Aqui Cal-Mex

The drinks were good, and 2 people enjoyed their meals, but 3 out of 5 people in our party found our meals (all different orders) bland and dry. We were expecting a dinner restaurant, not fast food, so our expectations may have been too high, but when 3 people are all pushing their food around their plates…

we love this place
the food is great
the people are great
the service is great
we also love the manager lady thats always there

Natural Wild Organic!
Awesome place! Been here many times. They take pride in their work. The customer service is always on-​point, and their food is the best Mexican food around! I love the Aquis sampler which has fresh guacamole, hummus, and black beans for under $ 7. Their swirls are amazing and Sunday brunch is also fantastic.
Thank you for daring to be different, and offering inspiring Mexican cuisine in a more natural conscious way.

Organic health conscious Mexican?
Sign me up!
They made our guacamole to order, but I think typically it’s made in batches. I loved my Avocado Roasted Corn Burrito bowl. Brown rice, texture from blue corn tortilla chips, perfect amount of heat and seasoning.
SJ is lucky to have this as a much better option after the ecoli outbreak of one of our beloved American chains. It’s better, really.

Been here a few times for swirls, of course. What’s not to love about these industrial strength margaritas, they’re delicious and you get a good buzz.
BE CAREFUL, these things are creepers. Every time my taste buds want more than one or two I have to remind myself that I do not like having the spins, or drunk texting my exes. Stick to one at first and let it set in a bit. I don’t think they allow you to have more than two.
Their food is healthy Mexican, not authentic Mexican by any means. I definitely don’t come here for food, but when I’ve eaten here it hasn’t been terrible. Flautas were flavorful, I like the coleslaw even though it’s out of place on a Mexican menu. Mango habanero and Serrano salsas are bomb!

Great location! I love the their outdoor seating patio specially in the summer!
Food is usually good too! Love their salsa selection! The bar area and inside is a bit too bright for me but it’s still one of the greatest Aqui’s in the area!

Two stars for good food, definitely NOT family friendly, and terrible management (I’ll explain). Bunch of drunk kids (i say «kids» because they couldn’t handle their alcohol) were indirectly giving my family a hard time about having our child there… on Monday… at 700pm… by having a shouting conversation between eachother about how terrible of parents we were for bringing our child to Aqui. After letting the «management» know about the harassment, the heckling only got worse because I’m pretty sure «manager» was a friend of the obnoxiously drunk folks who also were smoking weed right at the balcony entrance (which I’m «pro-green»…but come on). On a side note, I was suprised they continued to serve them drinks
In summary, go there if you want to get super wasted and behave as drunk as you want with no limits and eat decent «organic» food while doing so. DO NOT GO IF YOU WANT TO BRING YOUR FAMILY (more specifically kids).

Stopped by with a friend for my first time on Cinco de Drinko and it was real paaacked! We couldn’t find a table and as my friend was in line to buy our swirls from the bar, I was literally walking around hawk eyeing who was about to leave. After we got our swirls, we still didn’t have a table and after about 10 minutes, we were able to jump right on one right when they stood up! I felt a bit weird but hey, we got a table right?!
My friend got the Sunset swirl and I got the Orange and Mango one. Both were definitely strong and it was decent. We ended up getting only chips and salsa and that made our drinks definitely taste better hahaha.
As for service, I didn’t really talk to any staff members other than the girl at the register when I ordered the chips and salsa. Place was busy and good vibes were present. We were sitting outside and it would have been nice if the music was louder bc the loud chatter was basically our audio!

Was brought here today by a co-​worker. I had the Adobo Chicken Fajitas and the Industrial Strength Margarita-​frozen. Everything was awesome, really clean and neat place, food was delicious and the Margarita well, well, well I WANT MORE! I’m a fan!

This is the best place to get good food and great drinks at a reasonable price. I have had many of their dishes and I am NEVER disappointed. If you are near an Aqui, go in!
My fav meal: blackened mahi mahi and a house salad… with a sangria swirl of course.
Their brunch is also very good and inexpensive.

Great, fresh food a nice environment to eat in. I enjoyed the roast beef plate with the cal-​mex taste. I also had a sangria that was really one of the best I have ever had. I will be sure to go back next time I am in the area.

This place reminds me of an upper scale Chipotle… meaning I’d rather eat there instead. This is a restaurant where you order your food upfront, and find your own table to sit. Since I went with a larger party, it was difficult to find comfortable seating. In the end, we made it work. The pico de gallo and guac was delicious & great to snack on (especially if you’re drinking).
What I really liked was the bar. Them swirlz though. Trust what other Unilocalers stated, TWO swirls are enough. I went for a late 21^st birthday celebration, and the drinks got me good. Needless to say, this is the right place to celebrate. The drinks are strong, but you can’t taste the alcohol in it… which is the crazy part cause eventually… it’ll settle in HAHA. I had the pomegranate berry & it tasted like a wonderful sangria. I then got the white beach swirl, which was even better (this was more sweet and strong). I also got a sip of the sunrise and midori swirl that were both great as well. All in all, none of the drinks failed to taste great and give you that buzz. Only negative comment is that the drinks are pricey.

