Tamales la Jefa — Restaurant in San Jose

While the name of this place references two Mexican staples, it's really more Mexican meets Vietnamese. For me, churros meets Vietnamese coffee is a combo from heaven.

It's nice to find good vegetarian options. We tried both the vegetarian burrito and the vegetarian banh mi. They use the same tofu, which is in a lemongrass seasoning. Certainly different for a burrito, but very tasty. The banh mi was also good.

The aforementioned coffee was also good and strong. It may be a little sweeter than I'm used to, but I don't mind. We ended with the creme brulee churros, which has a smear of creme on one side, and did have some burnt sugar. It was messy, but so good.

The owner was very friendly. When he had a little time, he came out and asked how we were doing and answered any questions we had. They could use a little more seating inside, but overall, it was a great experience. I'm looking forward to trying more churros and maybe some of...

Food: I ordered the honeydew milk tea, Asian beef burrito, Bahn mi, and fish and fries. The milk tea tasted bitter and watered down. The burrito had ginger in it and the meat tasted spoiled. The Bahn mi was actually great. And the fried fish and fries were decent. The fish wasn’t defrosted all the way. It seemed like they took it out of the freezer and straight into the fryer. It was very mushy in the middle. The fries were okay.

Service: I felt bad that there was only one person working. And he apologized for the long wait which I appreciated.

Environment: Very dirty. I see food all over the ground, bugs flying in and out of the restaurant. It’s also 10 degrees hotter. It made me think whether the food is spoiled or not. Only a few napkins available.

I don’t think I’ll...

I live around the corner, it's nice to have Bahn mi nearby. HOWEVER, this place is rarely open! The posted hours are not kept, super disappointing when you have a craving. About the food: The burrito is not good unless you want a sweet burrito. Definitely don't expect Mexican flavors, the name is very misleading. They make the burritos with the Bahn mi meat which is sweet. Not good I promise. Honestly, they should've stuck with bahn mi in their name, the sandwiched are good. Popcorn chicken is really good. Churro's are fun but can be hard at times. Iced coffee is always bomb. Service is super friendly and pretty fast on the rare days...