Chevy's Fresh Mex Restaurant
Market Center
San Jose, CA 95110 (408) 286-1810
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Alcohol: Full Bar
27 Reviews for Chevy's Fresh Mex Restaurant
We decided to be seated in the patio area where the waiter took forever to take our order, took so long to deliver our drinks that happy hour was over, and where we nearly went deaf under the 12 passing flights. At first I was very annoyed by our waiter who seemed to be the only one working the patio area but ultimately then I got very annoyed by the airport sounds.
Why the hell would you offer patio seating if the restaurant is located down the street from the airport?!
At least the margaritas are yummy and happy hour is affordable. Appetizers are also tasty, I like the fajita nachos.
Every time I go to the SJ Market Center, I think about how bad those carnitas were. I can still taste that nasty misc. meat... so revising down to 1 star.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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08/03/2008
Service was fine, much better than I was expecting after reading some of these other reviews. Our… Read more »
I may consider this location again because it is so convenient but I will NEVER sit outside again.
It was happy hour and the only spot left was on the patio. We couldn't pass up cheap drinks so unknowingly we headed out. It took forever to be served but what I really couldn't stand was the 12 planes making their decent into the San Jose airport in an hour and 40 minute time frame.
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I'm not a food snob so I don't mind eating somewhere that's cheap.
We came here because we were too lazy to grill our own fajitas and it was just the three of us (my hubby, daughter, and myself) so we said FUCK it we'd probably spend the same to cook our own meals.
So we came on Friday afternoon, it was during happy hour. The sat my family at a table in the bar area. Sweet $3 margaritas and appetizers...LOVE IT...So we order our food and our server gets our meals down.
20 minutes later she comes back and tells us our daughter's cheeseburger must have gotten stolen and taken to another table...HMMM... interesting.
So she comes back another 5 minutes with her burger and then we started to wonder. Where the hell are our meals. So she comes back to us and says "Did you guys want to see a dessert menu?" So I look at her with this look that said, "WTF are you talking about." And out of my mouth comes the words, "I'm sorry we ordered meals." Jon says what he orders and I repeat my order, and she replies: "I'm sorry I must have thrown the paper with your meals away."
Okay WHAT THE FUCK is that...Honestly. How the hell do you tell your customer that you threw their order away. Good way to make us feel fucken special. I mean what kind of BS is that. I know what to expect when I go to a place like Chilli's or Chevy's. I'm not looking for a fancy food presentation or my water to be refilled every time I put my water glass down, but I would at least expect my food to arrive at my table and not having my order thrown in the trash.
So then she asks us, "Would you still like your food?" I mean c'mon of course we do...You had us sitting here for almost 45 minutes eating chips and salsa. What kind of question is that. By this time I'm furiously annoyed. Hubby asks for his food to go and I got full off of being annoyed and chips and salsa.
Another 10 minutes later the restaurant manager comes with our bill and tells us our meals are free and in another 5 minutes hubby's meals come out. The server is apologetic, but really it's just plain STUPIDITY that she threw away the paper with our meals on it.
That's actually a first for me to have our order thrown away. Typically its fucked up or wrong, but never ever FORGOTTEN!
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Just came from a late lunch during Happy Hour and I have to say for being so empty the service is a little slow.
My friend and I shared a chicken fajita salad. I liked the presentation. They bring out the salad and meat separately and toss it right the table. Whoo hoo for entertainment!
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I went here for happy hour and of course I had a good time because the drinks and appetizers were $3. It was a good value because they weren't stingy or anything.
The restaurant is nice and clean, and the biggest problem is the management. Our server, Kathleen, was very nice and helpful, but she was obviously overloaded. She was forced to take care of several tables and was constantly running around. She got us our drinks and appetizers, but as expected, the service was slow. Our table was never cleared; so we had a number of empty plates and glasses taking up all the space. Our chips and salsa were never refilled.
Major Gripe of the Evening= they sat us at a table that could not accommodate our party. We were 4 chairs short even after squeezing 10 people at a table meant for only 8. When we asked for more chairs we were told that that wasn't possible. So we had people standing around our table, looking awkward. But when someone at the bar asked for a chair, they were immediately given one. HRMMMM.....
We also asked if we can move to a table in the general dining area (we were in the bar area), and we were told that we couldn't "participate in happy hour" if we did that. HRMMMM.....
This review only really deserves one star, but I upped it for the great value at happy hour and Kathleen's effort.
