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Jose's Court Room

The Happy Hour Reviewer

Jose’s Court Room is a dimly lit, bustling Mexican eatery and bar situated at the north end of La Jolla’s posh shopping district on Prospect Street. I ambled in just as a Friday evening sunset was torching the sky to a hot pink, scoring a table near the bar with my dining partner.

A basket of warm tortilla chips hit the table almost immediately, followed by a dish of fresh, chunky salsa with enough raw onion to make my nose twitch. We ordered the Happy Hour special, a $4 margarita that comes blended or on the rocks.

The margaritas were bright green–maybe a touch heavy on the sweet-and-sour¬–but with the happy crowd, boisterous music and salty sea air breezing through the open windows, I was in no mood to complain.

The appetizer menu¬ ranges in price from $5.99 to $10.99 during regular hours but offers $2 off during Happy Hour. With the help of our friendly server, we decided on their new-to-the-menu carne asada fries, calamari strips and cheese crisp, bypassing the flauta, chicken wings, veggie platter and potato skins.

We sat on comfy stools at a rectangular belly-up table topped with ceramic tiles, watching the Padres game on the television screens and the steady stream of people coming through the door from Prospect Street.

Our food arrived without much of a wait, considering how busy the restaurant looked. The calamari strips were carefully arranged in a row, covered in a slightly spicy, homemade crumb coating that we amplified with some fresh lemon squeezes and a quick dunk of sauce. Calamari is a basic bar-food staple, and Jose’s Courtroom gets the job done without much fuss. I would have preferred a slightly crunchier crust, but the overall taste was satisfying.

The carne asada fries looked like a steaming pile of nachos, only with big, soft fries instead of chips beneath the heaped servings of cheese, sour cream and guacamole. The carne asada arrived in little tiny squares, warm and fresh-tasting. My dining partner thought the dish could have used a slightly bigger meat portion.

My favorite, for sheer novelty, was the cheese crisp: a UFO-shaped slab of toasty flour tortilla covered in melted cheese and topped with prim mounds of sour cream, guacamole and salsa fresca. To eat it, we broke off chunks of crunchy tortilla and scooped up the good stuff.

Jose’s Court Room gets a lively mixed crowd of families, tourists, couples and singles during Happy Hour, and offers a relaxed, beachy atmosphere without the pretentious fluff that sometimes shows up on Prospect. The location is also ideal for after-dinner walks to window shop or stroll by the ocean.

Happy Hour runs from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m., featuring $4 margaritas, $3 Dos Equis drafts, $2 Bud Light drafts and $2-off appetizers. Early birds and parties of four are more likely to land the best tables, which are right by the open windows with a great view to the street.

The Happy Hour Reviewer

Happyhour reviews from one of our experts.