Jose’s Blue Sombrero

I had to edit my previous post after finishing dinner. Food was fresh. Margaritas were tasty. And our server was amazing. I was disappointed by waiting almost an hour when we had a reservation, but the server really turned things around. we’ll definitely come back.

The branding outside and décor makes you pause to question whether this is another ChiChis, El Torittos or Macayo’s type Sonoran/​Americanized place. Sure there are burgers and fries on the menu. Luckily they are lost at the back of the menu and this place is all about tacos. A wide range of flavors and types. It would be even better if they offered a taco flight. They’re small enough to let me order a variety of choices.
Margaritas were decent but the table side guacamole was great. Chips could use a squeeze of lime. The service was ok but not very engaging. Will go again when I need a Mexican taco fix.

We ate here for lunch on 11/​30/​2015. I was somewhat shocked to see how crowded it was for lunch. Good for them. They must do well, given the lunch crowd. The food was great. Free chips were plenty, the salsa was good, and the entrees were great too. The pricing was right, typical/​traditional pricing for dining. I would definitely go back. I’m not sure if their lunch menu is less expensive, but we took advantage of some lunch specials, which may have brought the cost down a little bit. I remember going to the Brookfield location years ago and liking it, so I’m happy the North Shore location is just as good.

I have been here many times since I moved to mequon as I haven’t been able to find anything better in the area. Overall Joses is usually pretty decent. The food is pretty good overall, margaritas are good, it’s the service that is hit or miss.
Whatever you do do not sit in the bar at a table, done this a few times and service is always bad as it’s the bartenders who are the servers and they are usually busy making drinks for tables and others in the bar area. As for food. I’d stick with the tacos, the other items just aren’t great. The only exception is the lobster enchiladas. They are good, just not my cup of tea but my wife LOVES them.
Also…when you get your chips and salsa ask for the green salsa. It’s spicier but soooo good,

Did not have a bad experience at all! Really surprised to see so many consistently low reviews.
We were seated right away and had a friendly server. Nice atmosphere. Food was good and was served quickly. No, it wasn’t the greatest Mexican food in history, but it was good. We enjoyed the chips and salsa. We would come back.

OK– you have me at SWIRLS– I haven’t seen the swirled margarita and sangria since living in Texas… and here they are just as good! (secret tip, ask for an extra floater of tequila on the top). Food was delicious. Service was lacking a little bit even though they were full, but I can over look it this time. My only complaint is CLOSED SUNDAY? come on this is Wisconsin and I want a Mexican brunch!

Margarita in a mason jar with a straw? I think not! Encilladas were mushy and tasteless. Could not discern the pork, shreded beef, from the chicken, except the chicken had an underlying taste that was strange, indeed.
Refried beans had a gray film over them and were totally bland. Much better Mexican places in Milwaukee.

Had the Oaxacan Mole burrito. Borderline inedible, the sauce was off and didn’t taste good at all. Server barely paid attention to us. I’m not one to complain about my food at all. Luckily I was here with a friend who isn’t afraid to complain when needed so despite the fact that the manager was very unprofessional we got the burrito that I took two bites of taken off the bill. Would not recommend this place at all, much better Mexican options out there to choose from.

It was our first time and we will be back. It’s the coldest beer in town, and a great menu. We got a little bit of everything. A burrito, carnitas tacos, and enchiladas. The food was excellent as was the service. We were immediately greeted and seated, with special attention being paid to each one of us.

Should be zero stars. Just attempted to eat here. Should’ve known when we walked in and there was nobody there to greet and sit us right away. Finally got a booth (mind you the place is EMPTY, maybe 5 tables full) and sat around for a good 15 minutes without being acknowledged. What I mean by this is not even eye contact/​a nod of the head/​a quick «I’ll be right with you.» Servers coming in and out of the kitchen avoiding customer contact didn’t check on any other families in our dining area. Didn’t even get a drink. As we were getting up to leave, a girl finally approached us. We told her we had just been ignored and were about to leave. Her response? «Okay.» Peace out Jose’s. Your service has always sucked, but we tolerated it bc we enjoyed the decent food. This was the last straw.

This place is garbage. Terrible service. Terrible drinks. Terrible management. Food was edible but ok. Overall garbage. McDonald’s is around the corner.

Stopped in at 1:00 on Friday for some shmexican lunch. While they do have a «lunch menu», it doesn’t seem that the portions are any smaller, and the prices certainly aren’t. I ordered [can’t remember the name] tacos that were vegetarian, a mix of peppers, potatoes, carrots in a soft shell. They came with the side of black beans. My companion got salmon with beans and a salad. I also tried a margarita.
My margarita came and it was fine — tasted absolutely 100% like a mix, and that should NEVER be the case at a Mexican restaurant. The veggie filling in my tacos was utterly tasteless, but the black beans were good. My friend’s salmon was probably about a 3“x4″ piece and seemed frozen. She ordered off the lunch menu and her entrée alone was more expensive than my tacos AND margarita together.
Our server was very slow, and after our checks were dropped we didn’t see him for about 10 minutes. We actually had to get up and hand deliver our checks to the bartender to run, and we saw him standing next to the bar texting when we went up there… not cool man.
I saw a huge garden out back when we were leaving, and granted it’s too cold now, I love the sustainability of growing your own herbs and veggies. My lasting question is that if you are in the habit of growing your own veggies in the middle of the city, how hard would it be to create your own margarita mix?

