El Jefe’s Taqueria

I was cruising Harvard square, and really wishing for an Anna’s Tacqueria competitor. I could not immediately find any, and I had nearly resigned my self to a fate of expensive, Cantabridgian fare when I struck upon El Jefe.
Every thing seemed in order: Spanglish menu on the wall, self seating tables, serving station at the counter with a sneeze guard. OK, I had found my people. I ordered the way I normally would, and the burrito was not bad. I may have low standards relative some other reviewers here, but it was filling, acceptable, and forgettable. That is not a bad deal for $ 7, so I stuffed my face, and moved on with my life.

Spent the afternoon in Harvard Square today with my daughter — who can only eat gluten free foods. We were looking for an inexpensive place to eat where she had some options. As we walked toward Tasty Burger (gluten-​free buns and fries) she suggested El Jefe’s Taqueria. Wow! We hit the jackpot. The soft tacos are completely corn. No wheat added at all. Only corn. Perfect for gluten-​free eaters. She ordered up two chorizo tacos with Mexican rice and all the fixings. DELICIOUS. She was in heaven. This is a teen who often doesn’t get to eat what she wants. For her to have choices at El Jefe’s was big! I know we will be back again. As an added plus, the fellow who was working at the counter was super sweet and patient. He helped us feel very comfortable that the tacos and other choices she made were really okay for her.

Big fan of this place. Cheap, and you can load up your burrito as you like it. It doesn’t follow the Boston standard of Anna’s/Felipe’s/Boca’s, but you get more choices, and no charge for things like fajita veggies. The food always tastes pretty fresh to me. The chimichangas are spectacular; cheap and plentiful.

Had a hankering for authentic tacos, had walked by el Jefe several times and this place has the divey feel that often lends to great food. Boy was I let down. I was the only one in there, as it was well after the lunch hour. Getting my 3 orders took forever. The topping selection was disappointing and even though the carne asada was just coming off the grill it was beyond tough.

This is our new favorite in Cambridge. We usually get 2 – 3 plates of 3 tacos each. Carnitas is delicious, and the grilled vegetables also excellent. We also like the shrimp too. Then add refried beans and you can feed a family of 4 for around $ 20! What a total steal. O you also get to eat outside right in Harvard Square. We’re never going back to Naco Taco ‘expensivo’ again!

Amazingly complex and delicious tasting bowls. the option of free guac and plantains is wonderful. I would choose this place over any of the other mexican restaurants within a 2 mile radius. The carnitas is especially flavorful.

Pretty good for the area. As a Latino from CA, I prefer Mexican food from Southern CA any day but hard to find equally good tacos on the east coast. Was pleasantly surprised to find this place. It isn’t the best but way better than the other Mexican places in the Harvard Sq area. They have plenty of hot sauces to choose from. Wish they had a salsa bar and used fresh corn tortillas made in house. That would have made them a game changer. Until then I give them 4 stars for what they offer in the Harvard Sq area. If they were in CA or AZ, would have given them 3 stars for context for those of you looking for a real taco place comparative to what you can find on the west coast.

Great little Mexican restaurant! Tasty food and huge portions! It’s kinda hidden behind tasty burger so usually not crowded.
Better than most Mexican and burrito places around.

I adore this place. I actually see it as very distinct from Chipotle, Qdoba, Boloco, and Felipe’s — for one, it’s got authentic Mexican flair, and second, the selection of hot sauces is to die for.

I’m not quite sure I understand others’ complaints of this place… I think it might be my new favorite over Felipe’s in the area, and of course Chipotle or Qdoba can’t hold a candle to it.
It’s got a queso option which I know is just seasoned nacho cheese, but I love it for some fast food burrito. Their cilantro rice is also well seasoned.
I’ve only been twice, but I think I enjoyed the carnitas over the carne asada, though it was nice that the beef wasn’t shoe leather like at some burrito places.
I’ll definitely be back.

El Jefe’s is DELICIOUS. Everything is flavorful and spicy. You can even add plantains to your burrito. Also, the staff is very friendly and kind.
Update: Just got back from Arizona where I tried many burritos — El Jefe’s is still #1!

It’s hard to open a new burrito place and be able to compete with Felipes which is way better and only a couple of blocks away. El Jefe’s is located where the old Felipes was.
I see a lot of complaints about service but all the staff was friendly. I got a carnitas burrito. Everything just tasted ok… nothing to write home about. The meat was okay but a little salty. The chips and guacamole were pretty good. But in the end I much rather go to Anna’s or Felipes. Very average place. But this place closing at 4am is a definite plus.

Yuck!!!
I don’t think this place is sanitary. I was there one night and there was a wet mop near the kitchen that smelled so bad!
The food itself (one of the veggie options) was so tasteless and nasty I couldn’t even finish it.

