I'm really disappointed. I had heard this place was pretty good. I heard wrong. It started with probably the worst margarita I have EVER had. Between my wife and I we couldn't drink half of it. It tasted like they took the cheapest mix, cut it with industrial strength degreaser, tossed the Big Lots cup in salt and called it a day. Considering the bar takes up 25% the main dining area you would think they could make a decent drink. Then the chips came, yeah after the drink which was slow. The salsa was watery and lacked flavor. It could have been food coloring, but it was red. The chips did have salt on them though, lots of it. I was in the mood for an order of flautas. In hind sight, I should have gone to Costco and found the sample lady, since thats what they did. It was hot though. The fryer was working at least. My wife got a taco and a cheese enchilada. The cheese was not melted inside the cheese, it was shredded though. The taco was cold, stale and flavorless. We paid the bill, tipped the waitress and left shaking our heads. Never to darken their door again. read more

El Jefe Café is your average looking Mexican Restaurant with not a lot of frills. The bathrooms are kept clean, service is always friendly, and the salsa is quite tasty. I always order the Mojarra (fried tilapia) with rice and beans. At $7.50, it's definitely a catch! The fish is fried to perfection and the flavor is incredible. read more

El Jefe Cafe - Mojarra (tilapia) $7.50 - Mexican Near Me - San Clemente, California

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When here because we had a $25 restaurant.com gift card, the only stipulation is that we had to spend $45 to use the card...seemed easy enough until we saw the prices. Family of 4, with two growing boys, we typically have a $50~$60 bill. We ordered: 2 margaritas, 2 sodas, a cup of soup, appetizer nachos, 2 taco plate w/side of beans, 2 enchilada plate, nachos for one son and bean and cheese burrito for the other...at the end of the day our meal total was only $39 and we were normally don't order appetizers or soup nor do we order off the adult menu for the kids. The food was delicious, the wife said the enchiladas could use more sauce, I thought they were perfect. The fish tacos were amazing, better than Pedro's Tacos. The Pork on the nachos melted in your mouth. Nachos come with guar and sour cream on them but I don't think the menu says that (wife hates guac) so you may want to order on the side. The salsa was amazing top 2 in the area, chips were a little lacking but the salsa was great. I think I just found my hole in the wall mexican food joint that I've been looking for since i moved up here from San Diego 3 years ago. read more

La Siesta had a line outside the door tonight, we were hungry and thought it was a great opportunity to try this place that we had driven by countless times. Tip: Wait in the line at La Siesta! Our experience at El Jefe was bad. I had heard they had the best fish & chips in town, so I assumed they would have a good fish taco. They don't. The tacos had that fishy smell of old seafood and the tortillas disintegrated, forcing me to eat the tacos with a fork. Beans and rice looked and tasted old. My wife's chicken taco was served cold. My daughter did like her fish and chips, but later said she had better elsewhere. My beer was cold, the salsa was actually quite good, but the chips are so hard and flavorless, my daughter said it was like chewing rocks. We will not return/ read more

Love there food! Best Fish and Chips around. Yep....fish and chips. Great, friendly staff.

Does it get any better, the best fish and chips ever. This family owned business is my favorite place to eat. My roommates, myself and my neighbors love it there. The staff is friendly, and fun. The prices are excellent. The enviroment is fabulous. I recommend this restraunt to everyone. If you are visiting San Clemente, visit El Jefes. read more

Stopped here for a veggie burrito to-go after being out of the country for two weeks.. What a serious letdown for my first taste of Mexican in what seemed like ages. First of all, the menu listed rice and beans with the burritos, but when we didn't see any, we asked the server and she said it was inside the burrito. Well there were beans (as with most veggie burritos), but no sign of rice. Secondly, the burrito was small and wrapped like a square. Nothing like I've ever seen or held before and impossible to eat, so I had to use a knife & fork. Thirdly, it was basically a veggie fajita in a tortilla. No fresh vegetables - no lettuce, no tomatoes, no sour cream, etc. Just greasy bell peppers, soggy onions, barely-there cheese & bland salsa. Oh, but they put potatoes in there too?! Overall, I was thoroughly unimpressed. Maybe it's because I was longing the taste of a scrumptious burrito, but I highly doubt it! I've attached a photo for those that are interested in seeing this atrocity. (I'm giving it one star because the tortilla seemed fresh and homemade and the server was nice and friendly.) read more

