El Jefe's Taqueria - Symphony

Nice friendly staff, had the breakfast burrito and it was okay, the potatoes were a bit raw and the meat was a bit dry but still was a good deal for breakfast. The Mexican breakfast has two burritos so perfect to share with a friend.

Nice little spot if you’re looking for some whole foods. Very reasonably priced, I paid $12 for a bowl of food with rice, beans, pico de gallo, steak, and lettuce. It was very fulfilling. Sometimes there are lines but the staff does a great job at moving quickly. The restaurant itself isn’t very big and while there is the option to sit inside, it’s limited.

I’ve had a frustrating experience at this location. According to their posted hours, they close at 3 AM. However, both times I visited recently, I arrived around 2:35 AM and was told by the security guard, Jason, that they were already closing at 2:30 AM. What’s more frustrating is that I noticed other people still being served inside while Jason said they were closed. This has happened twice now, and it feels unprofessional and inconsiderate.

Overpriced and the food is dried up and definitely not worth it. Employees barely speak they just point and DONT listen to what you are asking for. Food was warm and not hot. Definitely will not be returning! Anna taqueria is WAY BETTER & food is always fresh ! Anna’s can teach them a lesson or two when it comes to food!

Jefe’s Taqueria is a great spot for quick, tasty Mexican food. The burritos and tacos are fresh, customizable, and generous in portion. A big plus is that extras like guacamole and plantains are included at no extra charge. The service is fast, and the place stays open late — perfect for a late-night bite. It can get crowded and noisy, but overall, it’s solid value for the price.

Great service and better food. I ate the food so fast I couldn’t even take a picture. Their steak burritos are my favorite.

Wonderful place! I'm so grateful to the excellent staff, who were very accommodating to my temporary inability to speak! The food is good, but not unbelievably good, although I certainly have no regrets about coming here!

Impressive steak tacos at the burrito place! The ambiance had a gritty Gotham City vibe, and the crowd, mostly young, was a bit rowdy. Quaint decor, basic furnishings, and efficient chefs behind the counter. Despite the slow food delivery and a slightly high price, the delicious taste makes it worth the wait.

My friend and I stopped here for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. I grabbed a salad bowl with carnitas, black beans, plantains, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, and hot salsa. The lettuce was sitting in water to keep it fresh, so a lot of it pooled at the bottom of my bowl. Otherwise, everything was pretty good. They don't charge extra for toppings, which is more than I can say for many similar casual TexMex places.

Food is a 5/5 - The plantains are a great add to the bowl. Service 2/5 - Unfortunately isn't the best and the employees are not very informative. They charged me about $2 for a side of jalapeños when I asked for them on the side of my bowl. Ambiance/Interior - Vibes around the devils hour and dead in the night.

Stopped at El Jefe's for a quick midday meal, but honestly can't I say I had much to write home about. I ordered a plate with half chicken and half steak and a few toppings. I decided to skip the rice, but this cost me. The portion was about half filled :( I was under the impression that the other ingredients would compensate for the lack of rice base. Flavor wise, the meat was very good. The serving of jalapeños, however, was un proportionate and overpowered the whole bowl. I love my food spicy, but it was a bit too much. The guacamole was tasty, but the portion was also very tiny. I won't give up just yet, I'll just know to get rice next time for a heartier portion.

DONT DO IT!!!!!! Ordering online was fast, easy and expensive Literally was delivered within 25 min after ordering, HOWEVER.... The $18 Burrito was COLD AND DRY Was not made w any of the stuffings I asked for.... (Sour cream or guacamole Won't be ordering from them again!!!

I'm absolutely shocked at how much I enjoyed my food here - I was expecting it to be mediocre college food but was very happily surprised to find out that this wasn't the case. This location is near Northeastern campus, so it's busy seemingly almost any time of day. We visited for a late-night dinner and were able to order almost immediately. Our server was nice but didn't seem to understand all of my questions - luckily I was able to get some correct answers from the cashier. Not sure if it was a language issue or if it was just too loud in the restaurant, but not a huge deal. I ordered a custom bowl with steak and it was absolutely delicious. The meat was fresh, tender, and well seasoned. The toppings complimented each other very well also -- I just wish they filled the bowl a bit more! I was able to try my partner's al pastor burrito and it was also incredibly good. The meat especially was the star of the show, and I couldn't get enough. I'm sad I'm only finding out about this place now.. I'll definitely be back soon!

I used to love El Jefe's but this place has gone downhill :( it's always so busy with Northeastern kids and I don't think the employees are always ready for crazy volumes of people. They used to serve big portions, but now they only give you one tiny scoop of meat. Not worth paying $14 for just a big bowl of rice.

