No Way Jose Cafe

Service is great here (especially the cute Australian waiter :)). Their prices are on point and you can eat and drink to your hearts desire for not much at all. The chips are awesome and have a good amount of salt. Their quest is bangin. Gets pretty busy in the summer when they open up the windows– it’s nice to sit next to and watch people walk by.

Cheap eats with great peeps! Delicious and tasty, great location — in the heart of the city

I never have a bad expensive when I come into this establishment from the mangers to the busboys everyone is welcoming friendly and extremely enjoyable they make the experience a fun one!

Best margaritas and great food. Small restaurant so the bar is usually crowded but it is not as packed in the seating towards the back or upstairs

A group of friends and I were in Federal Hill yesterday for their annual Irish Stroll. After some time there, we decided to order some food to hold us over for the remainder of the day. We ordered burritos and tacos, which you could basically build yourself so it was really nice and I like that it could be customized. I split tacos with a friend and we ordered the tacos with sour cream, jalapeños, rice, salsa, and chicken. The tacos themselves were okay — nothing special, but still good. The only thing is that sour cream wasn’t brought out with them, but we just shared sour cream with another friend so no big deal! It seemed as if my other friends enjoyed their food too. Also, for it to be such a busy day, the back room where we were was empty, which was a pleasant surprise. Our server was really attentive and upbeat! I’m sure working on such a busy day is frustrating, so I liked that she was really positive. Overall, I had a good experience at No Way Jose and would love to return sometime in the future!

A «meh» so-​so Mexican bar and restaurant.
Pros
Inexpensive
Free salsa and tortilla chips
Cons
Post-​frat-​boy-​20-​somethings galore
Not clean
Loud
What I got
Vegetarian tacos
Guacamole and chips
Two house margaritas
What I thought
The bar is in the front and seating is in the way back, in a cave-​like area with 6 tables. When I walked in, I couldn’t even tell that they served food. We polity pushed our way to the back, in swarms of drunk and loud young people reliving their college years. It was 9:30pm, how are these people so drunk? A handful were wearing green outfits for an early celebration of St Patricks Day (thats two weeks away, folks).
The attention is very much so at the bar, so there is one server for the six tables for the food eaters. I ordered two house margaritas, the first one tasting pretty good and the second was heavy on the tequila. I dislike ordering two of the same drink and having them taste starkly different. Our server forgot utensils, our order of guacamole and waters multiple times. She was nice, but busy.
The guacamole used under-​ripe avocados, so the dip was not smooth, but rather had little gritty chunks of avocado, and under-​seasoned. The tacos were fine; I really enjoyed the fresh sweet corn. You can tell that the corn was fresh because multiple kernels stuck together, meaning it was cut right off the cob. I wish the tacos came with something else — the plate looked rather plain.

This place reminds me of the bar I went to in college. Kinda divey, with cheap margaritas and tacos.
I’ve been here with my family to eat during regular people dinner hours, and I’ve always enjoyed their food. They have a nice selection of fajitas and tacos, with a build your own taco and burrito option, which I’ve always appreciated. The drinks are good and strong, which makes up for the slightly dingy atmosphere and sometimes not great service.
I’ve been frequenting this place every Monday after Baltimore Social volleyball games, and I’ve been pleased so far. They offer good drink specials for people in Social jerseys, and have specials like $ 5 for two tacos and BOGO nacho plates. They’ve also been letting us play flipcup upstairs, which is fun!

This was a new place for all of us and we LOVED IT! We went on a Thursday and it was build your own burrito night. Pick and choose from a nice list of ingredients PLUS a free beer. What a deal! I had a veggie burrito with black beans, cheese and avocado. Everything was nice and fresh;nicely seasoned without being hot (spicy-​wise). YUM. Our bartenders were attentive without being pesty and were really friendly. Bathroom was nice and clean too. What more could you want? We’re definitely going back.
BTW — the menu has tasty-​sounding options and really reasonable prices

Service — Great
Atmosphere-​Great
Sangria-​Great
Food– Nothing to write home about.
Typicial neighborhood joint.

Best Mexican restaurant in Fed Hill. Dare I say, the city.
Burritos are killer, chicken tacos and wings are incredible.
And the bar is my favorite part. And that pic over the fireplace is my favorite.

If you like great deals on food and drinks during happy hour then this is the place for you with a good mexican vibe. Solid margaritas, great chips and salsa!

On a Sunday afternoon, some friends and I were in the mood for a little Sunday Funday action. One friend suggested No Way Jose because she was craving queso and we all headed over there. No Way Jose is located in the heart of Federal Hill and it’s usually packed. The Ravens weren’t playing when we went which made the spot significantly calmer than usual.
We started the meal with an order of complimentary chips and salsa. The salsa was fresh and the chips were good. But nothing to write home about.
One of my friends I was with, has a serious thing for queso. By that, I mean if it is on a menu, she will order it. (If you have any good queso suggestions, I’d love to hear them.) So she ordered herself some queso and surprise we got more chips. The queso was great, much better than the one at Blue Agave. It was creamy, cheesy and had a nice hint of a spice.
Our group also decided to share Guacamole and Chips. The guac was made fresh and had a nice flavor to it.
One of my friends ordered the Grilled Steak Tacos. The order came with two tacos topped with steak, salsa, cheese and roasted peppers. They had a slight spice to them but were packed with flavor despite appearing a little plain.
My other friends shared a Vegetable Quesadilla which they loved. Inside the quesadilla there was various vegetables, and cheese. This was good, but there’s nothing special about it.
I ordered the Elotes which is easily my favorite Mexican dish. This is hands down the best elote I’ve ever had. The paprika and chipotle mayo spread made it spicy and really elevated the roasted corn flavor.
For some no-​frills Mexican Food, No Way Jose really delivers.

