Jessy’s Taco Bistro

The food was good but a little pricy since it’s located in Ghent. The restaurant had a very unique interior. I think service needs to be improved for better dining experience:)

Love this place. Highly recommend the sopes and tostadas. Great for lunch or dinner.

Love this placeportions are amazing, margaritas strong and staff are cool and pleasant. Def a repeat place time and time again

Happy Taco Tuesday!
So my roommate and I came here for our weekly ritual… Taco Tuesday.
I didn’t even know this place had changed I thought it was still the tequila place. Anyways, still super cute décor like the last place. Our waitress was really sweet. She must’ve been training because she was always accompanied by another more seasoned server.
We ordered drinks with her. I asked her if they had the coronaritas, you know the margarita with the corona on top. She wasn’t sure and had to go ask. I also asked her what the daily specialty meat was for the tacos. She didn’t know and had to go ask. That’s okay. I know ppl have to be trained first.
So I got a corona light $ 4 and my roommate got a top shelf mojito which was like $ 9. It’s was really really weak. A different server came around to ask how everything was going and he told him is was extremely weak, the sever did not hesitate to fix the drink. He took it back, even after he had drank half of it, and remade it for him.
The food was okay. I ordered the 2 tacos but on their homemade corn tortillas. I only had room to eat 1 though. I had the chorizopollo I think it’s called? Chorizo & chicken I think. Tons of flavor. I also had the grilled corn on the cob. It was way over cooked. The kernels were all shriveled up and dry even after they slathered it in their sauce.
We also ordered plain guacamole. The chips are made fresh & so is the guac but they give you a small amount of guac. Probably like 1 avocados worth.
Their happy hour ends at 6pm. That’s kinda early isn’t it? I thought most Mexican restaurants had like cheap margaritas all day or something lol.
Pleasant experience. I don’t think I’ll come back for food again. Maybe I’ll come and enjoy one of their many tequilas :)

Jesssys in ocean view is a Hampton roads staple. The new taco bistro here in Ghent is a wonderful addition to the taco scene here! They’ve had some service issues but they are a young and fledgling business and they’ve come along way from the beginning when they were still using 328 tequilas menus! The food is consistently delicious and the chips and queso are absolutely melt in our mouth. I come here fairly often and I’m happy they seem to have picked up and they are always busy! They have some kinks to iron out but in the mean time I’ll keep coming back for the sopes and queso. Update! I love this place the people are awesome the owner is out and about hands on but I’m a good way, food is consistently delicious and the drinks are stronggggggg but also in a good way, wonderful addition to the Mexican food scene in Hampton roads and more importantly I’m Ghent!

Never coming back here. The service is absolutely terrible. Ordered tacos without avocados, light onions, and no tomatoes and got exactly all those things. This is after having to wait forever for the food to arrive in the first place. The best the manager could offer was two more tacos that were wrong too!!! So pissed

I REALLY wanted to like this place, but it was just impossible. I have really high expectations for any restaurant that claims to have Authentic Mexican food… and this wasn’t the case.
The place is nice, and has a good vibe. It looks like the have great happy hour specials, and I love that they have Pacifico beer on draft. We started with the guacamole with chipotle, which was actually really good and I would recommend it to everyone. Then I ordered the lunch taquitos, which comes with four mini tacos with your choice of meat. I picked 2 Arrachera, 1 chicken tinga, and 1 choripollo. The arrachera meat was hard and flavorless, and the tacos had very little meat. The taco was basically 75% onions and cilantro and 25% meat… which by the way, I don’t like cilantro and raw onions (I don’t appreciate not being told the tacos came with that). The chicken tinga, was flavorless and the portion of meat in the taco was a joke. The choripollo was actually good, but extremely greasy. I also had the elote, and the seasoning was good, but I wish it was made with white corn and not yellow.
I might be back for their happy hour specials, but not the food.

