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El Jefe, Palm Springs, CA

El Jefe

4.4
4.4
40 Reviews
$30 and under
Mexican

Make a reservation

2 people
7:00 p.m.
Booked 6 times today
  • Great for creative cocktails
  • Hot spot
  • Child-friendly
Open for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner. Fine Mexican food from Chef Ana Sabatino make your taco dreams come true. Featuring a vast selection of Tequila and Mezcal, El Jefe has the most refreshing fresh fruit margaritas in Palm Springs.

Our menu goes beyond the typical Mexican restaurant fare by offering an enticing assortment of tacos, tortas and street-style food. Each dish is crafted with traditional flavors and made with the freshest ingredients bringing each guest an authentic culinary experience.

We love our neighbors. Show your local address to receive our Local VIP Card which will give you 15% off your bill anytime you dine with us.

Order delivery or takeout

Dining areas

Additional information

  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Price
    $30 and under
  • Cuisines
    Mexican
  • Hours of Operation
    Daily 7:00 am–10:00 pm
  • Phone number
    (760) 323-1711
  • Dress code
    Casual Dress
  • Neighbourhood
    Palm Springs
  • Cross Street
    E Palm Canyon Dr. & Sunrise
  • Parking details
    Hotel Parking
  • Public transit
    Bus Stop in front of hotel
  • Additional
    Bar/Lounge, Cafe, Counter Seating, Delivery, Dog Friendly, Happy Hour, Non-Smoking, Outdoor Firepit, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Takeout, Weekend Brunch, Wheelchair Access

What 40 people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

Reviews can only be made by diners who have eaten at this restaurant

4.4
4.4 based on recent ratings
  • 4.5Food
  • 4.2Service
  • 4.2Ambience
  • 4.3Value

NoiseModerate

Loved For

  • Palm Springs / Palm Desert Cities

    Child-friendly

  • Palm Springs / Palm Desert Cities

    Hot spot

  • Palm Springs / Palm Desert Cities

    Lively

  • Palm Springs / Palm Desert

    Child-friendly

  • Palm Springs / Palm Desert

    Hot spot

  • Palm Springs / Palm Desert

    Lively

Review summary

AI-generated from verified diner reviews
El Jefe offers a vibrant dining experience with "absolutely delicious" $5 tacos and "amazing" short rib varieties, perfect for Taco Tuesdays and Thursdays. Guests rave about the "fantastic" service and "excellent" cocktails. While occasional service lapses occur, the "yummy food" and trendy atmosphere ensure a memorable visit.

40 Reviews
  1. Scott

    VIP

    Atlanta Metro

    8 reviews

    5.0

    8 reviews

    Dined 4 days ago

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Taco Tuesday is the best! Will definitely go back!

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  2. Monica

    Las Vegas

    2 reviews

    2.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on November 29, 2024

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 4
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 3
    We've always loved the food here but tonight the service was not good. Our server forgot about the bottle of wine we ordered and had to be reminded more than 15 minutes after taking the order. During the entire length of the dinner our server would rarely check on us, never offered to refill our drinks which were visibly empty, and we had to flag down other staff to ask about missing dishes. When we were ready to pay and leave, the manager noticed we had our card out and had been looking around for our server for upwards of 10 minutes and came over to bring us the bill themselves. The food was very tasty, no complaints about that. The service made it so we will not be returning.

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  3. Thomas

    VIP

    Palm Springs

    48 reviews

    5.0

    48 reviews

    Dined on October 28, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    one of my favorites in PS great tacos and some of the best salsa I’ve had the margaritas are amazing too

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  4. Anea

    Seattle

    12 reviews

    4.0

    12 reviews

    Dined on October 26, 2024

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 3
    Food and service were decent but there was a hair in our taco. Reminder to wear hairnets please!

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  5. JP

    VIP

    Palm Springs

    57 reviews

    5.0

    57 reviews

    Dined on October 25, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    Always a great place for tacos! My favorite is the shrimp taco. Wedge Salad is scrumptious! Service is the best! Great staff!

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  6. Bill

    Chicago

    4 reviews

    5.0

    4 reviews

    Dined on October 22, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Wait staff friendly and happy to wait on us. Food delicious and plentiful. Parking easy. Atmosphere trendy. Will return

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  7. Jason

    VIP

    Salt Lake City

    3 reviews

    4.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on October 16, 2024

    1. Overall 4
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 2
    4. Ambience 4
    The food was fantastic. We went for $5 taco Tuesday and the tacos were so good! We ordered multiple rounds. The server however was very absent and service was slow on what did not appear to be a super crowded night. We would go back though.

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  8. JP

    VIP

    Palm Springs

    57 reviews

    5.0

    57 reviews

    Dined on October 11, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    Took a friend on their birthday. Didn’t realize it was $5 tacos on Thursday. Omg! Had the shrimp tacos - absolutely delicious. I was bad and had 4. Ordered the chips and guacamole - great appetizer. Guacamole was homemade as were the chips. Service was very good ~ fast, personable and efficient. Now if they would just sell their T Shirts! I want one.

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  9. Rebekah

    Los Angeles

    2 reviews

    5.0

    2 reviews

    Dined on October 4, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    The service was incredible!! Ramon was a gem, such a perfect way to celebrate a birthday!!

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  10. Samuel

    Greater Boston

    1 review

    3.0

    1 review

    Dined on October 2, 2024

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 2
    4. Ambience 2
    We went to El Jefe for Taco Tuesday and had a wonderful time. Food and drinks were excellent so we decided to come back for dinner again to get some more short rib tacos which are incredibly delicious, but this time was a much different experience. We were sat quickly by a lovely hostess, but did not get waited on for close to 15 min, despite other tables being sat after us receiving drinks before we were even asked for anything. Seemed like the place was understaffed, only 2 waitresses and 1 bar tender on a Friday night so we were trying to be understanding. Drinks finally came out after about 30 mins and my wife’s was not right, had a completely different flavor profile than when she had it a few nights before. Normally we never send drinks back but I wanted to salvage as much of this experience as I could so I asked to have it made again. We never received the remade drink despite asking about it multiple times due to the bar being backed up. Multiple large parties were sat in the other side of the restaurant and seemed to take precedent over the smaller parties in the front so that was disappointing. We then got some free entertainment when a couple of women who had a bit too much to drink decided to start yelling at each other and security had to be called. Despite all of this, the short rib tacos are amazing, some of the best tacos I’ve ever had and the drink I had(Pina Margarita) was very tasty. Hopefully this was just a staffing issue and luckily was not our first experience, otherwise we probably would not return.

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FAQs

El Jefe offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (760) 323-1711.

El Jefe is rated 4.4 stars by 40 OpenTable diners.

Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable.

Make a reservation

2 people
7:00 p.m.
Booked 6 times today

Order delivery or takeout

Google Map for El Jefe

1800 E Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92264-1617

Dining areas

Additional information

  • Cross Street
    E Palm Canyon Dr. & Sunrise
  • Neighbourhood
    Palm Springs
  • Hours of Operation
    Daily 7:00 am–10:00 pm
  • Price
    $30 and under
  • Cuisines
    Mexican
  • Dining style
    Casual Dining
  • Dress code
    Casual Dress
  • Parking details
    Hotel Parking
  • Public transit
    Bus Stop in front of hotel
  • Additional
    Bar/Lounge, Cafe, Counter Seating, Delivery, Dog Friendly, Happy Hour, Non-Smoking, Outdoor Firepit, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Takeout, Weekend Brunch, Wheelchair Access
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  • Terms of Use
  • Cookies and Interest-Based Ads
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