J Pepe’s Tex Mex

Whoa, today I learned that J Pepe’s served food.
My favorite J Pepe’s memory was Halloween 2009 when our server was dressed as crossdressed a dead cheerleader and wasted out of his mind. He charged two beers to our tab and chugged them in front of us. When I went to pee, four people were doing coke on the sink.
Stay hard, J Pepe’s. When the going got weird, you turned pro.

I have put other nachos up against the nachos that they have at J Pepes and nobody comes even close. I’m talking about the chicken fajita nachos. i know its just chicken, cheese, beans, peppers, etc, but JPEPEs HAS THE BEST CHICKEN FAJITA NACHOS EVER! The BOMB-​DIGGITY!

I’ve been coming to J Pepe’s on Greenville Avenue off and on over the last 12 years, and it is like gravity… it always keeps me coming back. Jimmy the owner is a very friendly and caring man, and his daughters have recently helped to create their revamped menu now including an awesome weekend brunch. Tuesday night is dollar draft night, so I might just have to stop in. I love the spicy beef fajita’s still to this day so many years later. If you haven’t been to Greenville Avenue in the last couple years, do so… The huge movement to revamp upper-​middle-​lower Greenville is really taking shape in a nice way… and when you stop by J-Pepe’s for a shot of Cuervo 42, tell them Mike sent ya.

J peeps oh how I hate to love you. You don’t go to j peeps for their shitty service, rando live acts performing on the patio, or even their mediocre food. You go for cheap margaritas on the patio while you contemplate coming back for the pool, (you never do). It is a pooch friendly patio though if you want to try and get hot girls to pet your dog.

Go on Wednesdays to see Colin Boyd perform, and sing along with him.
Get the deer/​beer (tequila and Dos Equis) special for $ 5. Or the $ 2 pints (Shiner for sure, and I think Miller and Bud and something else).
The chips and salsa are really good. Food is still decent. Three stars worthy.

Don’t waste your time on the food.

You have to love a bar that has dollar beers on Wednesdays and a pool in the back! I actually have never tried the food here, but what I have seen it all looks pretty damn good. What I like about this place is the non pretentious patrons and staff. Everyone here is really friendly and is all about have a great time. You never feel as though you’re being looked down upon here. But I still can’t get over the fact that they have a pool in the back. So god damn cool!!!

This is only a review for the catering which was absolutely awful. Two different orders were delivered (after being barranged with calls from a lost driver — did I mention it was being delivered to a common location in Dallas… shouldn’t they have GPS?). Despite the fact that I only ordered one lunch order I was still charged a high fee for the second delivery since they said it was somehow my mistake. Gotta love that J Pepe’s customer service!

I didn’t expect much going in, but I was pleasantly surprised at the end of my meal.
They have really good salsas for the chips and the Pollo Primavera was great!!! No complaints from this place. I was full after ordering one entrée – which is unusual for me.
Pepe’s is definitely worth a try!

Rolled up to J Pepe’s Friday for happy hour. Pitchers of Shiner for about $ 9-​$ 10…not too shabby when you have a semi-​large group as we did. Sat on the front patio as the back pool area was taken over by a graduation party. Our waitress was good, took care of us & kept the beer flowing… which is important on a hot/​humid evening! The food is ok… your typical Tex-​Mex style. Try the appetizer sampler… it’ll feed 2 and is pretty decent.

I used to really hate this place but I have come around.
I used to think the pool was a big cesspool but after to speaking to staff and the pool guy it may be one of the cleaner pools in Dallas. Yes, there is a pool in the back. Haven’t actually been in but I think I would now.
I used to hate the food but I’ve had some, ok the chicken nachos, and they were quite good. I can’t go out on the limb and say I really like everything but as I ventured through the menu I may take that bold step.
Now what I have come to really appreciate is the whole vibe of the place. The staff is supercool and is always there to refill your pitchers. Wednesday they have the same guy singing acoustic guitar ranging from Lady Gaga to Neil Diamond. Plus there’s some cool neighborhood folks so there’s something is there for everyone.
My biggest beef is that the men’s bathroom is overall disgusting and specifically the urinals are a little too close together. But there’s always the pool … :)

Go for the patio and a pitcher of margaritas and that’s about it. The food and the service are better at Taco Bell than at J Pepe’s.
I lived around the corner for a number of years and J Pepe’s was one of those places you would forget about until you wanted to sit in the sun, visit with friends over a frosty beverage and watch Greenville Ave roll by. For that, it’s perfect. Unfortunately, the food is boring, bland and gives Tex-​Mex a bad name. To add insult to injury, the service is slow. Very slow. What else do they have to do? Warm up the 7 – 11 burrito in the microwave? Set it to 2 guys as I like mine hot but not burning the skin off the roof of my mouth.
Enjoy the view and don’t some hungry.

