Oso Felipe — Restaurant in Montclair

It was meh. We went for my birthday, and it didn’t live up to the hype.

Ambiance: Restaurant is beautifully designed in terms of aesthetics, but it is VERY loud in there because of all of the hard surfaces. So if you’re looking to have a conversation or a date night to talk, it is not the place. Acoustics were not considered in their design. I’ve been to a NYC restaurant on a Saturday night and have been unbothered by noise. It’s annoyingly loud because there is an acoustic issue of everyone’s voices bouncing off hard surfaces creating a cacophony.

Service: it was shakey when we sat down, no one came to our table for a bit, and there are no water glasses. Our appetizer came before our drinks. Some small issues there but nothing catastrophic. The server and staff in the front of the house were all very nice and attentive after the hiccup.

We love Mexican food, we eat A LOT of Mexican food. I want businesses to succeed, but I felt I needed to write this in the spirit of constructive criticism because it’s such a nice spot, but the food falls flat, at least what we had did.

Stacked Nachos: I appreciate a new take on things but they were smothered, soggy, and they were not nachos, they were 5 stacked tostadas that were impersonating nachos. Maybe more like a tostado lasagna? You have to eat them with a fork and knife because you can’t pick them up. They were more a Tex-mex flavor. Very spicy, kind of overwhelmingly so and unbalanced, which killed all the other components. Heat level here should have been specified on the menu. I expected heat (which I like) but not heart burn level heat. It was not topped with enough of the things that cool down nachos that make it that delicious treat we all crave and love.

Oaxaca rib eye steak is absolutely not a $63 dish. There is nothing ground breaking about it. Skip it.

Chicken fajitas: Chicken was flavorful and tender, the portion was smaller than your average fajitas. I wouldn’t be complaining about the portion if it delivered elsewhere. Where they went wrong: the peppers and onions were cut in a way that makes it hard to eat and they were essentially steamed, the veggies were tough and not caramelized at all. Some were raw, some were over cooked. Legitimately I could count the number of peppers on my plate, there were like 5 sad slivers of peppers. I had multiple pieces of the skin of the onion paper, which was half of the onion on my plate. I don’t want to work to cut my own food… it’s a fajita. I got flour tortillas (I should have tried the corn instead but that wouldn’t have saved the dish), they were greasy and tough. Maybe the worst tortilla I’ve ever had. Sorry to be harsh, but it’s in the spirit of being constructive.

Drinks were fine. They felt a little thin.

I wanted to love it but it was a miss. Not the best birthday meal, and honestly a bit let down. Womp womp. It just felt like mediocre food in a nicely designed restaurant. I’d rather good food over all else. We didn’t complain or send anything back, we had our meal, paid and left. There was nothing to make right here, it was just a mediocre meal with a high ticket price. We had 2 drinks, 1 app, and 2 entrees...

Overall Oso Felipe was great and is a welcome addition to Montclair!! The owners did a beautiful job on the decor and the from the moment you enter, you know you are in for a great experience!

We started off with chips and guacamole- GREAT! They make a great chip- FRESH!!! Quac- FRESH!!! And they give you a good size. We didn’t even finish the chips and we always do. We also had their papas bravos which was actually fries with the chipotle sauce drizzled on top- DELISH!!! I didn’t expect to have fries, but they were actually perfect and now I always want my fries this way!

Dinner- we split fish tacos and shrimp fajitas. The fish in the fish tacos was fried (I wish they had a grilled alternative), however it was delicious and they give you a big portion of fish per taco. I loved it! My husband preferred the fajitas. They corn tortillas seem homemade and I would say the best I have ever had stateside, and somewhat like what you would experience in Mexico. They were sooo good!

Dessert- I was so full at this point, but my husband wanted dessert. They had flourless chocolate truffle cake with cinnamon, chili, caramel sauce and avocado ice cream. UNBELIEVABLE!!! One of my fave desserts to date! The cake was more like a dense fudge. It was unbelievable! I LOVE when someone does it this way and rare to find. The flavor profile of all ingredients together was just spectacular ! The avo ice cream tasted sooo fresh. At first I didn’t love, but as I tried a 2nd bite, I appreciated the flavor and thought it was unique and quite good! My husband loved it too!

Decor- very well done and an upgrade for Montclair. There are two floors and a bar on each floor with the upstairs being more of a lounge. We ate upstairs. Downstairs was darker and had a sexier vibe to it. The upstairs was much more bright and because it was the evening, they definitely needed to turn the lights down. It made the bar lounge area feel like you were in an airport lounge and in the dining room it gave it a cafeteria feel. Overall on both floors you could barely hear the music. If I am in a lively Mexican restaurant- I want to be dancing in my seat! Because it was so undetectable upstairs, it made the absence of music even more prevalent. It is a shame bc all you need to do is lower the lights and pump the music. It will make all the difference in the world.

Lastly- service. Our server, Joey was fantastic and made our dining experience a joy! We were well attended to and the entire staff made us feel welcome and taken care of. We will be back and excited to dine...

Updated Review- July 2025 This is an update to my review from May. You can read the original text below, followed by the owner's response. I appreciated the accountability taken in the response. What you don't see is that there was also a phone before that response was posted. At the time, I didn't want to engage as I was trying to enjoy the rest of the day. However, about three days later, Alex, the manager, reached out once again to apologize and ask that we please come and allow them to make it up to us. This level of outreach impressed me. They could have let it rest, but instead followed up in a way that demonstrated genuine care. We went in June and had a wonderful evening. Highlights below.

The food was incredibly fresh and flavorful. We started with appetizers for the table, guac, queso fundido and the spicy seafood coctel. All were delicious, but the standout was the seafood coctel—an incredible balance of light, crisp flavors and just the right level of heat. The round of margaritas was the perfect pairing, and the tamarindo flavor was my favorite. The other standout is the chips; they were addictive. For the entrée, I had the heritage pork, which was outstanding. We got esquites for the table, and they did not disappoint. My family got the tacos, enchiladas, and quesadillas, and they loved them. Finally, we couldn't leave without trying the tasty churros. The vibe and service were great, and I highly recommend it.

Original Review: This place ruined our Mother’s Day. I made a reservation 2 weeks in advance for 6pm. This was after reading reviews and checking out their website. I received a confirmation for my 6pm reservation the Friday before. On Sunday I received a call at 4:30 informing me the kitchen was closing at 5pm and could we come in earlier. I explained we were an hour away (left a family gathering to make this dinner) and wouldn’t make it earlier. After some back and forth they said they would hold the kitchen open but we needed to be there exactly at six because they were closing . We didn’t want to be rushed and declined. Of course finding an alternate restaurant on Mother’s Day was nearly impossible. How they think it was ok to do this is beyond me. They claimed they were only doing brunch but nowhere did it say that on their site. Even if that was the case how did they not reach out anytime in that 2 week period? Complete...