Carmen’s Place

Terrific skinny margarita while scrumptious chorizo and angus beef burger with chipotle sauce was prepared. Comfortable indoors and outside on the deck overlooking the street. I will come back here.

Good food, bad service, and unclean restroom. My wife and I stopped here for lunch. We walk in and stand there for a while before I ask wether they’re going to help me or should I just take a seat. They said take a seat and they also took my drink order. After waiting for 10 – 15 minutes for me beverages I walked in and asked for them and also placed my order. We got our food about 15 minutes later, ate then I walked in to pay considering no one ever came to our table to help at all I figured I would have to that myself as well. My wife used the restroom while we were there and told me after we left that the restroom was unsanitary which didn’t help there case. My overall experience of Carmen’s was disappointed and dissatisfied. Will not return.

Hey Carmens… If you’re going to allow PCT hikers to use your deck, how about telling them to knock off the noise after it gets dark? Julian Hotel guests get tired of hearing the F-​bomb every 15 seconds. I don’t expect much out of them, but I do expect business owners to understand the concept of PEACE AND QUIET. And I’m curious, does your business permit allow a dozen people to spend the night on your deck?
Everyone should stay away from this place.

Carmen is very friendly and the prime rib on friday is worthwhile. This is a rural town so dont compare to the city, but for a good meal while in Julian, it’s great!

We liked this place!
The food was good (we ordered Mexican food, not the dinner specials).
Hubby had the chile verde & according to him, was the best he has ever had in a restaurant for the following reasons: spicy verde sauce & lean but tender meat.
The owners were serving that night (a slow Saturday night) and everybody seemed to be in a good-​enough mood (this comment is based on the other Unilocal reviews regarding bad attitudes).
The ambiance seemed modern and minimalistic, which was fine by me. I noticed that they close at 7pm (the entire town of Julian closes early), but that people were still arriving at 6:55 and being seated.

The Mexican burger BLEW. MY. MIND. the chorizo and Angus combo was awesome and the cheese melted on TOP of the guac was a great twist too. Cool outdoor patio atmosphere and dog friendly too. Rest of the food looked great too (especially the nachos)

So stop by this place for loom at an old young friend of mine while is riding is delightfull kitchen, always with the silente control of miss Carmen, and I really did enjoy that they let me staying in the kitchen watching tham prepare some simple delicious food :-), the prime rib slowly oven roasted with mush potato and sauteed bacon corn where outstanding at plus you can have it with the all baked potato … And more disches where coming out the kitchen with a simple visual decoration because everything on those plate are made for be eat :-) grill blackned salmon, fish tacos, carne asada burrito … A nice fusion of Mex Baja American «Jered» kitchen style … I’ll love it to see this young cook exspress himself in his best way ! So I give him a 5 Starr, plus I’ll thank Carmen and the great patience of the bus girl … Blanka. Love this place and the smiling heart of the people working in here.

Great extra special BLT sandwich and salad was the perfect lunch for the two of us. Great bacon avocado and cheese in the BLT. Friendly service. The table next to us got a burrito and it looked like it would feed four people. We’ll be back.

The only place open for Christmas and we were starving. Small historic building so the lack of seating was understandable…
We sat outside, there’s 2 heaters not omitting much heat but we were starving so we decided to just get it over with. I wish I took a photo of the menu but I didn’t wasn’t much on it to choose from. Husband picks the 2 tamale plate I pick Colorado chile something, Son 1 has ½ grilled cheese, son 2 has kids quesadilla 2 Apple ciders, 2 hot chocolates, 2 Apple pies was the original order.
Cider & hot chocolate come out but wasn’t very «hot» almost room temperature. Food comes out and is decent but not for the price. My plate stated «spicy» but had no was bland at best. We finish our food and no pies… It’s cold, I’m not gonna wait around for the bill or the pies so I go inside and chase my waitress down. Cozy and warm inside. I’m not typically an impatient person but with 2 small kids in this weather I just wanted to get outta there. I tell her the pies never came out and we’ve been waiting on the bill. She says sorry they’re busy and its short handed and I think to myself ok that makes sense, it’s Christmas. So I order 1 Apple pie (we REALLY wanted to try Julian pie… IN Julian), 2 cappuccinos and 1 hot chocolate… to go. I thought it wouldn’t take long since the pie is really the only thing that needs to be «made» but waiting on our to-​go took about 25mins! She rings me up and poof there it is 20% gratuity automatically added… The final bill $ 99.85. Seriously??? $ 77.05 for «food» 6.16 tax? And 16.64 for gratuity! Apparently it said due to Christmas there’s an added 20% gratuity. We live in San Diego, I could have bought BETTER tasting food for cheaper! Won’t be back sorry.

