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    El Jalapeno

    3.4 (158 reviews)
    ModerateMexican
    Open 10:00 am - 9:00 pm
    Updated 1 month ago

    El Jalapeno Photos

    EL JALAPENO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Loud
    Casual
    Outdoor seating
    Good for kids

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    These tacos have a pinch of meat for 4bux its a rip off the place across the street or the supermarket serv em better. Very disappointing
    Joseph D.

    This what 4 dollar tacos looks like.a pinch of meat & I didn't want chesse on them but retards blasting the music cant hear even after i told her twice. Very disappointing going to stick to Araujo's Mexican Grill off berryessa way better

    Enchiladas Michocanas
    Evangelina B.

    It's really hard to find authentic enchiladas Michocanas but this place has them! My friends and I came in to take dinner to go. I ordered the enchiladas Michocanas with chicken but they ran out so gave my steak instead. We waited a long time for our food as I think the kitchen was backed up with orders. When we got our food my carne asada that came with my plate was ok, very chewy. Felt like it was sitting there for a awhile and not cooked fresh. My friend ordered a cheese quesadilla because she's vegetarian had chicken in her quesadilla. I think the lady who took our order had a hard time understanding everything we wanted as when I asked for a diet coke she kept giving me a regular one. I'll still come back, food was good.

    Kimmie H.

    Just discovered El Jalepeno located in eastside San Jose- Delicious miché and ceviche! Will be back to get my seafood fix

    Trizzie P.

    Yummy Super Michelada and great service. Family and kid friendly restaurant. I was craving Mexican and husband wanted a place that has Super Michelada and we got children. I Looked around on Yelp and found this restaurant and the pictures on here of the shirmp Michelada convinced us to go here. I cross the White and McKee intersection hundreds of times but never notice this hidden restaurant. It is located all the way inside the 7/11 plaza. We arrived around 7pm for dinner and from the parking view, the inside looked slow and I was getting worried. We were too hungry so we decided to just go in to give it a try. As we approached the store front and the door opened , I'm starting to see that the restaurant was 80% filled, people were having good time , and loud Mexican music was playing on the big screen. I was starting to feel more confident and relieved. Whew! We were seated immediately. Our waitress Stephanie greeted and made sure were comfortable with where we were sitting. She provided the menu and was very helpful when I asked her for recommendations. I was craving and hungry and wanted everything on the menu so it was good to have her narrow it down. I got the chicken Enchilada(choice of green or red sauce). I decided to go with the green sauce since Stephanie said that it was more spicy. The plate of food came out hot. I like. Beans were well blended with the cheese. Green sauce on top was on point. Enchilada itself were filled with good portion of shredded chicken inside. The salad was fresh and tasty with tomatoes and cilantro. I usually don't finish the salad but I did this time. Super Michelada were as delicious as they look from pictures I saw on Yelp. Shirmp were grilled perfectly and well seasoned. Definitely coming back here again when I'm craving for Mexican.

    $8 for 2 baby tacos, burnt cheese, very little meat.
    Garrett J.

    Overpriced. Overcooked. Small portions. Bad service. Never again. Finished meal and was still very hungry afterwards.

    Isabel L.

    Micheladas here are delicious. Whenever I come visit my friend in the South Bay, this is our spot always. It is close to her house so it works out perfect. Do keep in mind that if they aren't busy at around 8, they do close up. Yelp says they close at 9pm and I've mentioned this to them before and they have said they close at 8pm. I then drive by and its packed at around 8pm and they are still opened and are still taking orders. Aside from that, very nice friendly staff, seems family owned. I've had their tacos so far, since I'm such a taco person and they're good. The tacos are not dry but neither super greasy. They serve you chips and salsa on the house so that's a plus.

    Michelada
    Ali M.

    Cute little spot if you are in the mood for some good drinks and delicious dinner. My favorite things were the shrimp empanadas, they were amazing! I highly recommend. I also recommend the super micheladas. They place lots of grilled shrimp all around the rim and the flavor on the shrimp is so yummy. Other favorites were the asada tacos and the fried fish. Service was fast and friendly and the place was really clean. I can't wait to come back and try more things on the menu.

    Phoebe T.

    I really wanted to give this place more stars but after eating here I've been battling with a painful stomachache for the last day & a half. Came here on a Wednesday evening with my boyfriend for the first time, super excited because we had found a new spot that had chavelas/micheladas with shrimp. He ordered the super chabela, I had the regular michelada with shrimp... My michelada was super good & his was good but it tasted kinda weak compared to other spots we've been to. Food: the wet super burrito was delicious from what I had tried off my boyfriend's plate. I ordered the chicken enchiladas with red sauce & it was pretty solid as well. Everything was good except half way through dinner I started getting bad stomach pains after. Overall drinks are 4/5... Food 3/5 Stomachache over rules hence why I'm only giving this place 1 star.

