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El Jefe Cantina - Harveys Lake Tahoe, Lake Tahoe, NV

El Jefe Cantina - Harveys Lake Tahoe

3.5
3.5
112 Reviews
$30 and under
Mexican

Make a reservation

2 people
7:00 PM
Booked 4 times today
  • Lively
  • Great for creative cocktails
  • Great for happy hour
A casual Mexican dining and nightlife hotspot, El Jefe's Cantina restaurant in Lake Tahoe serves up authentic Southwestern cuisine, signature margaritas, and specialty cocktails in a lively atmosphere.

Dining areas

Additional information

  • Phone number
  • Price
    $30 and under
  • Cuisines
    Mexican
  • Hours of operation
    Fri 4:00 pm–11:00 pm Sat 2:00 pm–11:00 pm Sun 4:00 pm–9:00 pm Sun 2:00 pm–9:00 pm
  • Dress code
    Casual Dress
  • Parking details
    Hotel Parking
  • Payment options
    AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
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What 112 people are saying

Overall ratings and reviews

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

3.5
3.5 based on recent ratings
  • 3.4Food
  • 3.7Service
  • 3.4Ambience
  • 3.4Value

NoiseModerate

Review summary

AI-generated from verified diner reviews
El Jefe Cantina at Harveys Lake Tahoe offers a lively atmosphere with "excellent food and service." Guests appreciate the "super fast service" and "attentive staff." While some find the music too loud, the "delicious margaritas" and "big screen TVs" make it a lively spot to enjoy Mexican cuisine, especially for sports enthusiasts.

112 Reviews
  1. Angela

    Tahoe3 reviews

    5.0

    Dined on February 21, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Excellent food experience. Perfect wait staff. A little loud because of the TVs.
    El Jefe Cantina - Harveys Lake TahoeResponded on February 21, 2025
    Thanks for your review, Angela! We're glad you had an excellent food experience and enjoyed our wait staff. We'll work on the noise level from the TVs.

    Is this helpful?

  2. Dennis

    Tahoe1 review

    5.0

    Dined on February 16, 2025

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 4
    Great food, friendly waitress, service good value.
    El Jefe Cantina - Harveys Lake TahoeResponded on February 18, 2025
    Your review is appreciated. Great to hear you enjoyed the food and service at El Jefe Tahoe. Thank you for your feedback.

    Is this helpful?

  3. Dale

    San Francisco29 reviews

    3.0

    Dined on January 18, 2025

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 4
    4. Ambience 4
    It was good, much better after a few coctails. LOL
    El Jefe Cantina - Harveys Lake TahoeResponded on January 21, 2025
    Thank you for sharing your experience at El Jefe Tahoe. We're excited to hear you enjoyed it, especially with a few cocktails!

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  4. Louis VIP

    Chicago14 reviews

    3.0

    Dined on January 12, 2025

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 2
    4. Ambience 3
    The server seemed inexperienced serving appetizers with no plates. I had to find her to get plates. My meal came out first and then later my guests meal came out and was wrong and needed to be sent back and fixed. Be prepared that everything is very spicy.
    El Jefe Cantina - Harveys Lake TahoeResponded on January 13, 2025
    Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We will take your comments into consideration.

    Is this helpful?

  5. Jody

    Tahoe1 review

    1.0

    Dined on October 28, 2024

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 1
    When we arrived it took forever to order and they were out of everything. We ended up walking out after waiting an hour for our food. DO NOT EAT AT EL JEFE’S
    El Jefe Cantina - Harveys Lake TahoeResponded on October 30, 2024
    I am very sorry for any inconvenience you experienced during your visit. I greatly value your feedback and will be sure to address the issues you have brought to my attention.

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  6. Colton

    Houston1 review

    1.0

    Dined on October 28, 2024

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 4
    Received our corn. COLD. my husband never sends anything back. Brought it back microwaved. Our bites were still in it. There 2 hours. Never received our entrees. Tried to blame it on being slammed. Tons of open tables. Lots of people left. So did we, but still had to pay for chips and corn and r yrs drinks we wouldn’t have gotten if we hadn’t of waited so long. 90.00 and no dinner!!!!!
    El Jefe Cantina - Harveys Lake TahoeResponded on October 30, 2024
    Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We apologize for the experience you had during your visit. We strive to provide excellent service and quality food to all our guests, and it's clear we fell short in this instance. Your feedback is valuable to us, and we will use it to improve our operations and prevent similar issues in the future. We appreciate your patience and hope you'll give us another opportunity to serve you better.

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  7. Beverley

    Tahoe1 review

    2.0

    Dined on October 5, 2024

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5
    Food was stale dry carne asada otherwise serve and people were great
    El Jefe Cantina - Harveys Lake TahoeResponded on October 9, 2024
    Apologies for any inconvenience with the stale carne asada. Thank you for your feedback.

    Is this helpful?

  8. mickie

    Tahoe8 reviews

    3.0

    Dined on September 22, 2024

    1. Overall 3
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 3
    Nothing special about this restaurant. The service was not good. Typically get complimentary chips and salsa, but not here. We ordered some and the server didn’t bring them out until we asked the manager about them. Got them about 3 minutes before our meal and still had to pay for them. Prices are “normal” for being in a casino in Tahoe and the portion sizes were big, could have definitely shared a meal. Will probably never eat there again.
    El Jefe Cantina - Harveys Lake TahoeResponded on September 24, 2024
    We apologize for the inconvenience you experienced during your visit. Thank you for your feedback.

    Is this helpful?

  9. Dana VIP

    San Francisco13 reviews

    1.0

    Dined on September 15, 2024

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 1
    The hostess was rude and couldn't find our reservation. She almost gave our table way. The food is nothing to brag about. I would never eat there again.
    El Jefe Cantina - Harveys Lake TahoeResponded on September 18, 2024
    Please accept our apologies for the experience you had at El Jefe Tahoe. Your input is valuable to us.

    Is this helpful?

  10. Billie

    Sacramento1 review

    1.0

    Dined on September 13, 2024

    1. Overall 1
    2. Food 1
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 2
    Food terrible. Fish tacos were tough & dry. Could not eat. Husband had steakburger. Bun fell apart like old stale bread. Sever never came back until we asked for ck.
    El Jefe Cantina - Harveys Lake TahoeResponded on September 14, 2024
    We're sorry to hear about your experience at El Jefe Tahoe. Thank you for your feedback.

    Is this helpful?

FAQs

El Jefe Cantina - Harveys Lake Tahoe is rated 3.5 stars by 112 OpenTable diners.

El Jefe Cantina - Harveys Lake Tahoe does offer gift cards which you can purchase here.

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

Make a reservation

2 people
7:00 PM
Booked 4 times today
Google Map for El Jefe Cantina - Harveys Lake Tahoe

18 US HWY 50 at Stateline, Lake Tahoe, NV 89449

Dining areas

Additional information

  • Phone number
  • Price
    $30 and under
  • Cuisines
    Mexican
  • Hours of operation
    Fri 4:00 pm–11:00 pm Sat 2:00 pm–11:00 pm Sun 4:00 pm–9:00 pm Sun 2:00 pm–9:00 pm
  • Dress code
    Casual Dress
  • Parking details
    Hotel Parking
  • Payment options
    AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Visa
Gift card

Gift card

Send gift cards instantly by email or print to present in person.

Send a gift card
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