Price gouging? Really? As one of the only restaurants open on Christmas, they charged me $ 8 a piece for a kids bean and cheese burrito??? Why? Nothing else came with it, and the cashier, when I said $ 16, really? She replied, «it’s Christmas.»

WHERE to start… we were stopped on the road by a nice lady advertising this restaurant. We were skeptical but thought to give it a try. Upon walking in we realized this place really CANNOT accomadate a party over 4. Our party of 5 was stuck in two tiny tables right by the cold door.
Upon looking at the menu we realized this place really has no theme. A restaurant needs to choose a style of food and perfect that style. Mexican/​Burger joint just ain’t working. Also, it is NOT cheap by any means. We all chose to share plates because the prices were ridiculous, ALSO she charges $ 2.50 if you choose to share. UMM WHY? In what world does a restaurant charge their customers to SHARE the same plate?
To the food. I got the Carne Asada Fries with my sister and it was below par to say the least. It was a very big plate but the fries weren’t great and the steak was just little burnt pieces smothered in all of the sour cream on the plate. Would NOT get again. My party also got the Avocado Burger and the Chili burrito The burger was dry and had to be smothered in ketchup to be edible. The fries unseasoned. And the burrito was almost too spicy to eat and barely had anything inside. Food just all around not great especially due to how much we paid for it all.
NOW THE KICKER
THE SERVICE
OH LORD!
Carmen? Go to management school or Something! Learn how to speak to customers and hire better staff! When we walked in we were told to «just sit over there.» The young waitress brought chips out and said she would have salsa right out as well but we ended up waiting so long that we had to ask again for salsa. After 15 minutes of sitting there we were finally asked if we wanted something to drink.
The owner took our food order and she was rude as hell. Rudely corrected my friend on her food order and couldn’t smile to save herself. Also, while taking another customers order, there was a table that asked her for water and she threw her hand up and said «hold on I’m helping these people!»
Throughout the meal we were barely offered refills on our drinks. I got a snide remark when I asked for water instead of another lemonade. We were all just so extremely baffled that the OWNER of this business could be so rude!
I hope our small tip showed you how much we disliked your business and I hope people read this and decide to walk a little further!

We came to Julian to pick apples at one of their many apple orchards and we stopped by Carmen’s Place for lunch. Venue was small, service was good not great as they got Ty’s order wrong. However the lady did let us keep the carne asada taco and still brought Ty’s original order which was a beef enchilda. I had the «California Fries» or carne asada fries and I have had better, I personally prefer thinner fries not steak fries when I order CA fries. Anyway service as far as attitude and speed were fantastic our server was very friendly and accommodating to us switching seating a couple times.
Watch, like, and subscribe to our video at Carmen’s Place on our Vlog of our day in Julian.
Don’t forget to check out my review of Julian Apple Co. home to some of the best apple pie on planet! here on Unilocal

My wife and I went there to get something to eat. We were seated relatively quickly, but our waitress never took our drink orders.
Another waitress walked by about 10 minutes later and took our order.
We waited another 15 minutes, still no drinks. Mind you, all we wanted was a Dr. Pepper and a Coke. I finally was able to flag down a waitress and ask us for some waters. I finished that after about 10 – 15 mins and waited to see if anyone would come by, but no one showed.
A young man asked if I would like more water and I kindly replied I would. My wife looks over and not two minutes after he asked, was spotted sweeping up the patio and walking around.
We left after a grueling 40 minutes of zero service. The water and chips/​salsa were good, though.

Food: Really good.
The highlight of the restaurant, which is definitely a good thing! We split the steak fajitas and like the menu says, it’s enough food to share with two people. A little on the pricey side (on the menu for $ 22), but not too bad when splitting the meal. Also, the salsa that they give you with the complimentary chips was FANTASTIC! (Pretty spicy though, so be aware of that)
Service: Fine.
Nothing too notable here. The waitress came out a tad slower than we would have liked because we were pretty hungry, but nothing to really complain about.
Atmosphere: Mediocre.
For being in such a cute little town, the atmosphere of the restaurant, whether inside or out, wasn’t incredible. Also, the flies around the outside patio tables made eating there a little less pleasant.
Overall: Would recommend.
If you’re looking for good food (which hopefully you are, cause you’re on Unilocal), I would recommend you give Carmen’s a try!

My husband and I took our kids here for lunch yesterday, not impressed. The service was less than desirable. Our waitress did not know any answers to any of our questions regarding the food. Every time we had a question her response was I don’t know. This was the most she ever talked to us. She left us waiting for long periods of time and it took quite awhile to get our check. They were not very busy. The food was not good I had the BLT and the bread had a weird taste to it and the fries were dry and flavorless. I will say my kids loved the apple sauce and it was pretty good. I think the terrible service sealed the deal for us on this restaurant. We regret the money we wasted on the meal and don’t recommend the restaurant.
While we were waiting for our check the lady that was behind the counter the whole time we were there had come out and was talking to another table of diners and we overheard her saying «people will do anything to get a free meal.» It is always better to hear a restaurant wants to satisfy the customer and not assume people are trying to rip them off. Waste of money.

