Julio’s

Sadly, this location has closed its doors for good. I’ve been coming here since 1986. Sad to see this location couldn’t keep up with other establishments in the Old Market.

With a long layover in Omaha, my fellow flight attendant and I decided to go explore the market st area. We kept trying to decide what we wanted, but with both of us being from the south, we defaulted back on our favorite, Tex-​Mex food!!! We walked around and found this place. I’m really glad we stopped in! Our server, Amy, was very sweet and very helpful with recommendations. I absolutely loved their spicy salsa and spicy queso blanco! So good! Plus their homemade corn and flour tortilla chips were delightful. I ordered the «boarder war» burrito and I’m so glad I did!!! The burrito was HUGE! and very very delicious. Again, I’ve eaten at plenty of Tex-​Mex restaurants so I know good from bad and this burrito was among some of the best I’ve had. The shredded beef was tender, moist and perfectly seasoned. Now, for the side refried beans and rice, I wasn’t impressed at all. The refried beans were dry and bland and the rice wasn’t Mexican rice at all; seemed more like rice pilaf. I was disappointed bc I think the side dishes make up the entire meal as much as the main dish. All-​in-​all, I would go back to this place. The service was great, burrito was amazing and the chips and salsa were such a great start! If they fix the rice and beans, I’d give this place more stars. Cannot wait to come back to Omaha and eat here again.

We didn’t read reviews before we went but I’m surprised how bad the others are! We had the chicken fajitas for two and they were good. The pico de gallo was tasty. Chips and queso were good. Toddler got crayons to color and the waitress kept our waters full! Only negatives were all the smokers out front (could smell it inside) and the manager was overly chatty/​friendly when we just wanted to eat in peace!

Cleanliness 3
Service 3
Food 3
Likelihood 2
1 – 5 (5 Best!) 2.8
Just when I think it safe to return to this location, they reach a new «low». I feel for the employees, obviously the owner (s) have no care for the operation of their business. They were not staffed properly (front or back of house.)
We were promptly greeted, drinks came quickly, thank you. Food took over 30 minutes for the 4 of us. And that is AFTER the appetizer came. The order taker had to be flagged down to take our dinner order. There were only 3 other tables in the place that had been sat. The bartender helped with a few refills, but didn’t take orders.
The food was overcooked, chicken dry, hamburger dry, it was clear the kitchen staff needed help.
This is a VERY different experience than I have when going to the 122^nd and West Center Road location (not the same owner.)
If you want a drink and an appetizer, you will be safe. For a meal, you would be better off trying one of MANY great venues in the Old Market that can provide great food, and great service.

I have only had good food and great service every time I’ve visited. I recommend the Cowboy Enchilada (Smoked Brisket Enchilada, covered with queso blanco), Fish Tacos (I LOVE the Red Pepper sauce), or their BURGERS! I wouldn’t expect to find a burger of this quality at a Tex-​Mex joint, but the Smokehouse is to die for.
From my experience, just ask the servers what they like to eat. They’ll tell you good choices from bad.

Pretty much a little dive bar with great margaritas and nachos. Nothing impressive but it would do if that’s all you’re looking for.

Just missed happy hour pissed than a mofo. Food was OK.

This was shockingly bad food. Went there because we had a pinpoint voucher. No one was in there except a guy at the bar. Should have been our first clue to turn and run. The margaritas were watered down– extremely. The tacos had no flavor and the enchilada was dull too. Ordered Pacifico on tap and it was flat. It gets one star because the chips and salsa were decent and our server was ok.

Went to Julio’s for lunch today to use a pinpoint offer. I had the chicken taco salad. It was great and was served with delicious guacamole. My husband enjoyed his enchilada float as well. With the pinpoint offer we only spent$ 12. The service was very quick and the server was very pleasant.

I would give this place a negative five stars if I could. The worst management ever. Obvious that the bartender is running the place blasting her IPod in the restaraunt and yelling at the customers. God knows where the owner is. Sad because I used to enjoy this place.