    Closed 8:30
    Mellanie T.

    I used to come here all the time! But service was too slow too many times and they always close early. (like the previous post) It's Saturday at 8:30 and was going to order my food to go but they are closed. Oh well.

    Fish tacos
    Ervin S.

    Haven't been to this place in a while so stopped in for a early dinner with the wife we got a botana de camaron, fish tacos,asada tacos along with 2 chavelas to wash it all down with. Everything was great very flavorful and hit the spot I would only have liked to have more fish on the tacos but they were still extremely good and the shrimp I have yet to find a place that the shrimp are as good as this place definitely going to be coming back soon‼

    Verde Enchiladas and Pollo Quesadilla.
    Paraadice G.

    I am 8 months pregnant and while I was eating a bug dropped from ceiling. I am so disgusted I don't even have the appetite. I'm so not satisfied I was not even done. I had more than half of my plate left. As you can see the bug I'm on the cup. It was just roaming around all over our table.

    Cathy N.

    My co worker took me to this spot that she likes. When we came in the waitress sat us down. We were browsing through the menu and we finally decided what we wanted. We got the Molcajete and shared. The service was not great. We have to go up to the register and ask her for a lot of things. She didn't even check up on us. They weren't busy and they had two people working. Food was alright.

    Super Michelada.

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    4 months ago

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    3 years ago

    The shrimp ceviche is the best!!!! We drive down from the eastbay just to have it and the shrimp micheladas.

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    5 years ago

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    2 years ago

    My go to spot for tacos de chorizo & tacos de pollo I loveee their food & service. 10/10 recommend forsure.

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    5 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Best micheladas ever, highly recommended . It a really good price compared to other place

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    3 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Nachos were stale overprice tacos are small as hell and expensive never again! I haven't tried everything but that sucked.

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    11 years ago

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    7 years ago

    Best Camarones a la plancha and also I love that they check all your food that was ordered to go!

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    7 years ago

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    Page 1 of 4

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    Añejo Cantina & Kitchen

    4.4
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    We went yesterday March 15th, for my friends birthday, we had a group of 6 and tip is added at 20%…read moreon 6 or more people. I would suggest that the serve mention that when taking orders so we know. Just because it's at the very bottom of the menu I didn't notice it until I asked for a dessert menu. The food was so good! We had Mexican jambalaya, Carne asada plate, tacos Dorado, enchiladas with both sauces, parillada, enfrioladas (bean enchiladas) tacos de pescado, Don julio flight, multiple drinks and churros. The churros were really good although we wish there was a non filled ones too and to have the optionof if we wanted it dressed up because churros are already super sweet with the cinnamonand sugar dusted but caramel and whip cream was added along with a strawberry filling. We also ordered a tres leches cake but we didn't like the tres leches cake, it was too sweet, so sweet that we couldn't taste the filling which we assume was pineapple lol the color was yellow with pieces of fruit but we couldn't taste it. Overall the service was great and quick. I would definitely come back here.

    Its nice to try and find new places to eat, my friend did the research and decided that this would…read morebe the place to try for our next get together. We met on Saturday for lunch. Plenty of parking available since the restaurant is in a strip mall. It wasn't too busy when we got there, but then it started picking up. There was only one server working and she was really hustling to meet everyone's needs. Plus, she was friendly. I had the carne asada burrito, it was good but nothing over the top that made it stand out. My friend had enchiladas with mole. We were most excited about dessert and decided to share the churros and Tres leches. It was a nice touch that the churros and Tres leches did not come plain, a little pizzazz since they were both served with berries, whipped cream, and a cajeta style sauce. Both of the desserts were so good and a perfect touch of sweetness.

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    Zona Rosa

    Zona Rosa

    3.9
    (1.8k reviews)
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    Zona Rosa has become a local rotation for me and my partner. We love this place for a casual no…read morefrills date night. The vibes are always great, with options for indoor and outdoor seating, heaters when it's cold. Everyone is so nice and welcoming, it feels like family. By far my favorite thing to get on the menu is the Baja beer battered fish tacos and a cucumber margarita. But we also have loved the tortilla soup. It's rare a place leaves a special place in my heart like this one, definitely a local gem here.

    I don't usually leave negative reviews unless the experience is genuinely poor. I visited this…read morerestaurant on a Saturday evening with my mother. We arrived at approximately 8:26 p.m. When we checked in, I specifically requested to be seated indoors. The host, a young man, informed us that the wait would be approximately 10-15 minutes. When our table was ready, however, we were seated outside despite my clear request to sit inside. Throughout this time, there appeared to be an available table indoors. Our server, Mariana, was courteous and attentive, greeting us within two minutes of being seated. We placed our appetizer order at approximately 8:29 p.m., but did not receive it until around 9:00 p.m., resulting in a wait of roughly 30 minutes. To Mariana's credit, she communicated that there was a delay in the kitchen and kept us informed. However, our main entrées did not arrive until approximately 9:27 p.m. I remained patient and understanding throughout the evening. Having worked as both a server and bartender during my undergraduate studies, I understand that delays can happen. Nevertheless, the length of the wait was excessive, particularly given the apparent lack of managerial intervention. The manager on duty appeared to be walking the floor but did not seem to address the situation or assist in resolving service delays. Overall, while our server provided professional service under difficult circumstances, the restaurant's seating management and food service times fell well below expectations.

