Jose's Authentic Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Baraboo

This was my first dining experience in Baraboo coming from Milwaukee. The service, food, and environment of Jose's made me think twice about Milwaukee's Mexican cuisine that I always speak so highly of.

Let me start with when we walked through the entrance. The place was full of life on what seemed like a quiet Wednesday, but that didn't seem to bother the hosts who kindly greeted us. Soon after my family put in our request for a five person table, Jose himself made his way to the front of house to introduce himself and greet all of us. Handshakes were exchanged, and Jose confidently assured us our dining experience would be unrivaled.

Soon after Jose's introduction we were escorted to our table on the patio. Being seated on a patio during the cold Wisconsin winters has a rather undesirable connotation, but we soon found ourself in a warm, well lit, and equally lively extension of the restaurant.

We were seated and our drink orders were taken. Monday-Wednesday is BOGO margarita night, so naturally we opted for a few of those. Chips, salsa, and a mysterious white dipping sauce I have not yet identified were promptly delivered to our table. Let me preface this by saying I'm very critical of my table salsa, but every aspect of the dipping trifecta tremendously exceeded my expectations.

Before our drinks had the chance to make it to the table, Jose in the flesh appeared at our table to offer tequilla shots. They were as delicious as they were complimentary (though I can't speak for every occasion!) and certainly fired up my appetite.

I ordered a pork burrito, as I often do, hoping the burrito paralleled the service I was already given. My party ordered the steak burrito, chicken enchiladas, Acapulco (sp?) enchiladas, and a chicken chimichanga. We chewed through three baskets of chips before our food came, but this isn't saying it took too long to arrive at our table (the dipping trifecta is SERIOUSLY good). A second round of margs came with our meal and the feast began.

Wait, I almost forgot a critical element of our pre-meal ritual. A magician by the name Ryan Martin mysteriously appeared at our table. In an astoundingly suave and nonintrusive manner he dazzled our table with some of the finest card tricks I've seen to date. Mr. Martin was as talented as he was polite, leaving us with wide eyes and baffled brains.

Back to the food - ASTOUNDING. Authentic Mexican that cut no corners. Ample portions of guacamole, lettuce, and sour cream were provided with my dish, allowing endless customization of my burrito. Some seriously spicy hot sauce was also provided upon request (seriously, if you're into hot stuff TRY THIS OUT). Just when I thought I couldn't eat any more, I ordered one last item: a leftover box. There was more pork in this burrito than I've ever seen in my life and it was stellar. I had to bring some home for tomorrow's breakfast as well as a taste-test for our wonderful dogs (they indicated Jose's passes with flying colors).

We all left Jose's with smiling face and full bellies. I felt compelled to write this review to share our wonderful experience with travelers of all origins.

FINAL THOUGHTS: "Never before in my life have I seen a server carry five burrito plates on one arm with...

We had gone hiking nearby and decided Mexican food sounded wonderful. We had eaten here in the past and the food as we rememberd was always pretty good. However our last visit was a few years ago and alot has changed from then to now. We walked in and were immediately greeted and sat in a booth. Our server came over and took our drink order and handed us menus. We were brought chips and salsa by another girl and then about 10 mins later we finally got our drinks we orderd. That is the longest I think I have ever waited for drinks before anywhere. We almost had eaten all of the basket of chips it took so long.. The resturant was not that busy (maybe 6 booths full, 20 customers total), and this is not that big of a place (one room) so I had to flag down another waitress who spoke little english ( she had a hard time understamding me) and remind her of our missing drinks. We both orderd different food items. My wife orderd a cheese and steak burrito and I had steak, chicken, shrimp, chorizo fajitas... both were flavorless, overcooked small cut meat. Very chewy! Shrimp were not even able to eat they were so over cooked! My wives burrito had no cheese in it and it was a cheese burrito.... margeritas were all mix and tasted bad. Then the last straw or the icing on the cake was when I asked for a to go box for my daughters food. My wife and I left all of our food. They brought me a styrofoam box that was broken. Does anybody care in this whole resturant? All employees had time to chat and play on thier phones in the bar area. Each time one of us got up to use the restroom they were all gatherd in the same spot. I would say management needs to get a grip on this place soon. Food was horrible, service was terrible, the place was kind of dirty, and all in all nobody seem to care. We will not be back to this...

I wanted to try something new, so I landed here with my significant other. I had a good feeling I was about to be pleased.

We were greeted and seated immediately. The booth we were seated at was comfortable. We were given complimentary chips and two different salsas. One salsa was red and thick. The other salsa was white and more of a thin liquid. All of it was great. It was all even better with salt and pepper. We even got another complimentary red salsa and chips. I tried them the same way and they were way better for some reason.

From the House Blend Margaritas section, we ordered a Small Frozen Original Lime for 7.99 and a Small On The Rocks Original Lime for 7.99. The Frozen was hard to drink at first with it being so cold. The salt and lime on the rim helped. I enjoyed this drink, but it was definitely better after it melted a bit. The On The Rocks was fantastic! The salt and lime on the rim amplified the flavor. From the Beverages section, Pepsi Products were 3.50. I went with a Diet Pepsi. It was tasty and so was the free refill.

From the Burritos section, I ordered the Burrito De Carne Asada. It was 7oz of steak burrito served with rice & beans. Topped with red sauce, cheese sauce, lettuce, pico de gallo, & sour cream. It was 14.99. I was surprised how fast it came out. The size was fair for the price it was. The steak overflowed out of the burrito after the first cut. This thing was full of flavor. The rice & beans were decent. I was pleased with the whole ensemble.

The service started off great and then became spotty. It ended up picking up towards the end and finished off strong.

Overall, I’m glad I stopped here to try it out. Everything was tasty and worth what I paid. I would probably come back again.

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