I really wanted to like this place, but… The hostess/​waitress told us where we could not sit, and sat us by the door. Our second table was wobbly, which no one attempted to fix. Our waitress butchered Spanish, mispronouncing menu items. She warned us the red sauce was spicy, but it wasn’t, and when I asked for tomatillo salsa the answer was «no.» The chips were way over-​fried. And I had to yell to catch her attention to ask for more chips! We arrived in the evening, but were provided lunch special menus a while after our regular menus — confusing, and no prices. There was too much cheese, so much so that I couldn’t tell which fried taco was meat or vegetarian by taste alone. My friend had to ask 3 times for her water to be refilled.
The guacamole was good, and our entrees (basically fried tacos I never heard of before) were filling.
Luna Maya is a much superior dining option in the area (South American vs. Mexican or Americanized food), or Los Paisas in Newport News or El Sabroson in Williamsburg for authentic Mexican.

I am always sorry when a new restaurant opens and the staff is not trained or ready to serve the public. I had lunch with two co-​workers at Jesse’s today and our server was not trained or ready to be on his own. One meal was served to one co-​worker 20 minutes before the rest of our table received their meals. Lunch was an hour and 25 minute ordeal and the food was nothing like their Ocean View location. The food was not seasoned and very bland. I love the Jesse’s in Ocean View. I really hope that management gets their act together and this restaurant succeeds.
P.S.
The owner of Jessy’s contacted me later the same day and offered our party free appetizers, lunch and beverages. I let him know that was not necessary and I would not be taking him up on his offer, because that is not the reason I wrote the review. The very fact that the owner cared enough to contact me was enough of an apology for me. I will be returning to Jessy’s Taco Bistro in the near future and I wish the owner much success.

Margarita was watery and came with no salt; offered to bring salt to the table! (Like, huh? Should have replaced the drink, which didn’t have any discernable tequila.)
Bad transition/​handoff between wait staff; we basically had to reorder. Service slow as heck. Don’t know if I/​we will go back.

Love the atmosphere and music here, the prices are fair. Came on cince de mayo and they had a special menu, not sure if it was just for the occasion or a regular lunch/​happy hour menu. The margarita were good and strong enough not to complain! Come here!

I really liked the carne asada platter. The elote wasn’t up to par with what i’ve had before. I think its the spicy siracha type drizzle they put on top that just made it, eh. Stick to the basics. The server was really nice and kept apologizing because they were really busy and short staff, that’s ok and understandable. We will come back again.

I came here the other day with some friends and was happily surprised at the upscale ambiance of the restaurant. The appetizer I ordered was delicious — shrimp soaked in this delicious lime juice. My margarita was also very good. I did not care as much for the tacos, but that’s because I prefer flour over corn and I accidentally ordered corn which was not their fault. However, I accidentally left my credit card at the restaurant. I live in Virginia Beach and if they didn’t still have it, I didn’t want to drive all the way back to Norfolk, so I tried to call them. Their number was disconnected. I even tried calling their other location to no avail. I hope they get this issue resolved quickly!

I am excited that I won’t have to drive too far to get some of Jessy’s love. Glad to be part of Unilocal to know that this awesomeness occurred.
Food:
The food was phenomenal and still tasted as great as the Oceanview location. The seasoning and flavors still taste authentic to my tongue. This location does things differently, unless Jessy’s at OV has changed their ways as well. We ordered a chipotle guacamole as an appetizer for the table. It was tasty, and definitely recommended, and I’m not knocking stars but will say that I did prefer the guacamole at OV. This tasted like they mixed mayo or miracle whip to the guacamole. It still tasted good, but I do prefer it without. Here, they have it set up as a dish to order three tacos with a side. I figured I would try this out because their sides sounded mouth watering and some reminded me of being home in Mexico. One downfall about this place is that it has limited options compared to the OV location, I truly missed my tripas and lengua tacos. The tacos tasted great nonetheless, and carne asada is still kicking it. I love that they have a tamale, esquites, corn on the cob (prepared in an authentic way), and other options. Try the esquites! The tamal was good too!
Drinks:
The best michelada I have had in the Hampton Roads area!!! I am close to saying the best I’ve ever had ever, but it’s hard to compete with one I had when I lived in Mexico. Your search for the best Michelada is over people, come to this place! I didn’t try any other drink, but I did have a sip of the lady’s margarita and felt like there wasn’t anything too different to it. It was good, and not over the top sweet, so I recommend it. Oh, and happy hour is awesome! 5p-​7p!
Ambience:
Just like previous establishments, they continue to use the same set up there. They still have the 328 tequila menu binder. It definitely gives a whole different feel to what the one in OV gives. It makes for a very nice date or time with the family.
Love that you are in Ghent! It’s a walk away for me! Please bring some of the essence, or at least tacos de lengua, barbacoa, and tripas!

