San Jose Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Raleigh

If I could say something good about my experience I would. We went to dinner for my birthday and because I’d dined at San Jose for lunch, I thought we’d get a good Mexican dinner. I’ve broken this review down for what I hope is their training purposes. First problem was the over-crowded, noisy dark atmosphere. I know the sign said it was family night where kids ate free. The thing, I don’t understand here is why the management planned tables for larger parties, but failed to realize they needed adequate space for patrons, servers and seated diners to move around unhindered. We had a booth and I was constantly ducking and moving to avoid a bump or worse a full serving tray. The noise was deafening and we quickly gave up trying to have conversation. While the ceilings are high, the altitude does nothing but amplify the sound. I would suggest not piping in louder music to the mix but that’s what they did last night. I have to believe that’s why our server took my order for a beef enchilada but I got chicken. That last point brings me to the second problem, our server was quick to ask for our orders but when we asked for the fresh guacamole she failed to tell us that due to tight spaces and traffic, it would not be made table side but rather asked us if we wanted it spicy. We said we liked spice yes, that was fine. I watched the guy loudly chopping our poor avocados by the kitchen door used to collect dirty dishes from the tables bused. By the time it arrived, I was not only concerned, I was worried. Our server brought it and then left without bringing chips. We could not find her after her quick delivery. Our drinks arrived quickly also. They were incorrect. Our margarita was murky and has lots of ice. More later on the food and drink quality. I observed our server on several occasions stop to collect orders, take payments, refill drinks, and give out the checks as she made one pass through the dining room. It wasn’t until watched her that I realized she didn’t want to make separate trips to tables. No! she saved it up before she walked that long way around the dining room. She was conserving her energy! We wait while she saves steps!! When I complained over my order mix up she blamed the kitchen. She actually asked us “You finished? you want the check?” before we had finished. Point three is the food quality, everything was tasteless. I had to add salt because no fresh limes were available until she made another round through the dining room (remember she had to save those steps). When we did get limes, we were halfway through the food. My enchilada consisted of a cold corn tortilla with some greasy chopped meat they called beef inside. It was topped with a substance that looked like a mix of steak sauce and ketchup but it had no taste. It was also cold. This was topped with an un-melted sprinkle of some sort of cheese. Once again tasteless, my grilled chicken had been flattened down to less than a quarter of an inch. It was tough and rubbery. The only spice identified on my steak was oregano. I realize this is used in Mexican dishes but I didn’t think it was the only spice. My black beans were watery and straight from a can. Even spooning the salsa over them did not help. The other members of my party were equally disappointed and disgruntled but I’m only reviewing my own experience. They are grown -ups and can write of their own problems. I tried to explain that I was stunned and had not experienced this at lunch. Granted we were the only two in a sparsely seated dining room but I assumed the kitchen could handle more than three tables. The final point is really a fear of the future, we read as we were leaving, they posted a sign advertising that they were opening another restaurant in Wake Forest! My hope is that all the good chefs and servers are going there! I have no other explanation for the poor quality of this location. I will not be back nor will I try the new version in another location. Everything about this place was just plain bad or tasteless. Really too bad because I used...

Tonight we ordered dinner from San Jose via Uber Eats, as we frequently eat there and enjoy their food. We love their salsa, but on Uber Eats there is an option to order a side of salsa. I called the restaurant to inquire about how I can purchase additional salsa, other than the small 2oz cup that they regularly put in their to-go orders. The lady that answered the phone stated that if I would tell her my name when she saw the Uber Eats order come in that she would be sure to put extra in the bag. I told him her I was happy to pay for it, but she insisted that it was not a problem. I thanked her and proceeded to place my order on UE. We ordered three meals, plus an order of cheese dip, and an order of pico de gallo. I even put a note in the comment section requesting that they include extra chips and salsa in the order, to prompt the lady that I spoke with to remember our conversation. When the Uber driver delivered the order, there was no salsa, no cheese dip, and no pico. I attempted to call the restaurant 6 different times to let them know that the items were missing from the bag and that I would like to come pick them up instead of requesting a refund from the app, as they were the main items that I was really wanting. However, there was no answer any of the 6 times I called. My husband and I drove to the restaurant to retrieve the missing items, with the receipt in hand, only to be met with belligerent behavior. The woman we first encountered accused us of lying, stating that she had packed the order herself and knew that it was included in the bag. Why would we drive all the way up there, leaving our fresh, warm food at home, after paying for Uber to deliver plus paying a $10 tip to the driver only to get more cheese dip and pico? Makes no sense. Then they accused the driver of taking the items. My husband explained that the bag was completely full and tied very tightly and that there was no way that the items had ever been in the bag had it been opened. They initially tried to refuse to give us the items, however the manager finally agreed to give us the items because another patron of the restaurant was very upset with them at the current state of the bathrooms in the restaurant and how filthy they were. The employees were extremely nasty, using expletives when speaking to us, and raising their voice from the moment we walked in to let them know what had happened. Additionally, they refused to give us the salsa without purchasing it even after we had to drive up to retrieve items THEY left out. We paid $5.55 for the salsa and left. We did enjoy their food, so it’s extremely unfortunate that their employees’ behavior has caused us to never, ever patronize this...

Came here today what hoping to be a nice lunch with my family, was quickly mistaken. Sat down took forever for someone to take our drink order then my family member had a question about an item on the menu if it would be enough for her and her children to share. Waitress said yes it was 20-30 pieces of stuff, well when the dish was brought out we were quickly mistaken it was a plate of crumbled up chip pieces which there were only 9 of them not enough for three people to share. Once my family member finally got ahold of the waitress she proceeded to grab the manager. The manager ask what is wrong with what you ordered ? Started asking did you not see the picture on the menu of the item that was ordered, proceeded to go grab a menu open it and shoving the menu into my family members face saying see this is what you ordered. The waitress comes over saying yes I told you they were about a pound of stuff you could share. Mind you it was 9 pieces of crumbs. The manager asked well are you going to pay for this my family member stated to him that she really didn’t want anything that she was okay manager started asking what are you going to feed your kids then? I’m worried about my product of food going to waste. Started yelling and being very rude in front of two three year old children. We proceeded to walk out because at this point I was done with the manager being very rude and disrespectful to my family. The manager and the waitress follow me out to my car and start taking pictures of my car with my plates. When trying to call back to the restaurant to talk the issue over with the manager I could not get one word in because he was yelling and screaming at me. Bottom line is place save your time and money on another restaurant the manager and staff are extremely rude. No one’s family should be treat like that when going to a restaurant...