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    El Jefe Tacos

    4.1 (422 reviews)
    Open 7:00 am - 2:30 AM (Next day)

    Order El Jefe Tacos Takeout or Delivery

    El Jefe Tacos Photos

    Business Info

    EL JEFE TACOS ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Casual
    Moderate noise
    Good for groups
    Outdoor seating

    Recommended Reviews - El Jefe Tacos

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    Reviews With Photos

    Mark E.

    Randomly went here because my neighbor and I were in the neighborhood. Very neat and clean. Wasn't busy when we got there, but just after we arrived at small crowd came in behind us. Ordered 3 queso birriera and 3 shrimp tacos. Both were very good. Birriera was juicy and well seasoned. Not too much cheese! Consume was tasty, but needed a touch of salt. The shrimp were grilled very well. Plump and snappy. Had them with the Chipotle crema. Very tasty. Only complaint would be the total price. I realize beef has gone up, but over 5.00 a taco is a bit steep. Just under 40.00 for 6 tacos and a coke. Pretty steep!

    Carly C.

    Food was exceptionally flavorful and seasoned well. We ordered the ramen, tacos, and the Phoenix roll. We went to here as they were one of the late night spots still open. *This along with a hibiscus drink (large) and a cola! Approximately 50$. * Service was simple, kind, order at the register- type of spot. Ambiance wasn't busy for a Sunday night but the vibes were there, and I can imagine they get busy and can handle a lot with the seating options they have.

    Jordyn J.

    Ordered from DoorDash so can't speak for the vibe or service, but this place was honestly really good. And affordable. The Vegas roll was perfectly crispy, and they even had a great 2 for 1 deal on it through the app. The other rolls were also super tasty and hit the spot. Definitely a great spot for some good sushi that won't break the bank.

    First time at El Jefe Taco Sushi, and I really liked the open-concept atmosphere. The restaurant has a fun vibe and a lot of potential. The al pastor had a good base but needed more flavor. The carne asada lacked seasoning, color, and the bold taste I was expecting. The sushi was a good start, but it could use more flavor and a little extra crunch to make it stand out. The horchata was not authentic. Service was fast however there were no customers so this might have helped the fast service. Overall, it's a decent spot with potential. With a few improvements to the seasoning and flavors, I think it could be a great place to visit.

    Inside seating
    Brandy L.

    Decorated nice with a bar, inside and outside seating and space selling merchandise. Place order at front counter and seat yourself . Staff was friendly. Reason for 3 stars was the food. Tacos were ok. Not the best or the worst just ok. The protein bowl was disappointing. It was 75% steamed rice and 4 pieces of fish. Definitely not worth the price.

    El Jefe Nachos.
    Joyce W.

    Q: What did the taco say to the avocado? A: Let's guac and roll! Five years later, this is still a great place! I remember when this place used to be Red Owl but El Jefe Tacos is easily a better establishment. It's bright, there's plenty of seating, and the menu is massive. I recently came here with some friends after grabbing a drink and going on a distillery tour and it was exactly what was needed after a long day. I ordered the El Jefe Nachos and El Jefe Specialty Roll. Both were tasty! It's good to see how this once sleepy plaza is flourishing. Get some good eats here.

    El Jefe Specialty Rolls
    Michael W.

    You know what sounds good after a distillery tour? Nachos and sushi from a taco shop. I know what you're thinking and maybe it was the alcohol but I enjoyed myself here. I've had them once before as takeout so it was my first time dining in. I never realized how massive the menu is. I was torn between what to get but I was eavesdropping on other members of my party's orders and I copied J-Wow. El Jefe Specialty Roll with some El Jefe Nachos it is. Both were good and promptly consumed. Come here and enjoy some eats and then walk across the parking lot to grab some doughnuts. I use to live in the condos right behind El Jefe Tacos so it's cool to see how this plaza has changed.

    Travis T.

    Who doesn't love tacos and sushi. Here at EL Jefe, you can have them both. This place is conveniently located right off the 101 in Tempe. It is a very spacious place with plenty of seating. A group of us came by here after a fun night of drinks. The nachos are definite worth getting as a sharable. I ordered some street tacos and enjoyed them. They have a variety of protein options to choose from that you can get on a corn or flour tortilla. The menu is quite large and includes birria specials, family packs and some breakfast choices.

    The order counter. Amazing customer service!!
    Janielle W.

