Moving to this side of town, we knew there was a Jose Tequilas as we had one on the Salem side of town. Over there, it was...ok. The flavor is decent, drinks are pretty good but it never truly hit like we wanted it to. Coming over here and seeing it always packed had us wondering how different it was in comparison. I asked a few friends that lived on this side what were the best Mexican spots on this side of town and they named a few other places with one friend stating "by far Jose is the best".
With Lucky Oyster being one of my wife's favorite places to hang that always has BUDLIGHT cold, great deal and available, it was hard to venture over to Jose. It was also the fact that we rarely go out to Mexican as she is not a tequila fan and the kids don't eat it much. We did surrender and try a different restaurant first. That one had GREAT drinks that was worth every penny but the food was so salty, you could barely eat it. Almost to the point of being uneatable. The flavor was good but I could feel my blood pressure rising and that alone made us not want to return. The second place we tried had most of our new neighbors talking about that spot. It has a lovely location but the difference being the opposite of the other restaurant. It was much lower on the sodium profile with the flavors almost needing more. The prices were a bit high as well but I would much rather have that vs the high sodium. Don't get me wrong, It was a clean flavor that would fit for many but we felt it could have just a tiny bit more. Easily something you could add on your own but this is not about that restaurant. After a few months passing by, I finally made it over to Jose.
When I first made it over, I was with a buddy for lunch and we sat at the bar (the yelp pic of this location is what I ordered). The drinks were AWESOME but how I knew right away this was going to be good was the flavor of the chips and dips. That says so much right off the top. It had spice, it was extremely fresh, the white sauce was made just right.. ummm so delicious putting me in the mood for the lunch meal. I ordered the Texano lunch burrito and when that came out, I was blown away! It was massive but most importantly, the flavors were spot on for my taste. It had the right amount of salt, cheese, heat, all of it was spot on as I was chowing down. I couldn't get through it all which I was glad I didn't because I was so stuffed from the chips and dip, the massive strong margarita and that humungous burrito, I needed a nap hahahah. I told the wife "this was the place" and the next time we tried Mexican together, we needed to hit this up.
Well, that happened on a little date night and she immediately agreed it had the best flavor and sitting outside was good people watching even though it faces the street. You see so much of what people are doing in the cars it's quite hilarious or unbelievable. She wasn't a fan of the dips but couldn't knock how well done it was. She doesn't take to heat well but for me, I was dang near drinking it! Now I will say, I did notice the price change and that threw me back a little but I also understood with inflation and everywhere had to raise in some fashion but my only gripe with that was the size difference as well. I ordered the Cowboy Burrito that should have been just as massive as a LUNCH burrito but it came out half the size and almost flattened. You can see that in my pics. I am not saying it wasn't absolutely delicious but I am saying I was a little dissappointed with the price increase but volume decrease. Either way, it was a nice time visiting with the wife outside and we still say if you want the best flavor (in our opinion), this spot has that. Some may like it more salty and some may like it more on the cleaner side. You have that variety around this area but for me, this one has the right spice, salt, cheesy flavor with amazing sauces with a cool vibe. Oh, let me not forget to mention THE BEST MARKEE SIGN AROUND! Their sign out front is hilarious. You will have to see for yourself what I mean along with giving this place a try if you haven't. Totally worth it. ENJOY! read more