San Jose's Original Mexican Restaurant in Tavares - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

We usually eat here once a year when we visit the area for a couple of weeks. The staff recognized us, which speaks well for their employee longevity. We enjoyed their food a lot. I'm just not a big fan of strip mall restaurants, but theirs is decorated nicely.

My husband and I go to this San Jose’s location once a week and it is our favorite restaurant. Every meal we have tried has been delicious and the service is quick. The staff know us and are always friendly. The t-shirts on Wednesdays are such a great deal. Highly recommend!

Really nice atmosphere clean Really good food and refried beans are vegetarian 👌

The food and service was excellent! Everything we ordered came out perfect.

Wonderful food, nice atmosphere and great staff!

After running errands, we stopped in nearby San Jose's for a quick lunch. My wife ordered the Nachos Supreme, and I had the lunch size enchiladas and rice, which adds a taco but omits the beans. That works for me. Everything came out nice and hot and was delicious. With an iced tea, all for under $30. Enjoy!

My husband and I have been wanting to go here and had such high hopes - but it just wasn’t a hit with us. We were seated quickly, but then sat for 10 minutes before our drink order was taken. We waited another 5 mins before chips and salsa were brought out. The two tables seated after us both were able to eat and leave before we even saw the check. The food itself was fine, but definitely not worth the prices. $6 for a Corona? We won’t be back.

Having been here in the past. This visit was a miss. We would have let the charging extra for pico de gallo pass if the food was on point. The guacamole is definitely not made in site. It’s mush from a bag. Be aware. The carne asada tacos, which is the simplest of all items were mediocre. The meat was obviously recooked to the point it was dry and crispy. The tortillas were hard and crunchy. These are supposed to be soft tacos. Maybe an off day - however the tostada salad had mostly wilted lettuce.

The food is authentic and delicious. Best Mexican restaurant I've eaten at ever. Margaritas are to die for. I could eat the chips and salsa all day long.

Amazing Food Selections Awesome Food Excellent Customer Service

Good food and fast friendly service.

Guacamole was bland. I mean, come on. A Mexican restaurant with that quality of a guacamole? Come on, guys, you can do better than that. Whoever came with the idea of serving that guacamole like that should be fired. Chilaquiles were ok. Mojito was way too expensive. 15 dollars for a mojito. Don't mind paying 15 dollars if the mojito is really good, but this one was average. Unfortunately I will not come back again. Competition in that area is very hard. And with those prices and the quality of the food I don't see this restaurant last long. I feel sad because they got good people working there, service was very good. But a restaurant needs more than good service. The food should be the star, not the service.

Had the carnita platter. Very good, so good I went back the next day for some. Nice restaurant

Excellent service and excellent food.

Absolutely stellar dining options, comfortable atmosphere and friendly and attentive staff! We were spoiled for choice with this menu. We'll definitely be stopping in more often!

Overpriced and overcooked. Very let down as we go for Mexican every other week and this place is the closest to our house. $18 for a margarita. Everyone else usually has 2 for 1 at half that price. The app and entree were both overcooked. Oh well plenty of other options.

One of my favorite places. Top shelf margaritas are 🔥

Food was delicious. Service is always excellent. Prices are good!!

Very nice place with awesome food!

We enjoyed our lunch and Modelo on draft

It has gone down since it first open, everything taste microwaved

Autentic Mexican food. Casual atmosphere and great service

Wonderful service, if other restaurants would trained there staff as they do, maybe better tips

We were seated right away, you can eat inside or outside on the covered area. Chips, salsa and cheese dip were delicious. I had the unwrapped California burrito, it was a layered salad, rice beans shredded chicken, there was a lot going on with this. My boyfriend had the enchiladas and the meal was also delicious. Our server was very nice.

Great service! Great food! Updating: by FAR my favorite-cleanest and freshest tasting of all around here!!!

Have been here several times. Food is mediocre at best each time. Kept going back to have the good food people talk about, never had good food here. Service has always been slow, last night was the worst yet. Took ten minutes to get water after sitting down then almost 45 minutes after that to get the food. They brought one wrong meal of three ordered. The server was terrible at best, she did not listen to what was being ordered. We had my older father in law with us who is hard of hearing, server rolled hers eyes like he was messing with her, he was not. She brought the bill, charged us for the wrong order she messed up, she asked if we ate it, we said no, she walked off shaking her head but returned with the correct bill. Extremely rude and unprofessional. I did leave a tip based on her service so she did not think I forgot, she did not deserve a tip at all. We will never go back to this place, we will drive farther for better food and better service.

No matter which location you go to, the food & service is always awesome!!

Good stop in for a quick lunch. Server was great!!!

New to the area so my partner and I tried it. Like it so much we have already been back. Friendly staff, clean, nice atmosphere and good food!

I was in town for work and got my lunch from here. I called my order in for take-out and they told me it would be ready in 15 minutes. When I first walked in the only person I saw that worked there was the bartender. She didn't even acknowledge me when I walked up she just kept doing what she was doing. I literally had to say "I'm here to pick up an order" and then she told me to give her a minute. About 10 minutes later a guy asks me if I'm here for pick up and I said yes. He said it would be a few minutes. 10 minutes later I finally got my food after being told it would be ready in 15 minutes. The food was good but they could use some improvement on their service.

The food was good service was fine and friendly

This is our favorite Mexican Restaurant in the area. The employees are so friendly and quick and the food tastes great. The portions are big.

