El Jaliciense

We practically moved to St. Anthony so we could be closer to this restaurant. Pretty much any occasion is a good reason to go to El Jaliciense!!!

The wait staff is terrible! They don’t check back with the table and avoid eye contact with customers every time I’ve been there. The chips, salsa & guacamole are good but that’s about it for me. I will only go back if it is my last resort. Oh and double check your bank statement that they don’t change your tip. I’d suggest to just pay cash.

After waiting 35+ minutes for the food (only 5 – 8 other people in restaurant at the time) only 1 out of our 2 dishes came. After that they never even realized that only one of us got our meals. After questioning the waitress she gave a concerned look but never said anything. 5 minutes later she came back and asked us what we had ordered again. At that point (1 hour after sitting down) i’d had enough and told them to cancel my order. They never even admitted that they forgot our order or apologized. Too much pride to admit mistakes or even acknowledge them. Sad

I was not expecting to have such a delicious ceviche in a rural Idaho town. I was pleasantly surprised. The shrimp was fresh and juicy and the flavor had a perfect combination of sweet, tangy, and spicy.
The only downside to this place is the service. I wasn’t checked on even once. I needed a new napkin and more water. That’s my only complaint, hence the reasoning for taking off a star.

Very good Mexican food and American also. There are not a lot of restaurants in the area let alone good ones. This is where the locals go and so should you. Good food, service and value.

Good food, service not so much. We were also done before anyone asked if we needed anything. They were not busy, there were 2 girls and 1 guy working out front. The girls seemed more interested in talking to the boy and each other than serving the customers. The food was hot and very good, I had a pork burrito and my wife had the nachos. Probably won’t come back to this one.

This is real authentic Mexican food. I wouldn’t say it is any better than the Mexican food in Rexburg but it was a nice change. It had a fun atmosphere and it looked like there were some friendly regulars that knew the waitresses by name. I got some carne asada tacos and my wife got enchilada, both dishes were delicious.
The only thing I had against this place was we waited a while to get a take-​home box. Given, it was extremely busy (a Friday night) but it shouldn’t take long to get a box. You also go to the front to pay for your food, they don’t bring you a check.
Other than that, our experience was pleasant and our food was hot and good!

Very tasty Mexican fare for the area (couldn’t get a meal in Rexburg because of the Mormon observance of closed businesses on Sunday), but I wasn’t a fan of the cleanliness I saw at/​around our table and in the bathrooms, which leads me to believe the kitchen is probably filthy, too. Keep up the delicious food and good service, but clean your restaurant, El Jaliciense!

El Jaliciense (or more often referred to as Tacos by the River) offers some pretty good Mexican food. Not quite authentic, but much better than any other Mexican food restaurant in the St. Anthony and Rexburg areas. After ordering they bring salsa, chips and an excellent warm bean dip.
We eat there at least once a week. Service is slow when they are busy because they don’t have enough staff, but it has always been worth the wait.
While you are there you have to order the deep fried ice cream.
Once pleasant surprise is their breakfast. Combination of American and Mexican items. Belgium waffles are excellent. So is the carne asada breakfast.

The food was decent, the price was right, the wait staff was friendly but… the place was filthy. We went in around 6:30 pm and almost turned around and left. Bits of food, chips, lettuce, and who knows what, were scattered all over floor as if they had just wiped table scraps onto the floor. A real turn off. Couldn’t really enjoy meal, worried that kitchen was in the same state. Two stars is a generous rating.

Best Mexican food in East Idaho! Lots of traditional, authentic Mexican dishes, as well as burritos, fajitas, and other standard Mexican fare. Big variety of food on the menu, and it’s not too expensive. Every table also gets fresh Chips, salsa, and beans.
It’s worth the drive to visit this place.

As everyone says chips and salsa are good, very fresh. You get bean dip as well, which was new for me. But, don’t fill your self with the chips as the entrees themselves are huge. We had spicy pork, pork, chicken in tacos, tortas and fajitas. Everything was delicious. May be lacking a bit of spice, but good overall.

Chips and salsa were great!!! Best I’ve ever had. They have really large portions. Quesadillas were good too.