El Jefe Cafe - You call this a veggie burrito??!! - Mexican Near Me - San Clemente, California

Entertainment club coupon. Solid greasy spoon mexican joint. A little grimy, but it comes out in the spectacular flavor. I had chilaquiles with red sauce and my wide them with green sauce. Surprisingly spicy...a bit much for your average gringo. Salsa was a nice rough chop, you could tell they made that as well as there sauces in house. read more

Stick with the basics. Fish & chips are good. Ceviche was good, not the best, but good. Carnitas Quesadilla was tasty, but lacking in the quesa !! Tried the scallops, big mistake!! Oh and they do not honor the $5 check in discount offer on yelp. read more

We used to eat here all the time when we lived in San Clemente. It's now our go-to Mexican restaurant when we come back to visit. This time was a disaster. The tacos were so soggy the tortillas fell apart and were mushy. My wife's tostado was prepared wrong twice, and they acted like we were supposed to just take it as is. Our kids have food allergies to processed seasoning. When the fries came back with seasoning on it we sent it back. We never got the fries because " there was only a little seasoning on them" the first time. Today nobody cared. Horrible horrible experience. There are too many excellent Mexican restaurants to put up with this. read more

Man, I been going here since High School, over 15 years ago. This place has always been our little secret. There's always parking, never a wait for a table, great daily specials, on and on and on! The free chips and salsa sure donthurt either. read more

I've been coming here since I was a little girl, and it's a must to go back every time I'm in town!

Hmm. Lots of bad reviews here. Well, I really like this place. It's super laid back, the staff is very friendly, and I always feel like I have stumbled into a village cantina in some small town in Mexico. The food ranges from very good to pretty good, and I'm okay with that. For the prices and atmosphere, I'm not expecting a ground-breaking artist wearing crocs in the kitchen. La Siesta gets all the business, but I think I prefer Al Jeffries--that's how my white-girl wife pronounces El Jefe's--for its vibe and lack of pretension. read more

Second time in 10 years since I've eaten here and I ask myself, why so long? The food is very good. Me and my traveling companion stopped here for breakfast and were amazed at the portions and how good the food was. I had the El Jefe Omelet and completely cleaned my plate. My friend had the Burrito and said it as very good. It's a nice little "hole in the wall" and it won't be another 10 years before I eat there again. read more

Saw the review on other Yelpers re their Fish n chips. Food was good, although fries are the frozen kind. They give u 1 small tartar sauce for 4 fish. Which is not enough n u hv to pay an extra .25 cents for additional tartar sauce. Really? Shouldn't u give your customer enough sauce/dip to go with their food? Hubby had the Jefe shrimp quesadilla n it was very tasty. My beef was the female server. On their menu, it says additional $ 1.75 to substitute the fries with zucchini. I asked her how much zucchini are there since $ 1.75 seems a bit much. A full order of zucchini as appetizer is $ 4.50. She signaled it's probably enough for us to share or she doesn't really know. So i ordered the Fish n chips with substitute of zucchini n extra cole slaw. 2 water. One with no ice. They give u a small bowl of chips n 2 kinds of salsa. They charge u for xtra chips. Water came, both with ice. She speaks limited English so we just let it go. She came to show me a small container of tartar sauce n cole slaw n wants to know which extra did I want. When the fish came, there's no zucchini, instead fries. We called her n reminded her that i wanted zucchini. She came bk n brought the zucchini. When the bill came, she's charging us 3 seperate orders. When i questioned her, she was very adamant that i didn't order it in the first place. There was no sorry or apology that perhaps there's a misunderstanding. Nope! Just that i'm wrong n she's right. I looked around n there's no other person who works there, except the cook in the back. So if u eat here, be cognizant that there's a very good possibility that she will screw up your order. So don't order anything different from what's in the menu. read more

El Jefe Cafe - Fish n Chips - Mexican Near Me - San Clemente, California

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This was always my go to spot for fish and chips....it has definitely gone down hill over the past few years....fish portions got smaller and the price went up! read more

Small portions for the price, mediocre quality of food, bad customer service. Will not return here.

