Uncle Julio’s Gaithersburg

This is one of our favorite place to eat inside RIO! Food is always great every time we go! The atmosphere is good! Absolutely love this place!

Worst customer service EVER… Me and my girls were sitting in the bar area we ordered 1 round of drink and appetizers. We waited about 20 mins for our drinks. Our drinks and food come out with dirty plates! Our server Raul never came back to check on us after he brought the drinks and food. He made eye contact with us but never asked if we wanted more drinks. All this is while he’s serving 3 other tables getting drinks for them left and right .
I asked to speak to a manager and he came over and was very nonchalant about the whole situation. Oh and the server (Raul) had the AUDACITY to come over and ask us what the problem was. He insisted that he came to Check on us when he NEVER did. Then he tells us that he’s going to get fired for it. I hope he doesn’t have that many complaints .! I will never EVER come here again. I’ve never experienced bad service like tonight. Now we’re at Paladar getting GREAT service!

We made reservations through OpenTable so only had to wait for a few minutes! The server was wonderful and the food tasty. I’m not sure it’s my favorite Mexican, but it’s great for a day out in the area.

It was a beautiful night and decided to go to Rio. The restaurant was busy and decided to sit in the bar area which is self seating. We waited 20 minutes before our waiter even acknowledged our presence. This is while everyone else who sat in the area after us was getting their food orders in. Another 20 minutes go by and everyone around us is now eating. I track down the waiter and he tells me he is going to send over the manager. Minutes later the manager comes over and wants to confirm our food order only to find out that the waiter just put in the order since he forgot to put in the order earlier. The manager was nonchalant which made me even more aggravated. Finally I told the manager that the meals are on the house. Food was good but the service and attitude brings down the entire experience. I’d be really hard pressed to eat their again.

Called in an order 30 minutes prior… And they tell me on the phone it’ll be ready in 15 minutes. I end up coming 45 minutes later expecting the food to be ready and the bartender gives me attitude saying we ordered 5 minutes ago… WTF!!! Never coming back…

Although I’ve been to Uncle Julios several times before, I feel like tonight was the best thus far. We had to wait about 30 mins because the area was super packed tonight, even for a Wednesday. The waiter was very sweet and personable. He recommended the carnitas Aztecs (a new menu item) and I’m so glad he did. The Pork was slightly crispy with a yummy honey based sauce. I didn’t talk for nearly 10 minutes after the food arrived because I was completely enjoying the sweet, salty taste of the carnitas. The tortillas are made there and make a huge difference.
Additionally, the chips are thin and crunchy. The salsa is roasted tomatoes and has a very mild kick with a deep, flavorful compliment to the light salt on the chips.
For dessert we shared sopapillas with ice cream. It was ok, but nothing that I will crave to have again. They came with a honey sauce that was a tad sweet for my liking (and I love sweets).
I walked away satisfied with our great waiter and good food.

Ever since the owners were replaced, the service has been awfully slow. The food is always fine, though.

Been here a number of times but have never left a review. This review is solely for my experience yesterday. Fantastic atmosphere on the patio for an outdoor happy hour. One of the best locations in Gaithersburg for happy hour and I would definitely go again just for the views and location. We went at 6:00 on a Thursday and there was plenty of seating outside.
However happy hour prizes aren’t all that. $ 1.25 off beer and $ 2.50 off other drinks. Except they didn’t mention the margarita of the day wasn’t part of that deal so we ended up paying $ 10 for that margarita.
We also ordered the steak nachos and while they were good they should not be classified as nachos — those are tostadas and a grand total of 10 chips on a plate.
Our waitress was fantastic and very friendly/​fast-​paced which we really appreciated. I got the frozen raspberry margarita, kiwi margarita of the day, and the nachos. All were great but prices were more than I would expect for happy hour

Gotta get the fajitas. I ve had them at both locations– Bethesda and Gaithersburg Rio. They are great. Very open and friendly atmosphere. I prefer Bethesda because closer but Rio is bigger and nicer.

