Very impressed! I have pretty high standards for Mexican restaurants and because of this I am frequently disappointed . Here is my ranking system. Margaritas not too sweet and not from a mix -yes. Good chips and salsa- yes, homemade chips so a little different but salsas were great the xnicpec was spicy, verde was super good. Pulpo was really good. Entree isn't just smothered and a ton of beans - yes, it was a little less hot than desired (temp not spice) but enchilada sauce was yummy. Decor/ambience - yes, nice vibe and a little more upscale than most . Our server was super nice. Honestly I put it up with pinche in terms of food and marg quality. Will definitely return!! read more

Interesting dishes, good tacos and happy hour specials. Could use some more vegetarian options. Brunch was a little disappointing, really only a few breakfast options and potatoes were $5 extra. Breakfast potatoes were dusted with cinnamon and sugar which I thought was odd. Fried plantains were really good. read more

All the food was really tasty! Chips, salsa, Guacamole was ok, fried plantains and I got the kale salad with salmon which was delicious! The only thing slacking was the service. It wasn't busy at all, maybe 4 tables seated, and things took forever to get. read more

Really cool space, amazing food and cocktails, my new favorite restaurant. Have to try the salsas, the boracho and pico are incredible. The tacos were great and can't wait to go back to try everything else. Great cocktail menu with lots of mezcal. Highly recommend. read more

I like to rate restaurants in three ways - 1) food/drink, 2) service, and 3) decor/ambiance. El Jefe had high marks for both service and decor/ambiance. From the minute we walked in (4:45 PM on Sat. for happy hour, then dinner), we were greeted by a super fun hostess and super friendly servers. We were there to celebrate a friend's birthday, and there was a chalkboard with "happy birthday" in Spanish written on it - very thoughtful. The place is fun, well-decorated, and comfortable (and in a great location). The third leg of the stool, food/drink, is most important though, and that's where El Jefe fell down. We ordered house margs (regular and spicy) and one sangria (several, actually). When you drink margs and don't get a good buzz going after 1 or 2, it's disappointing. The food, from the apps (guacamole, chorizo nachos, brussels sprouts, and chicharrones) to the mains (steak fajitas, squash rellenos, and pork carnitas, to the desserts (Mexican lime tart and churros sandwiches) were all ok to borderline not so ok. On paper, they sounded fantastic, but they didn't live up to the promise (and it wasn't cheap enough to forgive "meh"-ness). Sometimes, I'll look past just ok food if the drinks are phenomenal and the place is fun/rocking, but this time, even though I really wanted to, I couldn't (especially because there are so many awesome Mexican places around)... To the owner/manager (who was super nice), I ask you to push your chefs to up their game. I would head back in a heartbeat. read more

Went here for taco Tuesday ($1 tacos!) and loved loved loved the Brussels sprout ones

Our server was super passionate about the restaurant. From the ingredients in the margarita salt to the salsa flight, he was a knowledgeable guide explaining what makes this restaurant different than others. I appreciate the attention to quality ingredients and scratch kitchen. Margaritas are among the best in town and a steal of a deal during happy hour. read more

This place is off the rails. The food is fantastic and the drinks are also amazing. My favorite so far is the mushroom tacos. The farm to table practices are evident in the flavor of the food. So fresh and healthy. I will be going here as much as possible. It's my new favorite and everyone I've taken there loves it too. read more

Had breakfast at El Jefe this morning. Found this restaurant by mistake, but best mistake of a lifetime. The food is awesome! I had the Huevos Rancheros and my granddaughter had the Chiliquites. Plus I had the Bottomless Bloody Mary. I guarantee this is my new favorite Sunday Brunch restaurant. Also, our server, Morgan was the GREATEST! She knew the menu and was very attentive to our needs or should I say wants! She also invited us back for Taco Tuesday, which we will definitely come back for. Best Sunday morning in a long time! read more

Very flavorful, fresh and authentic. Really crisp and clean, amazing organic cucumber marg. Could have drank a few easily. Expensive and smaller portions sadly so won't be able to frequent as frequently as we would like, even though we live just a few blocks away. The sauce that came with the kid's quesadilla was still too spicy for him, though we give him some spice as home. So maybe think about a tortilla or other dipping sauce. Overall though, very satisfying. read more

Had an awesome brunch today at El Jefe. The food and drinks were delicious! The service was wonderful. I have also been for dinner and it was exceptional. The restaurant has great ambiance as well! read more

