San Jose Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Lexington

Our visit to San Jose Mexican Restaurant was absolutely fabulous!

My group of 4 chose to go out for Mexican on a whim and could not be any more pleased with San Jose Mexican Restaurant. We were seated quickly, despite the restaurant being very busy. As soon as we arrived at the table, we were greeted with chips and salsa (even before they took our drink order!). Our drink order was taken and beverages were quickly brought to the table.

Our group ordered an appetizer (chips and queso), 3 entrees, and a kid's meal. The queso was TO DIE FOR; it was delicious and creamy, but not thick. It was plenty for the four of us! We were all extremely happy with our entrees. I ordered the enchilada special (4 enchiladas- 1 bean, 1 beef, 1 chicken, 1 cheese) and asked to add some queso to it because the queso appetizer was so good. My husband ordered the pollo fundido. The chicken was super thin and so good. Whatever the marinade they used was, it was fantastic. The chicken was so flavorful. My pouty 5 year old (who insisted that he wasn't hungry and didn't like Mexican food as we were walking in) ate his entire kid's meal, half of a basket of chips, and used both of my husband's tortillas to make his own tacos and still asked for more- it was THAT good!

Even better than the food was the amazing service. Our server was incredibly attentive throughout our entire visit. He was personable, funny, and overall wonderful. We commented multiple times about how our trip to San Jose Mexican Restaurant was the best experience we've had so far since moving to the area.

We will absolutely return and I am so thrilled to have found a delicious, wonderful Mexican restaurant that I can go to with my family. Five stars is absolutely deserved for the wonderful...

San Jose has been a long-standing go-to for Tex-Mex in the Columbia area, but they definitely disappointed last night. We were there to celebrate a birthday and had a party of 12. We called in advance to let them know we were coming and they said, no problem. We were seated immediately, but waited for 45 minutes for them to take our drink order. We stopped the server twice in that time and was told that she was behind and would be with us “in 2 seconds.” When she arrived to take our drink order, we were ready to order food, as well, so she took our order for everything. We opened presents, congratulated and celebrated, and had several lengthy conversations before our food came out. Despite the fact that she kept telling us to “be careful, the plates are hot”, the plates and the food were cold. No one ate more than half of the food on their plate because it just wasn’t that good, mainly because it wasn’t hot. I had the camarones loco. There was very little queso on the rice and the onions and peppers can only be described as slimy. My daughter had the pollo loco. It was swimming in queso that had started to congeal and the chicken was full of gristle and fat. It was honestly the worst food I’ve gotten out in a long time. After being there for over 2 hours, we had to ask for our checks. We learned later that the restaurant was short-staffed on wait staff and in the kitchen. The manager had taken the night off. And even the bartender was AWOL. They should have told us when we called that they couldn’t handle a large party. Whomever does the scheduling needs to re-trained and the manager should have left a number where he/she could be reached. It will be a long, long time...

Being a recent transplant to the South Carolina from the desert southwest, growing up in Southern california, and been born in New mexico, I'm kind of a Mexican food snob / connoisseur. The strange thing is I haven't had bad Mexican food in the Carolinas really since I've been here. Onto this restaurant. The atmosphere is reminiscent of a old Mexican style traditional restaurant. The wait staff is obviously Hispanic are Latino and they are very friendly. The salsa is simple and tasty the guacamole was the best I've had in a restaurant possibly ever I ordered a chicken and beef tip chimichanga. My mom had the 3 item combination with two ground beef tacos and one chile relleno. My chimichanga was superb. I haven't had anything else there, but my mom indicated that she was extremely satisfied with her food and she is a picky as I am. Highly recommended for food atmosphere and service and this is the most detailed review I have given at any restaurant ever. Kudos to the owner and or manager of the restaurant you have done everything right. I will most...