I was quite disappointed when I had suggested this place for my wife and our friends as we did not have a pleasant experience. It started when our waiter didn't know much about the food so when we had questions about certain things he wasn't able to answer them. Then my wife finished her drink and was in need for a refill which says a lot of how long it has been since he last came to check on us because she doesn't finish her drinks right away. When he took our order we ordered an appetizer that never came before our main meals so we cancelled on that. When he brought our food we didn't get the utensils we had to ask him twice before he finally brought them to us. Plenty of other small stuff on the young waiter was really bad but for the food it was good nothing special. I probably would not come again read more

From afar I thought it was one of those carryout only taco stands. I was happy to see that they have some seating available inside. It's a bit dark- definitely not anything like Nick's or South of Nick's. But there's something about a good ole' messy, unpretentious atmosphere with good food. So far I've only tried the tacos- the tongue taco is DELICIOUS. It's fatty and juicy. Plan to be back to try everything on the menu and will update! read more

Went here for Taco Tuesday. It was ok. The soup was the best & the service was descent. read more

El Jefe Cafe - Albadigas soup, fish tacos, beef & chicken tacos. - Mexican Near Me - San Clemente, California

I drove 3 hours to el jefe cafe and baby ooooooo the fish n chips were so good, they tasted like they came fresh from the ocean, when they came on my table I was ready to much and I'm telling y'all these fish n chips are a must try, and the owners are very friendly and kind!! Loved the environment and overall the food was good read more

The food is not great. I don't think I will be back. The meatball soup was very greasy and with no flavor at all. The carne asada tacos tasted weird and even the beans were bad for a Mexican restaurant. read more

A while back I dropped in here for some enchiladas and was impressed. It wasn't trendy or modern, just like a solid, delicious Mexican home-cooked meal. I was in the area finally again today and was interested in their menu items that aren't as common. I tried their house special, "El Jefe", which was like fried chicken with an egg on top, grilled bread, and french fries. It was a strange dish. The chicken and bread were nice but the egg was unnecessary and the fries were definitely frozen and store bought. I'm sure there's potential here but I'm warning you, avoid that dish. read more

The best carnitas plate & chips and salsa! Great service! We come here every week and love it here.

I recently discovered this little restaurant. I thought their food was fantastic. I ordered the fish and chips and they were delicious. Not greasy at all and very light. I will be going back again for sure read more

BOMB MICHELADAS! It's great. Food is Great too had the Huevos Sureños and was not disappoint and the server was awesome

El Jefe has excellent fish and shrimp and chips! We go there often and enjoy the hometown atmosphere. We have been eating at El Jefe for years and will continue! And it is the most affordable place to eat. I like their soft chicken tacos plate - very filling. I enjoy their salsa, too, not too hot for me. read more

Really great authentic Mexican food, great deals, a real value and awesome friendly servers. Superb Michiladas that really hit the spot.

Great breakfast burritos at a great price. His is one of those small local places with great fresh homemade Mexican food. If I lived here it would be a frequent eat. read more

This is my first time here and my last. The female behind the bar was very rude and didn't speak good english. She was very short and gave me attitude the entire time. I asked for a chicken taco I got fish instead. I told her they made a mistake on my order her reply was..."NO WE DIDNT" in a very thick fresh off the boat accent. She was very rude saying I did you a favor and gave you extra chips and salsa. I asked what do you mean? She replied with a "my boss would fire me if he found out" because we charge extra. I asked to speak to her boss she said he was on vacation. Overall it was a very bad experience. Awful customer service (not that she had any) and a waste of my time. I love mexican food and Mexican culture...but this lady need to go back to 1st grade! read more

