El Jefe Restaurant & Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Brookside

Parking was easy, in a strip mall, plenty of parking. This place has a nice sized dining room with a small bar in the corner when you walk in. The decor was aesthetically pleasing, and the service was outstanding thanks to Vidi. Anything we needed, we got quickly. We sat at one of the tables in the dining room. This place has an excellent tequila selection that's priced for the customer. This is a redemption review, since I was here earlier last year. I will be randomly going back to places to give them another chance. This is the first...

I ordered the house marg. The last time here, it was on the tart side. This time, total opposite! It was right up there with the best, no tartness, and was truly refreshing. So nice...I went in twice.

Chips & Salsa!!!!! Chips...fried perfectly, could handle a topping, tasted just as good as any. The last trip they were fried a little harder than my liking. Salsa...fresh ingredients, pureed lightly, tasted my cilantro, and had a nice spicy kick to it without being too overpowering.

I ordered “El Jefe” Sampler: Here is your perfect combination of fried mozzarella sticks, mini-cheese quesadilla wedges, jalapeño poppers, mini fried taquitos and a skewer of seasoned grilled shrimp. No substitutions. 12.99. Mozz sticks...good solid mozz stick. Quesadilla wedges...good, soft and had a little crisp to it as well. I liked it most with some of that house salsa. Jalapeno Poppers..fried in a light batter, on point, and easily better than a store bought frozen. Mini Taquitos...fried right, no too hard on the tips. The chicken inside was moist, had an excellent flavor, it really did melt in your mouth. Shrimp Skewer...wow these were so amazing. Seasoned just right. I could eat these shrimp all day. Look at the picture!!!

I ordered a Torta Milanesa Pollo: $9.99 in a toasted bolillo roll smothered in mayonnaise topped with lettuce, onions, potatoes & carrots, avocado wedges and (with or without) hot ranchera sauce. The chicken was tender, moist, seasoned well, and had a nice crisp to it. The bread was also excellent with a crisp on the inside and out. I didn't notice mayo in there, it might have been fried off in the crisping process. I hooked it up a little more with some of the pinto beans that came out with my other dish. Overall a solid sandwich!

I ordered tacos choosing Pastor, Chorizo, and Lengua. Pastor..seasoned well, had a fatty chewyness to it, and was a little on the dry end. When I added the salsa it was 100 times better. I think they should go single tortilla with these as that's probably what was the main factor in the dry. Chorizo...had a tangy taste to it, no char, decent, on the dry side as well. I had moved to one tortilla at this point. Lengua..decent, mineral taste that Alex doesn't mind, a little too well done and dry for me.

My whole group enjoyed the experience and...

Focus on providing the best customer experience was not priority. I stopped in for a drink and to order a quick bite to eat for dinner. I sat at the bar, ordered a drink while waiting for my take out. I accidentally turned over my drink, as it was too close to my arm. I even helped the server clean the spill. While continuing to wait for my takeout, the server asked if I wanted another drink and I replied yes. When I received my check it was $33 total. This included my take out order, the replacement drink, and the initial drink that was accidentally spilled. When I asked the owner did I have to pay for the spilled drink, he replied yes, stating there was nothing he could do about it, because it was Delaware law, which I knew had nothing to do with his response. I informed him that I have been to many restaurants in Delaware and have seen common courtesy extended to customers. Nevertheless, I paid the $33 check, and informed the manager to keep the food I ordered for takeout. The business just lost a customer, as I would not patronize their...

Visited on 02-22-14 Terrible....How do you ruin nachos.., No meat...filled with canned like beans topped with raw shredded lettuce, wet with some kind whitish fluid, which I found out latter was what passes for CHEESE! ! It looked so strange but I thought...let's give it a chance, maybe I'm missing something. ......if only I was. The bottom of bowel was a watery whitish soup. Told the waiter, who was very good BTW, and he said that's how they make it here. Really!!! The chimichonga I orderd, was the same. The pork and chicken inside was good. But again...the cheese was a watery mess at the bottom of the plate, with a hard, cold tortilla resulting from the lack of a warm cheesey topping. Unbelievable! !!! Told the waiter and said that's how they make it. Really!

There are too many great Mexican Eaterys around to waste another visit to this pathetic place. Thank God we had a Groupon ticket to help defray this gastronomic ripoff. Do yourself a favor and go to Taco Bell and at least pay for what you get. If I could give this place zero...