This one just recently opened in my neighborhood. Food is pretty standard, but I love their light crispy chips and salsa. It's addicting! During my recent visit, service was good and attentive. They have a pretty wide dining area, but the lighting was a little dim. I had their chicken and steak soft tacos which black beans and rice. The black beans actually had flavor unlike some places that are bland. Wouldn't mind going back.
After watching a somewhat lackluster concert at music in the park, my hungry friends wanted to sit down and have some mexican food. It being rather late we came to the only solution: Chevy's.
I had already eaten several meals prior and I didn't want to seem like I was taking up space so I ordered a dessert. The dessert menu featured the most preposterous dessert I've seen at any restaurant. The "oohey gooey sundae" ($4.59) took up two thirds the menu with a great attention to exaggeration. Me being in a giddy mood, I ordered it.
The sundae is a diabetics nightmare. Three huge scoops of vanilla ice cream topped a brick of brownie to form a kind of South American pyramid. This structure is covered with whipped cream that is then covered in chocolate sauce and cajeta sauce (essentially dulce de leche or caramel). And it doesn't stop there, this monstrosity of a dessert is sprinkled with a good amount of crumbled Oreo cookies. Finally a kind of "trident" made out of fried dough tops the "hill" as if it were some kind of flag proclaiming its reign of terror.
Now I knew this wasn't going to be good. But I wanted to order something that would make me laugh as well as share. These two tasks were accomplished. Although I wasn't expecting the taste to be very average, it actually fell below my expectations.
The first big problem is the brownie. This this is as hard as a rock. It was by no means "oohey" or "gooey", more like "eewey". The ice cream was rather standard. You can get better ice cream from the grocery store. The toppings were a frightening mess that didn't really didn't balance each other out. If you want sugar then I guess this does the job.
Service was so-so, but was late so I can empathize with the wait staff. I'd probably go out of my mind too if I had to serve dumb ass customers laughing at a glorified sundae.
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Foods pretty straight forward.
I love their crisp chips and spicy salsa. I ordered the Guacamole that's made table side, and the server really did not know what he was doing. Seriously all of the ingredients are there, all you have to do is mash and stir. needless to say we had to incorporate all of the seasonings ourselves since everything was still in large chunks, especially the avocado. Shouldn't that be part of the training considering it's part of the service they provide.
I do love their sweet corn tomale thing... mmmm
I wouldn't say it was "bad customer service"....rather No customer service.
Issue #1 I asked for some straws and the ones he brought out were sticky as if they were dipped in coke and left out to dry for a day. I then asked for new straws and the waiter went back and brought out the same DAMN STRAWS!
Issue#2 Every time I go to a sit down restaurant I expect to get my water refilled, this place didn't ask me once if I cared for more water. When I asked for a refill it took the kid 10 minutes to get me a refill...but HEY gotta give the champ a thumbs up for remembering!
Those are my gripes for Chevy's on Coleman, as for the food it was aright. What else do you expect,...come on Its Chevy's
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The food might actually be a little bit better than the other San Jose locations, but the service is definitely worse. Note to servers: the larger the bill, the larger the tip, so maybe you want to check to see if your tables want a second round of margaritas? The weirdest part of sitting around for our food, then our refills, then our check was that we had a large number of red-shirted gawkers standing around staring at us. There must have been an extra twenty people standing there with nothing to do while we slurped on the ice melting in our glasses.
I'll go back because they keep sending me coupons in the mail, and I think they'll eventually get their act together.
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I rate it a 2 compared to other Chevy's. I could see this rating change once the service gets better. Newbies don't really know what they are doing and can ruin your meal. Yes, its nice and clean, but when your wait person doesn't know what is on the menu and could not recommend anything or inform you how big the lunch salad is versus a dinner salad, this place will only get 2 stars.
So for right now. 2 stars.
Chevy Flautas are my fav. They are light and crispy versus hard and crunchy. YUMMY. Watermelon lemonade was watered down too much. Just because its watermelon flavored doesn't mean it has to take the melon out of the watermelon.
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Food is tex mex so i hate when i read other reviews about how its not authentic mexican, duh! Food is good for the price and portions, honestly everything is pretty huge. Service is usually a hit or a miss depending on how busy it is, but honestly what more do you expect its not a high class restaurant. Their happy hour is amazing. what more can you ask for then $3 margaritas and apps. My advice is to order another drink when you're half way through yours because it takes awhile because it gets so crowded
I love this place.