    Business owner Julio helped take my order. He was full of excellent energy. He was very polite and friendly. The food was delicious. And his helper, Andrea was very helpful in polite too. The ambience is fun, friendly and just so very welcoming!! I highly recommend this restaurant.

    Sushi with only 1 container of wasabi that isn't even half way full.
    Jimmy F.

    I've been ordering from El Jefe in Tempe for the last 4 to 5 years as we live fairly close. We love the tacos especially with doing the family meal for street tacos! The meats are so good. We also use to love the sushi side. During Covid, we tried the sushi for the first time. We were hesitant as it's a Mexican joint, right? Not a Japanese specialty shop. So to my surprise, I couldn't believe the sushi especially the Las Vegas roll and their Nigiri cuts were pretty dang good. My disappointment seems to be this last year with the sushi just hasn't been the best or fresh tasting. The Las Vegas roll was always nice and warm but with an awesome cold center and fried to perfection and the sauce just right. Lately it's been the opposite. Super over fried were all you can taste is old burnt oil and it dried out and the sauce just bland and not helping at all. The other thing that bothers us is the lack of wasabi they give! If you're not going to give us full flavor, at least give more wasabi to help mask. I will say they give you plenty of soy sauce packets (just barely any wasabi).

    Fish taco on left and shrimp taco on right.
    Brent P.

    Very different from Jalisco but very good.. also 5 star. Extremely high quality ingredients, executed perfectly. Had Al pastor street tacos, a shrimp taco and fish taco. The street tacos had that street tacos flavor like fresh off the grill. The Al pastor was not fatty at all but full of flavor. The shrimp and fish taco were very respectable for being the product of a land locked state. Location was nice with cool art and staff seemed helpful. Yet another solid mex spot for PHX!! It really is a step up from SoCal the way SoCal steps up from everywhere else.

    3 Leches Strawberry cake
    Tiffany S.

    I ordered some takeout the other night and the food was so good. Only thing I would change if I made this at home would be to add cheese inside the chimis so it gives more oomph. The flavor was great, the salsas and queso sauces were delightful. The consommé was a little lackluster compared to other places, but this place doesn't focus on just birria. I saw sooo many things on the menu I want to try as that was my first time going in. The service was fast and friendly and the place was really clean and a pretty open floor plan for dining so it didn't feel crowded. I ordered a strawberry 3 leches cake which comes from a local bakery and that was a little on the sweeter side, I think I might have liked the vanilla one a bit better to have a more traditional feel. Overall I would definitely order here again.

    front desk + menu

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    1 year ago

    Amazing service !!! Super kind and helpful food is top tier and can't go wrong with the music choice to set the ambiance

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    1 year ago

    Love their street tacos! I sometimes go twice a day for their steak tacos. Customer service could be better but the food speaks for itself!

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    2 years ago

    Stopped here on the way to drop off relatives at PHX, excellent little taco shop, easy ordering and good food. Will be back.

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    3 years ago

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    1 year ago

    I order breakfast burritos from here. Usually really good but lately they've had an unappetizing smell.

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    2 years ago

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    6 years ago

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    4 years ago

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    1 year ago

    I was so impressed with how nice the staff was and the amazing quality of the sushi. Tacos and quesadilla great, too!

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    1 year ago

    GRILLED SHRIMP TACOS so good with all the sauces and flour tortilla. great service every time and fast (:

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    6 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    1 year ago

    Cool restaurant, great location, friendly and fast service. Everything I e ordered here has been delicious!!

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    2 years ago

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    1 year ago

    Pettiest excuse of a breakfast burrito. Small as hell for the price and quality was terrible. Don't buy.

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    Page 3 of 11

    El Jefe Tacos Reviews in Other Languages

    Ask the Community - El Jefe Tacos

    Zu Izakaya

    Zu Izakaya

    4.5(1.9k reviews)
    2.9 mi
    $$
    Locally owned & operated
    Sports on TV

    * Food: Rated 10 out of 10 for high quality * Ambience: Calm…read moreand relaxing, great for a chill time * Service: Friendly and efficient staff.

