Critic's Review
I was in the mood for Mexican food, and Jalisco is my go-to place for a quick and filling lunch.
The outside always has some new paint; they've changed the colors a bit but overall it looks the same from the outside.
Inside the room is largely the same; no hostess here, you walk in and sit at a booth and hope someone sees you.
One thing different is the new smaller booths on the south side of the room. I still prefer the larger booths.
Chips and Salsa come out with the menu. Like clockwork.
No lemon at Jalisco.
The new booths are handy when filling the soda machine with ice.
The mild salsa today was just a bunch of bad, refrigerated tomatoes. Refrigeration ruins tomatoes, particularly after they've been cut up.
Nobody seemed interested in taking my order. They have a bunch of specials for $9.95 but the Chile Relleno is only $10.75. so I figured for 80 cents extra I'd get what I want instead of what was on special. One of the servers came over and asked if I'd ordered yet. "No". I told her what I wanted and I got a cup of soup.
The soup is always broth and rice and usually has something else in it as well. Not sure if this was yucca or potato; no matter, I only eat the broth.
The main dish came out in short order.
A full plate of stuff. The plate is red hot, so you've been warned. I don't love their new jalapeno sauce for the chili, but it's still good.
Note to Casa Frida: Chile Relleno should be oozing with cheese like this.
They completely leave you alone here; if you want someone you have to flag them down. Nobody will ask how everything is or if you need more tea. It's just the way it is.
Conclusion
A load of Mexican food at fair prices. Nothing fancy; but a very good value.
Review 10/5/16
Once a year or so, I go into Jalisco. I remember when I first moved here; Jalisco was one of the reasons I started this site. I drove by it every day, and had no idea what it was like. There were no reviews of Jalisco. No web site. No pictures. Going inside was a complete crapshoot.
The building used to be run-down with peeling paint. They've since given the place a festive paint job.
No outdoor dining here. A bench not quiet wide enough to accommodate a wino.
I initially took the last booth in the back, which happens to be right next to the restroom. I didn't like the smell. I got up and moved to the center of the room, where the oder wasn't as apparent. The place is all booths, which is one of the good things about it.
They bring chips and soup over before they even take your beverage order. same chicken/rice soup and dual salsas every time.
The salsas were good today. Nice fresh tomatoes. Even the hot salsa was good.
They don't have chile rellenos on the lunch menu, but the regular price is only $10.75. I ordered that, because that was the reason I came in.
No ambiance here. Service is spotty. I wasn't ready to order initially, and it took her a while to come back. Everything is very mechanical, and if you break the flow, all hell breaks loose. Finally I placed my order.
Hurricane news on the TVs instead of soccer.
The food came out in 11 minutes.
Quite a pile of food. I like that they just give you one Chile; 2 is way too much food just to get an extra couple of bucks. This was actually too much cheese. Cheese everywhere. They also put stuff on the chile; peppers, jalapeos. I had to decide if I like jalapenos on this dish; there were more flavors than usual.
A very filling lunch for under $15. You can't beat the value.
Conclusion
Mechanical service, some mediocre food (the ropa isn't the best, avoid the steak), but solid mexican food. I wouldn't come here for dinner, but it's a solid lunch that's very conveniently located.
Review 9/2/15
I decided at the last minute to grab a special at Jalisco. One thing about the place is that it's darn convenient; right in between Publix and Fresh Market. They've also gotten a paint job and did a bit of remodeling; note the new mural. I wondered if they did anything on the inside.
As I step inside, I see there is no change inside. Same old same old. No music. Soccer on the TV. Half of the booths occupado.
I sit down and the stuff starts coming. Iced tea, chips and soup. The soup is the difference here.
Same soup every time. Chicken broth and rice. I just do the broth.
The chips were lousy today. Stale chips and the salsa didn't taste right.
The ropa comes out looking kinda brown. I can't get a chile relleno for the lunch special here, so ropa is just about all I'll order as I'm not getting a taco or enchilada.
I forgot to ask for the yellow rice. Oh well. The ropa here isn't very good; more like a stew than a tomato sauce. For $7.95 it's food.
Service here is very mechanical. Girls are walking by and don't say a thing. No refill today. I get my check and put it on the end of the table. Minutes go by. Finally she takes it and disappears into the back. 2 more minutes and I'm out.
Conclusion
Jalisco is one of the few actual Mexican restaurants downtown (not counting the "fresh" places); it's mediocre quality but it's cheap and it's fast. If you're looking for an $11 lunch in a half hour, this is one of the choices.
Review 7/16/14
I didn't have a lot of time but felt like a skirt steak so I stopped in at the closest place to me. I got there a bit after 2pm and all of the booths on the main side were taken, so I got one in the back room. There was a big table with some kids over on one side, so it was noisy until they left.
