Taqueria San Jose — Restaurant in Modesto

This is another place on “the Modesto to-eat” list! Mostly because Mexican restaurants in Florida are nothing like this; no where near this authentic. We placed a large take out orders (10+) entrees and it was ready to pick up in about 20 minutes. Yet wouldn’t you know, all those entrees and we were given 2 very small bags of chips. Psh! There’s no flour chips at this location either; a delicacy we don’t have in FL and I very much enjoy to munch on while I’m out here. There’s a “salsa” bar which had 2 variations of red sauce, which neither of them my sister or I cared for, 2 variations of cabbage (another thing FL doesn’t do), limes, jalapeños, and other things. No salsa verde was out so we had to ask for it. My sister loves loves loves Horchata and it’s not bad; best described as a liquid churro and kind of makes me want a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal! We ordered flautas (or maybe they were taquitos?) for the toddler and they came covered in guacamole, sour cream, lettuce, cheese....not what we were expecting! Corn tortillas filled with shredded chicken - I’m not a good judge on the taste. Anything that has a corn tortilla automatically makes me hate the flavor. Now, I know retried beans are pinto beans, but they’re usually brown in color. Maybe this means they’re Americanized? Anyway, this bean & cheese burrito was huge yet seemed to be mostly rolled tortilla, some beans, and little cheese. And the beans were an orange’ish color, which I think are pinto, but do have a different flavor. I prefer Taco Bell’s over this bean & cheese burrito. The carne asada tacos are a go to for me; beef, onions, cilantro and for an up charge, cheese. The tacos are served on corn tortillas - I hate hate hate corn tortillas - so I either 1) eat it sans tortilla or 2) heat up a flour tortilla at my sisters and fill that. They’re pretty good! The meat I and last night was about 25% unable-to-chew. Not fatty, but tough in a way no amount of grinding would I have been able to break it up. Thankfully we were at home so I could spit it out! Tortas....why don’t we have these in FL? A Mexican sandwich - mine was carne asada, lettuce, and pico de gallo. Pretty sure sour cream too! I think these things are awesome - tough I had a better one in Tracy, CA at a taqueria there. End Result: it’s authentic and much better Mexican food than you’ll get on the East Coast! Prices aren’t...

This used to be my ALL TIME FAVORITE Taqueria. USED TO BE being the key point of that last sentence. I asked the young man who took my order for a "Burnt" quesadilla, and then went on to explain that I really mean burnt. Not "Extra Crispy" bc there isn't a Taqueria Cook that takes that for what it says. I used the examples of "like a burnt marshmallow" and "I want it the color of Dark Chocolate". He seemed to totally get it and said he would make sure it was to my liking. Although I made the order to go, I asked for some chips so I could have some of their cabbage salsa, that I always loved so much, and Modelo to wash it down with. I asked if it was a problem for me to sit on the front patio and if I would be able to hear my number called. He said sitting outside was fine and that he would bring my quesadilla to me. So I busied myself with snapchat and laughing at the crazy line of cars for the drive thru at the Popeyes next door, when I realized it had been over 20 minutes since I placed my order and clearly I needed to go get it. I should have opened the Styrofoam container prior to even leaving, but like I said, the young man seemed to truly understand my order. I got a mile down the road before I opened the container to find a lightly toasted quesadilla resembling a normally cooked item, not a burnt one. I then called the Taqueria and the young man said, "oh yeah, I watched him cook it! It was really burnt wasn't it??" 😶 Speechless was what I should have been, but I spoke and should probably call and apologize tomorrow. 😬 To top it all off, the bottom tortilla was completely inedible due to how soggy it was. Others may be OK with that consistency, I am not. Hence the "Burnt" request. And that bottom, soggy tortilla was where all the cheese and meat was. 😫 The one true meal i had all day, and i would have been better off starving and saving my $10. There is only 1 place I know that will actually make my food to order (taco truck Empire), I should have just gone there. Today's Taqueria San Jose experience will undoubtedly be...

I can't give 5 because my carnitas tacos was a joke... I asked.for no cilantro, so they deleted the onions and gave about 2 teaspoons of hard inedible pork bits on an open corn tortilla. In the past I've been given meat with some juices and chopped grilled onions. Since my order was take out and delivered to me by my husband, he didn't check every item. You need to do that seriously if you had asked for any changes. My beans were sparce, but the rice was good and a fair portion. I got an order of corn tortillas. They don't have butter...only colored shortening.

The super burritos are huge and really good... Huge meaning about 8 or 9 in long and about 4 or 5 in in girth.. bigger around than a clothes closet dowel. You can't get your mouth around it. I recommend the moist chicken super burrito and often share it since it's so big. I also liked their giant whole fried fish..impressive. The whole dining room was interested when I had that.

If you eat there you can get things the way you like.otherwise really check your order. They're very nice but hurried and not always English speaking.

Parking is right outside but small and no drive through. It's an old taco bell building.

Bathrooms are outside around back. Try not to go there.

You can get some big, viable, seed pods from the flowers surrounding the building!

It's really popular, and if you pay attention and order carefully, you'll be...