Disclaimer I am not from Boston and am used to really good Mexican food so this is just not the same but for the area I think it's pretty decent. I had a carnitas quesadilla and the meat was generally good albeit a little dry. Flavor was a bit bland but there was enough moisture to where it was edible. The cheese blend and amount was good but the fajita veggies I had included were basically raw inside the warm quesadilla - that's not fajita style! Anyway they did put platanos inside the quesadilla which is hard to find these days. I had sides of guac pico and black beans. The first two were surprisingly good and flavorful but the black beans :((( tasted like they came straight from a can. Overall if you're going off of like really flavorful authentic Mexican I'd say this is a 2/5 but I'm not sure how much good Mexican is in Boston - based on other reviews it seems like this is one of the best spots in the area so 3/5. It's really not bad just pretty bland. Get some hot sauce ready!

Hot but entirely flavorless food. Two stars only because one star is reserved for eateries that you report to the Board of health. Would actively avoid El Jefe in future. Unfortunately we were in the area and famished and needed "food". This was provided. Shrimp tacos could have been a random protein. Chicken quesadillas tasted of velveeta. Never again!

I'm only giving two stars because I love El Jefe's and their Harvard Sq and Boston Common locations are wonderful. The workers are very considerate with the portions and friendly. However, I came to the Symphony location for my usual super quesadilla and the worker put barely any cheese... on a quesadilla. I asked for more cheese and he responds that it'll be extra money. This cheese was covering maybe one fourth of the tortilla. Once I receive my quesadilla, the tortilla wouldn't even stick together so everything fell out and I had to just eat with a spoon. I was genuinely really really disappointed and couldn't even enjoy it whatsoever because it all fell apart and I ended up throwing it away after the first lousy slice.

I was on a quest to walk the Southwest Corridor roundtrip, and had a rumbly in the tumbly, and decided to pick up some chorizo & carne asada tacos from El Jefe's--unfortunately, there was inevitably another type of rumbly in the tumbly, if you know what I am saying... :/ I kinda had a feeling after taking a look at the different proteins, toppings, etc. that it was possible the food, even though warm, had been out for a lil while. Maybe a return trip/visiting another location could yield a different result...

The food is just really poor. This was confirmed in two visits. It's the worst Mexican place I've been in the Boston area and I've leaved here for close to 40 years. Service is fine and friendly. Maybe the food is adequate if you're stoned?

My friend recommended this spot to me she swears by there burritos! So I came by 12/11/22 for the first time ever! I ordered the Burrito carnitas (Pork) Mexican Rice Black Beans, cheese and Pico de Galo (mild) with Sour Cream. Double Portion of pork. Also got the drink called Horchata it was good it was semi sweet. The burrito was so so good the pork was tender well seasoned and not overcooked, the rice was fluffy not hard the beans where delicious sour cream well proportioned with the pico de galo very very good! I will order again! The staff where friendly and welcoming the restaurant was clean and had space to eat inside if you wanted to. The staff that prepare your food in front of you know what they are doing and seem like they enjoy serving the customers!

This place has the best Mexican food I've tried in Boston so far! I got the vegetable quesadilla and the portion was huge and definitely worth the price. The restaurant itself is very clean, the staff is super friendly, and the food is great quality!

It's a simple layout restaurant. I came in for lunch for the first time and it was great! I ordered a quesadilla and added clinatro rice, cheese, chicken among a few other toppings. They had a good amount of toppings and sauces to choose from. If you love pepper sauce you would love it here. I never seen a restaurant with such a wide variety. What I really loved was the fact you could add as many toppings as you want including a protein of choice. Most places charge for the protein so that was definitely a bonus. The staff were friendly as well! I plan on visiting again.

Excellent burrito! Such a great portion size and flavor. Majestic. I'll be back very soon.

I have become obsessed with this Taqueria. I go about once or twice a week. I have now visited all locations, the food is flavorful. Decently priced. You get 3 tacos for 9$. They are packed and full of goodness. Man I want one now writing this review. So many ad ons to choose from. Always a great crew on duty. I just joined their rewards program. Had I known this before. ‍ The Harvard Sq location is 24 hours.

Good food. Service a little difficult. Packed house. Free chips when you leave a Google review!

GUESS WHO's BACK?!? BACK AGAIN.... Yesss if you read my last review I was tight that they removed El Jefe from the Doordash app in my zone. But they're back!!!!!!!! LEEEETTTTSSSSS FUCKING GOOOOOOO!!!! WOOWOOOOO!!! Okay I'm hungry. Gonna order some rn. Thanks guys!

