Jose's Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Spring Lake Heights

As someone from Texas, cheap and tasty Mexican food is plentiful there. In New Jersey, apparently this is not the case. After a long day at the beach, some tasty Mexican food at a BYOB casual diner seemed like the perfect conclusion. We did not find that at Jose's. The food was hands-down the worst Mexican food I have ever eaten, and perhaps the worst food of any kind I have suffered through at a restaurant. The salsa was nothing more than diced tomatoes, with some halfway-decent chips. The chips and salsa were not bottomless. The prices for everything on the menu were surprisingly high for how dressed-down the dining room and staff were. My girlfriend and I opted to split the nachos. The food came out in under 2 minutes, indicating to me it was likely reheated. The beans were the quality you'd find in the canned food isle. The cheese was essentially a craft single laid over the top and microwaved on medium heat for 10 seconds. The chips were not even the same quality as the chips served with the salsa -- much greasier, much thinner, much more easily broken. The meat was the worst part -- diced chicken that was as dry as a bone and tasted about the same quality as what I feed my dogs at home when I'm upset-but-not-too-upset with them. My girlfriend and I ate about 3 bites each, put down the requisite amount of cash on the table in disgust, and left without a word. I have had bad dining experiences all over the country. I have never left a single bad review until now. This meal was completely inedible, and we considered not even paying for it. Buyers beware -- this place is absolutely disappointing in every...

NEVER AGAIN! I have been to José's many times. Went there tonight for Cinco de Mayo. Got there early knowing there would be a decent wait. Waited 30 minutes to get seated which was expected. Ordered our meals at 6:45. At 8:00 still no food. The table next to us who was seated 30 minutes before us, still had not received there meals. But what really sealed the deal was the 15 take out orders they kept filling at the expense of the people sitting in the dining room waiting for there meals. I have always had a good meal on previous occasions. Won't be going back anytime soon. Poorly managed, with no idea on how to balance out dining room and take out customers. Maybe next time when you are backed up, you could stop taking orders for pickup and focus on the customers that are sitting in your dining room. You know the ones that actually were waiting a long time for their food. Not the ones that call in and pick their food 20 minutes later. Wouldn't that be...

Update: My favorite Mexican restaurant horrendously overcharged me on item after item. They stapled an adding machine tape to the bill. The prices charged on the adding machine tape did not match the menu prices and were hugely higher. Since this happened I have not been back. This had never happened before, in many, many previous visits. I am reducing my 5 star rating to 3 stars. (If this happened at a restaurant other than a long-running favorite, the rating would be one star.) Hoping to go back in six months and praying this won't happen again. If things change on a return visit, I will update here.

Original review: This inexpensive restaurant is my favorite Mexican restaurant. Outstanding, brilliant, perfect cooking. Every dish is just perfect -- perfectly cooked, flavored, and with outstanding...