Don Jose Mexican Restaurant

Friendly greeting from both owners upon walking in. Carlos is always like a next door neighbor. We were seated immediately and George our waiter was spot on. We’ve been away for a good while and fell back in love with the red and green salsa. Cheese enchiladas were average, a little thin and runny just as we remembered them but the margaritas more than made up for it = PACKED A PUNCH. Sopapillas are dynamite! While the quality of food will never be mistakened for top of the line, prices are on point.

Best queso in town. I’ve been eating here since I was a little kid, food is always consistently good.

Best margaritas. Not too sweet not too strong. Awesome customer service. And the food is delicious and fresh.

we came here based on neighborhood recommendations and were not disappointed! quick, friendly service and the food is great. large menu with plenty of choices. good chips and salsa too! will be back.

My go to Mexican place. The staff is incredibly friendly and the food is terrific. Get the Mexican Plate for a little taste of everything.

If you’re looking for quick, delicious and inexpensive Mexican food, this is your place. The cheese enchiladas are the best in town. They also have a full bar.

I really like this place. Staff is friendly, environment is very nice and cozy on the inside. The food is AMAZING!!! I love the quality of the food!
However, this place is located in the middle of the ghetto, surrounded by apartments full of criminals. If it wasn’t for the location I would have given it a 5 star.

Prices up, quality down. Hidden charges.
I’ve been going to this restaurant periodically for the past 6 years or so, and the last time I went on 04/​27/​2015 I was surprised by how much their menu prices had increased. They even charge an extra $ 1 for «To Go» orders now, and they don’t bother to tell you about it unless you ask why the bill is so much higher than the menu price (and the charge isn’t listed on their menu, either).
When I got home and opened the container, everything was just a jumble. The container is just a plain 9″ aluminum pie pan, and has no separate compartments. The beans, rice, and (beef) enchiladas were all just on top of each other.
The rice was tasty as usual, but the beans definitely tasted canned. The beef enchiladas were a shadow of their former selves, and would have been all but flavorless except for the cheese and sauce on top of them. No flavor or heat (spice) whatsoever.
I’m definitely in the market for a new restaurant. I won’t be returning to Don Jose.

Ive ate at don Jose’s for many years
Like the food I’ve got food poising from there 4÷3÷15 thought I was going to die it was so bad. have had food poisoning 3 times in the past 5 years. Still think the food is good but am seriously considering not going back. Larry

This place caters to people who don’t know real Mexican food, I’ll bet the Hispanic’s who work there don’t eat there. The rice was dry and old, beans are canned and flavorless. The drinks are over priced 4.25 for domestic beer and marigritas are made with cheap liquor. My husband order stuffed avocado and he said it was good, meat was tender and shrimp was fresh. Needless to say once was enough for me I will not be back. The wait staff was quick! (I am trying to find something positive!) oh yeah pretty sure the Salsas were made in New York City! !!!

My new favorite place… The food and drinks great!!! The staff are nice and friendly, always courteous. I haven’t had any bad experiences there yet.

Expensive and not authentic mexican food more like taco bell the only thing i liked was the atmosphere and my waiter was nice not going back

My meal was really good. My server, Javier, was friendly, very attentive, and accurate with my order. He was also timely in serving each course.
The meal was tasty and seemed freshly made. I opted for 2 beef enchiladas, seasoned Spanish rice, refried beans, a beef taco, guacamole, and a queso puff. It was all very good. As a great accompaniment I ordered a frozen margarita which balanced the right sweet-​tart goodness with my meal.
As I savored my meal it became apparent to me that this is a pretty popular place in the area as the crowd continued to grow. A young family was seated the next table over and unwittingly offered entertainment like only a couple and 2 toddlers could dish up.
The only drawback of my visit was as I was leaving, I paid for the young couple’s meal and explicitly instructed the restaurant workers to keep it anonymous but before I could finish paying the bill they had already told the couple. They lady approached to thank me but by that point, what I intended to be a private act of benevolence turned into a bit of a sideshow that made the moment uncomfortably awkward. I was not pleased to say the least– thus a 4 star rating instead of the 5 that the food and service deserved.
Whether or not this will prevent me from visiting Don Jose’s again I’m not sure but an interesting dining experience it turned out to be, indeed.

I’ve been going to this place, since I was a kid. It’s just a neighborhood tex-​mex place. Nothing really fancy. It’s got the proper amount of grease and it’s very inexpensive. I have seen the Happy Hour prices and would really like to stop in sometime soon. This place will have something for everyone, if you’re just looking for a traditional, family Tex-​mex joint. I usually get the cheese enchiladas. The Queso Flameado is great. Everything about this place is consistent. I’ve never had a bad experience, either — we are talking 30 years of patronage, on my part.

Hole in the wall awesome place! Margaritas, salsa, and enchiladas are great. I’ll be coming back often.