Sure the staff might get your order wrong every other time, but it'll still taste good, and it's for a good price. Plus they're always open til witching hour so you can rely on them during your tough college times. One time I ordered the quesadilla for pickup and they forgot half of the things I requested to put in there and all of my sauces. But another time I got loaded nachos and they were amazing!! Lasted me two meals, I think it was $17 with unlimited toppings. I'd definitely get the nachos again. The horchata (drink) was not my favorite, way too sweet, but it was my first time trying horchata so others might like it.

I ordered a burrito at 1am because I slept through my alarm. But I was so excited to end up mad as hell! The burrito was huge so i'm like I'll be full until 7, nope I had to open the burrito up and pick around the rice because the rice was so undercooked. It wasn't even the bottom of the pot it was worse because it was rock hard which was very unpleasant. What I wanna know is why I paid $18 for something I could barely eat.

Love this place! Amazing food, vibe, atmosphere! One of the best taco places in Boston with chimichangas! Thank You so much!

The service and the food are pretty bland I walked in on a rainy Friday night, was the only person inside and the 4 employees were basically standing around talking amongst themselves paying me no attention. The one person who helped me I'm pretty sure had trouble understanding what I was saying. No one ever really acknowledged me or said hello. The food was basically a rip off of Chipotle but was pretty bland and nothing memorable. They do have lots of options in terms of food and tons of hot sauces but I was certainly unimpressed.

Great food and super busy, they could use a board listing the stuff you can add right there at the station but the food is great and open until 3 am!!

Food is delicious and the interior decoration is very welcoming. Def coming back :) There are so many toppings for your tacos... it's overwhelming, in a good way. :)

The food is absolutely incredible! I've been here multiple times and it's always great, workers are so nice too!

I had tried their Cambridge location before and enjoyed it so I was excited when I saw they opened a new location close to me. I ordered for pickup on a Friday for lunch and they had it ready for me when I got there. They didn't include my Horchata so good thing I realized before I had left, but they were very kind about it. I ordered the Taco Plate with Al Pastor filling and it was incredibly filling and relatively cheap compared to other similar Mexican restaurants. The Horchata was sweet but not too sweet and was a good way to end my meal. Would definitely come here again!

El Jefe's is a beacon of hope for every college student who needs food after all else closes. they are my pledge... my creed. they give me strengt... I give them positive yelp reviews

Absolutely loved the food! Really generous portions and the staff was very friendly and helpful. Great inexpensive quality meals at a prime location. Highly recommend!

Eat here!!! Do not get a burrito anywhere else in Boston! El Jefe's are all over the place and they have the best mexican food! I order from here regularly and always get the spicy ground beef. Just beware of the extra hot el jefe's hot sauce because it will melt your face (not necessarily bad but maybe get it on the side).

TLDR: 5 star value. Come all ye hungry college students. This is the place you want to go to be filled with delicious food. Portions are humongous and potentially last even two meals. The food is fresh and yummy with plenty of topping options - even more so than chipotle. Seating inside is limited. Even if you're not a college student this place is great for a quick meal!

great service and good communication with me. clean store and open late at night. Has a good food selection

Generally good food and fast and nice service. Open late for college students as well. Better than anything else on huntington.

Do yourself a favor and get some of their churros. Get the churro. That's it. I need not say more. They're freshly fried, rolled in cinnamon sugar, crispy, warm, and there's vanilla cream in the middle. You'll never get a Costco churro again. If you're bored and want to read what else I have to say, go ahead. There's a couple places to get your burrito or taco fix around here, but I have to say, this place takes the cake. First off, all toppings are free; not like free as in Qdoba quality and selection, but more so Amelia's but better! I got a burrito for myself and two churros to share with a friend. The toppings were great and there was a wide selection--of course I also got the FREE QUAC. The rice was well cooked and wasn't a blob of mush. The meat was also properly seasoned and cooked--no complaints ingredients wise. In summary, give them a shot, my only regret is that I ate so fast I forgot to take pictures.