Right up front, I will cop to the fact that Jessy’s Taqueria in Oceanview is one of my favorite dives in the 757. The food is delicious, the service is quick and efficient, and the entire menu is affordable. Probably one of the best calorie to penny ratios anywhere.
I was pretty pumped that the same crew running Jessy’s had taken over the now defunct Tequila 328 space in Ghent. I was hoping it would be the taqueria experience on steroids.
I met a couple of old Navy buddies at the bistro last night and for the most part, we had a really good time.
We all had tacos or tostadas along with margaritas. The food definitely remains a step or ten above the average gringo Mexican joints that exist across Hampton Roads.
My couple of complaints aren’t weighty enough for me to have been disappointed. The biggest blip was the pace of service. None of us got too spun up about the wait time after we ordered since we had lots to talk about, having not seen one another for quite a few years. Had I been out on a date with my lady it would have been another story. It’s a lot harder to hold a lengthy conversation with someone you see everyday. I would have certainly said something to the manager since the dining room, while busy, was not jammed by any means. The food should come out much faster than it did.
Second, as mentioned in a previous review, they only bring you hot sauce in tiny metal ramekins instead of the squeeze bottles you get at the Oceanview location. I don’t think they are saving enough money by skimping on their homemade salsas if it comes at the cost of angering their customers. Bring back the bottles please. I don’t care if you have to charge .25 cents more per taco. I’ll pay it.
I also knew to ask for my side of beans to be served refried instead of simply spooned into a small bowl to go along with my rice. The refried black beans are creamy and delicious, which begs the question… why don’t they just come that way instead of customers having to be «in the know»? It just did not make any sense to me.
So, even though the meal had a few glitches, the spirit of Jessy’s taqueria lives in this place. You simply get Mexican food that is far more tasty and much better executed than your run of the mill spots.
I will gladly come back.

Oh Jessy! Where Art Thou?
Me thinks your new Ghent location might be going through a bit of an identity crisis, trying to be a little too fancy schmancy for its own good.
Am I happy you came to Ghent? Hell yes! I live in Ghent, and I love the original Jessy’s in Ocean View. But it takes me longer to drive to your Ocean View location than to Suffolk. I can walk to your Ghent location in 20 minutes.
I first ate at the new Ghent location during their opening week last November and ordered 4 tacos. They were profoundly delicious and exhibited a beautiful presentation, as shown in my photo below.
Since then, they have begun to present their tacos in metal taco holders. They remind me of strait jackets, and I hate to see good tacos trapped in these things. Instead, I prefer to see them laid out flat and freely, in all their glory and splendor, as shown below from my visit last November.
One thing I find missing at the Ghent location is the 2 taco lunch special with rice and beans, available for only $ 4.99 during the weekdays at the Ocean View location. With tax included and no beverage, this comes to $ 5.56. When I tried to duplicate this combination at the Ghent location, the total came to $ 9.56 with tax included.
At the Ocean View location, their popular red and green hot sauces are brought to your table pronto in plastic squeeze bottles. At the Ghent location, I’ve had to make a special request for these sauces and received only a tiny amount served in small metal cups. I usually have to ask for refills.
My three favorite entrees at the Ocean View location are not listed on the main menu at the Ghent location. These are the Mole Poblano, Enchilades De Mole, and the Alambra Wired Steak. Although I’ve been told that their cooks at the Ghent location can duplicate any dish served at the Ocean View location, the average diner wouldn’t know this.
When asking for beans as a side dish at the Ghent location, I’ve been receiving a metal container of whole black beans. This is a carryover from the previous owner, 328 Tequila, where they were prepared in a similar fashion. These beans never worked for me, and I much prefer the more traditional refried beans instead.
Now for some some positives.
I love the delicious Elote, which is Mexican street style corn on the cob, served at the Ghent location and not in Ocean View. This a positive carryover from 328 Tequila, which also served them. This one is a keeper.
Although I did not care for the whole black beans, I loved the refried black beans when I specifically requested them. The problem is that you have to ask for them specifically.
My suggestion is to serve the refried black beans as the default bean side dish instead of the whole black beans served in the metal cup. I actually like the refried black beans at the Ghent location more than the refried pinto beans at their Ocean View location.
Some of the dishes I have sampled so far include the following from their lunch menu:
CHICKEN ENCHILADAS: «2 chicken enchiladas with rice or beans and choice of salsa verde, suizas, mole, or queso enquesadas.» I ordered it with the mole sauce, but it came with the salsa verde instead. I was in a rush and chose not to complain.
Among their tacos:
AL PASTOR: «pork marinated in adobo salsa and grilled with pineapple bits and onions.» I found the pineapple overwhelming with an unpleasant aftertaste.
CHICKEN TINGA: «Chicken breast sauteed in chipotle & tomato salsa.» I liked this one, but I would like it better without the presence of tomato.
CHORIPOLLO: «Grilled chicken breast sauteed with spicy Mexican choizo topped with questo sauce.» The volume of the queso sauce was excessive and overwhelming.
I didn’t have these issues with their tacos during my first visit in November. My advice is to apply the KISS principle to their tacos. Keep It Simple, Si? Like in the photo below.