Feels authentic. Large portions. Quick service. Not too spicy.

Food was great! Service was fast.

Fast, friendly service. The food is delicious!

This was the first Mexican restaurant that said authentic that actually tasted authentic.

This place was amazing. I spent years in Mexico and this place was completely authentic. The food was fantastic. It was a spotless restaurant with great service and my margarita was one of the best I’ve ever had and I’ve traveled extensively and have had many margaritas. This was top notch.

We went to San Jose on a Friday evening, place was packed. I decided on a burger, I don’t know why they usually have great Mexican, I just had a craving. I got food poisoning! Ugh! Don’t eat their meat!!!

Leah took me here. Great food. Excellent service. I'll be back

We came here because the reviews were high, after eating here I'm completely baffled as to why? We arrived at approximately 9pm, they close at 10:30 on Saturdays. I ordered from the "popular dishes" area of the menu the new Mexico tostada's, my husband ordered his usual fajitas but their menu didn't offer a combo of steak/chicken so he went with chicken. Our daughter ordered the house carne asada quesadilla. May I just say the disappointment is what has me writing this review immediately after eating there. The food was BLAND, I mean REALLY BLAND. The chicken was barely seasoned, I say barely in the assumption that they sprinkled something back there in the kitchen because my husband and I tasted NOTHING. I usually ask for limes and salsa Verde, can I just say that's all I tasted for flavor, I even added a bit of salt. We spent approximately $75.00 tip included, DEFINITELY not worth the money! I get excellent tacos with perfectly seasoned meat no matter the kind from street food vendors in my hometown. We LOVE Mexican food and sadly this restaurant came up so short in where it should matter (flavor) that we'll never be back.

Cute little reatraunt tucked in a strip mall, service was excellent and fast. Food was delicious. Would go back again if I'm in that area

Best Mexican food we’ve been able to find since moving to Florida! We tried everything in the Orlando before we found San Jose’s. The food is always exceptional, the service is quick, and the atmosphere is always inviting. Everything is also sparkling clean each time we eat here. The staff are always so friendly and go above and beyond to make our dining-in and take-out experiences great.

Great food and great service! Would highly recommend!

La comida muy maluca una carne q parecía chancleta sin sabor a nada. Los nachos q sirven de entrada con salsa si estaban ricos. La atención del mesero bien tambn. Pero la comida no me gusto

The staff was friendly and efficient. The food choices are vast and amazing, I plan to go back just to try a new dish. Our food was delicious. I suggest the cheese and chirzo dip. The monster margaritas are truly monsters.

San Jose's is excellente... that's excellent in Spanish don't you know.

Excelente servicio. La comida muy rica. El mesero super amable.

The service was good. The food was good. But the acoustics not so good,when the place is full its very hard to hear. Perhaps if the music wasn't so loud

The food was so good we are going back! Very nice staff. Cute place. Yum!

Never been there before and it was close to the in-laws place. Service was great and so was the food. Definitely worth a shot.

Always friendly, they remember your name. Great food.

Staff members were getting a little too cozy with each other 🤭🤫

Music is very loud,, food is mediocre, atmosphere needs help. Getting rid of all the boxes stacked in the corner would help tremendously.

Always delicious! I can be adventurous with their menu because I know it's always going to taste great. Fantastic drinks and decent service.

Had a quick snack and a skinny margarita. Then got a trio plate to take home. Service was great and food fabulous!

Was expecting a wow moment with the chicken and steak fajitas, looked really good, but was unimpressed there was no flavor to any of the meat, but was tender the chips and salsa was the best thing. I never was asked if I could get another drink and never bought us napkins! Not on my list of places to visit again

Food is really good, about 5-6 times went there trying different dishes all really delicious

I had the beef flautas. The beef was very dry and chewy. The rice was ok but the guacamole was green/brown. They are not what they used to be when they first open.

Very nice staff, food was on point. Did not get photos this time but will definitely have to go back.

Food is always good and serviceisfast. Went with co-workers for luch this time. The server was okay, but we've had better in the past.

First time here. We wanted to eat a little in the lighter side. My wife asked if she could have the children’s fajitas and they said yes. When it came, it was missing some of the ingredients one would find on fajita’s such as the green peppers on so on. It was also about the same price as the adult version. With that, as bad as we felt, she rejected it as it was a bit misleading in the menu. I ate my food as it came out at the same time. I only had a quesadilla and rice and beans. When my food came, that was when my wife declined her food. This is something we have never done before, but after talking to 3 servers to get the correct information, I kept my food. Yes, it took 3 people to clarify the items as to what was gluten free. Yes, we felt terrible about not taking her food, but we were also concerned about it not being gluten free as stated. Having celiac is nothing to fool around with as it could really make her sick. If this is a franchise, we decided not to try them ever again based on our experiences. My food was good and so were the chips and salsa. The service was good as well. It was only the clarification of the menu items and the value of the items on the menu that creates the problems for us. The place was busy, so maybe it was us and not them, but it didn’t work for us and we eat out often and do well everywhere else. You decide..

Stopped in for a Margarita!!! It was Top Shelf and it was one of the best! The bartender was very friendly.

It was really nice and also quick Food was good

Prices have sky rocket. A quesadilla was $10.90 too much.

Food is always great, drinks are amazing and everything comes out fast!