Jose's Court Room Mexican Restaurant in La Jolla

Jose's Court Room Restaurant in La Jolla

Featured Article: ¡ORDER IN THE COURT, AMIGO!
Article written by Chris Long

This week’s travels landed me at Jose’s Court Room in the beautiful yet yuppie-infested La Jolla Cove. So take a break from driving your burros and I’ll tell you all about it.
First of all this place was PACKED! This is obviously a popular spot to hang out. I dreaded having to wait for a long time to get seated but surprisingly I was seated and gorging myself with chips and salsa within 10 minutes. Which, by the way, the salsa was incredible.

Jose’s has a very authentic look and feel to it. The tables are close together and I kept bumping the guy behind me which is something that you would experience in any eatery in Mexico. The staff was extremely pleasant and moved around like they were on fire. I never had drinks brought to me in such time.

I ordered the carne asada burrito which they claim is their most popular item on the menu and I can see why. For good measure I also ordered the pollo asada taco because a good restaurant is measured by how they prepare their chicken. Before I could finish my tasty margarita the food was there. I’m not kidding when I say the service at this place makes Speedy Gonzales look like Regular Gonzales!

Both dishes, as well as the refried beans that came with them, were as authentic as any dish made south of the border. Very similar tasting to food prepared in the Guadalajara region of Mexico. The chicken and carne asada was moist, well seasoned and wasn’t overpowered by the guacamole and salsa that came with it. Also, this place includes cilantro in their dishes which is always a nice touch.

Of course not everything about this place was excellent. The only bad things I can say, and they are very minor, is that the Spanish rice that came with the dishes had peas in it. I can never understand why restaurants insist on ruining perfectly good rice with those awful things. Also, the music did not match the atmosphere at all. Now it could have been because of the mainly gringo crowd but there’s just something unsettling about hearing the shrill tone of Geddy Lee’s voice as Rush blares in your ears while eating carne asada.

Attention Booze Bags: go here if you want to drink. The place is mainly a bar and can prepare just about anything. I recommend any of the margaritas and they also have a variety of tequila as well as my favorite Mexican beer, Dos Equis.