Cali Spartan Mexican Kitchen — Restaurant in San Jose

TLDR: Good food at a good price with a couple of caveats to the experience. Parking is challenging. Get the al pastor and crispy tacos.

For my fellow social anxiety introverts: Cash ONLY Yes, you CAN bring that salsa bottle back to your table Flag down to get bill Pay at the front Tip goes in the jar

Good tacos and crispy tacos. We got al pastor, carne asada, and pollo to sample various types and I'm not personally much of an al pastor enjoyer normally, but the al pastor here was quite good and I'd rank it as some of the best I've had. I usually find fairly middle of the road pollo at taquerias and yeah, that's still true here. Carne asada is usually my go-to, but I didn't particularly care for it as much as some of my favorites.

The salsa was quite good, though the orange salsa was bizarre, and I did not care for it. It was like a smokey chipotle aioli kind of thing. I stuck to the red and was happy with it and it was nice they had bottles you could bring to the table for a little bit and then bring back. I was a little disappointed that there were no chips at the salsa bar, especially since the crispy tacos really made me crave some chips to scoop up the taco remnants with because the crispy taco flavor by itself was wonderful.

As you might expect, parking is challenging, and we had to park quite a ways away and hoof it since the lot was full. It was a packed house with a 30 minute wait for our food after ordering, which makes sense for a Friday night, but classes weren't in session, so I was hoping it wouldn't be so long. This is also a cash only business and maybe it was just me, but the way they did tipping I found confusing since I calculated the tip in my head and then gave them cash that accounted for both the bill and tip, but they gave me back the tip amount and I put it in the jar. A completely fine system, just a bit unexpected, and something I feel like people like me with social anxiety should...

Cali Spartan Restaurant 🌮✨ I’ve been a regular at their taco truck for many nights, but their restaurant takes the experience to another level. 📺🍽️ With TVs everywhere and a wider menu selection, the restaurant offers more than just top-tier tacos—it’s worth exploring the whole menu to see what else they have to offer.

I absolutely love how they make their al pastor, but you can never go wrong with the carne asada either. 🔥🍖 I decided to create my own taco flight with al pastor three ways: the regular small taco, the big crispy taco, and the Cali big crispy taco. Their crispy tacos are a standout here. 🌮🧀 They take their classic tacos and serve them on a tostada shell, loaded with cheese, salsa, and avocado. 🥑 The Cali big crispy taco goes a step further, topping it all with crispy French fries—seriously, their fries are so crispy. 🍟✨

The combination of the juicy al pastor, the crunchy shell, the fresh salsa and avocado, and their signature orange sauce creates an explosion of flavor and texture that’s simply unforgettable. 💥🌶️

My son ordered the birria tacos, and he absolutely loved them. 🫶🥩 The meat was incredibly tender, and the consomé was rich, coating each bite with bold, savory flavor. He savored bite. 🍲👌

I’d definitely recommend Cali Spartan for a fantastic Tex-Mex experience with friends and family. 👫👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Just a heads-up: it’s cash-only, so come prepared or use their ATM (there’s a...

If you find it hard to get a large super burrito for only $11 at a sit-down restaurant, you can come here. The meat quality is excellent, I especially love the crispiness of the cabeza. They have fun options on their menu and cute goblet drinks with gummies. They have a sign in the front that says you will have to pay $55 if you break a glass. But I haven't gotten buzzed off their Micheladas so I don't anticipate it being too much of a risk. Btw, they got new menus recently and the laminated heavy menus covered in gunk are gone.

No one does fried tortilla shells like they do, huaraches, sopes, and crispy tacos are all on point!!!

They have 4 forms of birria: tacos, birria torta, birria burrito, and quesabirria. I like the consome that comes with them.

The super quesadilla and super crispy tacos are my go-tos. They have a nice condiments and sauce bar. The place is cash only and they have an ATM.

Vibe is good. There is indoor and outdoor seating. They have TVs that play soccer games and Jeopardy. The employees are really hard-working, and for the most part, very nice. There is one unisex bathroom which is (strangely) clean considering I sometimes see multiple people come out of it on some ratchet nights.

There is a dedicated parking lot here which is so convenient as everywhere else is mostly metered parking...