This place is the bees knees!
I used to come when it was Felipes but I guess they moved a few blocks away. Figured I was in anyways and I’d give it a shot. Everything was great! Burrito was choice. Stuffed it right up for me. The server wasn’t very talkative which was kind of a bummer but the woman that cashed me out was incredibly friendly! Chatted with her about how long they’ve been there, what happened to Felipes, etc. She was very pleasant. She also offered me coupons which is GREAT!
Very happy :]

Shrimp — DELISH! Very fresh and tasty. Mildly spicy in a pleasant way. Will definitely go back!

Delicious burrito. Got the carne asada with Mexican rice and refried beans. Really friendly staff. The guy making my food really wanted to make sure I got everything I wanted, pointing out every option. I love Felipe’s (other burrito place nearby), but I always feel rushed through their line. This was all around a great experience. So glad they replaced the short-​lived taco truck. I’ll definitely be back. Strange to see these 1-​star reviews. I could see some people preferring another place, but one star? It’s good!

I ordered from Door Dash yesterday. I got a chicken taco salad as well as tacos with camarones (shrimp). Both are $ 6.50 which isn’t bad considering they’re whole meals. My food came really quickly for one but I was so much of a fan that I went back today. Instead I walked up there to save myself the Door Dash delivery fee though. I got another chicken taco salad with shrimp and shrimp tacos again. I will note that there were only 2 shrimp in the salad but aside from that I have no complaints. I add a lot of toppings i.e. platanos, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce, pinto beans to the tacos and I was happy with my service. The cashier was friendly. I ordered my food ahead so I haven’t had any interactions with the line workers. I work in Central Square so I’ll probably be up there a lot now that I know they’re there.

Was in Cambridge for work and was stuck at the client all night and didn’t want to order greasy takeout and found this jem on Unilocal.Why can’t Chicago have one of these??? Seriously good Mexican food, super cheap and open til crazy late… And not like one of your typical late night joints. I felt like I was in burrito heaven — because they don’t charge extra for any of the extras! I typically don’t write reviews, but the staff was so great that I was compelled. So if you are craving some solid Mexican at any hour check this place out.

Nice place.. friendly staff.. delicious burrito…
This is my new place when I came in Cambridge area…

Im skeptical of these 5 star reviews for this place. I went in the other day with a friend and we were really unhappy.
First of all service was terrible, not friendly. Didnt feel welcome.
Got a few different tacos to try. Chicken, Chorizo, and Carne asada. All of them were way too salty. The softshells ended up being soggy. It was pricey. And what kind of mexican place charges for chips and salsa?!
Also, both my friend and I felt sick later in the day after eating here.
I honestly wouldn’t bother, try something else in the area. Many other better options.

I came in one day looking for Felipe’s and came across this restaurant instead. I thought it looked promising so I decided to give it a shot. The food wasn’t the best, and when I was processing what was on the menu I had an employee continually look at me and ask me if I was ready. I said I was looking at the options, and he asked me every second not giving me a chance to fully decide and I went and ordered to curb his continuous barrage of «Are you ready yet?» I was not fully satisfied. So I tried to order, but my server was very quiet and I could barely hear what he was saying so I would sometimes get what I didn’t want. In the end, not much of the food was too good. I got very little sour cream, and guacamole, not to mention the guac was watery and it seemed to splash the food with water rather than a signature thick and delicious dollop of guac. Nothing really stood out about this restaurant.
Altogether:
–The food was not good, very watery and not too filling
–Service was not too good, very quiet workers can barely hear a thing, helpings were small
–Restaurant seemed devoid of liveliness
–Guac was not thick
–Coupon to get me back, not tempted to use it
–Focus on the spice rack, but good food shouldn’t just rely on spices alone, it’s all about the ingredients!

Pure quality all around.
This new place located in the heart of Harvard Square is the icon to stand between your best (mediocre per usual) experience at chipotle and the fanciest taco joint in Mexico.
Clean place, welcomed with cool and casual smiles from behind the counter. Ordered the spicy ground beef burrito ($ 6.99) which was phenomenal and not sloppy at all. The gloss finished wood picnic tables with a near endless shelf of help yourself hot sauces complimented the food to perfection.
After slurping down my cold Sprite I made sure to thank the cook and let him know that was the best burrito I’ve ever had as I threw a few bucks in the tip jar on my way out.
A lotta bang for your buck. Authentic place whippin’ up the real deal ‘ritos.