Speaking of their lunch menu, it still bears the name of 328 Tequila on the cover after nearly six months in operation. The change to a new lunch menu bearing the name of Jessy’s Taco Bistro is long overdue.
From their dinner menu I recently tried to order the following during lunch:
ENCHILADAS DE SALMON CON MOLE: «3 Salmon stuffed enchiladas smothered in your choice of authentic Mole sauce or Queso dip topped with questo & crema.»
I requested the Mole and got bad news. They had no Mole in the kitchen. This was the second time I had struck out with a Mole dish here.
I view the Ghent location as still a work in progress. My overall advice can be summarized as follows. Please strive to be a little more like the original Jessy’s in Ocean View and a little less like 328 Tequila.
In the meantime, I will keep coming back from time to time. As a Ghent resident, I want them to succeed and excel. By the end of the year, I hope to post an updated 4-​star or maybe even a 5-​star review.

I have been to both, Jesse’s in OV & now this Jesse’s/Tequila 328 location after reading the rave reviews. I know I shouldn’t compare and will try my best not to do so. Other than the corn on the cob today, I have yet to taste anything at either location that has been compelling enough for me to crave coming back.
I came in for lunch. Wasn’t sure if I was at the correct location due to the signage referencing both, Jesse’s & Tequila 328. I continued walking & turned around to come back. It was so confusing for me.
Ordered the $ 6 queso and chips, lunch Sopes with Choripollo, and my daughter had the Al Pastor w/​Black beans. For two little lunch items, I would say it took about 30minutes for our food (or even water for that matter) to arrive. There was less than 10 people in the restaurant. It was not crowded.
I enjoyed my Sope because it was something slightly different, meat had good flavor, & corn was delicious. Thank goodness I was offered a sampling of the salsas which were all good. After spending $ 6 on cheese with no salsa, I was a little taken back.
My daughter did not enjoy her Al Pastor at all. I tried her dish thinking it was her being picky. I agreed with her sentiments. I had her eat the meat on top of chips and she said that made it better. I’ve had Al Pastor in Mexico & in the US. Not sure what was going on with this dish but, in my opinion it was not good. It may have been the pineapple & the way it was prepared causing it to overpower the dish. Whatever it was, my poor baby’s dish did not taste flavorful. The flavors of meat was not balanced and almost sour. Like a dish where they tried too hard and was an epic fail. I don’t know. It could just be me & my taste buds.
The roasted corn was a different story. I’d just order a corn on the cob and be set. The corn was delicious!
I even enjoyed my dish. Kept it simple and a lot of flavor in the meat.
I did not enjoy the food nor experience enough to be a regular. Did I mention it took forever for us to get water and they tried swiping my $ 6 chips? lol oh geez. Food service 101: Never ever touch nor attempt to swipe a customers plate with out first asking.
Well, good luck. I wanted to enjoy this place. I’ve been looking forward to it. In fact, I had a day off thinking I was going to try something new & phenomenal.
I’ll give a 3 but, more like 2.5?
Place was nice… it’s always been a sweet set up in the last 2 – 3 businesses this location has been.