It's easy to miss the back room; I forgot it was here and I almost left.
The deal here is very mechanical. As soon as you sit down you get menus, chips salsa and soup. Bang Bang.
The salsa was better than usual today. Sometimes the hot one is way too watery. There's no Yellow at Jalisco; no lemons or Splenda.
The soup is always the same. Chicken with rice. Today there was something stalky inside. I didn't eat it. The soup tastes like broth.
I ordered the skirt steak, which has gone up to $14.95. In a place like this, I expected a pretty good sized steak for that amount of money. But when they brought it out, I thought it was way too small for what they were charging.
This is a lunch sized steak. The beans were a little short also; I think they're starting to nickel and dime here. The bowl of beans was maybe half full; a trick I'd expect with the lunch special but not with a full priced meal.
Music here is Mexican with spanish lyrics. Festive without being annoying.
Service was particularly bad. After my server dropped off the steak, I didn't see her or anyone else for a long time. The iced tea only had a bit of ice when delivered, and it was very warm shortly thereafter. I couldn't drink it for a while until my server stopped in. I asked for more ice and she just brought me a refill.
The skirt was well marinated and although it was very skinny, was a decent steak. The chimichurri wasnt very good; there was something chunky in it, maybe something in the onion family, and not enough parsley. Not terrible, but not that good either.
This should have been $11.95. I wouldn't order this again at this price.
When I was done, there was no-one to flag down. The back room is bad news for service. I waited more than 10 minutes for her to come back to check on me. Not good enough. When I'm done eating I want to leave.
Smaller portions, higher prices and worse service. Not a good trend.
Review 11/6/13
Once in a while, you need a sure thing. Not necessarily something great, but something consistent and solid. Jalisco fits that bill.
There's no hostess here; no fluff. You come in and sit down. Eventually someone comes and brings you a menu. If the booths are taken, you can sit at the bar; but I prefer to come after 2pm so I can get a booth.
A menu comes along with chips. One of the "salsas" is just tomatoes and some fresh cilantro. Neither are very hot. The chips are house-made with not very much salt.
Once you order, you get the soup. "chicken soup" they call it. It has one piece of chicken, rice and a lot of broth. It's better than nothing.
The iced tea comes in a big plastic cup with lime. No Splenda here.
One of the things I like about Jalisco is that it's both Mexican and Cuban/Spanish. You can get a cheese enchiliada, burrito, or a churrasco with chimichurri. Today I felt like Ropa Vieja.
There is zero ambiance here; no music, TVs on Soccer and other things that Americans wouldn't want to watch. Ropa Vieja is pre-made, so it comes out right away.
The lunch version of this is $7.95; prices are up a bit in the past few years. It's not very garlicky, a bit under seasoned for my taste. But it 's not bad. They even put vegetables in it here; some places leave out the onions and the peppers.
The service is typical Latin Restaurant. They take your order and drop stuff off; no minutia like "do you need anything else". It's very mechanical.
But they've got it down. In and out in a half hour.
Review 5/3/12
I probably drove by Jalisco 500 times before I ever went in; always wondering what it was like. This was before I started InsideFortLauderdale, and there was zero in information available on the place. There's still not much, but at least you have this
Jalisco is like one of those ethnic places you find back on Andrew's Ave and Dixie Hwy, except this one is right on US1. It looks like a real dump from the outside, but it's not as bad as you might think on the inside. I'm not sure if Jalisco is old-world or just plain old, but it has the look of a place that hasn't been redecorated since the day it was opened. There's a wooden bar with 8 seats; wooden stools with low backs and in need of paint. There are 2 TVs with soccer and spanish stations on. Maroon Vinyl booths line the walls. If you've been bad, they put you at the little table on the inner wall.
Its one of the few places where you get a full setup for lunch and can get plenty of food for under $10. They serve an "Express Lunch" until 3:30; and it really is express. When you sit down you get a big basket of chips and 2 kinds of salsa along with a cup of "homemade" soup.
The chips are generally fresh but the salsa is sub-par; the soup is nothing more than salty broth with some rice. The express lunches are priced from 5.95 to 7.95, but I decided to splurge and go for the Chile Relleno for $9.95. Now Jalisco is the kind of place where the server will put a red hot plate in front of you and not bother to mention that the plate is hot, so tread lightly.
Just look at that gooey mess. Simply delicious. This is Mexican food; you can keep your fish tacos and chicken burritos; this is what I think of when I think of Mexican food. This is a substantial lunch; well worth the extra $2 to go off the Lunch menu I think.