I’ve only been here for happy hour, so there is great potential that this review could go up.
Jose’s Blue Sombrero took over the old Outback Steakhouse next to the Riverpoint strip mall. I’ve hear good things, but never had a chance to really go. That is, until I heard about their amazing happy hour. 3.50 Margs and Sangria, and FREE taco bar. Nothing ever free, huh? Well this is.
The Margs went down like wata. Not sugary at all– I was super suprised because usually at places like this, its like asking for sugary gut rot. They were smooth and cold and everything I could have asked for in a marg.
The taco bar was not bad. I had the chicken, which I thought was pretty good! I wish there was any sort of a vegetable selection though. I know that ‘s being picky of a FREE taco bar, but beans can sometimes be so much cheaper than beef or chicken! I’m suggesting this to help em out.
I’ll check em out and try out some of the real food. We did get guac when were were there and it was 8 dollars. yeeeesh. They make it in front of you, but only used two avocados… weak for 8 dollars. I’ll admit though, it was good.

Ignore low star ratings, people don’t know how to review Mexican or manage their expectations or demands; learn this:
1. mocajete with the works, a bit expensive, but great to take home with extra tortillas
2. micheladas, made very well.
3. Street sheet tacos…
Monday = carnitas al pastor, Thursday = blackened salmon tacos…
4. Korean tacos, because an order of two is too is tasty — I can’t do just two, who the hell am I, Charlie Buckets? Say, two hundred…
6. Table side guac, if you don’t mind employing manual labor at your table; I do.
7. Fish tacos with sauce on-​the-​side, unless of course you like a wet taco — not the same kind of fish taco Paco, a la chinga!
9. Just a cup of the shrimp soup will do.
Margaritas are weak compared to the Southside/​fuentes/​perla/​senorial tour, but the bartenders give muchísimo amor! — gringos alike. Mexican beer special on Tuesdays, and a level 8 Ingress portal at the blue sombrero…
!Andele!

Garden in a strip mall?
This is a really odd location. This building has had several tenants in the past but it’s current incarnation brings decent chain Mexican fare to the northern burbs. Unlike other Jose’s location’s, this one has a sizable salsa garden which provides onsite veggies to pair with their tasty tortilla chips. Olé! They also have a nice outside seating area that overlooks acres upon acres of blacktop.

I have been here four times because I keep getting gift cards. The service is terrible each time. Every time I forget and come back, and regret it all over again.
For starters, the hostess was rude, uninviting, and on her cell phone when we arrived. Then, it took 10 minutes just for our server to come and get our drink order. Then an additional 15 minutes to come back and take our order. After our food arrived, the server never came back. I wanted hot sauce and had to track down a bus boy after waiting for 10 minutes.
The food my table ordered was over priced and not up to par. If you like Mexican food, avoid this restaurant. The flavors are bland and for the price you pay, it is totally not worth it.
I seriously hate this place.

It looks like I’ll echo a lot of the reviews that are already here, but I suppose that there is nothing wrong with a little repetition.
I’ve been here three or four times now. Chances are pretty good that I’ll be back again at some point. Here are the four reasons why:
1. The location is convenient.
2. The service has always been well above average.
3. The chips are good and the table side guacamole is more than serviceable.
4. It is an extremely family friendly establishment, which is admittedly the real clincher and bumps my review to 3 stars. (a) There are 5 or so kid menu meal options, which are each $ 3.99. (b) chocolate milk is readily available. © The hostess supplies an entire solo cup full of crayons for the kids to use on their kids menus (no standard three pack of boring primary colors here). (d) Kids (at least the ones descended from me) really appreciate that cup of after meal mini-​cookies that the server brings with the bill.
Now for that repetition part that I promised at the start. Fill up on the chips and that guacamole, because the entrees are average at best. If the chips aren’t enough, maybe add a margarita. They offer a wide selection of margaritas and tequila options. The margarita that I tried was, like the guacamole, decent enough.
In short, this place is certainly catering to a certain demographic. I happen to be a part of that demographic, so I’ll take it. If you’re kid free, don’t waste your time or money here. A drive to the near south side really can’t be THAT inconvenient. If it is, I propose that you take my kids to Jose’s while I hit up GTO or Cielito Lindo.

Today’s visit started off a little rocky. We were told there was a 15 minute wait only to be seated 40 minutes later. Once seated it took a while for our waitress to come over but once she was there the service was awesome! She took our order without writing anything down and we were a little worried it would be messed up. Everything we ordered came out perfectly and quickly. I will definitely be coming back to this location. I think that the hostesses could use a bit of training but our waitress Trina was the best.

Man, y’all are crazy. Jose’s good by me!
It was packed, but our wait was not long at all. Was hoping for a patio seat, but that was a no go, hopefully next time.
Service: Our server was fine. Not outstanding, but not characteristic of the service complaints noted here in the least.
Atmosphere: It was busy but did not feel crowded or too noisy. Typical music and décor, I thought it was nice. Oh, and the tables are pretty.
Drinks: So I have a drink like three times a year, so I would be a pretty poor judge of drinks. We had a mojito and margarita, and they were both good.
Food: Chips and salsa were good. The salsa was not bad, but was missing some heat. We ordered green sauce and got red on an order of enchiladas. Whatever, it was still good. The enchiladas had a little kick to them, which was a nice surprise. Also tried a combo plate, enjoyed the enchilada and chimichanga, but the tostada was pretty bland. The bowl of baby cookies was a cute touch.
We’ll be back!

Friendly service, quality ingredients and a nice patio. The salsa garden is a cool concept; can’t wait to see it flourish.
The quality just did not hold up. Really wanted this spot to be good but it has turned out to disappoint time and time again.