Great place to get a quick bite after a night out!! They are open late, and they had all the options available at 2am. I was very happy with the service and the food!!

if you're looking for a quick place to pick up some mexican food, el jefe's is the place for you! i know so many people who are obsessed with this place, and i can understand why. -you can order for pickup through their website or in person. you can pretty much customize almost any of the options on their menus from fajita bowls to tacos! just be aware that anything you get on the side will be charged extra. -the service here is quick and the ordering process is pretty simple. the lines can get kind of long, but they seem to move relatively quickly. -there's a couple of tables to eat inside, but they're usually not that crowded. -both cash and card are accepted. 10/16/21 -mexican bowl: this is one of the most customizable options on their menu, and you can really make it as filling as you want. there's a wide variety of protein options and cold or hot toppings. i opted for pollo asado, mexican rice, black beans, corn, pickled onions, lettuce, onions and cilantro, fajita veggies, and guacamole. you can pack on as many toppings as you want for the same price of only $10.16 including tax! i was pretty happy with this bowl, but i felt like i had asked for way too many onions since the flavor was too overpowering. however, i really don't have any complaints about anything else. the portion of food that they give you is enough to keep you full for hours, which i appreciate. (4/5) overall, el jefe's is a great place to get some affordable mexican food on a regular basis. i can easily see myself coming back to try some of their other menu options! i'd highly recommend that you must try a mexican bowl from here.

I would come here every day if I could. Great value, HUGE burritos, quick service, and a fun environment.

It was okay. I appreciated the experience. Food came as advertised. I had not been in Boston in years was here for a quick family trip.

I did not expect too much as I was wandering around looking for food late (after 11) before returning to my hotel but holy crap: SO delicious. I'm gonna come back as soon as I return to Boston.

The food here was very good and flavorful. The service was fast and efficient as well. I stumbled across this establishment on a late night drive. I did remove 2 stars bc though the employees did what was required they looked extremely tired. One young lady was literally yawning while making orders.

I wish they added more meat in the burritos because it often tastes like I'm eating a burrito full of rice. Also, I think they should take more care with cooking the plantains because they often are not cooked through or fried when the plantain is ripe enough. I only order from here when it is late (past 10pm) and I'm craving food, I would not order here as a first choice. The portions are large and prices are cheaper than other places. I still prefer chipotle or Felipe's.

Amazing food. Good vibes. Super friendly service. I ordered the carne asada burrito and it was delicious. I recommend this place.

This review is based off of an Uber Eats delivery, but that doesn't change how great the food was. The quesadilla was crispy, and had just the right amount of cheese. The steak nachos was piled high, and covered in steak and cheese. The fajita bowl was my favorite though. There were so many customization options, and it was gigantic for only $12. All of the food was fresh, and flavorful as well. My only complaint was that they didn't have any drinks on their menu for delivery. However, even despite the drinks, it was easily a 5 out of 5 experience.

At first, my family and I we're headed to a different taqueria but decided to try this place out and it was a life-changer. As a taco connoisseur, it was some of the best tacos I ever ate from the sauce to the ingredients, it was outstanding. On top of that, the employees were incredibly patient and nice and you could tell that they were passionate about their work. Really, it's a great place for people to stop by if they want a quick and good bite.

Loved this place. Discovered it by accident late one eve. Great late night eats. Fresh. Tasty. Nice people.

Burrito at 1am deep in my burrito u can tell some this was messed up first bite i take a feel fuzzy on my toungue worst meal ever

A new pop up mexican restaurant on huntington ave , I swear I came here yesterday and it wasn't here . El jefe is taking on 2 Amelias taquerias within a 2 block radius. Bold move. I Got the tortilla soup which was loaded and pretty filling for only 5$, and a quesadilla which was good. Prices and portions seem standard compared to other Mexican places. The lighting was weak at the front of the restaurant making me think for a second it was closed. So far so good. Good luck el jefe

I've never been here physically, but I always order from this specific El Jefe's on UberEats and they truly never disappoint. The portions are amazing, and the food truly tastes so, so good. I can't even count the amount of times I've ordered from here, but I can't recommend this place enough! I'm so grateful for my roommate recommending this place to me because I can always count on their burritos to make my day. I usually get a steak burrito with Mexican rice, lettuce, and pico de galo. So, so good!

This place is one worth trying. Prices are very fair and the food is great. They don't charge an arm and a leg guac or other ingredients and the bowls always taste great.

I like it better than Chipotle and I would go more often if it was closer to me. The food is good, not overpriced, and there are plenty of options. They're also generous with the portions.

New spot in the Symphony Stop area. A positive addition to the breakfast and lunch time serving times in this location. Quite frankly I've only had the chorizo con Huevo breakfast burrito here. That's a plus. Real Mexican chorizo served not other type of sausage. The other ingredients look and taste fresh. Exception is the flour tortilla used in the burrito. Not hand made but good quality. Horchata also tasty. That is an acquired taste but recommended. Hope they expand takeout selection by the fall.