This was quite a mother’s day lunch that was sooo good!!!
My children took me to Uncle Julio’s for authentic Mexican food for lunch today and I tell you i was well above the norm for Mexican food in the area; it was delicious!!! We started out with table side quacamole that was made to order, so we chose how hot it was, and salsa (that was said to be mild but had a slight kick) and tortilla chips and grapefruit margaritas for starters, yummy! i had the Benitos platter my daughter had Juanita’s platter and my son had shrimp tacos with a lobster tail, that he put together himself. The server was very attentive and checked in periodically to make sure that we had what we needed, and all agreed that the food was above the regular menu items that are standard at the usual Mexican restaurants (more like fast food). I anticipate visiting Uncle Julio’s Restaurant again and enjoying it just as much as this time

The salsa is very good, and the ambience is nice. As to everything else —
The waiter was very rude, especially once they found out that we were just in for lunch and wouldn’t be drinking. She checked in on us three times, despite the fact that we were directly in her path. A busboy served our food and even got us our drinks.
The food was meh at best. I have had better at Moe’s, and everything at Baja Fresh is of higher quality, including the temperature of the food (which was cold).
Everything was overpriced. Entrees started at $ 20+, appetizers and salads were in the $ 12+ range. Our lunch of a quesadilla, salad, coke, and soda water (which should have been free, but wasn’t) cost $ 40.

WORST EXPERIENCE. The night started with a 25 minute conversation to get a reservation. Within 10 minutes of being here the waitress spills the entire order of margaritas all over me. The bill came back with every order on it. Nothing was comp’d initially. The manager ended up taking my meal off after he realized and included appetizers. However, night amounted to a $ 60+ poor experience and ruined birthday party. The manager provided me with a printed reimbursement card with instruction to get my jacket dry cleaned and send in the receipt for their reimbursement. How often does this happen that UJ has a printed form for this situation? Employee training program needs to be reviewed. Won’t be returning.

Both the atmosphere and location are great. My friends and I have also enjoyed the chips that they served as appetizers as well as the dip. They have some good quality foods but it always takes a long time to be seated. When my friends made reservations, we would expect shorter waiting periods but that wasn’t the case. If you have patience to wait in line then this restaurant is for you.

Nothing really stood out for me here.
The complimentary salsa that came with the chips was pretty good. It had a nice, smoky flavor, but it was so watery it slid right off the chip. If you order the fresh guacamole, they make it in front of you which is probably the only exciting thing about ordering it in the first place.
The fajita platters they serve here are pretty standard. It has your usual choice of grilled meat (steak, chicken, etc.) and other fillings (guac, cheese, sour cream) to create your own tacos with the side of flour tortillas that come with it.
The food is nothing spectacular and doesn’t really stand out from the other Tex-​Mex places in MoCo, but it does the trick if you don’t want to walk all over Rio to find a spot to eat at.
My experience here was just average. The service was okay & the food was alright.
Uncle Julio’s hasn’t won me over yet. Maybe I just have to explore the menu a bit to find the right thing for me.

When I’m in the mood for yummy, reasonably priced, huge portions of flavorful Tex-​Mex food in Gaithersburg, this is where I head out to. It’s a typical Uncle Julio’s but the staff is so friendly and accommodating. I love this particular location since it’s also in the middle of Rio. Their mixed drinks are huge and so incredibly SCRUMPTIOUS. All in all, the food and ambiance earns this place five stars.

Two words: Swirl Margarita! Yup. A frozen glass of love! Where frozen margarita meets frozen sangria. My two favorite things! Ahh! That’s what I mainly come here for. This place is usually a pit stop along my happy hour bar hop journey. If I’m here long enough to sit down, I grab a quesadilla. Chicken and steak are my faves! They’re easy, delicious and you can’t possibly go wrong with one of those.
Tip: It’s usually pretty crowded on Friday, being that’s the most popular day for happy hour.