I guess my expectations of this place being decent just because it’s in a high-​volume tourist area steered me wrong. My first impression of the menu was meh, nothing to get excited over and most of the stuff you could probably cook at home in minutes. Regardless I still gave it a chance and tried some chicken tacos.
The outcome? It didn’t taste like Taco Bell but the Chipotle nearby could have made a more authentic taco — or at least a tastier one. Even if they did have free chips and salsa (they don’t), the experience wouldn’t be worth it to come back.
Maybe it was a bad day, or a bad chef. Choose one of the other three Mexican places nearby and save yourself the discomfort of supporting whoever owns this «taqueria.»

Living in Harvard square offers many good opportunities to get your taco on, but this is my new spot. It’s a simple taqueria that makes and serves your food like your mother would. Everything is tasty, they don’t gouge you for guacamole (it’s actually free on your burrito/​taco) AND they don’t cut theirs w sour cream like so many other places do. And the wall of hot sauce choices allows for a new experience w the same burrito. This will be likely become my new favorite.

Horrible food. Only redeeming quality is that it’s open late. But it doesn’t taste good. Tasty burger, though not good, is wayyyyyyyyy better

We went here to «try the new place». It was very disappointing. Seeing the meat choices sitting in small Pyrex containers should have been a tip off.
Each of us got a burrito. While they were tasty they were not restaurant quality. It was the equivalent of what I might try to concoct at home. Edible? Sure. Something you pay for? Absolutely not.
We won’t be back. Not with all of the superior burrito options in Harvard Square.

In a word? Dog food on a tortilla. And a soggy one at that.
I’d hate to say it, but in a city N.O.T.O.R.I.O.U.S. for bad Mexican food, this place has claimed the dubious distinction of being THEE (that’s two Es, my friends) worst. The quality here is outright disrespectful. It’s like «Jefe» (which evidently means «boss» in Spanish) is telling you – with a gold chain around his neck and a Southie accent – «you don’t have no choice, kid.»
Well guess what, my smartphone-​wielding, vocal fry-​having, 4-​on-​the-​AP-​Spanish-​test-​achieving, Charlie-​Card-​carrying consumers: that’s a double negative. And you do have a choice. The T is running, Über is only on 5.6x «surge.» You can skip a meal till the morning. Get up early. You’ve been meaning to do that for MONTHS. Jefe, you ain’t no boss to us, and you couldn’t make Mexican food if your life depended on it. You’re making a mockery of a proud and revered cuisine.
«Jefe,» you’re a food bully, who thinks we have to gobble whatever slop you put in front of us.
This place is so bad that, despite having painful spasms in my back – an injury that makes it agonizing to so much as sit at a desk for 5 minutes – I’m sucking it up and punching this out on the computer. I don’t want a single person to go to this place NOT knowing how unacceptable it is.
I’m not even mad about the $ 12. Not every meal’s a winner. Bu it’s that, after throwing away a better part of this quote-​unquote food, I had to come home and – get this – start cooking. Keep in mind that the whole point of going out to eat is to NOT have to do that.
Moreover, I have credibility on this issue. I’ve eaten good, bad, and ugly Mexican food all over the world. I also cook it myself at an advanced level. Like most people, I can forgive watered-​down «non-​authentic» or less-​than-​stellar «gringo» Mexico food. I love supermarket «queso» dip. I’ll happily eat a chapula. I look forward to «taco night» at my Minnesotan friend’s house. But this goes beyond the pale. The meats had one flavor – unless you count sodium and chloride separately. The food assembly was on maximum IDGAF. They made their tacos on a single tortilla (a tell-​tale sign of a not-​good Mexican place, by the way), so that they were soggy and tearing by the time I got to my table. Even the guacamole was seriously meh. In the name of the Holy Virgin in the Heavens, how do you mess up guacamole?
Jefe (or whatever corporate entity owns you), I’ll make you an offer: I’ll come in one day and TEACH YOU how to make Mexican food. I’m not even joking. There’s a lot you could learn in an afternoon, and I’d be doing my community a service. All I ask in exchange is a burrito (tortilla OR bowl) be named after me (first AND last names, with «the» in front of it) – displayed prominently on the menu and receipts – in perpetuity. Changing the name of my burrito, or ceasing to display it prominently, would constitute a breach of our agreement and make you liable to fines and/​or arbitration. Don’t worry, all this would be in the paperwork.
Alternatively, I’m willing to bet you $ 512 cash money – ON THE TABLE – that I can make better Mexican food than you, even with painful knots in my back and not being a professional cook even a single minute in my life. I’ve never been a waiter. I’m not even Mexican. You, at least in theory, have hundreds – if not thousands – more hours than me in the kitchen, and I’m just some punk with a Unilocal account. All I’d need is 1 or 2 assistants and my own tools. You can have your whole staff. Panel of blind taste testers (locals, not ringers), and the whole thing recorded to avoid disputes. You’ve seen reality TV.
If you win, I’ll gladly amend this review. But, if I win, I want you to apologize (on video) to the City of Cambridge for crushing our dreams that a serviceable restaurant would go in the space you’re now clogging with your salt tacos. You should include some contrition for making a mockery of 500 years of history. Not since Cortez has someone laid waste on Mexico to this magnitude.
Final note, to «Jefe»: The best response to this review isn’t a generic sorry or a series of excuses. You weren’t «off» that night. C’mon, we all know this is your food EVERY night. I can teach you how it’s done, but you know the price.
Now, off to cook my (second) dinner.
UPDATE: A basic search reveals this place was started by the founder of Harvard Square gem Fire + Ice (with an abysmal 2.5 stars on Unilocal out of 370+ votes). This can only mean one thing: «El Jefe» is like a spammer, but instead of clogging your mailbox with promises to enlarge your anatomy, he’s clogging your neighborhood with bogus restaurants with impunity.
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They’ve only been open for a week, so I’m sure they’ll work out any kinks that a new place is bound to have. I got one veggie and one tilapia taco. Food was good! One suggestion I have is for them to use 2 tortillas instead of 1 for each taco, even if they have to charge another 10 cents. A lot of places do that, as the tortillas completely fell apart when they have filling in them.
Bonus: super friendly staff, and they’re open till 4am!