Good food at good prices. Easy going atmosphere. Good service . They make nice salsa. The beans and rice were sub par. They are on of the best Fish & Chip. read more

I GOT FOOD POISONING!!! I was traveling with my family from Disneyland to San Diego. We decided to stop here. The place was dumpy, the food was not good. Worst , later in the middle of the night it hits me.... The whole rest of my vacation was miserable!!! The worst food poisoning I have ever had. I was sick for six days, puking and diarrhea. I regret ever going there! The last beautiful days of my family's California beach fun was me sick and I could not enjoy the beach with my daughter. No one else got sick, so i know it was not the flu, and I was the only one that ate something different!! I was perfect before I ate there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! read more

So, after a long day of surfing for me and a long day of parental obligations for my girlfriend, we both decided that we were too tired to bother cooking even though we were both starving. We hardly ever eat out, we like to eat mostly clean and organic meals that we prepare at home for a fraction of what you would pay in a restaurant , yeah, I'm cheap, but I cook better than most restaurants do. El jefe had put out a coupon for a 2 for 1 dinner or breakfast, but it wasn't valid on a Friday night. We pulled up their menu online, it was so reasonable it didn't matter. I looked over the reviews on Yelp, totally mixed, I think more people actually hated it than liked it, but we thought WTF and made the short drive from our place as it was raining......We were both glad we did. The food was tasty and authentic, and the service truly could not have been better. The portion size of the chile verde burrito i ordered was large. I have to attribute any previous negative reviews to the reviewers lack of exposure to basic Mexican food and unrealistic expectations. El Jefe is definitely "quaint" but in a warm neighborhood joint way. Go with this in mind, and I believe that you won't be disappointed. read more

We decided to try it for Taco Tuesday. Fantastic chicken and carne asada tacos! Excellent salsa and chips, cute little mom and pop place. Definitely will be back! read more

We got lost in San Clemente and found El Jefe wedged between a big-box pharmacy and auto parts store. A Mexican restaurant who serves fish and chips? An unlikely restaurant in an unlikely location: chances are it survived with good reason, so why not give it a try? The salsa and flan are freshly handmade and the beer is cold and cheap. This wasn't the best Mexican food we've ever had, but the service was friendly and fast. The cheese they use on enchiladas and quesadillas is spectacular, but the beans and rice are uninspired. We've pledged to give the fish and chips a try if we find ourselves in San Clemente again. Caveat emptor: this is a very family-friendly restaurant that welcomes small children but patrons nearby didn't hesitate to speak loudly and at length about their drug habits. read more

Waitresses ignored us while chatting @ bar.Had to explain the way we wanted a simple shredded beef taco. You know with like cheese lettuce etc. Also had to explain ala carte. read more

First time was awesome I had the chimichanga bomb .com my bf had fish and chips so second time around i got fish and chips didn't finish but did on the ride back home...and the Micheladas hit the spot even got shrimp in them !! Can't wait to go back. read more

Best Fish and chips and fried shrimp in San Clemente and their Chicken Flautas are also very good. They are well known for their Fish and Chips as the locals like yo order take out all day long! read more

Ok. I admit that I've never been to this place after living here for 10 years. I had given up on true authentic Mexican food in San Clemente. Some of you know what I mean by that. Anyway, I'd like to recommend this place to you. I grew up in San Diego, and I was raised eating good Mexican food because my nanny was from TJ. So, this food really reminded me of Mexico. If you're looking for something like Javier's, move on. But if you want to visit Mexico's food without driving south, come here. I had a simple combo plate, cheese enchilada and beef taco. It just tasted different. The sauce on the enchilada reminded me so much of my travels to Mexico. The beef taco was (low grade beef), pounded out. But again, reminded me of trips down there. Gourmet? No! Pure, authentic Mexican food? Yes!! Enjoy. read more

It's ok... customer service is ok... they took 20 min to make a regular breakfast burrito. And it wasn't even busy.