Loved our experience here. Food selection was unique and delicious. Coastal Mexican with lots of gluten-free choices. Server was Ann who was outstanding. Very happy to have El Jefe in the neighborhood. Another great addition to the restaurant scene. read more

If I could give zero stars I would. Came here with a group of 4 and 2 kids. The girl front desk told us that they couldn't sit us down because the staff was fully committed wtf does that even mean. The place was half empty on a Saturday maybe the food is shit and we just dodged a bullet. El jefe ha!...more like el crappo... read more

This farm to table Mexican place. Everything was really tasty and great service! We really enjoyed their taco of the day and their margaritas! This is our new neighborhood spot! You will be seeing us on the patio this summer! read more

Amazing atmosphere and food to love. I love the chips and salsa and the ahi tacos with the spicy sauce is my fave

We were so excited to have reservations at El Jefe for my husband's birthday celebration. He is an archaeologist who works in Oaxaca and is returning there soon for another season. Our son and his girlfriend joined us. We were looking forward to having a preview of the Oaxacan specialties: mole, huitacoche (aka under the less exotic name, corn smut), avocados, and mezcal. The mezcal drinks were innovative (one with chiles) and powerful; I was happy to find an unoaked chard on the wine list--a great pairing for my meal. We took our superb server's recommendation and ordered appetizers and a salad to share--guacamole, melted Oaxacan queso with jalapenos, and a blood orange salad with almonds and avocado. We each ordered our desired entrees and shared bites--the chiles rellenos were superb and I loved my Hongo tacos, with mushrooms and arugula. They menu didn't mention huitlacoche, although the Denver Post review said it was included, so I am assuming it was one of the mushroom varieties. We mentioned to our server that it was my husband's birthday, and his piece of key lime pie (with 4 forks) had a candle on it! They key lime pie was superb, with a nice, substantial graham cracker crust. El Jefe really is the boss! We will most definitely be going back! read more

I am so glad to see a quality regional Mexican restaurant complete the spaces at Cobbler's Corner in Sunnyside. It is delicious! We had the pork belly appetizer, barbacoa tacos, and short rib enchiladas. So good! Margs were great too! Don't pass this place up! read more

we live down the street. we have been to el jefe a dozen times. we have never had worse service (alan was the server), probably havent had a worse server since living in denver #yikes read more

This place is amazing. The queso, spicy margaritas, banana split, and dollar tacos are incredible. If I lived in Sunnyside I would be here every Tuesday. El Jefe for the win. The manager Anne is super professional and nice and our server (Sofia) was super friendly and helpful. read more

After seeing the reviews on Yelp for El Jefe I thought, "Ah, an upcoming and somewhat different Mexican food restaurant. Might be fun!" The food was good enough. Not enough choices in my opinion. I like fish tacos so that's an easy go to and I have severe food allergies; the staff worked with me and even created a tasty salsa (spicy and sweet) that met the parameters of my food sensitivities. :-) I don't understand why the 'fresh' tortillas were mentioned, if they were fresh I could tell no difference from those I might purchase at any chain grocery store. And my tortillas, the two the fish came on, were not warm; they were room temperature at best. My husband can eat anything he pleases and the choices were too few. He loves beef and there was no beef, only fish, lamb and pork. He asked me, "Do we have to come here again?" "Of course not, just thought it'd be fun to try something different." It's too different. We enjoy Mexican food, the kind we are use too. There's a small place on Colfax called "Max's." @ 6999 West Colfax. They have a full bar, plenty of seating, (yet is always busy) mainly booths, fast service, good fish tacos (three are delivered instead of two like at El Jefe) the salsa's are fresh, the chips are fresh fried and we didn't have to order chips with different salsas, it came with our meal!! Seldom do I get to indulge in salsa's since they're mainly tomato based and I'm intolerant to tomatoes. The chips at Max's are delicious! I can't say that about El Jefe's chips, since I didn't spend an additional $12.00 for a basket of fresh fried chips with an array of 6 salsa choices, that chances are, I'd not be able to try any of them. I'm pretty sure they'd wouldn't have minded creating a salsa specific for my food issues, but then again that's a lot to ask, when I would have easily been happy with a small basket of chips, like most Mexican food places; in essence, a bit of a complimentary appetizer, as one waits for their meal. The margaritas are fresh, my husband thought they were too small. BIG PLUS on the fresh side of these margaritas! I am extremely sensitive to sulfides and many establishments use bottled syrups that are loaded with sulfides. At El Jefe fresh limes are used!! YEAH!! And the drinks are priced affordably. One hundred percent Agave Tequila is used too; this is always a must whenever I indulge in tequila. I'd say this place is good for the millemminals or the yuppy crowd looking for something different and don't mind paying too much for too little. In my opinion, it doesn't seem like Mexican food much at all. Too much hype, not enough food or choices. read more

