Jalapeno's Authentic Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Gloucester

Had a reservation for 5:30 and didnt get seated until 6. When we did get seated I will say I loved our waitress but felt terrible as she was waiting on every single table as they were clearly understaffed. Once we ordered and waited around 30 minutes she did apologize and tell us that they were "In the back with a shop vac cleaning up a flood" as it had just rained a lot. I said I understood, not a problem and remained patient. We sat for another hour, for a total of about a 90 minute wait and during this time I probably watched the kitchen put out 30 or so takeout orders...Im sorry but customers inside are always first, Ive never known any place that puts takeout orders before a walk in, just not right. So our food finally comes out, and at this point they're so understaffed that the cooks are bringing the food out to guests...never a good sign! So we get the food and naturally the order wasnt right and my food didnt come with rice and beans so they go to fix it, come back, awesome...at this point im starving and dont even care anymore. So we dig in and it wasnt good to say the least. The rice was that type of rice that I can only describe as tasting like an ash tray...the beans had to be from a can, I will say I did actually enjoy the chicken though. The worst was hands down the queso though. Never in my life have I ever had queso that tasted the way this did, the BEST way I could describe how this queso tasted was literally like chowder, it tasted and resembled NOTHING like queso whatsoever and was a whopping ten bucks for something that I still dont know what it really was. So all in all, save your time and money. Id advise driving an extra 30-40 min if you can to the wolf in Salem, some of the best Mexican food...

So starting first with what was good... The Salsas were fresh and delicious and the street corn was good as well! So now on to the negative.... The salsas while fresh, lacked punch or spice. The street corn did not live up to all it was described as. It had great flavor from the sauce and spice but it was missing the lime cilantro flavor that was described but it had punch and flavor like Mexican food should have. My wife had the enchiladas that were basically cheese on a plate there was no flavor other than baked cheese and a hint of tortilla. Both of us a agreed the rice lacked flavor other that the tomato sauce it was boiled with. It seemed like they used Uncle Ben's Spanish rice you can get at the grocery store. I had Carne Asada, now I was careful to choose a dish that would be simple enough to make but still be able to grab me if it was seasoned right. It didn't grab me however, it barely had a simple salt and pepper seasoning on it. It is supposed to be seated but it was charred more than seared. My advice to this place is to get back to the basics of Mexican food which is the flavor of it. It should wow you and in some cases over the top. This is coming from a Hispanic male from Texas who adores his Mexican food and heritage that goes along with it! Bring the life of Mexican food back into your food Jalapenos and have it for the all of the people up north to enjoy like I can almost every day in Texas. I give this place two stars because of the service and atmosphere and freshness of ingredients in salsas and street corn otherwise it would...

First time I went there I sat at the bar and waited five minutes, no service. Bartender walked by to go to kitchen I suppose but returned with nothing. I finally got up and left. Last night I gave it another shot. Service was fast and very friendly! The chips were out of a bag, salsa was just chopped up tomatoes and onions, very chunky and bland. I ordered chicken quesadilla. It came out quickly and looked great! Until I took my first bite. It was pulled boiled chicken with absolutely NO flavor and cheese on a 6" flour tortilla folded like a toco and cut in half. Ever quesadilla I have had is two 10" tortillas with meat, onions, cheese, and other ingredients that a restoraunt may incorporate as their unique flavor, grilled to marry all the flavors! Not boiled chicken breast meat. Maybe if it would have been thigh meat it would have been more flavorful. The retried beans were black bean paste, scooped like ice cream and no flavor. I politely asked the bartender to take it off my bill, paid for my two beers, which was $10, and I gave her a $20 because I actually felt bad for her. I am living in Rockport til June for an assignment and I will have to find another...