Vaqueros

07/08/2008 Posted by EricSmith333

I had to take time out of my busy day to tell everyone how thrilled I am with this place. I have now eaten dinner here twice in the past month and I had lunch today. I had the Filet Mignon for dinner and it was the best I ever had. I asked the server why their steak was so much better than anything I've ever had before and they explained the difference between USDA and Certified Angus Beef (CAB). CAB costs a lot more and for good reason I've found out. I went to the store to buy this meat and only Nob Hill and Gene's sell it... and it's twice as much as the USDA choice. My wife had the chicken with rice and also loved it with the Persian twist of Saffron on the rice. Weeks later we had to go back to see if it was just a fluke thing but were blown away at the quality again. This is our new favorite place and I went by for lunch today to see how it was and was so impressed that I'm now writing this review. The lunch specials are ender $10 and the dinner prices are reasonable, too at under $30... even the filet mignon. You also have to check out their bar and try the chocolate, raspberry martini.

Pros: Quality, value

12/02/2006 Posted by awells70

I haven't been able to find a good steak for a decent price in the South Bay until I went to Vaquero's last night. Excellent. San Jose isn't exactly known for it's cuisine but this was as good as it gets for me. The service was very accomodating and the full bar (great Bloody Marys) a big plus! Definitely will be coming back. PS....my date had the ahi tuna and loved it..so if you're not into beef you may want to try that!

Pros: Great Steak, Friendly Service, Full Bar

Cons: Busy parking lot, a little cramped

09/23/2006 Posted by rimini13

What an awful first-time dining experience. We are an ex-New Yorker and an ex-L.A. girl, so maybe we are used to a lot higher standard and have trouble finding decent food in San Jose. Vaquero's is not it. The highly touted calamari were served on a greasy paper towel, in a basket six inches off the ground. Weird experience. They melted cheese on top of it for some reason. The thing lumped together in a goopy mess, and for the first time ever that I have eaten fried calamari it tasted fishy. My partner had the carpaccio, which was sliced so thin there were large gaping holes in it. The sauce and condiments were slathered over it, completely upsetting the balance. Way too much sauce. Way too much price for what you got. Who is in charge of presenting this food, anyway??? He was quite happy thought with his duck entree. I sent my filet mignon shish kabob plate back. I should have realized something was going to be wrong when the girl asked me, "How do you want you meat done?" Excuse me, but isn't shish kabob the same everywhere? Cubes on a skewer and it's charred like crazy. But this arrived like a long slim piece of Thai satay. Was it even a filet mignon cut, I wonder, the thing looked flattened out like a skirt steak. The taste was distinctly sour. Either the marinade or the beef were off. I wasn't going to find out. I sent it back and decided to order nothing else. We are always amused at what people in San Jose call "good dining." We have yet to find a decent Thai place, New York style pizza? Kiss that one good bye too. Los Angeles is even starting to look good to us again, that's how bad we think the food is up here. Vaquero's is overpriced, miniscule portions, poor tasting food. What do you expect from a South American style place (with thought it was Chilean judging by the flag, but our waitress didn't know from a hole in the wall) run by Persians? In a word, eeeewwwwww!!