I don't want to be too harsh on them and want them to keep a good rating, but really should be 3.5 stars- I'm happy to have them on the north side in the neighborhood and parking is not hard to find. Was looking for happy hour, mexican sounded good- we didn't realize it was Taco Tuesday but we arrived early enough so it wasn't too busy. They still have the same stupidly wide bar, so we chose table seating which is really rare for us. We only ordered 1 $1 taco (carnitas-hard to mess up) but it was good! We had salsa trio and queso, I didn't realize I should've ordered the add ons, will next time. I'd been craving posole so ordered it, SKIP this dish. Nothing like posole, I knew it was chicken which was fine but the "hominy" was garbanzo beans plus other beans, maybe rename it chicken tortilla soup and put some tortilla crisps on top and it wouldn't be so misleading, very disappointing dish. We usually get the pibil and did again, which we like, especially the cashew pesto stuff in the bowl! I like lemon with my drink of choice but they don't have lemons in house, something I need to remember and we were brought margs with salt when we ordered marks with no salt, and same thing upon repeat order. All in all, good but not great, it's in the details El Jefe. I'm headed back tomorrow with a friend for Happy Hour, I just know now what to order and how.... so close el jefe, just fix a few things pls. attention to details. TX read more

I tend to dine at restaurants where ingredients are mostly organic, seasonal, local and sustainable and where they care about the ethical treatment of the animals they use. El Jefe seems to value these principles and I couldn't be happier. Fresh flavors, high quality ingredients and food I can feel good about eating...not a big sloppy, cheap plate of food...so count me in!!!!! Will be back and bringing friends. read more

We love this local place!! Great food, amazing, friendly staff. Drinks are on point. Great for all dietary restrictions. Patio is adorbs, but get there early. Taco Tuesdays are a weekly routine for us. Don't miss this gem!!! read more

The tacos were ok (not great) and the street corn was cold. Very nicely appointed venue with really good margaritas but the food needs some work. All food decent but nothing blew our socks off. Best thing on the menus is the grilled squid appetizer but it seems to come with more garnish than squid. I'd go back here for cocktails but will pass on ordering from the kitchen next time. read more

Where's the salt?!?! The food has potential, if they'd just use some salt. It seems like they're really trying to serve authentic Mexican food, but they're falling short with the flavors. Another thing is we walked in on a Sunday and the waitress says to my wife, son, and I "How can I help you?" Really?? We're walking into a restaurant, is that really an acceptable greeting, that felt very unwelcoming to say the least. Very pricey for Mexican fare, but I'm assuming they use quality products, but the food is bland and the service is just so-so. read more

We went tonight and the food and drinks were delicious! Highly recommend the mushroom tacos. The staff was accommodating and very friendly as well. We are excited to have this new spot in the neighborhood! read more

After trying this place based on the rave reviews, I (we) was super disappointed. Maybe we went on an off night??!! Denver has wonderful Mexican restaurants (LaLoma, Adelitas, Tacos, Tequila, Whiskey, etc) so I had to offer my 2 cents on our unsatisfying dinner Saturday night. 1. Service was ok: Pleasant waitress. 2. Chips and salsa: Good homemade chips. Salsa trio portions were so small, gone within a couple dips with no refills. 3. Tacos: Homemade tortillas, delish. The fillings....or lack there of.....were pretty flavorless. Chicken enchilada was the only descent one. Roasted poblano had maybe one poblano sliver and an overcooked onion. Tried 3 others and nothing to say. Flavors all tasted the same and no extra salsa to help. Felt like it was dollar taco night at a mediocre spot. 4. Carnitas: This was not carnitas....it needs to be renamed. It was an overcooked pork roast - long, stringy, dry pork with no flavor. 5. Potatoes: Added to every taco. In hind site - I wish I would have taken pictures but it was the last thing on my mind since you only want good memories captured. Maybe we should of tried brunch? :( read more

