¡Jaime! Taqueria — Restaurant in El Segundo

Update to my original review written on 5/24/25. Service brought this review to a 1 star

New-

Update to my original review (posted below):

This further reinforces my initial concerns about the service at ¡Jaime! Taqueria. After posting my review, the manager responded and asked me to give him a call. I appreciated the gesture and followed up, speaking with D’Andrew (the manager), who offered me a gift card as an incentive to give the restaurant another try. I accepted, and he mentioned it would be texted to me within 24 hours. This conversation happened on Tuesday, May 27. As of Sunday, June 1, 2025, I still haven’t received anything.

I called the restaurant to follow up and was told by an employee that the manager on duty was someone named Maddie (or Matty/Mattie). When I asked for her, she answered and said she was just the hostess. Confused, I called back about five hours later and finally got in touch with D’Andrew again. He claimed he had sent the gift card to the correct number and said he would cancel the text and email it to me instead. Again, as of Sunday, June 1, 2025, I still have nothing—no text, no email, no follow-up.

At this point, I honestly don’t even think the takeout is worth it. Be very, very, very cautious when dining here. A place can have good food, but if the service and management can’t follow through on even the simplest commitments, it really says a lot.

Original-

Let me start by saying the food was a solid 5/5—even though the rice and beans were lukewarm. My wife and I tried the filet mignon taco, shrimp taco, carnitas taco, and chicken taco, along with a side of esquites. For dessert, we shared the ice cream sundae topped with churro bites and caramel sauce. Super good (though let’s be honest, it’s hard to mess that one up).

We also tried their Cadillac margarita, which our waiter recommended—and he wasn’t wrong. It was excellent, and the fact that they use Siete Leguas tequila is a big plus.

Unfortunately, the service really brought the experience down. It was extremely slow, and it felt like other tables were being prioritized over ours—if you catch my drift.

We ordered chips and guacamole as a starter, which never came. When we mentioned it to our server after the food had already arrived, all we got was a casual “that was my bad.” No follow-up or offer to fix it.

Later, a different staff member came by and asked if we wanted any sauces with our meals. We said yes—but again, they never showed up. Meanwhile, the table behind us made a similar request and got their sauces right away.

To top it off, our check was dropped off and never followed up on. We had to flag down a completely different employee to help us close out. Then our original server finally reappeared to ask if we were ready to pay… a little late for that.

If ¡Jaime! Taqueria can improve their service and follow through on customer requests, they’d have something really special here. The food is definitely worth returning for—but only if the service steps up to match it… or if we stick to pickup orders instead of sitting there for long periods feeling like hostages in a taco...

I really wanted to like this place because it's so close to my brothers house and we loved Tapizon but it really just missed the mark. Our waitress was really sweet and talked all of our concerns about spicy food out to make sure we ordered things we would like. Off the happy hour menu, we got the Maize guacamole, sweet potato taco, and beef cheek quesabirria. We also ordered the mushroom pastor tacos. I'm really not sure what they put on the mushroom tacos but they had an odd flavor that made them hard to eat. The quesabirria wasn't like any I've ever had before, it just had a flat piece of cooked cheese on it and was missing the abundance of cheese you normally see with a quesabirria. The meat itself had an odd texture and very little flavor. The sweet potato taco was the star of the show, but the lack of attention to detail by the kitchen was obvious as the tortilla came out ripped almost fully in half so we ate it with a fork and knife. The tortillas are all delicious and homemade. The guacamole was solid, but I wouldn't pay regular price for the small portion as it wasn't anything special to write home about. The restaurant itself is mostly decorated beautifully but has some random posters that confuse the vibe. Are we doing upscale Cáli-mex or tequila bar? Choosing one and sticking to it would be helpful. Super bummed because the staff were very nice and the location is awesome but the food needs a lot of work at those prices. Definitely glad we checked it out at happy hour and not full price and didn't order beverages, although our waitress didn’t really talk to us about our bad experience or send a manager over or anything after she asked how things were going and we said the mushroom tacos were hard to eat. We told her maybe we’d order something else but she didn’t come back for a few minutes and we decided we were done...

Fresh, Flavorful, and Already a Favorite!

We checked out the brand-new California Mexican spot that just opened this week—and I have to say, it already feels like it’s going to be a staple. The owners aren’t new to the scene (they’re behind Jame in El Segundo and Ospi in Venice—both incredible Italian restaurants), so I had high hopes, and they absolutely delivered.

Yes, it’s still the first week, and you could tell the team is working out some of the rhythms—lots of staff checking in, a bit of hustle happening—but honestly, I kind of love the energy of a new place getting its footing, especially when the food is this good.

We started with Margaritas—solid. Then came the guacamole with crispy black garlic and chili—it was fantastic. Chips were fresh and clearly made in-house. I had the sweet potato taco and genuinely loved it. We also tried the sweet corn tamales—so good. Others at the table ordered shrimp dishes, salads, and tacos, and everyone was happy. No notes on flavor—it was all fresh, vibrant, and delicious.

One small thing: some dishes were a bit oily for my taste - chef, hold the oil! Also, pricing-wise, the apps are pretty much on par with the mains. Between the three of us, we spent about $150 (shared a bunch, and we were hungry), so it’s not inexpensive—but the quality speaks for itself.

The location looks great too—this space used to be a Brazilian restaurant, and this transformation feels like a great addition to the neighborhood.

Welcome to the block! We’re lucky to have you. Already looking forward to...