La Josie — Restaurant in West Chicago Township

My friends and I had dinner at La Josie’s to celebrate a promotion on Valentine’s Day. The service that we had was abhorrent. From the moment that we were seated, we felt rushed, unwanted in the establishment and looked at as if we weren’t equal patrons. Our waitress and multiple bus boys visited the table every 3-4 minutes, making us feel not only uncomfortable but as if she was sent as a deterrent to prevent us from running out on the bill. She continued to frequent the table although no other table experienced what we did. After we ordered and received our food, less than 10 minutes after, we were constantly accosted by both the waiter and the busboy, continually asking if we would like boxes, if we’d like them to wrap our food up for us and if we wanted the check. We declined each time, and we were asked if we wanted our bill 3-4 times. After declining it the final time, another waitress then came to our table with the bill advising that she’d just “leave it there there for us” and she was “just assisting our waitress”. Our bill total was $290 amongst the 3 of us. The bill had a small service charge already added and after the service we received, we opted not to leave an additional tip. After we paid our bill, we stood in the vestibule doorway waiting on the valet. We were then accosted by the “manager” or “supervisor” on duty, asking why we had not left a tip and asking if there was an issue with the service. To which we explained how our experience was, how we felt uncomfortable and unwanted and how we felt unwelcomed in the restaurant as if we were less than. The “manager” or “supervisor” then began to argue with us advising how he disagreed and he believed that the tip was deserved since there were additional bartenders and other people involved. To this, we stated that the waitress was a representative of the restaurant and if that was the only representation that we had, it was poor. He continued to argue with us about how we were wrong and he disagreed and attempted to bully us into leaving a tip. The experience was disgusting, disappointing and we will never frequent this...

Came here to celebrate a graduation. Wanted a vibe that was classy but fun and relaxing. Josie fit the bill. The ambiance was perfect. Staff was friendly . But let's get to the food part as all is forgiven when it tastes good. I for one like to order ceviche if it's on the menu. It's my constant search for the best ceviche that wasn't made by me at home. I think for now Josie has it. They have a mahi mahi ceviche, it is made similar to Peruvian style but with mahi mahi. The leche de tigre has some passion fruit touch to it which compliments the lime and makes the flavors all come together in a sweet harmony of sounds playing at your taste buds stage. The toughest part with restaurant ceviche is preparing the fish quickly and they nailed it. Quite often there isn't enough time for the lime to "cook" its way into the fish and the fish is left tasting bland. La Josie managing to avoid this, I'm curious how! It came with a side of soda crackers which complimented the dish well. The rest of my group enjoyed the same dish of enchiladas with mole and chicken. When I looked up I saw all 5 dishes cleaned off so it's safe to assume it was equally as delicious. We had some guacamole as appetizer and it was good as one can expect, you can't go messing that up. They did have a pinnacle guacamole which I had never had before and will try to duplicate at home for sure. I was left pleasantly surprised as I was scared this would be a other Mexican upscale abomination that can happen in Chicago. Most times you are better off going to a mom and pop spot. But you can taste the passion from this chef, they even brought our Mexican grandmother a sauce she liked original to Mexico. Not only will I come here again, I also didn't indulge in the caste selection of tequilas...tear drops, but I'm truly excited to taste more food. In conclusion, La Josie better be paying that chef well and kudos to the kind owner who has stayed true to the roots and focused on the flavor more...

We had a party of 9 on the rooftop. Great ambiance. Good food. Sadly, POOR and frankly rude customer service when it came to a miscommunication about the alcohol we ordered. We asked the waitress to recommend a tequila for drink and shots, she told us she was not a drinker but would bring the bartender over. After a back and fourth, he suggested a specific tequila, and so we ordered that for a couple drinks and a round of shots (1oz) for the table. Through the night we ordered two more rounds. When the bill came (we were expecting a pricy bill with all of us sharing food/ordering drinks) but we were not expecting $30 per 1 oz shot of the tequila ordered because we did not see the actual tequila menu and it was never mentioned by the bartender when he recommended this or the waitress. When the manager came over to discuss the bill (so we thought), he had the tequila menu pulled up and asked if that was the tequila ordered, we said yes. And he pointed to the credit card my mom was holding and said, “Is this the card you’ll be paying with?” She replied, “yes.” And he said, “great!” and took it from her hand! NO DISCUSSION, NO RESPECT, SO UNPROFESSIONAL. We were baffled by the interaction and were just confused as this should be a learning experience for us AND the server/bartender. You cannot recommend a tequila for $30/ ounce and not mention it to the customers! It would have been as easy as “Would you like 1 oz or 2 oz? 1 oz is $30 and 2ox is $60.” Someone in our group spoke to the manager about this while we were on our way out expressing how poorly this situation was handled, and he told us he will let the waitress know. Well, that didn’t help our situation or acknowledge how wrong this interaction was. We emailed the restaurant to make them aware and they said they would look into this and get back to us, but they went silent. Due to the immature and unprofessional experience we will not be recommending...