Mezcal

We celebrated my sisters birthday and the food and scene was great! The mole was delicious, but they only gave us two handmade tortillas and we had to constantly ask for more for a big party

Grass hopper was good, but thats about it. Food all tasted the same, fried and dry. Mole was watery and tasteless. Honestly chevys is better. Would never go back again.

I give mezcal 3 starts because of good drinks and ambience,
If you must go, stay with the moles very average, but maybe try pork or beef the chicken is dry, the ceviche is the worst I have tried, taste like sardines way too much onions and dry ‚
Good place to have a drink with friends but I’ll never go again for dinner,

Horrible service and mediocre food at best. I ordered the drink of the month and had never heard of one of the liquors. I asked the waitress about it and she didn’t know either. Instead of finding out, she just told me over and over she didn’t know so, I googled it in front of her. This was after being there for 15 min without any type of drink order being taken.
When the food finally arrived it was greasy and lackluster, putting it kindly.
It’s such a shame. The setting is so nice and the décor is great.
Such a shame.

Sorry. Can’t deserve a star. Worst mex cuisine I ever had. Chips were not fried and salsa was so spicy!!! Guacamole was made by the table side the guy added some pack mix which wasn’t good enough. I’m vegetarian. Had 3 things to choose from. Be careful plp before going there!!!

Mezcal is one of the best Mexican restaurants around. They have a unique bar stocked with all kinds of Mezcal (of course!). Try the Mezcalrita; very unique taste and not too sweet with a chili salt rim. The chips and mole are great. They make guacamole fresh right at the table side. It is out of this world! The salad and dressing are delicious with a unique herb dressing. I love that they do black beans with a little queso fresco on top instead of refried. The rice is perfectly cooked. The shrimp entrée is the best. The chile rellenos are cooked perfectly and served with the fresh guacamole. The kids menu is small, but perfect for the little ones. Highly recommended. I would come back again and again.

Went during happy hour (3pm to 6?), had two apps (molotes and memelitas), chips with three moles, a signature cocktail, and pacifico on draft.
Very reasonable prices ($ 4 for the beer and $ 5 for each app). Recommend the place and will come when in town again.

First time here and the hubby and I loved it. The food was delicious, especially the moles, truely authentic and traditional in my opinion. Margaritas were perfect. It was clean including the restrooms and we really enjoyed the amazing art that surrounded us. Beautiful paintings of Frida Khalo and great variety of Spanish music which was not too loud. We received outstanding service from Marsella, she was very attentive and helpful. We will definitely be coming back and will also be recommending Mezcal to our family and friends who haven’t tried it.

Pepe was great. My husband and I had bought a Groupon only good for lunch but he helped us get a different deal valid for dinner.
The environment was nice and modern. Free chips and salsa.
We ordered tacos; they were good. We also ordered churros with chocolate for dessert; they were not that good.

Tortillas tough and/​or overcooked to compete with a Dorito! Chicken appetizers dry. Nice ambiance. They could do much better by taking mescal (the liquor) to the next level… a flight or tasting menu perhaps? The bartender didn’t know squat accept Tequila prices. Dunno, could be much better methinks!

One of my favorite restaurants hands down!
I loveeeee lovee lovee the food here, specially the Memelitas and Enmoladas. My mouth gets watery just by saying the name!
The environment is so chill and comfortable even to just go for a drink. Really nice customer service as well, very attentive which is a plus for me.

Went to Mezcal because I heard that they serve chapulines (fried grasshoppers) & their mole sauces were good.
The server brought compliment chips with the 3 moles & explained each of them since it’s my first time there. All 3 moles were tasty but my fav was the spicy red mole
The chapulines were served with some chips & some sort of watery tasteless guacamole type of sauce. Didn’t like the dipping but the cricket was crunchy
I ordered Coloradito, chicken breast with red mole. The chicken was dry *sob sob* no amount of good mole could hide that! It was the main reason for a 3 star review. I was actually debating if it should be a 2star instead but I’ll reserve that till I visit Mezcal a second time. Please get your chicken right as it was a disgrace to the yummy moles you have