When I used to live in St. Anthony, this was the place to go. Now that I’ve moved farther south, sometimes I just get a craving that can’t be satisfied unless I go there. I’ve called this place the «Bucking Horse» because I couldn’t pronounce El Jaliciense, but it’s good any way you say it. Macho burrito is the size of a small infant. Camarones Con Arroz is my ultimate favorite with shrimp fajitas a close second. Everything I’ve had there is amazing. Service is good and the beer is cold.

Perhaps I’m too trusting of other Unilocalers reviews, maybe it’s that I just have a weakness for Mexican food, or more than likely it was sheer lack of choice that gave me hope for a delicious burrito in a Podunk town in Idaho. Either way all hopes were dashed. After reading reviews claiming this to be «authentic Mexican» cuisine (basically because its not Taco Bell, which I guess is that only necessary qualification to idahoans) I at least expected something more restaurant quality than Taco Bell (which by the way is far more delicious than anything offered here,) however the Macho Burrito that I was served was bland, greasy and mostly in edible. So despite giving El Jaliciense the benefit of the doubt I have to give them a pretty poor rating. Service was much like the flavor of the food, no existent and quite disappointing. The interior and exterior of the building had a foul odor that almost turned us away. Hey at least the chips and salsa/​beans weren’t half bad.

Great food and great service. Will remember this place!

There is a wide spectrum when it comes to mexican food. There is your authentic mexican on one end, and then there is taco bell on the other. This is much closer to authentic. This isn’t a chain so in order to try it you’ll have to meander down to St. Anthony Idaho. It’s worth the trip!
El Jaliciense offers your standard mexican restaurant offerings, but high quality. I think we’ve all experienced cold beans, or greasy burrito before, but I find that’s just not the case here. One of the best parts about this place is the consistent quality. They have a wide variety of meals, and after multiple trips, I’ve yet to try something I didn’t like.
Their burritos are the size of a small child, usually smothered with cheese. One of the meat selections is «fried pork» and though that sounds like something you’d get at a county fair, it’s delicious shredded pork with slight crisp to it. Muy rico!
Sadly, because some patrons would come, be seated, eat chips for an hour and leave, they wait until you have placed your order to bring chips, delicious salsa, and hot refried beans.
(Side note: I never experienced the hot beans before I moved to Idaho. I’m sold on it)
It’s a small price to pay for food this good, but don’t think it’s because they aren’t friendly or hospitable.

I’m going to make this quick and simple. In the St. Anthony area there are not many choices for good food, especially Mexican food. El Jaliciense is cheap and it taste good. The lunch specials are mostly under $ 7 and you get a lot of food for your money. The service isn’t grand but it’s not poor either. I mean for $ 7 what do you expect?

Great food for a cheap price. Not stellar service but for a small town it wasn’t bad. Probably one of the better places I have eaten at in this area.

This has become my favorite place to eat lunch in St. Anthony. They have an unusually diverse menu for a small town Mexican restaurant. One of the unique things about El Jaliciense is the variety of meat options. In addition to the standard shredded beef, chicken, and ground beef, you can also choose spicy pork, chorizo, or the surprisingly good fried pork.
Every meal starts with chips, salsa, and refried beans. They have a good variety of combination lunch specials. The tamale and enchilada is a favorite. They also have some large burrito options that are pretty good too. A personal favorite is the Nachos Jaliciense– a huge plate of classic nachos with your choice of meat smothered in cheese and jalapeños (see my posted photo). It is by far the most filling nacho meal in the area. It could literally feed a small family.
The place is admittedly a little quirky. For example, several of the meat options are diced, which is quite unusual. They also serve a wide variety of hamburgers and sandwiches. While many dishes won’t qualify as purely authentic Mexican food, there are some regional dinner menu items that you simply can’t find in the trendy «fresh-​Mex» places like Costa Vida or Café Rio. The «Pollo a la diabla» (spicy chicken sauteed with veggies) and «Camarones Monterrey» (prawns wrapped in bacon) are really a treat.
Once a secret, the place is getting busy among the locals at lunch time, so come early to get a seat.