Mexican restaurants are about the only acceptable dive restaurants to consistently eat at knowing that you will get a good meal every time. In Houston, Mexican and Tex Mex restaurants are a dime a dozen and 9 out of 10 times, you’re likely to find one that suits your mood and taste buds for the evening. Even if you’re not crazy about the food the margaritas and cerveza will keep you drunk enough that you won’t care about the taste.
Don Jose is no exception to the neighborhood Mexican dive restaurants in town, and just like a lot of the other places, it is still family owned and operated. No matter if you wait a month or a year in between visits here, you will still find the same staff consistently. People from the neighborhood eat here and the patrons have come to know their servers as well as the servers have come to know their patrons. Most customers are treated like family here rather than just another table to burn and turn. All of the servers are professional, very quick, and make you feel more like you’re eating in their kitchen than at a restaurant.
There are bars on the outside door and windows, and the shopping center that this free standing restaurant is sitting in isn’t exactly upscale, but don’t let this fool you. I would recommend eating here during daylight hours since they are safer for you and your car. When it gets to the darker hours, approaching their closing time, they do lock the exterior security door so that customers can get out, but no one can get in. It makes it safe, but you have to wonder if the neighborhood is safe when they take these kinds of precautions. Personally, I’ve eaten here a lot and I’ve never had problems with the safety of my person or vehicle. Ever.
The place is a bit dated with old wood tables, 70’s style lounge chairs, and really old red carpet, but it’s not reflective of the service or food at all. In fact, they put more in to their food and service to the point that after a while, you forget all about the décor and how cheesy it looks. I always request a booth by the windows when I dine here to keep an eye on the lot and because there’s more of a show outside than there is inside.
Salsa and chips are of course provided, but the difference is that they serve the tomatillo salsa on the table, but put the red tomato salsa in a jar that you pour out yourself. Their salsa is made fresh in house and they serve it in the jar to keep from wasting it. They know people probably won’t eat as much of it if they aren’t given a bowl of it. The chips are decent, but not my favorite; however, the salsa makes you forget all about the so-​so chips.
The food comes out quick and is served on not so fancy plastic plates. The food is really inexpensive for the portions they serve. I almost always end up getting the enchiladas or tamales because I love the brown Mexican gravy they smother them in. If the gravy weren’t enough, they cover all of it in melted ooey gooey cheese. Of course, a Mexican platter wouldn’t be complete without the refried beans and rice to accompany the Mexican version of a heart attack. This isn’t exactly a place I dine when I want a nutritious salad, this is stick to your ribs yummy Mexican food that is meant to feed your belly as much as your soul.
This is one of my favorites to hit up whenever I’m in the mood for some smothered tamales or enchiladas and cheap frozen margarita’s. The margaritas are only $ 2 on the happy hour menu! I’ve eaten here with my mom, friends, and several dates; and this has become my spot when I need a good inexpensive Mexican fix while being able to wear my sweat pants. Clothes are required to dine here, but comfort level is entirely up to you, but take my word for it and come very casual.

I have made two trips here and it seems up in the air. My first trip I had the beef enchiladas. I wasn’t impressed. This time i had the cheese enchiladas, and it seemed to annoy the waiter. I thought it was funny, but the truth is the cheese enchiladas are awesome. It came with the typical beans and rice, and the I loved the rice but not the beans. Even the salsas when you sit down. The red salsa was spicy and great flavor, but the green one not so much. others mentioned you can’t empty a drink or a bowl of chips here. Well there not kidding! finally is the price. The lunch enchilada plate with a glass of ice tea… $ 10.01. I’ll give them three stars because what they do well out shines what they don;t do as well.

I always look for some good Mexican food when I’m down in Texas and Don Jose’s definitely hits the mark.
First thin I have to say is that the waiting staff are amazing. They are very friendly and quick. There was always full chips salsa and pop on the table.
The good was great. The chips and salsa are freshly made with just the right amount of spice. I got a plate with a little bit of everything. Cheese enchiladas, beef enchiladas, rice, beans etc.
A lot of the locals that seem to come here are older. This seems to be a well kept secret of the community.
The only complaint that I have was that the room smelt faintly stale. This did not detract from the food however.

Came here for Mother’s Day and have to say I get why my wife loved this place so much growing up.
The restaurant has this old charm going on, and it seems like it’s a real family ran place. There’s a bit of something special to feel that way.
The food was good, they are very heavy handed with the cheese but past that the food is just great. Even the kids meals were huge and delicious. (Might have snuck a bite or two) :-)
Their salsa was amazing. Spicy and they give you a little carafe of salsa if you run out.
Absolutely will be back.

This place has gone downhill. I haven’t dined here since I was a kid. I haven’t missed anything that’s for sure! I ordered a plate that had a queso puff, beef taco, enchiladas and rice and beans. The best part of the meal was my iced tea.
The queso cheese had no flavor and seemed to be from a can. The chili gravy was super watery. I could detect a small taste of cumin and that’s it. The enchiladas were drowned in cheese… cheap American cheese to be exact. Beans and rice were bland. I ate less than a third of my meal.
I won’t be coming back to try them again. I was underwhelmed with tonight’s meal. They used to be very delicious. Apparently instead of keeping recipes they decided to jack the prices up and use dirt cheap ingredients.