With either 5 star or 1 star reviews, I was a little skeptical coming here. But I thought I’d give it a shot since I had been craving Mexican food and wanted to try something new.
I haven’t had much Mexican food in Boston since moving here a few years ago, and I usually stick to my holy grail El Pelon.
El Jefe’s has some kinks to work out, but they’re a new place that should still be given a try!
They’re Chipotle-​style, meaning everything is laid out in front of you and you go down the line telling them what you want in your burrito/​bowl/​whatever.
All the toppings are in these small glass casseroles, that I assume need to be filled often. However, with the amount of toppings available, I could also see them sitting out for a while if they’re not popular items.
Anyways, ALL toppings are included in the one price. WHAAT! Yes, that means you can get beans, cheese, rice, PLANTAINS, GUAC, peppers, onions, salsa, etc, etc. I really like that aspect!
With all these different add-​ons though, I felt like they skimped on my main meat. As I journeyed through my burrito, I kept expecting more chicken to finally pop up, but nope. it was a steady amount of very little chicken.
I might try their tacos next time, which looked a lot better than my burrito. Or even go with a quesadilla. Burrito was just alright for me, but there’s definitely room for improvement!

Great food for a reasonable price! Perfect for a quick bite, and very impressed with the ambiance and service. Looking forward to what’s to come!

Delicious. Very well peppered steak, the usual toppings with some special ones (plantains! Awesome! Almost like I’m back home in Tampa). Fajita bowl is huge, and the tortillas that come with it are light and toasted to a perfect slight golden with some brown, so they taste great and fluffy /​melt in your mouth.
Building an epic hot sauce wall, and planning to have competitions. I’m a bit of an aficionado (make my own hot sauce in addition to dedicating a cabinet to it) and they had a few I hadn’t seen. They are still building it though (as they are new) and they are planning to have hot sauce competitions (Yeehaw!)
Pricing: $ 6.99 for a burrito. They don’t charge extra for guac or any toppings. I had the fajita bowl at $ 8.50, and it could easily have fed myself and my wife (come hungry if you are going to eat it).
I hope they catch on (go, it’s great for quick food!). It would be sad to see another well spiced and fast to eat Latin /​Mexican flavors place bite the dust.
Edit: Also, cilantro rice! So great to be back to the right flavors. Their other rice (dirty rice? Brown rice?) looked good too. Oh and Chorizo! Looked great. Gulf style shrimp! Was delicious.

If you like your tacos with cheddar cheese, romaine lettuce and pre-​packaged tortillas this is the place for you.
If not, you should probably go to a taco place that serves better tacos then what your cafeteria served you in grade school.

I came in and had a burrito. Carnitas meat was tasty and well prepared. However, they had cheddar cheese (weird for a Mexican restaurant) and Mexican rice that wasn’t so traditional. Restaurant has the potential of being better.

Went here for the first night of full service. Ordered tacos with guac and sour cream. The amount of sour cream applied to my tacos could feed a starving village for a month and a half. Trying to salvage my tacos, I scooped out enough sour cream to make spinach dip for a Super Bowl party. In general, the ingredients were fine, but the incompetence of the workers made the food inedible.
Beware, El Jefe’s. The previous occupant of your location had pretty good food, but terrible service. You have terrible food and terrible service. It’s not a good combination.
Harvard Square is a rough, rough market. Get your act together. Serve edible food.