Jose and Sons Bar and Kitchen — Restaurant in Raleigh

My husband and I were craving Mexican food... badddd. So we decided to try 7 Mexican restaurants in 7 days. We had the highest hopes for Jose and Sons because of the menu and reviews, and especially since it's beside our favorite game store that we frequent weekly. It's also created by the sons of El Rodeo (OG location way back when), a long time favorite of ours. However, we were definitely left disappointed.

Their lunch specials end at 3pm. We arrived at 2:50pm, so we knew there was a chance we wouldn't get the lunch prices - honestly my fault. However, we were not seated and our server did not serve us until after 3pm (3:02pm to be exact) to state that we "missed lunch by two minutes." We were honestly okay with that, but having us wait to be seated until after 3:00pm before coming to our table seemed intentional, especially when the entire restaurant was empty. Other than this, which I attribute to a smart business decision, our server was extremely professional and friendly.

My main complaint, however, would have to be the amount of flies. We were seated near the door in a booth, so we knew a fly here or there would be normal because of the proximity to the door/AC. However, it was almost impossible to enjoy our meal having to swat at the flies constantly. There were at least 5 on our table at one point, and we just hurried to eat before the flies landed.

The food was pretty good. I ordered a steak chimichanga, and compared to other restaurants - the seasoning was 100% on point. I was, however, disappointed that the chimichanga only had steak in it. It was topped with a cheese sauce and a side of lettuce, sour cream, guac, and refried beans. The chimichanga at Salsa and Beer had beans inside, and the sauce there was only drizzled instead of drenching the whole chimichanga. As good as the cheese sauce was, it overpowered the crispiness of the chimichanga and became honestly more of a burrito covered in cheese. The guacamole, according to my husband was "really freaking good," but I felt it had too many tomatoes. Although, I really liked the onions on top and how many green peppers were in it, I just think the peppers to avocado ratio was just a bit off. The guac price ($5 for lunch/$10 for dinner) was steep for how small the size was too. The burrito bowl, however, was AMAZING. Definitely smaller than it's local competitors (MexCalito's bowl is 2x the size), but I felt the black beans were drained and seasoned...

When this location was El Rodeo it was my favorite place to eat, so much so I would drive 50 minutes just to eat here. Since the change over from El Rodeo to Viva Mexican Kitchen things have gone down hill continuously. I figured the switch would work out the kinks over time so I have eaten here 3 times since it has been Viva Mexican Kitchen trying to give it a fair chance. My last visit will be the last time that I eat there. I checked the menu online before I decided to dine here but once I got there the current menu is different from what their online menu is and the prices have increased. The waitress was less than welcoming and only opened her mouth to speak when absolutely necessary. She took our drink orders and when she brought them to us she forgot to give us straws and didn't even bother to ask for our order. She just left the drinks and ran off. It was lunch so I assumed maybe she was busy and just didn't know how to communicate that well. She finally came back to take our order, again without barely talking at all. Okay maybe she is shy, thats fine but thats not the vibe she was putting out. The salsa is kind of bland and over blended but is a bit spicy, not something I would choose to eat again. We get our food, we both ordered tacos from the lunch menu and they come with 2 tacos, beans and rice. The food its self was good but be warned these are street taco sized, not normal sized tacos and the corn tortillas were falling apart. Our drinks were empty and there was no waitress to fill them until I flagged her down. The drinks also tasted off and only got worse after they were refilled. I went to the bathroom because something bothered my stomach and that is when the waitress decided to get talkative and flirty with my husband. Him being the smart man he is didn't tell me this till we left the restaurant though. When you have little girls playing stupid games like this it will destroy a business if not worse! When I got back to the table I was waiting for her to return so I could ask for a to go container but she never did so I went to get one myself and on my way I saw her standing in the back on the phone. I guess she found something more important to do other than taking care of...

This place was on my to do list when I looked up great Mexican restaurants in the area, so we came here on a gloomy Sunday afternoon to spice up our day. First of all the decor and staff were very pleasant! We ordered our drinks and a couple of appetizers we wanted to try, and immediately had chips and salsa with water which was nice. The salsa has a different taste than most other Mexican restaurants, I convinced myself it was a Tex-Mex flavor and while it wasn't my favorite it was just different. My hubby noticed the difference too, only he said the salsa tasted more like spaghetti sauce, and honestly once he said that it was the only flavor I could taste after that, there was definitely a seasoning that threw it off. Our appetizers were guacamole and we ordered the brussel sprouts never having seen them on a Spanish menu before we had to give them a try. The guacamole also had a pungent taste, I almost wondered if cheese had been added to it which was a concern so I didn't eat anymore of it, but I figured it out by the time my entree arrived. I had ordered the chimichurri steak, and this chimichurri was not the bright green cilantro sauce I'm used to seeing, it was a diced tomato/garlic & cilantro sauce, but I was ready to try it. That's when I figured out what was throwing the guacamole off. .when I cook at home I use tons of garlic, and if the garlic is old then it is really pungent and almost bitter instead of a bright burst of flavor. The chimichurri had the same harsh flavor as the guacamole, the garlic was old. I tried eating the steak around it but everything was off after realizing what the problem was. And the rest of my food had cheese sprinkled on it including the plantains so I couldn't eat it. My hubby had ordered the barbacoa and he just wasn't a fan. And our drinks were not even mixed very well, his had way too much sour mix in it, and mine did as well. The pictures of the food had brought us in to try this place, but since it's a long drive for us we probably...