Mezcal offers top-​notch customer service at the dinner table and at the bar, one of the most beautiful building interior I’ve seen thus far in any restaurant located in downtown San Jose, flavorful mixed drinks that aren’t watered down, and delicious food that I can’t get enough of.
Let me start off by saying that the reason why I’m giving this restaurant 4 stars instead of 5 stars is for two reasons: the day before I ate at Mezcal, I called and made a reservation, and when I showed up the next day, my reservation wasn’t on file. Also, I need to eat at a restaurant multiple times before I give it 5 stars, but trust me, I’ll be back to Mezcal very soon.
During my recent trip to Mezcal, I ordered Memelitas as an appetizer ($ 7.75), Grilled Sea Bass as my main course ($ 18.95), and a mixed drink called Donaji ($ 9). Prior to my appetizer, I was brought a basket of warm tortilla chips, a plate of three dipping sauces that resembled mole sauce, and a small bowl of black beans. The chips were cooked just right and, while I was hoping for some spice in the sauces, I didn’t mind the sweetness that I noticed in a couple of the sauces; the black beans were also good, but somewhat standard. The memelitas — handmade corn tortillas that are spread with pork cracklings, black bean purée, and cheese — were light, fluffy, and very flavorful, and the green chili sauce was the perfect topping. The grilled sea bass… …OMG!!! The sea bass had a slightly crunchy exterior with a moist interior, and came with toppings that included corn and bacon, while sitting atop a bed of white rice that was topped with spinach, asparagus, and cherry tomatoes. This was one of the finest main course meals I’ve had all year, and I’ll most likely order it again the next time I stop by.
Regarding the customer service, the male server always made sure I had everything I needed, and he also made sure to seat me right away when he found out someone on the Mezcal staff messed up my reservation. Moreover, after I was done eating, I went to the bar and the female bartender prepared a delicious mixed drink called Donaji, which is a typical drink from Oaxaca that includes mezcal, fresh lime juice, orange juice, and grenadine served in a chili salt rimmed glass.
Mezcal is a fun and beautiful restaurant that serves delicious food, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to experience Mexican food that you won’t be able to find in many other restaurants in the Bay Area.

Tried the chapulines (fried grasshoppers sautéed with lime, salt, garlic) here & it was not tasty. The side of guac it came with was fine. I’ve eaten other insects before (that I enjoyed) but the grasshoppers here tasted so plant/​earthy & chewy. I thought they could have done better in terms of its flavor & texture. I will give an extra star because grasshoppers even existed on the menu. I do not know of any other place in San Jose that serves these.

The fiancé loves this place, and surprisingly I have never been. It never really caught my eye all that much, but since she loves it, I was willing to give it a shot.
Came in during happy hour and were greeted pretty quickly by the dude I would awesome was the owner, or at least manager. There was a business event in the outside patio area, so that area was off limits to us. No big deal. They have a decent sized happy hour menu so that was perfect. My fiancé kept saying that the portions are really small, but I was surprised that was not the case.
You get unlimited chips with their house made mole sauce was really amazing. We ordered the calamari from the happy hour menu and it was fantastic and good size for $ 5 bucks. I ordered the enchiladas as my main course and was told that this was not going to be your typical style. No melted cheese and the sort. Either way, it was pretty good.
Overall, I was impressed, but not to the point where I was jumping in the air with joy. Still, it was really good overall.

This is one of the most, if not the most, beautiful restaurants in Downtown San Jose. Not only does the outside front of the restaurant look intriguing, but the outside patio has tapestries, live plants, and lovely authentic decorations to match the quality of decorations on the inside (I uploaded a picture of an angle of the inside).
The servers were very cleanly and ours was very respectful and attentive. The manager made sure our table was clean and dry before seating us.
The food was above average, but not one of my favorite spots for Mexican. Their house made mole mixes that they give you with chips are delicious. One has a peanut base, another has a spicy base and the last has a chocolate base. I did what I hate doing and filled up on chips… and I knew I would because of the mole so I only ordered the tacos.
The tacos tasted alright, and I wish I could give five stars but there was about one taco’s worth of gristle in the three tacos that I had to leave on the plate, so I essentially paid $ 11 for two regular tacos, which is definitely overpriced.
I don’t see myself coming back soon, but I plan to bring any visiting friends/​family who like Mexican food.