Usually when I spin I puke. I can’t ride the Tilt-​a-​whirl at the fair or the Sombrero at 6 Flags. But the spin J. Pepe’s puts on Tex-​Mex is a whole different story. I didn’t puke once!
First of all… the place is cute. Everyone knows there’s a pool out back. I’m not much for swimmin where I’m dinning but it’s still pretty and relaxing to have water within view.
As for spin – the menu had some really interesting offerings. In addition to the standards in Tex-​Mex there were plenty nontraditional dishes, or maybe they are traditional and I’m just not accustomed to the interior or coastal dishes. They had everything from taco stand tacos to sammichs to stuff that tasted more Mediterranean.
Food was good. I had some sort of chicken and shrimp dish with a coconut milk sauce. One of the sides was a corn and potato chimmichanga. THAT was really amazing. Munchkin had the sampler plate and queso. Most of that is home in the fridge. It was a lot of food. And the deep friend beef stuff on her plate was super.
Our server was really nice but I think he might have been short handed, we kept running out of things and waiting for him to get us more. He was the only server I saw for our entire visit.
I will go there again. It’s too close to home base for me not to.

I just thought this place was kinda dumpy. Service was discombobulating, ambiance was damp, and my dining partner claims to have gotten food posoning from there.
I’ll probably never go back.

I accidentally ended up here after attempting to go to La Casita, which is across the street. Tangent — Speaking of which, does anyone know what happened to La Casita? Is it closed? I had my heart set on Mexican food, and they have great reviews and cheap food — so we headed over there last night to grab dinner. It was within their normal business hours but they weren’t open???
Anyway, back to J. Pepe. You have to rate this place on what it is — a bar. And what they serve — bar food. If you’re looking for a restaurant with waiters that are fully clothed and patrons that are wearing shoes, then keep walking down Greenville to Gloria’s. If you’re looking for better-​than-​average bar food, A POOL, and a cute patio, then J. Pepe’s is your place. The fajita tacos were pretty good, although they could have used some heat, and the brisket tacos were pretty yummy, too. The margarita was good and definitely worth it at only $ 3. We also had live entertainment in the form of a drunken, middle-​aged man who felt the need to argue with and then hug several people in the restaurant. It kept things interesting.
So yes, it’s not the best food out there but it very decent for bar food and I don’t know of many other bars where you can sip margaritas by their pool.

After cramming my brain with useless information I will probably never use again in my life for finals I decided to take a nice long study break that involved a patio and a strong margarita. Valerie S. was hungry and wanted some chips and dip, somewhere low key because we both looked like a hot mess and cheap. We put two and two together and somehow came up with J Pepe’s. It’s been a hot minute since I’ve been here so I was anxious to refresh my memory.
We arrived at about 12:15 PM and there were maybe 4 – 5 other people there eating/​drinking. We sat outside on the patio in some pretty comfy chairs and were greeted right away by a cheery waitress who brought out chips and salsa. The chips were not greasy and fairly thin which was great but the salsa was lackin some flavor. Val got the create your own combo lunch special of two enchiladas that came with rice and beans ($ 5.95) and I got my all time favorite pollo crème de coco with shrimp vegetable chimichanga ($ 9.75) with a frozen margartia for course ($ 5). I cannot even express to you guys how fast I tore this meal up. The chicken breast was grilled to perfection and drizzled with a nice coconut curryish sauce served with a crunchy potato and corn chimichanga, a generous amount of pico and some grilled shrimp. The curry sauce is fabulous I only wish it was more spicy but everything else makes up for it. For $ 5 my Margarita was strong and exactly what I needed to de-​stress.
Overall $ 15 got me a delicious lunch and a much needed cocktail, I didn’t have to fight a crowd for a table on the patio and great attentive service throughout my entire stay.

I used to kick it here allll theeee tiiime back in the day! I think I came here on a first date on one occasion (don’t do this), but the rest of the times I came here to booze with friends. Which is what I did a few weeks ago.
My friends played a small show the night we came here so we were just looking for a place to chill afters. Enter J Pepe’s. This is a good spot if ya just want to kick back, sit outside in the big space (or outside in the front to giggle at people going in and out of Condom Sense), and catch up with friends over cheap pitchers of beer. What kind of beer? Eh, this isn’t the place to care.
I had the food many moons ago, and I don’t remember it being anything special. That doesn’t mean it was bad either though. I think we used to get down on the chips and salsa and quesadillas. I think people usually just come here to hang out, watch a game, down some brews, and maybe slip a few chips down the ol’ hatchet.
I wouldn’t come out of my way to eat here, but I WOULD taxi it down the road to come meet up with some friends. Thanks for the cheap beer, laid back atmosphere and convenient location, Mr. Pepe. If I get around to trying your food again, I’ll be sure to update. You’re A-​OK in my book.
Useful? They cater, have an online menu and offer a Wednesday Brisket Special.

