It was my first time ordering here and I ordered out so I can't comment on service or ambiance. We had chips, guacamole, salsa, grande quesadilla, birria tacos, kid's chicken fingers with fries, and banana cheesecake. Our favorite bites were the pico de gallo that was served with the grande quesadilla and the banana cheesecake, which we felt stood out far above the other food. Overall the food was fine but not good enough to justify the price and/or want to return. If the food I had today is how Tequila Jalisco always is, I believe changes need to be made to be competitive in this area. I would really like to see them improve. There is a lot of Tex-Mex in this area...Texas Roadhouse, Shorty's, La Carreta, Fronterra, Qdoba, Margaritas, El Tipico, El Tapatio, Casa Vieja, El Paisano... if you are after tacos/burritos, there's also In N Out, Bubbakoos and Chipotle. If considering delivery, there are even more Mexican options. Plus, at this price point, Tequila Jalisco is also competing with steakhouses, and I do see they have pricier steak options on their menu. At the very least, at this price, the food needs to be excellent. To be safe, the food or venue should have a wow-factor, something to set them apart, as they are asking a higher price than other businesses that make the same dishes in the immediate area.
In depth on the food: The corn chips are good but are not salted. The salsa was salty enough for the chips, but had a higher heat level than expected and almost no flavor after that initial punch of heat. I think a mild salsa and pico de gallo should also be offered as options instead of the spicy salsa. The guacamole, taste and texture-wise, was a lot like Sabra. It was very homogenous and didn't have any chunks of avocado. At this price point, dining in, I would expect the guacamole to be made table-side. It should be made to order with the option of chunkier. We received a hot sauce that smelled a lot like expired dried chilis to me and was lacking flavor. It was pretty spicy, probably too spicy for most people here. We did not receive the quesabirria we ordered and received birria tacos instead. The birria meat and broth were salty enough and had a little of that deep birria flavor but not enough of it!! It tasted watered down, like it had not cooked long enough or reduced enough. The birria tacos needed to be dressed up with a lot of lime to compensate and were fine but not great. In N Out Burritos just down the road have excellent, flavorful birria tacos at a lower price point which I go out of my way to get. The steak in the grande quesadilla was cooked well-done and not great quality. I mention this because Tequila Jalisco is competing with other steakhouses, which usually have a steak quesadilla where the steak is cooked to order and not cooked well-done. The steak had an appropriate level of salt but needed more seasoning and flavor. The grande quesadilla was placed on top of sour cream, pico de gallo, and guacamole salad, which made the bottom soggy and unpleasant. Hot food should be packed separate from cold elements. The chicken fingers were probably a pre-made frozen product and seemed to be processed chicken, not whole chicken breast. Maybe it was tenders made too thin, but I doubt it. I am attaching a photo. They tasted greasy and were not good. The fries did not have any salt on them. There's a moment when hot fries should be salted. By the time they get to the customer they are too cold to hold salt. If unsalted is the default here, there should be an option for salted. The rice was salted correctly and acceptable, but I would prefer more of the oniony-tomatoey broth flavor. Beans were cooked well but a little too salty, especially when eaten with the salted rice. The beans, like the hot sauce, had an off-putting flavor like stale chilies or stale seasoning. The beans did go well with the unsalted chips, but this is an issue when the beans are served with rice and are too salty together. Overall, the cooking technique was very good but there are issues with seasoning and flavor. The cooks should be tasting as they prepare and get a second opinion. At this price point, there should also be a wow-factor. The only item we felt had that was the banana cheesecake. By far the best item, beautifully fried, soft and creamy in the middle. It came with cinnamon sugar on top, whipped topping, ice cream, honey, and chocolate syrup on the side. We very much enjoyed this dessert. However, this dish did also have an issue. By the time we received the whipped topping, it was a disgusting watery chunky mess. We discarded it. It would have been a shame to serve whipped topping on such a nice dessert anyway. Real whipped cream should be served, and should be packed on top of the ice cream instead to keep it cool. I see potential for this business. I hope this review can help this establishment improve and reach their goals. read more