If you’re looking for a unique Mexican dining experience, then Mezcal is the place for you!
Their cuisine is Oaxacan style with the owner’s mother, Dona Libo, at the helm of the kitchen. That being said, this ain’t your typical tacqueria/​burrito place. Instead, what you will get is artfully crafted dishes that make you feel like you’ve been invited to your Mexican grandmothers house for dinner. Their moles have a multitude of fresh ingredients that are sourced from Oaxaca. My friend once commented that Mezcal’s mole tasted just like her grandmother’s.
Even though you may recognize a lot of the dishes offered, it will be different that what you have ever had before. And that is a good thing! For example, their quesadillas are not flat tortillas with bright yellow cheese melted on the middle. Instead, their handcrafted tortillas are molded almost like a little shell in which fresh Oaxacan cheese is delicately tucked into the middle and closed up like an empanada. The quesadillas are then fried and topped with glorious guacamole and black bean purée and topped with even more the heavenly Oaxacan cheese. I simply do not have the words to express how magical these little pillows of cheesy goodness are. You will fall in love with Oaxacan cheese after tasting this dish!
Once you have recovered, you can move on to try their memelitas which are similar to the quesadillas but have pork cracklins too. Yes, PORK CRACKLINS! ‘Nuff said.
If you love quacamole, then you will squee with happiness for Mezcal’s tableside quacamole service. They will prepare this dish right in front of you with deft artfulness that will make you think this is so easy since they use very few ingredients (avocado, cilantro, onions, salt, jalapenos, salt and pepper). No limes or tomatoes, just pure avocado goodness that will make you hear food angels singing!
In the winter, nothing makes me happier than their tortilla soup which is so creamy and filling, but without an ounce of cream added. They use only fresh herbs, grilled tomatoes and tortillas and simmer the soup for hours until all the yummy goodness comes out. Topped with fresh avocados, this soup is the ultimate in comfort food!

Go here for the service and the ambiance!
I really wholeheartedly loved our waitstaff. Every server we had was really nice and accomodating. There was a man in a wheelchair who was seated next to us and they ensured to let us know that he would be entering in through the outside door and would be sitting near us and to ask if we wanted to move the table if it was a tight fit, we said it would be absolutely no problem. It’s things like that, that absolutely differentiate good service from bad service in my opinion.
The drinks looked amazing — my friends ordered margaritas. I stuck to water, but everyone said they were good. The chips and salsa were delicious — there was a particularly spicy one that definitely struck my fancy. I ordered the salmon and ate everything on my plate. I really liked this spot overall!

Had dinner here during Cinco de Mayo.
Ordered the fried grasshoppers, and then the Nachos with Carne Asada and a side of guacamole.
I’ve never had fried grasshoppers before — so I have nothing with which to compare them. They were crunchy and salty — somewhat similar to a bag of pork rinds in texture, only saltier. They did not taste bad — just to salty.
The Nachos were not great, the chips were somewhat stale, and the Carne Asada was not as tender as I would have liked. It was chewy and somewhat stringy.
I had a Pacifico beer — which is a Mexican lager. I’m not a fan of lagers per say, but you don’t have any craft beer options when in a Mexican joint.
Service was pretty good, food was very mediocre. We did have a Mexican Mariachi band perform throughout the evening which was cool.

I don’t know if it should be a 3 start or less…
This is my second time here. The first being 2 days ago.
2 days ago the server was rude. Even though I was nothing but friendly. Almost as if he could care less about my questions. The food was good and drinks were great. I would have given it a 4 star then. The bus boy was a lot more courteous than the server. That really makes me upset. Come on! You make more money than them… Yet your customer service is not there. That is what I hate about tipping now. I’m a good tipper, but when I get exceptional service expect a little more from me. So the fact that I tipped well without getting the service expected was upsetting.
Today I’m at the bar before heading home, I thought… Why not try again? The food was good… Well. here I am bartender is reserved and nice. The food is good. However, I asked for jalapeños on the side and I got the sliced ones. Perfect! But… I found 2 small hairs on them… luckily found one before I ate it. Since the guy is decent I decided nof to say anything.
I asked for more jalapeños and again a hair on them… I don’t know what to say or do. I feel bad, but why? It’s nasty and dirty here. Maybe it deserves a 2 star if any.