Papa Jose’s Union Cafe

Use to be good. Not know. My food was cold because it hadn’t been throughly microwaved through. Ground beef had no flavoring. Flour tortilla was heated up in a microwave because it was so tough to cut my burrito. No fresh food here. You’ll find better Mexican food around the corner at Taco Bell

This is a great place. We went in the evening, and received full table service. Apparently, its full service for dinner, but counter service for lunch. So keep that in mind.
We came for the sopapillas, the green chili and because of the positive Unilocal reviews. We were not disappointed. The food was awesome, and it was served at lightning speed. I got a combo plate, and was satisfied with all of it. Margs were good, on the rocks with salt as they should be, and on the table within a minute of us ordering them. I ordered my green chili «hot», and it was spicy enough to make me pause between bites. Delicious. The sopapillas, coated with sugar and cinnamon, were the perfect end to a nice meal. Don’t leave without ordering some.
The service was great. We walked in close to closing time, and our waiter was friendly and prompt. All in all, a great experience, we will be back for sure.

This is definitely not your typical restaurant, I felt kinda dumb because I didn’t know we order at the counter or grab our own drinks lol, but once I figured to out it was a good experience… The food is not traditional Mexican its more of a New Mexico style … It was good. I ordered the green Chile chicken enchiladas and rice. I can say I was impressed it was good decent food. I go there once a week now me and my bf enjoy the food fast service and you do it all yourself for the most part so no waiting on anyone else it’s nice!

After reading the reviews on the web about this place, we decided to stop in Saturday night.
We were seated right away, but when asked if we could sit at a bigger table, we were told those are reserved. OK fine. We took a tiny table against a wall. After ordering chips and salsa, margaritas and receiving menus we settled in to enjoy ourselves. Hold on!!, our chips were obviously NOT home-​made, definitely came from a bag. After the first taste they were soggy from humidity or something and the salsa also not homemade. Tasteless and bland.
They too were tasteless and watered down, if there was tequila in it, I couldn’t tell.
We were not impressed at this point. We discussed the reviews we had just seen and compared what we had just tried with them, not happy at all. The waitress never returned to take a food order after a good 15 min. She was to busy chatting with whoever was in the kitchen, I could see her and made eye contact several times, but to no avail.
We finally decided to leave. Even when we stood up to do so, you would think this action could have prompted her to come see what the matter was! NO!!, she just stood there watching us. My husband went up to pay for the drinks and told the cashier how we felt, she casually said, «Do you want to talk to the owner? He’s standing right here.» I had noticed the man she was referring to and wondered why he didn’t do anything about unhappy customers, but again-​no. As we left the restaurant a group of 6 – 7 women were about to enter. We told them about what had just happened, they too said they were first timers. Ultimately as we got in our van they turned around and walked away.
I can not, in all honesty, recommend this restaurant to anyone!

Pros:
Homemade chips, really good fresh refried beans, decent margaritas, house-​made chile rellenos (which were not whole chiles and just ok, so it balances out that they weren’t pre-​packaged), pleasant service (table service at dinner, counter service at lunch); good red chile (which is a rarity in Pueblo, the Green Chile Mecca). Also props for traditional Mexican music, which might be a little trite, but makes for much better ambiance than any radio station.
Cons: Apart from the relleno not being a whole stuffed chile pepper, I don’t really feel like complaining about anything here because it really was one of the better experiences I’ve had with Mexican restaurants in Pueblo. Jorge’s used to be great, but service and food have slipped a lot in the last few years. Mi Ranchito is certainly a contender. But Papa Jose’s is my new go-​to.

I had not been in here until I had lunch with colleagues recently. It is down the street from our Pueblo office and I will definitely be back. I give it four stars for what it is – a deli style (order at the counter) Mexican restaurant. Nothing fancy or pretentions, but excellent food at very reasonable prices — and friendly service to go with it. It makes a modest appearance from the street, but it is worth trying.

I love this place. It’s a little funky to order here at lunch (order at the counter, be sure not to wait in line before grabbing a menu — read it in line), but worth it. Great food, quick service, and very nice folks. Highly recommended.

Five stars for a friendly server and location on historic Union Avenue hence the gist of the crowd are friends/​family and don’t know anywhere else to go’ers!
Food was disappointing as far as the norm local faves. Get your GPS on and head over to Jorge’s in Bessemer or Mi Ranchito on the S. Side for some decent Pueblo Mexican food.