Amazing location, pretty interior and view, right by the waters with the huge geese and ducks. We didn’t get seated by that view, but we got seated by the tortilla station where we got to see the tortillas made fresh from scratch. Very cool!
We waited for around 15 minutes before we got seated. People there seem cheerful, and it seems to be a very versatile place such that it’s great for drinks and hanging out with friends, and also for a semi romantic setting if you get placed by the window to see the view of the water.
Prices are around $ 20 a dish, which is worth it for the fajitas, but not so much for a taco salad (~$ 16, around double the price compared to other places). Margaritas are around $ 10 each.
They give chips and salsa, and the chips were super fresh! Thin and crunchy, very delicious. The salsa was more or less room temperature, to the warmer side. The flavor was good that I finished the entire bowl.
I got their seasonal margarita, blood orange. It tasted amazing and if prices weren’t an issue, I would have gotten a few more.
We tried the asada fajitas, which came with 4 fresh tortillas, rice, beans, guacamole, sour cream, veggies, etc. My husband said that the taste/​flavor was worth the cost, which is a rare thing for him to say. A few pieces were a bit dry, but everything went very well together. It was a good amount of food, as he had one fajita portion left to take home.
We also tried the chicken taco salad. It came with avocados, and a generous amount of them. Mmmm!!! So good, around as good as the avocados are in California. The taco bowl shell came next to the salad, which was interesting. It was fun to crack with a spoon after a margarita.
The kids got the chicken tenders off the kids menu– yes, they are kid friendly as they had kids menus with crayons and such. They enjoyed it, and they loved seeing the tortilla machine in action.

Initially this was not where I wanted to eat at because Guapos had a very long wait time. I guess everybody wanted to eat there. Our wait time was under 20 minutes to be seated. It took forever and a day to get at least water and chips and some unknown substance to go with chips because what they served us could have not been «salsa».
Chips were A+ Light and crispy and lightly salted.
Salsa grade F: dark brown sauce with like mesquite flavoring. I was already missing my kitchen where I could whip up the best guac and salsa. My friend too was missing my hospitality. It was watery and very minced so each time you dipped it rolled off your chip.
A messy experience.
Waiter: never told us his name. Took our drinks orders, after my luck with drinks lately and I had to drive since I already seen MC finest already staked out all over Rio I decided on water. He comes by and we ask for refills on the drinks. He says ok and disappears!
Food runners drops off our food.
Food: very overpriced for what you get. I got enchiladas and he told me it was spicy but not that spicy, I told him I’m Hispanic I’m sure I can handle it. I’ll regret later on for saying that.
My order, ok. Presentation was ok it tasted ok, rice yuck, beans yuck. Once i started eating I must of hit some jalapeño seeds. My lips were burning and I was out of water and i see our waiter passing by without asking us how’s our food and I have to ask again, how about our water my lips are burning?! My friend felt so bad and she gave her water since she didn’t drink it. 10 minutes later I get my water from him. Go figure!
Enchiladas weren’t the best it lacked flavor, like adobo!
He never asked as how was our meal, it was pretty much tasteless and awful. We got our checks and there were errors. He took forever.
The manager of the restaurant just stood like he was a smiling statue never asked us or anyone how was our dining experience because I wasn’t the only one who was unhappy.
Overall I give this place a D very expensive and I’m sure if I ordered an alcoholic beverage I would have been disappointed.

The Chicken Fajita Cobb Salad wins on so many levels. Highly recommended.
FYI: Lunch time service seemed a little slow for our larger party (7 people). It took ~15 minutes to pay our bill.

There aren’t a whole lot of Mexican restaurants in Gaithersburg with waiter service so my friends and I didn’t have much choice when we had a craving for Mexican.
We came hoping to get some happy hour specials. Unfortunately, they don’t have food specials on happy hour and they only offered something like $ 1.75 off their margaritas… some happy hour special…
We started off with the guac and queso combo. The presentation was kinda lame — just a tiny bowl of queso and some guac slapped on the side. The guac didn’t taste fresh at all. You can pay more to have the guac made tableside, but c’mon, all your guac should taste fresh. The queso was pretty good though. I definitely wouldn’t order this again though. For my entrée, I went with the Carnitas tacos. Again, I was disappointed. I wasn’t a fan of the tortillas they used and the taco itself just wasn’t that great.
The only redeeming quality about this place was the complimentary chips and salsa and their Swirls (half margarita, half sangria). Sorry Uncle Julios, but mediocre food and mediocre service — I won’t be here again.