No Way Jose's Cantina — Restaurant in Gatlinburg

After visiting the Anakeesta area attraction, My wife & I, spotting the restaurant right across the road from the main Anakeesta "ski lift" building, decided to try "No Way Jose's" Mexican Cantina at about 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 27, 2018. (*Just a note: IF you are driving the ENTRANCE and PARKING LOT are located on the side road opposite (facing) the Anakeesta building.)

When we arrived we anticipated having to wait 10 or 15 minutes given the clusters and groups standing around. My ONE gripe is that they "will notify you by texting you" does NOT work for me because I am a disabled veteran who simply cannot afford such a thing. So I have NO CELLPHONE. (sigh). What then???? (Just a technical issue, btw - my wife has one. But it causes a problem.)

So that 'gripe' aside it turned out we only had to wait about 4 or 5 minutes, and we were quickly & courteously seated.

The restaurant, or at least the part we visited, is split into 2 parts: the bar side, a room further on, and one right there on your left when you come in. The atmosphere is very casual Mexican-Margaritaville hybrid, which makes sense given the close proximity of the Margaritaville Resort. Kind of a beachy-Mexi feel, if you know what I mean.

Our server was JOSE and if I could I'd steal him away if I operated a restaurant of my own. Quite professional, I observed him noticing and observing various details among his guests: who had placed their menus down & were ready to begin ordering, who needed more drinks, what tables needed bussed - the whole 9 yards. A MOST professional restaurant waiter - and I know these things, having been trained to notice such behaviors. He wasn't "too attentive" nor did he neglect our needs at all, seeming to anticipate what we wanted about the same time we did. Good Job, Jose - that's why I left a 28% tip - I can really appreciate what it takes, and the mindset it takes to be a #1. :-D

Food: Standard thin corn chips plus a homemade salsa which is chunky and rich with tomato, onion, and pieces of jalapeno. Very fresh & tasty. :-D My wife & I opted for the "Sizzling (Steak) Fajitas for Two" which was more than enough to feed us both, heavy on the steak, too, by the way! And a very good "original Mexican cooking" it was, too - not overcome with spices how some chains do it (spices should compliment the meat & veggie flavors, not BE the meat and veggie flavors, if you know what I mean. :-/ ). The meat, cut in longish (2-3 inches), was delicious; however, a shorter post-cooking cut would aid in mastication for those guests who are too lazy to use their knives. But to be honest the steak was "tooth-cutable" which means I could throw some strips on a tortilla (Which come covered & warm) along with some vegetables and bite down through it. (That means it was tender enough to bite, but NOT cut with a fork - I know, I tried so I would know.)

All in all a 5-star sort of experience when it comes to small bars/restaurants - not too loud, casual atmosphere, staff seems "family" and very good at what they do. I enjoyed it, and my...

I am very torn about what to rate this restaurant. The ambience is adorable and the food was quite good. But our experience was so negative my stomach turns every time we drive by this place now. It started with and centered around the exceptionally rude hostess girl. She was from moment one unfriendly and borderline rude to several members of our party when they requested seating. We were told that it would be a 45-minute wait, so since we had six small children under the age of 6 with us, several of the parents took a child and were walking around nearby. At about the 30 minute mark they said they had a table for us-- well, actually two and were splitting our party up. But we were willing to take it so started the seating process. It took just a few minutes to regather those who were walking around outside, and the hostess was beyond rude about it. Condescending. She snapped at me and said "I'll give you only 5 minutes and if they are not here you will have to leave" which would have meant unseating all of the adults and children who had already settled into the two areas after waiting so long. We almost left, but stayed and our waiter seemed quite good. Until the end. Then our card seemed to decline, which made no sense. The very kind manager let me go in to get Wi-Fi in his office and I transferred even more money into an already full account. They tried it again a couple of times and it kept declining. I called my bank--no record of the transactions even attempting on their end--and two more in our party tried their cards which all declined. Obviously, since the bank had no record of any declines on their end, the problem was on the end of the restaurant. But they adamantly denied it, saying other people had cards that were being accepted and I heard later from my daughter that the original rude hostess and others in the serving party were mocking us behind our backs. Though the problem was of course on their end, and they should have been working not only to help us but to appease us for the hassle it was causing us, we had no choice but to send one of our party jogging to a nearby ATM to take out cash. The entire experience was aggravating and humiliating, and sadly I will not go back to this place that I very much looked forward to eating at. Generally, I would say most people would likely have a good experience. But no one should be treated like this at any restaurant...

Went in with great expectations, but disappointed at multiple levels... Who looked like a senior manager or the owner at the front desk was sitting with a look and grumpy attitude sounded like why are you here! Unfortunately we had waited for 20+ minutes and didn't have the patience to look/ book another place in the busy downtown so we went in hoping it will get better at the dining table.

Hoped the waiter might change my opinion, Nope, another grumpy lady showed up with a look of what do you want... We noticed it was not everyone but a few with that kinda attitude. Unfortunately we got a bad waitress I guess. Some of them looked and had great smiles and energy, wish ours had some smile at the least.

Food was a mixed feeling... my family got better food, but my sizzling fajita - didn't have any sign of sizzle and it looked like it was cooked a while ago... Tortillas were missing and it arrived a few years later... So you can imagine how my dinner went. I was happy that at least my family was able to enjoy what they ordered.

Highly uninterested people running the show and they have the arrogance that people will come regardless... BAD attitude but it is in a great location... Park your expectations outside before you enter this place. I would avoid going here if I have the time to find other restaurants. A few minutes up the street you have a great tasting, loving people serving great Mexican food... Go there instead... See my other review from another day...