First Visit (Years ago): I just had drinks, the place was packed (mainly of people that I had just been to a concert with) I had a blast, I really like the place
Most Recent Visit (Tonight): Place was dead (a musician was playing music on the patio to a crowd of 0, seems to me they could have let him play inside or maybe let him go home or something) I had food tonight, the Pollo Mexicana, it was great, if you like spinach and mushrooms etc etc then it’s great, wish it had more queso, but still, super great.

I really hate to do this, but based on the past few visits to Pepe’s, I have to take back a star. Change can be a good thing, unless the changes suck. It all started with the remodeling of the front patio.
The old iron tables and chairs were replaced with new ones. The sling style chairs are actually more comfortable than the old ones — even if the joy once felt at scoring a coveted seat cushion has been taken away — but the tiled tables are cheap and wobbly, the tile frames on the table top make it impossible to slide anything across the table, and the square bar that surrounds the table legs makes it very uncomfortable to cross your legs while sitting close to the table. May seem petty to some, but it’s important to this girl.
The table umbrellas have been replaced by a slatted roof that lets in sunlight on the front half of the patio. Great for an 80 degree day with a little bit of a cooling breeze. Not so good, I imagine, on a 100 degree day when shade comes at a premium.
The menu has doubled in size with the most notable addition being American food. Cheeseburgers? Really? Unfortunately, the standard Tex Mex fare seemed dull and not even up to par with J. Pepe’s standards, which were middle of the road at best before.
And the most egregious violation of all is the changing of Swirls & Margaritas (which contained only drops of Tequila, hook a sista up!) from a full-​sized glass to a tumbler-​sized glass — ala Gloria’s. Granted, they are only $ 3. But must I point out to you, J. Pepe’s, that you are not Gloria’s? You can’t really even compete with Gloria’s. Give me back my full-​sized swirl and charge me $ 1 more, like you used to. Seriously.
I’m not sure if J. Pepe’s evolution is based on survival or a hope to outclass its competitors, but I have to stamp a big fat F.A.I.L. on its forehead.
UPDATE: I forgot to add one positive constant, our waiter (after all these years we still haven’t asked his name — shame, shame). He’s usually the only guy working the patio on a Saturday afternoon and he KILLS. We’re never disappointed in him and he takes care of us each and every time like he gives a crap about keeping us happy.

MR. PEPE ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?
YOUR MUSIC IS WAY TOO LOUD. CAN YOU HEAR THAT? HUH? NO I CAN’T EITHER BECAUSE THE MUSIC IS TOO LOUD! WHA? WON’T DO ANYTHING TO FIX IT? OKAY!!!
Okay, I realize this is the second time I am complaining about music volume of a restaurant (see previous Tom Tom Noodle House entry), but this is just ridiculous. The FIRST time we went to J Pepe’s for lunch on a Saturday we sat out front. It was okay but they were doing some renovations so it wasn’t the best ambiance. Music noise was no problemo, actualllly there was no music… just the *crunch crunch* of tacos and *gulp gulp* of modelo especial’s. Yummmm…
The food was so good we went back one week later. SECOND time we went there we decided to check out this view of the pool in the back and sat in the backyard section. The musica was so loud I couldn’t even hear to order. We begged our waiter to please turn it down just a hair and he said there was no «middle» just «on» or «off». I know I’m just a dumb girl who doesn’t do math and physics but I have NEVER IN MY WHOLE LIFE seen a radio that was missing a knob that allows you to choose the volume of your choice.
So he went and turned it «off». Thank Jesus.
Beers were drank, tacos came, things were a-​ok. Then **BAMAWAMA** the music is back on, louder than before. My poor dad nearly choked on his salsa. We paid quickly and left.
The nearly-​choked dad and mom went back last weekend, thinking they were going to be smart and sit in the FRONT again, to try to avoid the loud ass **BAMAWAMA** again. Not so lucky. No baby, not so lucky. Apparently they have completed their renovations and have wired the speakers out front with the SAME **BAMAWAMA** sound system.
Be forewarned.
Now to the food:
My family are BIG taco and beer drinkers. It’s our favorite thing to do for lunch on Saturdays. We do this almost every weekend, so I think I’m a pretty good judge of the taco/​beer thing.
*****I am only giving this place three stars for one reason. The salsa makes me want to cry it’s so good and their crispy tacos are almost the best I’ve ever had– crunchy but won’t fall apart, perfection. The management, the speaker technician, the fool that sold Mr. J Pepe this thing, get ZERO STARS FROM ME***
I am done now.