Banda, Mariachi & Chelas in East San Jose

It should be called Tacos Al Chingon, but “Tacos Al Carbón” is great place to start the party or end the party when you are going out in the South Bay. La Banda starts at 10pm on Thursdays. Marichi is the entertainment on Fridays and Saturdays. So while you are enjoying a cold Chela or a margarita with your Taco al Carbon, the music plays live in the background.

On the corner of Story & King in the Mi Pueblo Supermarket complex, Tacos Al Carbón is probably one of the most festive Mexican restaurants in San Jose but it also features some great food.

You can’t miss the Tacos. It's what they are known for but the rest of the food is amazing as well:

For example, they hand make all of their tortillas, Bistek ranchero - a thinly sliced slab of beef, marinated, grilled until the edges char, and topped with sauteed onions - and chicken smothered in a dark, deeply flavored mole. An entire page is devoted to seafood dishes, among them camarones a la diabla, shrimp cooked in a hot sauce that nearly overpowers the fat, juicy crustaceans.

Far more interesting are the seafood and specialty items, ranging from an octopus cocktail to lengua en salsa, (beef tongue in green sauce). Although the restaurant touts its whole fish, grilled or fried or the fried snapper is a great bet.

Tacos al Carbón

• Address: 1733 Story Road, at King, San Jose. (408) 272-3318.
• Price range: Lunch $2.25-$15.95. Dinner appetizers $7.95-$17.95, entrees $10.95-$45.95
• Details: Full bar
• Pluses: Hot hand-made tortillas, flavorful filete zarandeado
• Hours: 8 a.m.-midnight Sundays-Thursdays, 8 a.m.- 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays