than cream, and some guacamole, tangy and fatty. It's not the most even application - for example, the guac only covers one end of the burrito while the sour cream covers the other end. (4/5)
I have to say, the chicken served at EL Jefe Grill is perfection. I would revisit just for that.
Bathrooms - Two unisex rooms
Note: El Jefe charges a 2.9% credit card fee. This is displayed at the register, but they have their POS set up incorrectly. Firstly, they lump the cost into the menu item instead of separating it out into a fee. Secondly, they actually charge a random fee rather than 2.9%. For example, the whole chicken meal is 3.1% and the supreme burrito is 2.7%. Very bizarre. I reported it to their management so hopefully it gets fixed soon.