    The food was actually very good, which makes the experience even more disappointing because the…read moreservice was absolutely horrible. We were a party of 12 visiting on vacation, and none of us are from the area. We ordered spam musubi and a chicken skewer as appetizers. Both appetizers arrived well after our entrees had already been served and we had essentially finished eating. Each time we asked about them, we were repeatedly told, "They're coming." Mind you, these are simple appetizers that should not take anywhere near that long to prepare. When we asked for the third time, we finally asked that the appetizers be cancelled since we had already finished our meal. At that point, the gentleman working the front area , tall, with red hair, loudly yelled from across the restaurant, in an extremely rude and confrontational tone, "It's already on the grill!" There was absolutely no reason to speak to paying customers that way. His response was unprofessional, unnecessary, and honestly created a very hostile and uncomfortable feeling during what should have been an enjoyable dinner, especially while our group was on vacation and simply trying to enjoy a meal together. When the appetizers eventually came out, we left them sitting there because we were already done eating and ended up taking them to go. He eventually told us they would be removed from the bill, which we appreciated, but that did not excuse the way the situation was handled. Again, the food was good, but good food does not make up for poor service and especially not for an employee speaking to customers in an aggressive and disrespectful manner. Management should seriously address how customers are treated, because the interaction with this particular employee overshadowed what could have otherwise been a good dining experience for our party of 12.

    Photos
    Zu Izakaya
    Zu Izakaya
    Zu Izakaya - Izakaya dinner

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    Izakaya dinner

    Kuka Sushi & Izakaya - Sashimi Deluxe

    Kuka Sushi & Izakaya

    4.2(440 reviews)
    1.6 mi
    $$

    Great place! The service was friendly and attentive, and the sushi was fresh, beautifully…read morepresented, and very generous in portion size. You definitely don't leave feeling like you paid for three decorative grains of rice and a philosophical experience. Everything we tried was delicious, the atmosphere was welcoming, and the portions made it feel like a genuinely good value. We'll absolutely be back

    kuka sushi is my absolute favorite sushi restaurant in arizona!! the sushi, raw fish, and sashimi…read moreplates are absolutely heavenly and always so fresh. I've been countless times over the many years and I will always find myself coming back. I had it again recently after a while with 2 friends who've never been before and the seared tuna sashimi, sicilian hamachi, and surf n turf roll was delectable. the fish and sushi roll slices also seemed to be so much more bigger than I remembered, the portion sizes were hefty! I always love introducing my friends to kuka because of how good it is, and I have to tell them that after trying kuka no sushi restaurant will ever compare again lol sometimes the service is a little slow, so it's good to remember and get all your requests first thing in, or in the past I honestly have just gone up to the server myself and asked for whatever I needed. it's not super deterring for me though due to the amazing food that they have. I can't really speak for the quality of their non-sushi items however, as I do believe focusing on their sushi is the best way to eat here!

    Photos
    Kuka Sushi & Izakaya
    Kuka Sushi & Izakaya - Sushi plate

    Sushi plate

    Kuka Sushi & Izakaya - Miso pork belly

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    Miso pork belly

    Zu Izakaya - ASU - Inside atmosphere

    Zu Izakaya - ASU

    4.4(318 reviews)
    1.6 mi
    $$
    Happy hour specials
    Kitchen open late

    We had such a great experience at Zu Izakaya and will definitely be back! We started with the…read morejalapeño poppers and vegetable tempura, and we were pleasantly surprised by how generous the tempura portion was for the price. Everything came out hot, crispy, and fresh. For sushi, we ordered the Jalapeño Vegas Roll and the Baked Scallop Roll, and both were absolutely delicious. I also had the California, spicy tuna, and spicy yellowtail hand rolls, while my sister ordered the California and spicy yellowtail cut rolls. Every roll was fresh, flavorful, and beautifully prepared. The quality of the fish really stood out, and everything tasted fantastic. A special shoutout to our server, Chloe, who did an amazing job! She was friendly, attentive, and made sure we had everything we needed throughout our meal. Her recommendations and great service made an already wonderful dining experience even better. Between the fresh food, generous portions, excellent service, and reasonable prices, Zu Izakaya is an easy five stars. If you're near ASU and craving sushi or Japanese food, I highly recommend checking it out. We'll definitely be back!

    Ordered food for me and my coworkers to our site on a Tuesday night this week. It was absolutely…read moredelicious for one! As has been the case for every Zu Izakaya venue I've been to, but? What made this experience above par, was the fact that even though they forgot to include the Miso soup, they were able to make up for it immediately. No hassle on getting refunded for the missing item, wonderful phone service, and delicious eats~

    Photos
    Zu Izakaya - ASU
    Zu Izakaya - ASU - Hotpot, Assorted Tempura, Galbi, Oysters, Chicken Skewers

    Hotpot, Assorted Tempura, Galbi, Oysters, Chicken Skewers

    Zu Izakaya - ASU

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    Bei - Bei Special Roll

    Bei

    4.3(1.1k reviews)
    4.0 mi
    $$
    Locally owned & operated
    Full bar

    Guess I've never finished my review! ‍ I really like this…read moreplace for lunch, never been here outside of lunch time. They have good specials, good sushi & clean service. I've been coming for years, if I'm in the south Scottsdale area during lunch I always drop in here for a good deal. Obviously the price has gone up, you get multiple choices. I go with the 2 rolls & soup for $12 always hits the spot.