Jen L. below has it right on why the problems are as they are. The servers are fine, but the management have their heads buried. I've asked and there is no real head manager, just 4 or 5 people with manager titles, who don't know their jobs.
The food is excellent, the waitstaff bust their butts to give you good service. The bar here is EXTREMELY SLOW!, so it's not your servers fault that your drinks take forever.
LOVE the Chili Relleno's and the picodillo beef enchildas.
I have a friend who works at this very location as well and i checked out Jen's review with her. It's all true. She pointed out she's down to 2 days a week on her schedule because they are so over staffed. So thats why people ARE standing around doing nothing. Example 18 on duty on a thursday night.
They CAN as Jen mentioned only touch their section, So they can do nothing for a customer in need. Also on the dessert menu comment, and rushing customers out. It's the companies policy to have everything delivered on a scheduled set of minutes to your table. 3 minutes to do this, 2 minutes to do this, you know the menus, drink orders, clearing the table etc.. if they don't they are reprimanded and could be fired for not following policy.
So let up on your server.. complain to management that it makes you uncomfortable and realize these folks ARE doing THEIR JOBS. On top of only making state minimum wage and that their tips also gets divided up with other staff members such as the bussers , food runners and the bartenders. It's not an IF they want to give it to them, it's REQUIRED by the company that they do even if the others have done nothing for them.
Try it out.. It's a good restaurant, the food rocks, and realize that it is a new restaurant with only half of the staff having experience to begin with.
Curses!
I visit this Chevys two days before they open and think I'll grab the coveted "First to Review" but the so-called friend I invited along beats me to it!
I kid, Rachel. It was great being a witness to Rachel's 2 week old daughter's first visit to a restaurant. It was significant that it was a Chevys since Chevys is how I came to meet Rachel and her husband. (Eight years ago Rachel saw my Kathy's Shrine to Chevys page: www.shrinetochevys.com and then we met up for dinner at... *drumroll please*... a Chevys.)
Anyway, I was somehow able to finagle an invite to this friends and family "dress rehearsal" for this Chevys two days before they opened and everything was FREE. Schweet! They even let me expand my reservation from 4 to 7 (not including two babies) when someone in our party had out of town guests. (Note: They also had a cool contraption for holding infant car seats, too.)
But onto the Chev:
Our server, Shelley, was superb. She was super personable and I hope we get her on every trip to Chevys. From the manager to the bus boy, the service was super attentive.
Food wise, the chips and salsa were great. No "salters" or "greasers" were spotted (or tasted) amongst the chips. The nacho appetizer was good and full of meat. The chicken taco in our Super Chevys combo was yummy as were the tomalito and black beans.
My only disappointment in the food was in two items in the Super Chevys combo that I don't think this location does any differently than the others. The beef enchilada is something that Chevys just shouldn't serve. I've never had it before so I imagine it's the same everywhere it's just... bad and has too much ground beef. The chicken tamale used to have better flavor when I started ordering it 10 years ago now the sauce is odd tasting to me.
It was nice visiting a public bathroom that had yet to be destroyed. This one had doors that didn't have big gaps in the stall door frames either. The toilets were oddly in the middle of the stall instead of against the wall. Loved how clean it was.
El Machino was a trip. It was a different operation that at other Chevys and the bags of tortillas are now put in a notched filing system not unlike my work in-box.
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It's like any other Chevy's I've been to, so I won't go into how the food is into too much detail. Their fajitas are good, comes with plenty of sides and the meat always has good flavor.
Funny enough I thought the service was excellent when I stepped inside for the first time since noticing that it has finally opened. Aside from our chosen server, there were two others who came around, took plates off our table and refilled our glasses. Maybe it's the fact that they just opened and want to get good word-of-mouth advertising, but it certainly was a surprise to see good service at this place.
I went to a pre-opening event here thanks to Kathy (http://www.yelp.com/us...) and was impressed with the airy quality of the restaurant. New eateries are always so delightfully clean. This location was showing the attention to detail you would expect of a soft opening. The bathrooms are nice, with paper towels and a trash right by the door. The tables have ample walking room around them. They have a special contraption for holding your infant car seat instead of using an upside-down highchair, which I always hated.
The staff is tries very hard. If you like this Americanized version of Mexican food (nothing is spicy), then I would recommend this location. It is at the far end of the Market Center from the freeway (opposite end from Trader Joe's). The top shelf margaritas are huge and yummy. You get a choice of beans. And the rice seems more tasty than at other locations.