Can’t go wrong with a few drinks from Aqui on a Wednesday night!
Coworkers and I decided to stop by here because one of our own finally turned 21 and was able to legally order a drink (or 3). We made sure to get their famous swirls. I love that they have different versions of their swirls. Advertised as an «industrial strength» frozen margarita and yeah, they weren’t kidding! I got a baby one of the Sunrise Swirl and it was still WAY too strong for me. My coworkers got the Paradise Patrón Swirl, Aqui Sangria, Strawberry Lemonade, and Carlitos Cadillac.
None of us were really hungry so all we got were chips and guacamole. The guacamole came in a cute little ice cream scoop. It was good. What ruined it was the mushy, sloppy soup of tomato purée on the bottom of it.
Well, I’m not sure about the food here, but I definitely will be keep coming back for the drinks!
Fact: My friends always finish my drinks for me because I’m such a lightweight when it comes to alcohol.

I’ve been to Aqui’s several times but Last night I experienced such wonderful service because of their cashier, Kevin! He was amazing — answered all our questions, gave us samples without being asked, made a happy face with sour cream on our beans. Seriously, if he could help us every time we’d dine there more often — he was such a pleasure!
Aqui’s, I hope you treat your awesome employees well!!!

Been here multiple times *usually for the swirls* but have been here a couple of times for the food last time I got a burrito pretty sure it was angus beef was alright nothing too special came with chips and a side of Cole slaw *was pretty sure but don’t honestly remember since I didn’t eat it* got full off the burrito and yeah pretty much it the foods kinda ok but the bar was packed every time I go it is even at the Campbell location

Great food, great staff, please eat here!
This place is awesome in the sense that they offer unique and healthy combinations for low prices. The food pairings are very creative and delicious.
I’ve never really been disappointed here. I’ve been taken aback by some of their creative features, in that, their palette is different than other places. But that isn’t a bad thing!
BTW, the specials are fantastic.

Can I just say that after 2.5 of those swirls I fell and ate it on the sidewalk?
Careful, they seem playful but they bite you in the ass.
I wouldn’t recommend the food. Just come for swirls and leave happy.
Your welcome.

FOOD
— Wild Crab Cake Salad: 1 crab cake over carrots, tortilla strips, mango, spinach and mango dressing. This salad was delicious! The crab cake was huge. It’s not your average crab cake, as it has corn in it. It was different but I liked it. The rest of the salad was really good. A little more dressing would have been perfect! 4.75÷5
— Avocado Dip: guacamole over mango habanero salsa and cilantro. Served with chips. The guacamole was fresh and tasty! 4.5÷5
— Sunrise Swirl: sangria + Paradise Patrón + margarita. Very good. 1 swirl was enough to make me feel good. lol. No wonder they recommend a limit of 2. They let you sample the different swirls when you order. ⁵⁄₅
SERVICE
Fair and fast. Open seating. ³⁄₅
FINAL THOUGHTS
The food and drinks were great! My friends had the West Coast Salmon and the Colorado Angus beef, which they graciously let me taste. Both were delicious!

Yes, everybody comes here for the SWIRLS… but I’m going to start off my review about the food! Well to be honest, it’s not that bad! The guacamole has bottomless chips and salsa, so you can literally eat chips for days while you get drunk.
Everything I had here was solid! It’s more Cali-​Mexican fusion food, but none the less everything is fresh and tasty. Great salads, burritos, and quesadillas! They use pretty high quality ingredients and prices are VERY friendly on the wallet. Items all range from $ 8-​$ 12, which is very reasonable.
As far as the infamous SWIRLS go… my advice to you is…
–Don’t have them on an empty stomach.
–It’s straight sugar.
–1^st one = buzzed, 2^nd one = drunk, 3 = you can’t even buy a third one lol
–Be mindful of how much you drink the rest of the night unless you’re looking for a NASTY hangover the next day.
My favorite time to have these are on a hot day/​evening. They have a couple different varieties and I find myself getting the sangria one the most. Nowadays, I rather just have my good ol’ Hennessy and Coke at the bar (POURS here are GENEROUS) but in my hey day, the Swirl was the perfect pregame drink. For most people, a Swirl and a shot and beer is enough to get you pretty drunk. (not that I am encouraging it)
The South SJ location has indoor and outdoor seating. A couple TVs with the game on, so this place can get packed! South SJ lacks many fun places to go hang out at, so Aquis is the place to be!

So my friends and I came here for their ‘happy hour.’ When we got there, we found out that their drinks were only off 50−80cents during happy hour… really…(-__-) And that there is no happy hour food… But that didn’t stop us from having a good time!
I always saw pictures of the swirls and I was excited to finally try them! Each of us got a swirl! Man, that stuff is strong… It was good though, but if you are imagining it to be like a Fat Tuesday, then this is not for you. but just get it anyways! I mean you just gotta try since you’re here. I got the Paradise Patrón Swirl. It was pretty good. I also got to try a few sips of the Sunrise Swirl and Sangria Swirl. Both were refreshing!
On the other hand, the food was delicious! I got to try a few bites of everyone’s dishes. I ordered the Green Chile Crab and it was so yummy! Other dishes we ordered — Chicken enchiladas, Salmon enchiladas + more. Their food is fresh and flavorful.
Their salsa bar is amazing! — Salsa Fresca, Serrano-​Tomatillo, Salsa Macha, Mango Habanero, Chipotle Dressing, Ranch Dressing… So much variety! We ordered chips and you can refill as many times as you want! We definitely got our money worth for the salsa and chips! ($ 3). GET THE CHIPS! Just get ‘em.
I’M COMING BACK TO TRY THE REST OF THEIR FOOD.