    We were invited to Bei Sushi by a friend of mine who set very high expectations for the place. The…read morelocation is located in a strip mall with lots of parking. We were very sceptical at first but the recommendation was spot on. We were seated right away and our server Bela approached immediately. She was very friendly and went down the menu telling us all about the specials and her recommendations. We needed no recommendations because we were there for one thing the Bei special. The special was an assortment of various rolls assembled beautifully making each piece stand out. The first bite was divine and as we worked around the ring of rolls they got better and better. The sauces brought perfect harmony and complemented the fish. The sushi was incredibly fresh not having the fishy order lingering. The rolls melted in your mouth like butter leaving you satisfied. It was so good we placed a second order. Bela stopped by frequently checking on us and also telling us about the restaurant and the area and provided a friendly atmosphere that you do not often get in northern Midwest. The Spider Roll was very good except for the sauce on top that did not suite our palate but after removing the sauce it was fantastic. The Hot Mama Roll was also amazing. The flavors went well with the Yuki Mango Nigori Sake. We also tried some of their beers and spent a while catching up. Belas service was second to none and made this reunion fabulous. The sushi at Bei was better than 95% of our sushi restaurants in my state and the price was very good. They also have a cute cat robot that delivers food! Thank you Bela we hope to come back again on our next trip to Arizona to try more food.

    Photos
    Bei - Salmon and yellowtail sashimi, and Blazing Alaska roll

    Salmon and yellowtail sashimi, and Blazing Alaska roll

    Bei - Nigiri, vegetarian rolls, and tempura roll!!

    Nigiri, vegetarian rolls, and tempura roll!!

    Bei - Bulgogi Entree

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    Bulgogi Entree

    Makitto Sushi - Candy Cane Roll (With Yaegakki nigori sake)

    Makitto Sushi

    4.5(262 reviews)
    1.9 mi
    $$

    Came here to eat lunch before a movie and I was pleasantly surprised! Sushi was so yummy and…read moreservice was friendly. I believe they have a happy hour or a good price on sushi... ! Definitely worth stopping by if you're in the area.

    We were looking for somewhere to eat in the Mesa Riverview area and I didn't know this was back…read morethere, right next to the movie theater. Reviews are very good and so we gave it a try on a Saturday evening. When we arrived there were 2 people eating at the sushi counter, otherwise it was empty. During our time there another couple came in, so it was not busy and easy to get a table. The server was very friendly and service was great. For that I'll push my rating to 4 stars. For me, this place is personally 3.5/5. Everything was decent but nothing I would rave about. And that might just be me, because people love this place in other reviews. It was possibly just a bunch of little things that made me think it's just okay. I thought the texture of sushi rice was a bit too soft, I know it's sticky rice but I felt like it was a little over cooked and too soft. I also thought both of my rolls tasted exactly the same. Which thankfully I thought were good tasting. The stuffed jalapeños were definitely a miss, they were so under fried so mostly a mush of ingredients in a jalapeño. And initially I liked the karaage but had a couple of tough pieces, so overall that was just okay. Miso soup was solid. And I realize that the appetizers are cooked in the back and not by sushi chef, and people rave about the chef. However like I said, both rolls seemed pretty similar tasting and one was supposed to be more spicy. All very standard flavors, like I would expect from AYCE sushi. I think I'm just looking for more delicate flavors with higher quality pieces of fish. I likely should have tried some of the special items listed on the rotating items board near the sushi bar. Next time we go back I'll try sitting at the sushi bar and trying some speciality items. People have said this is the best way to enjoy this place. We will likely come back during a lunch or happy hour special, if I like it better and I can upgrade my review I'd be happy to give this small, local family run business all the stars.

    Photos
    Makitto Sushi - Sushi bar inside.

    Sushi bar inside.

    Makitto Sushi - Love me Salmon Roll

    Love me Salmon Roll

    Makitto Sushi - Seaweed Salad

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    Seaweed Salad

    El Jefe Tacos - mexican - Updated September 2026

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