Vegetarian & Vegan Report: Staff here doesn't yet know how to advise people. Cheese enchiladas are made with a meat sauce. Fajitas are made with butter. Tortillas are made with whey. Know what you can and cannot eat before coming here, because they will not necessarily be able to warn you about what foods are appropriate for your diet/allergies/etc.
I believe they officially open on Monday, June 23rd.
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This place is schizophrenic. If you're inside the restaurant proper, it's totally fine. Had lunch there a couple weeks ago and our waitress was fantastic. Food arrived promptly and tasted fine (btw, I'm not gonna bother reviewing the food. This is a chain restaurant after all.) If, however, you're in the bar, the service is ATROCIOUS. Absolutely and completely atrocious. Went once for drinks after work and it took forever to get a margarita and some beers. Then went back for lunch and had to sit in the bar. We were in a hurry and sensing that no waiters were coming around to help us, my coworker got up to ask the bartender if we could get some help. He said, 'we're in a hurry, can we get some help?' Her response? "Sir, we're all in a hurry" WTF??? Why do you go into the service industry if you're a gigantic bitch? We left and like Dani N. went next door to Panera.
If and until they can improve on their service, this place is off the list.
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This is both an agreement with the other reviews, and also in defense of the restaurant.
Since I work there.
I agree, all the things you gripe about are true. The bar is RIDICULOUS. We servers are not happy about that either. It is embarrassing to me as a server to have to apologize to my guests because the bartenders won't make drinks on time. Here's the biggest issue: unless you enter the drinks into the computer, they won't make them. The problem is when an order DOES go in the machine and they LOSE it, they won't make another until you ring it up again. Then you have to find a USELESS manager to take the drink off the bill.... this causes your drinks to come out slow, and your check to come out slow.
About the gawkers in the red shirts. The managers have NO idea how to run a restaurant. At 4:30 when the restaurant is its slowest there will be 9 servers on. WHEN NO ONE IS IN THE RESTAURANT. The hired many 18 year olds who have never served and don't know what they are doing and they have WAY TOO MANY people on at one time. Not only does it make it awkward for you, but for us too. We're bored. We aren't supposed to be all over tables that aren't ours, and when no one has tables to serve themselves we sit around. Its not our fault that our managers can't make a schedule to save their lives.
About the dessert menu being dropped off too early for you. Get over it. Now you're just nit picking. We are REQUIRED to give it to you. Our managers WATCH US to make sure that we do it, and if we don't we get in trouble. So sorry..... but get over it. It's a menu.
About the servers "rushing" you. Perhaps you take us checking back with you and trying to clear your plate and offering you dessert as rushing. In this case, sorry.... but we HAVE to do that. We have to check on you, the second you finish we have to take your plate and we have to give you the menu. I think you're kind of a whiner.
The servers have no control over the food, how long the food takes, the temperature of the food.... none of it. So don't blame them or take away from their tip for these reasons. It's not their fault. It's the kitchens fault. I don't make your food.
About the quality of the food... its a chain. It's the same everywhere, and its CHEVY'S, what do you expect?????????
Not only do I have to deal with a slow bar and kitchen, but RIDICULOUS management who sexually harass the women, can't schedule, and is constantly "too busy" (gawking at women employees) to help with any issues that we have.
You also have to understand that it is a NEW restaurant. Everyone is still trying to get their crap together. Obviously none of you have never worked in food service or you'd cut us a break.
And if you have these problems, why don't you discuss them with a manager so that the crappy server you had can know what he's doing wrong and can fix it so the next whiner doesn't have to deal with him. Ever think of that????
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Service killed me at this place on our second visit to this location - the waiter literally rushed us in and out bringing us the dessert menu right as we started to eat and then bringing us the check before either of us could finish. Talk bout rude! I can see this happening at lunch on a weekday, but on a weekend night when you're trying to relax it's HORRIBLE!
We came here the first month they were open though and we had a much better experience with our waiter. Like many other chain restaurants waiters come and go and the service is always inconsistent.
As for the food - typical Chevy's. It starts great with the chips and salsa, the tortillas are warm, soft and fluffy, but then the food is always Meh. By the end of the night you're wondering why you even thought of coming here.
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we ate here two nights ago around 9pmish. This Chevy's location opened in the last month and everything is brand new. Service was great, food was great, drink refills and chips/salsa came to our table w/out us asking for more, over all we had a good time. We had ordered the mixed grill and the pork chop thing, both came on sizzling hotplates. Our server was very accomodating and made our dinner very enjoyable...