The rude response I received from Carmen herself I have attached to my review for everyone to see. Clearly Carmen didn’t read my 4 star review I first wrote that included helpful hints. Standing up for your lousy servers doesn’t sit well with me. Also this is not how you approach your paying customers. In late 2014 California was not in a state of emergency due to our current drought. There is NO excuse on your lack of «free» water. When a table of 8 people which included 4 children asks for water it needs to be served. When out side is over 85 degrees fahrenheit and your server brings back 3 glasses and no straws that’s just rude. When your server can’t properly refill our paid soda orders in a timely fashion, that’s just rude. When we dined that day for lunch we spent over $ 100 at your establishment and Carmen you were there we all saw you standing around watching our unsatisfied faces leave your resturant and you did nothing as the owner. I should not have expected any more from your response written more than a year later. As for your so nicely put comment (insert sarcastic eye roll) stating your building is historic, well, that’s the only reason we visited Julian in the 1^st place was to check out the history. I’m sure that’s the reason most people visit your small city. It doesn’t cost much to add a few air fresheners & monitor your restrooms properly. It has nothing to do with the architecture. Seems like the rest of the businesses on that street was able to maintain a non stinky, baby poop smelling restroom.

I received a response from Carmen herself sent in the form of a «compliment». It does not change my one star rating of the restaurant because she did nothing to rectify the previous situation. Her response was unprofessional and uncalled for and, as a business, she should be responding to reviews with her Unilocal business account not as a regular patron.
Yes, we had a bad experience, yes, you deserved the one star review, yes, you could have made things better by commenting objectively, perhaps I would have upped my review a star just by seeing how much Carmen’s cares for its customers.
A small business, such as Carmen’s, thrives only if there’s positive word of mouth and good reviews. Ya gotta up the ante, Carmen, take suggestions from your patrons seriously, rectify them and give them a reason to return.
You can see a screenshot of her response below.

I’m giving 2 stars mostly because of the service.
Service: Came in with my BF for breakfast to an empty restaurant to wait for at least a couple min to even be acknowledged. Our waitress was an older grumpy lady who seemed offended when I ordered a large O.J. to share with my BF instead of us each ordering our own. She only seemed friendly & attentive to the locals. Lastly a simple «thank you» goes a long way… we waited & waited for our bill & finally had to go to the register to ask for it. Our waitress rings us up & then just walks away, without saying a word. Not cool!
Food: We ordered the county potatoes which were good, toast which wasn’t even toasted… not sure how one messes that up. Eggs, bacon & pancakes with caramelized apples. The pancakes were just ok, the real winner were the apples.
Julian is a lovely small town without that many options but there are other places to eat. My BF & I wanted to give Carmen’s a try in spite of the bad reviews. You would think that the wait staff at Carmen’s would be a little more appreciative of the business & not so meh!

Walked in right behind another couple. They sat closest to the register and we sat by the front window. There are a total of 9 tables inside and only 6 were occupied. The couple closest to the register got their menus and chips and salsa within a couple of minutes. We had to go get our own menus. The waitress brought us chips after about 10 minutes of waiting. If my other half wouldn’t have gone up to the register to order a drink I would have walked out.
Someone came and brought us water (I had to go to the register to ask for that) and when the young lady brought my other half his drink I ordered mine as well. I asked her if she could send the waitress back to take our order and she did. This entire process took 20 minutes.
So far… service SUCKS!!!
The chips are stale but at least taste like they are good when fresh. Salsa is nice and spicy just the way I like it. Some of the wines on their drink menu they don’t even have.
I ordered the chicken enchiladas with mole on the side. It came with beans and rice. I saw the cook on break… he’s Hispanic so the food was legit. The enchiladas were my fave! They were really good.
I don’t like to be a jerk when rating places, but how people make you feel in their establishment is a big deal. The food is almost secondary. So… here it is. This was the only place in the small town that didn’t have a long wait for food and now I know why. It’s unfortunate because the food is good. The main face of the place needs to be replaced… she’s a rude, grouchy human being. I overheard conversation with other employees and apparently everyone knows she’s that way.

Is there an option for ZERO stars?! worst service ever. after being seated (we seated ourselves, no greet) we get chips and then… nothing… we even watched as they served and greeted other customers in for a taste of julian event & customers leaving. We waited and waited and watched as staff hung out at the register (two gals on their PHONE texting) **see photo! We then decided to just leave! I don’t even think they noticed! Actually made eye contact with one of them and still nothing!
We were in town looking for a possible rehearsal dinner for a friends wedding and this place just got checked off the list!
I’m saddened I had to experience this in my first trip to this city! Ugh!