Mar y Tierra Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in San Jose

Cool new place that I kept getting $1 taco Sunday ads for online, so I had to check it out with a friend.

I had no idea coming in that it was a whole cabaret club style place, what a surprise. As expected, the ambiance is fantastic - they did an incredible job. They have shows every night at 8pm apparently, with Michael Jackson Madonna, Moulin Rouge, Christina Aguilera, and other very interesting and classy and interesting choices. While we didn't try the drinks, they look well crafted.

As for the food, the food menu is pretty thin. I know there were many other items on it that weren't on the one that I saw, like steak and flautas. However, we had the $1 tacos and tried all meats, the nachos, and the folded quesadilla.

Everything was really good but not knock your socks off. Solid 8/10.

Tacos - chorizo is by far the best. The chicken was shockingly tender. The steak was good but not standout.

Quesadilla - good size and weight as you'd hope for $17. I'd get it without pico de gallo personally.

Nachos - really large. Nice fresh ingredients. Good steak. Would prefer a better distribution of ingredients though, and more sour cream.

Anyway I think the food is a 4/5 but the ambiance, service, and fact that something this cool is in such an unexpected area...

There is good, and then there is bad. Last night we visited this new Mexican restaurant in town. Pulling up and looking in the window should have been enough to turn us away. You could fire a cannon in there and hit nothing. There were jut 3 tables with patrons.

The place looks like a converted bar with the old stage for live band torn out at the back. The decor was minimal and nothing inviting.

The menu looked promising with its colorful pictures and descriptions but that was the highlight. ALL of the food was substandard and poorly cooked. No need to go into details.

The service was the icing on the cake. It was incredibly slow. Meals, when they did come out were one at a time. There were four of us so imagine how that played out for a group trying to have dinner together. The last dish never made it to the table. I canceled it since everyone else had finished. The manager said it was due to short staffing but there were only maybe 10 patrons in the whole place. I’d hate to think what would happen if the place was full.

It’s unfortunate as I always hope new places succeed but cross this one off your list and save your money for a better...

We were there on a Friday night and were greeted by a server right away. She was bubbly and very friendly. The seating is very comfortable and spacious. The menu was quite expansive, and it has the most vibrant pictures of the meals. It took me forever to decide! I ended up having the carne asada. The steak was juicy, very flavorful, and the homemade tortillas were outstanding. My friend had Mexican sushi, that was also very good. The atmosphere was outstanding. I hesitated going there due to some of the reviews. IGNORE the 1/2 star reviews. The service was excellent. The manager even came over and asked how everything was and chatted for a while. He went through a lot to get that place opened! The city sure makes it hard!! They have lots of specials, weekdays and weekends. We had $8 double margaritas! $1 Taco's on Tuesdays, etc. Can't...