Jefe Mex

This place is not bad. Interesting food variations and a friendly service. More of a trendy place to be as opposed to a do not miss food stop, but is good for the occasional visit and happy hour. Good a place for the young professionals to congregate on a warm sunny after noon with great outside seating.

We had a great experience walking in on a Friday during happy hour. We got seated immediately and the waitress was quite helpful. Although we had to think over our selections a bit, she was was very patient and somehow still managed to attend to many patrons in a timely manner. The food, as always, was excellent. But I was most impressed with the wait staff, who handled a busy room very well.

Great atmosphere with a sleek feel… This is always a great place to have a drink and arch some great classic cuisine! Their margaritas are homemade with a twist they would not share.
I love the fresh salsa and house made chips.
The tacos were amazing the staff was great always a great experience!

It looks like a great restaurant from the outside, and that’s the best thing you can say about this place. The service is horrific from the hostess ignoring us for several minutes, and then the bartender ignoring us even longer! Needless to say we never even ordered food since our hostess was busy watching a football game and when we asked the bartender to check on our table … He replied with… «Walk over and ask her yourself.»

Last Saturday was not my first time at Jefe but may be my last. Their website says they’re open until 11:00 pm on Saturday but my date and I were getting the stink eye shortly after 10:00 and the boot by 10:30! Come on LO, we need a «date place» that stays open later than 10 on the weekend! We only ordered chips & quac and 5 drinks in total so maybe they didn’t think we were worth the effort.
When we were given the check, the server informed us that the credit card machine was down. Seriously??? He said we could either pay cash or give him our credit card number and he’d run it in the morning. We pooled our cash (this was our first date, so a little embarrassing to the gentleman I was with) but there was no way we’d leave a card number. I think the right thing to do would have been to comp us. Is it just me or does this sound like a way for staff to pocket some cash after the manager has left for the night?
PS: The food is okay but it’s the atmosphere and location that brings me back. Now Jefe has more strikes against than in favor, I will have to find a new local place for cocktails with a date or friend.

Great ambiance and service. But the food did not live up to expectations. The tacos that were ordered had only average flavoring and the corn tortilla although appeared to have been made in house was overly thick, doughy, and soaking wet.

I am just going to say, just because you are in Lake Oswego doesn’t make your place good. Love the décor and layout but not the food or service. Your food is VERY over priced and not very good, plain and simple. The service was not good… Second time here and last time.

Excellent food and hands down the best chips and guac! Beautiful atmosphere, with friendly staff. Margaritas are the best I’ve ever had, happy hour is excellent as well :-)

Drinks are good– enjoyed the margarita… But not worth the sad service and bad food — – we’ve pinkie sworn never to come back

For Breakfast I give it a 1. For dinner or happy hour maybe a 3. So 1 ½ to 2 overall.
Service. Very slow whenever we go. Recently had breakfast there (don’t do it) and it took 20 minutes to get a cup of coffee and had to ask twice for a refill (1 refill). Not understaffed, just unaware and inattentive.
Food. Do not go there for breakfast. We felt sick the rest of the day. Low grade food, margarine? Not sure but it did not sit well. Dinner or Happy Hour is OK, maybe a 3
Recommend Jefe for Happy Hour only. Dinners and drinks are OK but expensive. Decent setting and the patio in the summer is great. Just not a good spot for food or service. We think perhaps Jefe is going downhill.

We started with the Brussels sprout appetizer. It was flavorful. They were still crispy and not soggy. +1
Our food came very quickly. We had only a little time to eat the appetizer.
I got the El cubano. It was good but I wish it had some sauce to dip it in, like au jus.
Overall everyone liked what they ordered. Next time I go, I will try something different.

«Por Que No» meets modern, upscale suburban shopping plaza. I’d call this «modern» Mexican. The foundation of the menu is Mexican but you can get nontraditional items like mashed potatoes and hamburgers. It is an interesting twist on the cuisine, and I much prefer the modern, sleek décor to the cheesy, Mariachi-​band look of most mainstream, mediocre Mexican places. The margaritas are excellent. The service can be a tad flaky — our waitress didn’t know the menu very well — but overall a pretty good experience with solid, if heavy, food.

This restaurant earns its three stars with ambiance and eager if overworked wait staff. But my second dining experience — both at the urging of friends — has left me less than impressed. The modern décor and cozy booths are definitely engaging, but when I go out to eat, it’s for the food.
The cod with lemon sauce sounded delightful on a warm summer evening, and it was. But the accompanying pinto beans were bland and the side salad had no dressing. When I asked for some additional sauce/​dressing, I was brought a small container of hot sauce — completely out of character with the flavor direction of this meal. Enough alcohol can make any meal palatable but the jury is in: why pay for mediocre food when the GOOD choices are overwhelming (and many located within a few blocks of this place).
Pssst. Of 134 reviews, 123 are «not recommended». Scroll to the bottom of the page to read more.