Love this New Mexican Restaurant in Ghent! They have done an amazing work with the place, it’s nice, clean, very open, and customer service the best! The owner is also the owner of jessey’s on ocean view, another great spot. But I would say this restaurant is a little more gourmet. I have been here 3 – 4 times the past month. And everything I got was excellent! Their tortilla soup is a killer! «Posted a picture few weeks ago» if you like authentic Mexican you need to try this place!

*****3.5 stars
Takeout review*****
When I saw that 328 Tequila By Jessy’s had a CA burrito on their menu, I knew I had to stop by. Since leaving San Diego, I rarely (if at all) find legit Mexican food on the East coast let alone a restaurant that serves a CA burrito. When I arrived, I left the hostess know I was picking up an order that I called in and she escorted me to the bar where my order was waiting. At a little past 5pm on hump day, their was only one patron at 328. Hmmmm does this place suck? It has 4.5 stars on Unilocal,though. I was eager to find out if Unilocalers were right about this restaurant and if my burrito was legit.
My burrito, which came with one side (I chose elote), contained all the ingredients of a CA burrito (skirt steak, cheese, pico de gallo/​guacamole, and most importantly, french fries). The skirt steak was tender and I loved how it made up a majority of the burrito. Fries were crispy. The cheese was nicely melted. The guacamole was spread evenly throughout the burrito. This CA burrito was legit, but it was a little on the salty side. The burrito was good, but it pains me to pay $ 12 ($ 13.50 with tax) for it. Basically more than double the price that I’m used to paying. I wasn’t a fan of the elote. It reminded me nothing of the traditional elote. The menu described it as «corn on the cob w/​mayo and sprinkled queso fresco»). However, the corn wasn’t off the cob. I didn’t taste any mayo. It had sprinklings of queso fresco as well as cheddar cheese. Their was an avocado slice on top. Definitely not as described. I ate half of the side dish and was over it. I found it interesting that the person I spoke to on the phone said that they had horchata to drink, which I ordered. Come to find out that they didn’t have horchata available (the machine was empty). Couldn’t he see that when he told me that it was available? My server was very apologetic and listed other beverage options which I wasn’t interested in.
Beware of the hot sauce. I got two containers in my to-​go bag. One red and one green hot sauce. They containers were filled about ¹⁄₃ of the way. I was like wth… I should have asked for more. Wrong. They were pretty spicy and very good! If you don’t like spicy, I’d do without the hot sauce.
Service was friendly. Parking was easy to find in the adjacent lot. I’m interested in trying some of the other items on the menu, in particular the choripollo stuffing (grilled chicken sauteed in Mexican spicy chorizo, topped with queso dip) and fried shrimp tacos.

***Do not expect this to be a clone of Jessy’s Taqueria***
Full disclosure: we rolled in on Friday night with 10 adults and 9 kids. I don’t think they were ready to handle that.
Service for our group left much to be desired. Ok, frankly terrible. Waiter seemed very new, and a bit confused as to what he should be doing (promptly take drink orders, tell us about menu, serve the drinks to everyone who ordered, etc etc).
Overall, the menu is interesting — much more upscale Mexican than Jessy’s in OV. {Sorry I didn’t take pictures!!}
They have separate lunch & happy hour menus, including some interesting sounding sampler platters, but we arrived too late to be able to order those.
You can also mix & match tacos, sopes, and a third option to create your own plate. All are served on soft corn tortillas. All entrees– lots to choose from– come with your choose of one side, and they’re not you usual options. According to the owner, the vegetable side will be traditional Mexican, and change weekly. Mine was warm sauteed? cactus over baby spinach. Would have been nice for the waiter to tell me; I think most people will expect something like broccoli/​green beans/​zucchini/​carrots… I appreciated trying the cactus, but had no idea what it was when it arrived on my plate. It looked like a salad or condiment for my fish tacos, not a side of veggies. The fish tacos were great, made with rockfish. Kudos for serving a local, sustainable fish!!! I will absolutely come back for them.
Food presentation was really lovely– bravo! But our orders rolled out very staggered. Fine for tapas, but not for dinner. Most people enjoyed their food, but the service ultimately brought the experience down.
Bonus points for pitchers of beer and a very good caipirinha. Lots of other cocktails to try. A few «kids menu» options too.
If they can get the kitchen and waitstaff running smoothly, this will be a needed and wonderful addition to Ghent.
(Picture more like Luna Maya than Mi Hogar or Plaza Azteca)