Don Jose's Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in California

Came in as I've always wanted to try it due to how it looks and decorated, there wasn't too many patrons, we were seated quickly and brought complimentary waters with ice ( even though it was cold inside and outside). He also brought us chips and salsa. Chips were good and warm but tge salsa tasted bland and runny. The waitress came pretty quickly and asked if we were ready, and took our order, she was friendly but that's all. We put in our order: Arroz con pollo Super burrito with double steak cut in ½ so my brother and I can share. We all got our food really fast and we're surprised it came quick. However when we started taking our few bites we immediately noticed there was no flavor in the chicken or our burrito. The chicken tasted rubbery like it was microwaved from a bag in the freezer. The steak tasted like it was left out and undercooked with no seasoning. We spat out the meat in the one napkin that we had to share, and ate the guacamole and sourcream that came on the side of the burrito with the meat taken out as we were hungry and felt bad to waste food. My wife didn't finish the food at all. After pushing our plates to the edge of the table still filled with food, the waitress came to us and asked if we wanted to order anything else. I apologized and told her our issues and stated that the food was inedible. After spending 10 minutes haggling to not have to pay for the full bill, I ended up paying for the burrito, which in my humble opinion was kinda fair as we ate chips and salsa, and ate the beans and tortilla. The manager never came out to discuss the matter or apologize. I can feel the waitress getting frustrated and trying to ask for my card with a mask on and I can barley hear her, I asked to tap to pay and she gave the receipt and she pointed for me to go the register( not the front most obvious one for to go orders but the hidden one near the kitchen entrance) and I awkwardly had to ask where can I tap my phone as it seemed liked she assumed I knew where it was. I kept apologizing bc I truly felt bad and my heart was pounding with anxiety but I knew I shouldn't even be paying. After that we all walked outside and towards ross to our car when me and brother started feeling sick. Sure enough my brother thru up everything up. A passerby was nice enough to provide a bag for him, as another passerby came to comfort him while I helped, she informed us that the food wasn't great and made her husband sick aswell and she only orders alcohol and eats next door at the chinese take out. I went back inside and informed the same waitress that I would like to speak to the manager. She then looked at me as if she wanted to say no and after 10 awkward seconds she said she would just comp it and it will show up on my "thing" as gone. Idk what that means but in short the food was gross, atmosphere isn't all that mexican restaurante with 80s pop in the background, and the food made us sick. So if anyone is reading if you love mexican food don't come here, better off going to...

To The Owners of Don Jose's.

I came here on June 9th with my family (15) for a graduation lunch. I hadn't been here for a while and decided to celebrate at a local spot (even seeing the recent bad reviews on yelp)

Food Yet the food this time around was not good, rice was hard, beans look like/taste like they were straight out of a can, and the tamales I got were tasteless. If you want real Mexican Food, definitely hit up the good Taquerias in CV, Hayward, and San Leandro.

Services The wait services was good. However we brought our own small cake (size of a small loaf of bread) and requested some extra plates became a whole ordeal then it need to be. The waitress informed us that Don Jose's now charges $1 per person for cake cutting fee. We have never heard of this and ask if we can speak to the manager, see if they can wave it this one time, since the cake was small. First of all the manager one duty (male, tall, Caucasian, long hair, and visible tattoos) was condescending, kept calling my female cousin "dear and sweetheart" through the whole transaction. Anyways...We ask is there a way to wave the fee if we cut and serve the cake ourselves? They said no. We then ask can we cut and serve the cake on the current plates we have our food on? They said no. We then ask, we only a few people want cake (the kids, 4 of them) Can we just serve the cake for them and pay $4? They said no. That everyone at the table, eating or not eating the cake will be charge. We then ask if we someone run across the way (Walgreens) and pick up some plates and forks or just eat out of the box, since it was a small cake? They said no, as long as we are in the restaurant eating this cake we will be charged. Apparently the reason for this charge is people tend to wipe cake all over the walls. This is what the manager on duty had explained to us. I'm sorry but this is just not good customer services. We paid the bill and took cake back home.

Side note... I had left one of my gift (with money in it) at the restaurant. I called and ask if there was a card left behind with my name on, they check the manager's office, and said YES! I was happy because this totally redeems them of the unusual services we received. Went in to pick it up, found the card had been opened and the money was gone. I mention there was money in the card and the receptionist (woman, tall Caucasian, long hair in a ponytail) said hastily there was no money it. So you are telling me someone opens the card, took the money, and then you SAVED THE CARD in your manager's office, just because? Ummm...ok. Why not just tell me you couldn't find the card that would have been more believable.

Your customer service is terrible as well as the food. I should of listen to the reviewers on yelp, before deciding to celebrate my graduation....

Not sure what happened. Ate here 8 months ago and it was pretty good. Tonight it was HORRIBLE. Food was downright lousy and gave me a stomach ache for hours. The problem is, my wife's dish was also lousy and she got a stomach ache as well and she ordered something completely different than me. Starting from the top, the chips we got were cold and stale tasting, although the salsa with chips was pretty good. I ordered the pork fajitas. I requested the pork be served with bell peppers and onions instead of the usual cabbage. Pork was very boring. Bell peppers and onions tasted soggy and like there was no spice. I drowned the stuff in salsa because the dish was so boring. Rice was not very good. Beans were stale tasting. Even the guacamole was dull. How do you mess up guacamole? My wife had shredded beef salad in a tortilla shell. She paid extra for shredded beef. She HATED it. Salad had beans, lettuce, guacamole. She said it was a zero in a scale of one to ten. Food was not cheap either. Fajitas were $15. Salad was $13. My wife says a $3.95 Trader Joes salad would have been better. Not sure what made both my wife and me ill. Maybe the salsa that came with the chips or the guacamole. The only positives were that they had very good service and the ambience in the restaurant is nice. But what is the value of great service and a nice ambience when the food is horrible and makes you sick? They absolutely need to hire a new cook. Whoever is in the kitchen doesn't have a clue to what they're doing. I'll never eat there again. Go to Burrito Shop instead. Even though it's got no ambience, at least the...