Cafe Ole

I have eaten at Café Olé a few times now, though it has been over a year since my last visit. When last I was here, I gave Café Olé passable rating. So when my parents drove up from Texas for a visit, and they asked for Mexican food, I decided to try this place again.
In my party were myself, my 12 year old daughter, my wife, and my mom and dad from Texas. We arrived at 2:30 for a Lunch /​dinner, which we call Linner.
We arrived for Linner and was met at the door well enough and then guided to a booth. After a few minutes, a young man came to ask for our drink order. So far so good, right?
After the had brought our drinks, next he took our order. I ordered a Chimichangas de Pollo. My wife had a Fajita salad. My daughter had Blue Corn Tacos, My dad had a combo of an enchiladas, and my mom had fajitas.
We had a long wait for our food, which was quite surprising since there was only 1 other table full that we could see. While we waited I took the opportunity to look around. The light fixture right above our table was very dusty and dirty. I imagined the dust falling off the fixture and it looking like snow falling on our plates.
Another thought that I had was that I could blow on it like one of those weeds that you pick with the white seeds that float. But then I thought better of this and decided not to. I also could not help but notice the painting on the wall that was crooked. This bugged my wife and I to no end.
When I food finally arrived, it looked fine, but that nice feeling soon dissipated as we dug in. My Chimichangas were not bad, but lacked flavor. My moms Fajatis were piled high, but the pile was all veggies with very little chicken. What chicken there was was dry and flavorless. It was like eaten star foam.
My daughters tacos were make from the same dry chicken, so there is not much else to say on this one. I have tasted better tacos from Taco Bell. My wife did not have mush to say about her salad, but it was also made from the very same chicken, so nuff said.
My dad did say that his enchilada combo was good though. So out of 6 dishes, one was good. I think in most anyplace you go, including a ball game, 1 good one in 6 is going to mean a fail.
Our waiter was not very attentive at all. Toward the end of the meal, he did come back and checked on us, but by this time, we were ready to go. At a few times during our meal, we could see him just hanging out up and the cooks area, while our drinks were left to die a slow dry death.
So, it looks like Café Olé has gone down hill and will probably have the same fate as the recently passed On the Border. All I will say to this is; «Vaya Con Dios Café Olé:»

Excellent service and good food. The staff was super friendly and attentive. Food came out fast and tasted great.

Great food, great atmosphere and great service. We like the different salsas on the salsa bar, and bean dip is best in the area.

Café olé is one of my favorite restaurants to visit when we are in my hometown. Since they closed the 8^th street marketplace location, we had been visiting the mall location (and were starting to get a little discouraged by the service and ambiance there). This was our first time at the meridian location and oh my gosh, my faith has been restored. The restaurant is much more comfortable than the other location, our server was incredibly attentive, and even though he messed up one of the four of our orders, he quickly offered to remedy it and it was no big deal at all. The food was fantastic and the margaritas were delicious!!! I now know it is worth a little longer drive from the north end to meridian to get the experience and food I literally dream about when I’m not in boise.

Food ok service terrible it was really slow we were in the bar and the Waitress had friends at the bar she was talking to and not paying attention to us. Waitress Jess never came back around to ask is for more drinks or chips or anything.

It’s been a long time since I ate at Café Olé. I was very disappointed with the service. Used to be a great place. My wife and I sat there for 10 minutes before we received chips and salsa… which I had to ask another staff if we had a server. 5 more minutes still no service… no water… and the salsa wasn’t as good as I remember. Good news is there are plenty of good AUTHENTIC Mexican restaurants in the valley.

I love Café Olé and I always enjoy the the three combination plate. However, if you have more than 3 or 4 people, then eat elsewhere. This restaurant has ONE group seating area. If you go when another group is there, then you will have to wait over an hour to eat. I never had this experience at the location on Milwaukee in Boise

Believe it or not I really like this place. The salsa is OK but the guacamole is amazing. Unfortunately Mexican food does not sit well with my digestion so I always stick to the salad or soup and I really like them. My family tries different dishes and they were very happy with their meal. Service is great and atmosphere is fun.

The food lives up to my expectations deliciously tasty. I’ve been to this café olé twice now and I ordered the del Mar. A seafood dish with a scrumptious twist. The dish was excellent however each cook cooks differently and the difference in the taste was apparent. I also ordered the olé burger with guacamole. The burger was presented neatly with pickle and tomato on the side if you desire to put them on it. I will continue to come here whenever I desire their take on mexican style foods.