    Photos
    Beautiful place
    Beautiful place
    The 5 taco plate
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    Meticulously created cocktails

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    Tulum Mexican Kitchen

    Tulum Mexican Kitchen

    3.8
    (441 reviews)
    3.3 mi
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    Came yesterday for the first time & they had a DJ outside spinning good mixes…read more We went to the front & was seated right away. Our server was Sebastian & he was super friendly, attentive & recommended us the goods. My favorite here was their enchiladas - red & stuffed with chicken tinga. It also came with a side of rice & beans. The pickled red onions that came on top was delicious as well. My daughter even loved it & she's super picky about her onions. Drinks were good, the michelada with the shrimps - fire. Paloma - not that strong for the price you pay, but it was still alright. Guacamole - my kids loved Sebastian recommended us the coffee to-go, super flavorful Overall good vibes, great service, good food Will recommend.

    Our reservation to another place didn't work out for us so I called Tulum the afternoon before our…read moreholiday outing and the woman on the phone picked up promptly and noted they could accommodate a 12 person group at opening. This made it so seamless to reserve here. Our group got there at opening and our table was ready and most of the group was already seated when we got there. Drink orders were flowing as the waitress caught up to me and I got a cafe de olla. We browsed the menu and the more I looked the harder it was to pick one thing. I ended up choosing chilaquiles with a bandera sauce and carne asada as the added protein. The rest of the table got all different types of dishes from carne en su jugo to birria to omelettes. While we enjoyed each other's company sipping on our cafecito I enjoyed the ambiance of the space. Nicely decorated for the holidays. Since it was opening time it wasn't as loud as I imagine it can get in there. The sun did shine on the faces of those facing the windows which was not enjoyable for them. There was no way to cover the sun either since it was coming in from the top windows with no shade. My food came out along with the rest of the plates and we went right in to enjoy them. My favorite chilaquiles was covered in the white sauce. The red and green were good but the white sauce was my favorite. The carne was cooked well but I could taste it wasn't marinated or lacked flavor. I didn't get a knife to cut the meat so it was very difficult to enjoy a piece with my chilaquiles. It was hard to cut with a butter knife. I thought it would be a piece of steak but it was a piece of carne asada. Eggs were scrambled and cooked well. The whole plate was filling, had flavor, and was a good portion. The cafe de olla had a good flavor but a tad sweet for my preference. The space in here is a vibe. A fun place to enjoy large gatherings. I came for breakfast but will update when I come back to visit for dinner. Bathrooms are clean. Staff was welcoming and efficient in taking care of our group. Hospitality was a 10/10. Parking in the am was a breeze but at prime time I can see it being a complete nightmare so plan accordingly. I enjoyed my visit and will come back to check out the dinner menu.

    Photos
    Inside
    Inside
    Mini Birria Pambazo
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    Cali-Spartan Mexican Kitchen

    Cali-Spartan Mexican Kitchen

    3.8
    (604 reviews)
    8.9 mi
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    This place is so good. I'm glad to have tried it. I used to eat a lot of Mexican food when I went…read moreto school in SoCal, which is where I encountered Carne Asada Fries, so I make it a habit to get it at any restaurant that has it. CaliSparkles (what SJSU people call this restaurant), has it. SERVICE We came here on Saturday June 6th around noon. Quick to seat, took a bit to get our orders, but the waitress forgot that we asked for the check and to go boxes when we were done and didn't give us everything we asked for when we reminded her. In fact, all the servers vanished at the same time, and came back at the same time. FOOD Tacos are well priced ($3.50 for 1, $9 for 3 tacos), and I haven't seen that good of a deal in a long time. This is what they're known for and what most of my cousins ordered. Otherwise, one ordered a Super Burrito, and I ordered the Cali Fries with steak. It was soooo good. I loved that all the tacos and the fries came with avocado, some type of sauce, and tomatoes (I believe). Will def be back if I'm ever in the area.

    Just tried Cali-Spartan, and I would say the regular burrito with steak, is delicious!…read more My beautiful wife, enjoyed the Cali-Crispy tacos, and she had them with chicken. The only mistake on our orders was, I asked for no beans on my burrito, instead add extra rice. My wife asked for two tacos, and I asked twice and he said yes it's two tacos, but we got three. I'll definitely come back, hopefully our To go orders are correct next time.

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    You can watch your favorite sport!
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    3 crispy tacos
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