I’ve tried to go back several times since my original enjoyable experience, but each time ended up standing at the door while no one acknowledged me :(
One time the phone rang with a To Go order just as the hostess was about to say hello, with the restaurant almost completely empty. Lots of questions, a couple trips to the kitchen to clarify, and never an apology or even a «just a minute.» Eight minutes later she was still on the phone and ignoring us, and we left.
I’m sure the food is still decent but the service seems bad. Each time there were four to eight people standing around doing nothing and no one came over to get us seated or even ask us to wait. There’s too much other good food around here to wait, especially when hungry.

The food here is different than typical Mexian Food. It has swanky fun interior like Portland is known for, but close to suburbs so no traffic to get there.
Service could be better. I have been 3 times now and have had 1 out of 3 times be extra tip worthy. I like the proximity and food though so I will go back.
Chocolate flourless cake is really good!

I had an excellent experience at Jefe’s last night. The menu is unique, to say the least. I am from San Diego, where we have some of the best Mexican food outside of Mexico… but not many restaurants who put a twist on the traditional items.
Our server was prompt and helpful. Place was busy with a good atmosphere. Prices were a bit high, but I found the overall value well worth it.
I ordered the pork shoulder dish off the «low carb» selections. It had a habanero cream sauce that was delicious. Their salsa is fantastic too. My buddy had a razor clam dish which he really enjoyed.
I will be back to try their brunch my next trip up here. If this place was near my home, I’d be here weekly.

Pretty typical Mexican food. Definitely more «authentic» than you’d find at El Torito or someplace like that but having had real Mexican food, let’s just say that this doesn’t come close. I got a few of the tacos (a la carte) and they were «good». Not great, but edible and tasty. This is a very busy, trendy type restaurant — great place to go for drinks and appetizers with friends but not great for dinner. The other people in my party got the barbecue bowl and veggie bowl, both of which I tasted, and they were pretty unspectacular. Our server was a real sweetheart though… I wish I could remember his name!

I gotta say, I had expected some pretty decent Mexican food in the heart of Lake Oswego. Tiny portions, high prices and nothing too special. The tamales were very bland, and the mole was a JV effort; just a dual hit of chocolate and peppers. Had I stuck with the chips and salsa (and Negro Modelo) I would have left happy. The interior is beautiful in a high-​end way. Friendly staff, just sad that many Mexican trucks put out better fare for far less.

Take it from a Foodie Tx Gal — this place is spectacular! Possibly the best guac I have ever had (besides mine) … I don’t know what they do to it — but just fabulous. I was even more knocked out by their Cheese Queso! It comes in it’s own skillet w shredded beef on top. A serious winner.
My clients had their famous Grilled? Brussel Sprouts — I am likely to walk the other way when I see a Brussel sprout coming my way, but these were delicious. Dang!
Their Margaritas are just lovely — they actually aren’t watered down, which I loved. The tacos each sumptious, and though extraordinarily busy on a Fri night — our waiter gave us plenty of attention and excellent service.
It was so good I had to come back next week and bring another client from out if town.
I love the décor, savvy, eclectic «bottle wall». Hats off to everone and the Chef.
Jefe is a bonafide winner!!!

All I gotta say is… Barbacoa taco’s! Yummmm!
Well, that and the chips and salsa… beans and rice! Together they make the perfect meal. Well, almost. Add to that the «Sangria of the day» and I had an extremely lovely happy hour dinner for $ 20. Not bad for Lake Oswego.
I’d been wanting to try this place for a while so when a friend suggested we go for their (because he lives down the street and is a regular), I jumped at the chance.
He got there early to get us a table outside and the weather was perfect for it, so the whole good food-​ambiance thing came together.
Being a gorgeous summer evening, I insisted we stay outside, but the inside is incredibly pretty. Most notably the wall of hanging jars; dividing 2 sections of the restaurant.
I’m also a huge fan of the garage door walls, that were open when we arrived — to bring the inside and outside guests together.
Unfortunately, I ate too so much that I insisted our server remove the chips and salsa from my arms length, because I had no hand-​to-​mouth control.
If you like healthy Mexican and can appreciate a restaurant that will let you order happy hour outside, this Jefe is a must.