Against my better judgment of listening to the yelp reviews, I headed out to this Chevy's since it was just around the corner from my house.
At the beginning everyone but the waitress was unfriendly. The waitress was friendly when I ordered my alcohol etc but when I used a $3 off coupon of an entree and when my friend wanted to share a fajitas entree with her mom, she got really inattentive. When the check came, she dropped it on the table and walked off. Seemed like she wanted to send a message. Fine. Oh and when my mom in law got iced tea, she automatically gave her raspberry ice tea.When we asked her about it, she acted like that was the only iced tea available. When we had to go look for someone for a refill of the iced tea, it glass was refilled with the regular iced tea. When we were leaving the restaurant, she just looked at us. That's it. Do not eat at this restaurant unless you're taking out.
I should have listened to the prior reviews but I didn't. Please listen to the other yelpers and don't come and eat her. The staff stinks.
I love this place! I went there for lunch today. The waiters/tresses were so attentive. I had my daughter with me and they were so sweet to her. They were patient while she ordered her own food, they brought her a special little cup... A friend joined us--- we were talking away eating the chips they kept supplying us with and I got my food... it was about 5 minutes before my daughter and friends food came.... the manager came over and apologized that their food came so late after mine, he comped my daughter a free desert. We thought that was very cool, considering we really hadn't noticed the gap. I like this place- I will eat there over Chili's any day!
BAD Bad CUSTOMER SERVICE!! How is it when there are 6 Chevy's employees standing around twiddling their thumbs, including the Elvis look alike manager can they not offer a customer of their's a greeting? That is my first gripe!
Secondly we called at 11:30 for a take out item and when we went to pick it up at 12:20 p.m., they had barely given the order to the cook! Despite the fact they told my co-worker and I it would take 15-20 minutes tops!!!!
I can understand if it were possibly busy but when there are 6 monkeys in Chevy's shirts standing around, someone could have given the order to someone.
Also I think her name was Kelly, when this was brought to her attention she quickly went to blame her Elvis look alike manager rather than looking for a quick solution to an easily resolved dilemma.
Anyhow we left w/out our order.. And have decided to not return to this Chevy's again and suggest against this place to all who ask!
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I have just spent a long day at work and as I drive home I was only thinking about my 7am flight to Chicago the next morning. To kill some time and make my night go more smoothly, I decide that I would order take out from Chevys since it just opened by my house. I put in the call and get put on hold immediately. As I sit in my car, listening to their elevator hold music 8 minutes goes by. I would never sit on hold for that long on purpose but had completely zoned out during my drive. By the time I realize I am still on hold and I am irritated but decide to wait on hold just so I can speak to a manager. At 9 minutes and 50 seconds someone finally comes to the phone and I chicken out on complaining. So I give my name (2 times) my phone number (3 times) and place my order. As I am pulling into the chevys (roughly 8 minutes later) I get a call from Chevys asking me questions about my order because they didn't get it the first time. I hang up.
I really hate being rude but more than that, I hate being rude too. I was displayed no customer services. Instead I went to Panera Bread where I wasn't put on hold.
And just another testament to my character... I do believe this is the first bad review I have ever given in my 2 years on yelp. I am super easy to please and have a decently high tolerance.
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I haven't seen this many waiters at a restaurant since the last time I was in China. Although, they still haven't got the service part worked out. I recommend at least one drink or you won't be able to handle the wait.
That said, the food was good and I ate there a week after they opened. So maybe it will work itself out.
I had read Katheen's list about Chevy's, and saw her shrine to chevy's page, and it made me want to try it out. So, when this Chevy's opened by our house, I thought it was a perfect opportunity. We walked in and got seated right away, they seemed busy, but still had a few open tables and there were a ton of red-shirted waiters and waitresses. We got chips right away, yet another good sign. Then....we waited.... 10 minutes went by..... another 10 minutes went by....waiters and waitresses were buzzing around our table getting other people's orders, getting them drinks, but there we were, still waiting. The manager was even one table over from us waiting on an older couple, but didn't even pay attention to the fact that we were sitting there without any drinks. We sat there for over 25 minutes without anyone even acknowledging we were there or saying that they will be right with us or even giving eye contact where we could flag them down. We walked out without any service -- even though the hostess saw us leaving, she did not remark, apologize or anything.
If I could give this place 0 stars, I would.
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