This seems like a dress-​up version of a Baja fresh, Except for the food is not as good. It really seems like they rely on a lot of cheese and salt for flavor. The saltiness of my veggie burrito with unbearable, and I kept having to ask for water to keep eating. I’m not sure if some people like that salty taste, but it’s a cheap way to flavor food, and doesn’t do the job for me. Also, apparently there are a lot of options for margaritas, but none were told to me. The sign says best margaritas in town, but the one I had was about average. I come to Boise about every six weeks, and I look for places that I can come back to enjoy food. This will not be on my list, as I literally left a third of the burrito behind.
And now, five minutes after leaving the restaurant, I think my stomach hurts… Yuck

Fast service and little wait. Not very crowded and the fish tacos are good. They have a kids eat free special that we use often.

Took a second trip Café’ olé and again I enjoyed. I would recommend good service and good. Portions are large and can be shared.

I would consider this restaurant middle of the road in terms of overall: service, food, atmosphere. They have several locations, this is the first time I have eaten at this particular location. My review is strictly for this location.
I came here on a Sunday with my hubby and our two kids. We arrived a few minutes before 11am, which is when they open. Our family and another entered at the same time. I commented to my hubby about how, this would probably be a quick lunch since no one was there.
Well…it seemed to take quite awhile for our food to come out, and when it did my beans were cold. I ordered the carnitas tacos. They were good, but not great. I felt like they were a little bland tasting. The rice was probably the best thing on my plate, which is kind of ironic since I find Mexican rice to be really hit and miss.
Their chips tasted store bought and kind of stale. A real bummer, because who doesn’t love warm, fresh tortilla chips with refried beans and salsa?
Our server was friendly and attentive. The restaurant was clean and modestly decorated.
Overall, not the best place I have been. I would probably considering giving them another try if I happen to be on the area, and maybe try a different food option. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to return.

Great food and atmosphere Good wait staff and accurate bar.
Would be great if management visited the tables

I’m giving this restaurant three stars for the happy hour. Buy one get one is too good to pass up, especially when they have the self-​serve chip bar (chips, 4 – 6 diff types of salsa, refried beans) to help fight off your drunk. There are plenty of funky, little happy hour appetizers, too, but in our experience they’re kind of small and lackluster for the price. The food is pretty okay for American-​style Mexican.
Who am I kidding? Go for the happy hour, especially if there’s a game on.
Worst experience (only happened once): We asked our waitress if it was happy hour (a Saturday) and she said yes. We proceeded to order shots of Patron, which is like $ 11 per shot. After finishing our party times, we were informed that it was not happy hour and we were on the hook for the bill, close to $ 100 at a Mexican restaurant bar. We were pissed. So ask them to double-​check.
The good news: I called a manager a day later, he checked our ticket in the computer system, made it right with some gift certs (although, I would have preferred my money back). Still, they deserve praise for trying to keep their clientele happy.

Let me start by saying we went there for lunch on a Saturday and received awesome service. The waitress was kind efficient and patient.
The food was another story.
I got the chimichangas (my go to when I’m unfamiliar with a New Mexican place) & It was so bland. I asked for something spicy and she referred me to their salsa bar. Even the salsa last that had three stars spicy were not spicy. I tried every one. Even the jalapenos pickled– not spicy. I asked her if she could bring me some from the kitchen and she said she would have to charge me a dollar. I explained to her why I asked for them and she did not charge me.
My husband got the Carnitas fajitas and they were over-​the-​top salty.
Not sure what was up with the kids quesadilla but my son always eats all of his quesadilla and he only ate a few bites.
My experience with the downtown restaurant was marginally better so maybe they just need some time to get their kitchen together. But a Mexican restaurant with nothing spicy just doesn’t do it for me…

My wife and I recently visited Café Olé’ Meridian on a trip to Boise from Austin. We thoroughly enjoyed our dining experience. The staff was exceptional and our waitress was absolutely awesome! Great service and yummy food! Big portions so be careful! When I saw the Veggie Burrito my brother ordered I did a double-​take!
Complimentary chips and salsa are excellent as well.
Great atmosphere, easy parking, and a good location.
Thumbs up for sure

I have enjoyed plenty of decent meals at the Café Olé locations near the mall and downtown and was expecting the same for this new location. I was completely wrong and the entire table was disappointed. It started with the salsa which was bland as all can get and kept on going with the terrible service and flavorless enchiladas and tiny plate of which are usually enormous nachos. Maybe they were having a bad night, I hope so because I’ve had better with Café Olé.

Everything tasted like fish. Pork, tasted like fish. Chicken Blue Corn Tacos — tasted like fish. The blaring trumpets and mariachi music didn’t help the experience either. Felt like I was in a Mexican Chuck E. Cheese. Sorry to say I won’t be back.

Awesome!!! A modern design compared to the other locations, cool open kitchen, and a really comfortable cantina area. The food is very tasty and reasonably priced.