Holy cow! What a great menu!! We had some of the tacos and guacamole and eEVERYTHING was very good and reasonably priced. Kyle was a wonderful server. We will be back! read more

Our first time at El Jefe was amazing. Great, fresh food, and a good neighborhood vibe. An amazingly friendly staff. We will be back and we'll bring friends! read more

This place has really good food without the insane prices you'll find at a lot of restaurants in the area. The brunch menu is great with a lot of options. The huevos are delicious and the carnitas and eggs is really, really good. They have a wide selection of tequilas and a very good mixed drink menu. Tacos are great, too! read more

Loved how the server set us up with drinks and an appetizer and encouraged us to relax and settle in before ordering the rest of our dinner. This is my favorite way to eat out and I really enjoyed the chill, welcoming vibe. The vegetables are sourced locally and the freshness was apparent in all of the veggie dishes we got. Poblano tacos were great as were the bitter greens salad and kale caesar. read more

I thought the location and atmosphere were great but I felt that the prices were so high for what you get. The dishes were pretty good but for the cost I would have expected it to wow me and it really didn't. They happened to also run out of two items on their already very limited menu so I was left feeling a little disappointed. Since they are so new this could just be because they are not on their feet yet so I will give it a second shot but I guess I'll say I am not running back. read more

Great experience. We went to El Jefe to celebrate and it was perfect. The food was very good, proportions were good, not too big and not too small. The food was very flavorful. Priced well. We enjoyed the menu as it had a great variety of food, not just burritos and enchiladas. The service was also Great! Jordan our server was very good. We also liked the atmosphere. Definitely one of our better food experiences. It is nice to have a good restaurant in the neighborhood. We will be going back. read more

Great place for brunch. No wait and great food. The guacamole is outstanding and I highly recommend the biscuits and gravy.

Came here late night for some food while in town. Way too pretentious for us. Food was mediocre.

Overpriced for small portions, poor service. Margs are good though

Pluses: great neighborhood location, good vibe, outdoor patio seating, delicious guac, good drinks & friendly service. Minuses: food is ok, nothing special (had fish tacos & my friend had the bone marrow, octopus & watermelon salad). We both agreed it was overpriced & mediocre at best. Most annoying were the screaming kids..... I'd go back for happy hour but def not worth the $$$ for dinner read more

I was so excited for El Jefe to open, as I live in Sunnyside and love modern Mexican restaurants. The first time I went was early on a Friday evening. It wasn't too busy, so my daughter and I were seated immediately, but the place filled up quickly. We ordered chips and salsa as well as queso. Both were tasty. My daughter is 4 years old, so I asked for a recommendation for something that wasn't spicy. The server recommended fish tacos with no sauce. The batter in the fish was spicy. I brought it to the server's attention. She did offer to bring something else but my daughter declined. My enchiladas were delicious, though, and reasonably priced. We ordered key lime pie for dessert at my daughter's request. The wrong dessert came out first. When we finally did get the key lime pie, it was very tart and very tasty. When the bill came, neither the fish tacos nor the dessert was comped. I did ask that the meal my daughter couldn't eat was removed from the bill, which was done with a smile, but overall I wasn't terribly impressed with the service. We gave the place another try a few nights later. Good house margarita, especially when you get it at happy hour! But the pulpo was fishy and the scallop entree was ridiculously overpriced. $29 for 3 scallops and some cauliflower. Yummy chicken tacos though. Oh, by the way, there's an unwritten kids menu. Would have been nice to know the first time I was there. Please get it together. I really want to love this neighborhood restaurant. read more

I came here twice while working in Denver, the food was lousy. The 1st time I ordered the torta which was ok. The person that came with me ordered the fish tacos. That were horrible, bland and you can pretty much make tacos like this at home. We decided to give this place a 2nd chance, boy were we sorry. We came in 10 mins before happy hour. Noticed that there was 3 pretty drunk individuals (mind you this was 2 in the afternoon) tried to ignore them but like I said these guys were plastered. After so many ignorant comments and clearly bothering other guest at the restaurant. The waitress did nothing about this. When we get our food again poor quality, the tacos had cold tortillas. Just a really bad experience and terrible food. This should not be called Mexican food. Try at your own risk. read more

So delicious! Beautifully seasoned, hip location, great crowd. I've been here twice now and will be back!