It’s the bartenders’ bar. They have the best staff and some amazing food! Love to come here and play the jukebox, watch games, dance like a fool, maybe drink a natty light or a bunch and pretend I’m still in college :) Love Jose’s!

«It’s okay.» That’s my experience in a nutshell.
Disclaimer: I’m a Texas native who has spent many months across the boarder, so I’m picky.
The location is excellent. It’s right in the middle of Federal Hill, across the street from Cross Street Market. The venue is larger than it appears from the outside, with two stories of seating.
However, the critical elements – the food and drinks – leave a lot to be desired. The chips were cold and stale. The salsa is sweet – no spice, and insufficient savory to cut through the sweetness. The $ 5 house margaritas aren’t quite as good as ones I’ve made I’m a hotel blender in Cancun, but not terrible either.
The tortillas are microwaved and get hard before you can fill them.
It’s just okay. Would I come back? No Way, Jose!

My boyfriend and I were here last night for an early dinner. It happened to be happy hour timing. It wasn’t busy so we just sat at the bar. The specials are awesome during happy hour. We each had a margarita that was really good. Chips and salsa were good to hold us over until our tacos arrived. Taco Tuesday: any taco (except the shrimp) for $ 5… and they come in 3s! We ordered the steak tacos and the chipotle chicken tacos. So good.
Nice bartenders, funny and upbeat. They said it was dead for a normal Tuesday, being right after MDW and with the downpour we were having, but it was pretty quiet most of the time. When we arrived there were only 2 others and when we left there were about 10 others. It was a typical bar setting, nothing to complain about. We’ll absolutely be back.

Long wait at Ryleigh’s next door so we stopped by here for some pre-​dinner drinks. Liked it! There were games in the back, a long narrow bar that wasn’t too crowded, friendly bartender and relatively cheap drinks. Oh yeah, I love the name of the place too. While the fiancé stuck to beer — a really tasty vanilla porter actually, I had some kind of combo special of a tequila shot, Tecate and some table salt. Classy! I enjoyed it. There were TVs lining the bar so we watched some Olympics coverage and basketball while we enjoyed our drinks.
Nice place to stop by for a drink and hang out. Didn’t try any food but definitely liked the vibe of the place and enjoyed being here. Would happily stop here again next time we are int his area!

Happy hour is the only reason to hit up this place: $ 3 margaritas, $ 5 for 5 beef tacos til 7 PM
Service is pretty shotty. We were there for happy hour. Asked for margaritas. They asked if we wanted flavors so my friend got strawberry. We get the bill and strawberry margaritas are $ 6 instead of $ 3. Pretty tricky and lame.
The margaritas themselves were decently strong with good flavor. They start your table off with chips and salsa. Surprisingly, the salsa was very good and tasted homemade. The food was edible but I could have made better at home. The tacos were flavorless and the taquitos were oily and tasted… fried.
This place is somewhere to go for the atmosphere, not the food. If I return, it’ll only be for drinks.

Ate lunch here on Saturday after the Baltimore Running Fest, after the wait for a table at next-​door Abbey Burger was over an hour. Pretty standard Mexican place — good food (bonus they still served brunch at 1pm) and cool atmosphere. We seemed to have 2 servers who would both ask how everything was, if we needed anything… but better two than none.
Nothing too exciting here, but nothing to complain about either!

Ate here at lunch the other day and had a lot of fun! It was a Saturday around 2pm and they were still serving brunch until 3 (which is good to know for those hangover days). My boyfriend and I were starving so we ordered a Mexican pizza which was basically a tostada with shrimp and big chunks of chorizo and some other yummy Mexican toppings. My boyfriend ordered 5 beef tacos for $ 5, not sure if it was a deal or they always have it but it was a really good price! They were a little too greasy for me, not a huge fan of ground beef tacos to begin with. My shrimp tacos weren’t the best I’ve ever had, they were a good size but there wasn’t much of a «salsa» on it or whatever they called it.
But the drinks!!! Wooooooweeeeee, I had 2 sangaritas, yes sangria mixed with their golden margarita… man let me tell you! That might have been the best part of my whole day! They were soo good and even after all those carbs and yummy Mexican food to soak up alcohol… I was feelin’ good! I’m guessing they had a lot of liquor in them but I couldn’t taste a thing… I used to be known to drink tequila like water though so… anyways besides the point. They were bomb!
Over all the place was fun, I love how they have so many big open windows you’re basically sitting outside. There was a really nice breeze that day too so it was perfect. The bartenders are super nice and friendly and everybody at the bar was the same. They had a different game on every TV so we didn’t miss anything.

The best Mexican bite in Fed Hill. The food is tasty and the prices are low. Consistently solid but never really blows you away, which is my 3 rating rather than 4.
Situated in between numerous options, No Way is usually doing brisk business in tacos and not-​too-​sweet but strong house margaritas.
There’s not too much room up front, so seats at the bar are at a premium, but there are a few tables in the back, but that room loses the festive feel of the front bar.
The menu is predictable (no big surprises) but what they present is tasty, filing, and well-​prepared.
The crowd features many regulars, which can be a great break from the fraternity party-​vibe and assault of axe body spray that (in our opinion) kills the fun at other Fed Hill favorites (sorry, MaGerks).
Overall you can hit No Way for any number of reasons and you’ll have a good time.