Went to this restaurant with family because there was no wait to be seated. We had two small kids with us so that was great. Except that it wasn’t. We ordered our food shortly after sitting down. Nearly an hour later we got 3 of our meals, then over the next hour we slowly got the rest of our plates with probably 20 minutes or so between each one. We were very patient until the end when we still had not gotten two of our meals, which were both off the appetizer menu, so they were small meals, just a quesadilla. Seeing our frustration the waiter offered 15% off our next visit, as if we would come back ha! It took some arguing to get him to get his manager to take the 15% our current order. You would think if you had been there about two hours waiting for your food the manger would be willing to work with you a bit, but whoever the manager was couldn’t be bothered to even come out and talk to us.
Do yourself a favor don’t go to this restaurant. Oh and the food was so-​so. I’m still trying to figure out how it took two hours to get a chicken and cheese quesadilla.

I ordered the tacos with beans and rice and was shocked when my order arrived literally one minute after I ordered it. Which means that the food had probably been sitting around for awhile and wasn’t fresh. The tacos were not in a regular shell and were made from the same tortilla/​quasi chips and salsa I was served. I’m not sure what it was but needless to say it not a great taco shell– I had to eat my taco with a forrk as they were falling apart and impossible to eat by hand.
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Don’t mind me, I’m just here for the booze.
Based on the other reviews, I can’t say I’d ever order food here, but this is the pick up /​drop off point for the Omaha Patio Ride (highly recommended) so my first trip to Julio’s was at 4pm on a Saturday to hop on the wonder bike for a birthday party. We had a couple drinks, rode around, and ended up here for more drinks. Bartenders were nice, but of course that early on a Saturday they wern’t very busy either.
It definitely felt a little awkward that there were some people (also a family) eating dinner here while revelers were running around signing Patio Bike waivers, but I can understand Julio’s need to get some more traffic through here… whether it’s bar or restaurant traffic, cash is cash, right?
So if you’re thinking about a nice sit-​down dinner at Julio’s… maybe, think again. If you’re looking for the Patio Ride and margaritas, this is the spot.

I’ve been to the Old Market Julio’s twice. Both times, an older guy — the owner, maybe? — was bartending. He comes across as a little jerky, but I think he just has a loud voice and is a little awkward, so from the time you walk in the door everything is a little weird.
As a newcomer to the margarita game, I had a tough time deciphering the drink menu, which simply lists a variety of names with no accompanying information. The weird bartender was unhelpful when we asked him for assistance.
We ordered some guacamole which came out of the kitchen with a queasy brown-​green tone. It was very old guac. When we asked our waitress for a new batch, she stared blankly and acted almost offended, even though the guacamole was visibly bad. The second time it was at least fresh, but I didn’t like it, since it tasted less like avocadoes and more like, well, celery. My sisters ordered nachos and from what I could tell, the beans were so dry they practically crumbled off the top of the plate. Weird.
Also, the space is pretty small, and I imagine it gets pretty cramped inside during a rush. I’m not a fan, especially given the wealth of Tex-​Mex places in the Metro area.

This review is only based off of the nachos and the drinks.
I don’t think this place warrants a 2 star review, but it’s about 3, in my opinion. We stopped in here at the start of our patio ride and got some fun specials– jello shots, drinks, food were discounted. Why not? We both got margaritas (I got the mango one), and a «small» portion of nachos was actually gigantic.
The people here are super friendly, so I think that makes a large part of the restaurant. The rest of the food? I have no idea, but it’s a nice place to grab a quick bite to eat.

Being from Texas I was very apprehensive coming to this place and I was right. I know not to order authentic Mexican food here so I went with the brisket tacos where weren’t too bad. The problem was the rice and bean. These were absolutely the worst beans I have every had. My friends from Chicago said the same thing.
When someone from Chicago says it is bad Mexican food…’nuff said.

Ordered beef fajitas… not anything like I’m used to in Texas. They were served on a sizzling iron skillet, which is more than i can say for a lot of places. The tortillas were ehh. I ended up eating the pieces of beef with just the caramelized onions and peppers. The chips and salsa were not good. And my friend ordered the queso and it was soooo terrible! Let me tell you that I am a foodie. I love trying new foods and new restaurants, but this place was terrible.
And the margarita on the rocks tasted like a winecooler :-/​
Just don’t go.

Great service and good drinks.
The food is not so great. I’ve been here twice. Both times my food came out literally one minute after the order was put in. That’s not a good thing because you know that it’s just stuff that was cooked much earlier and has been sitting under the heat since then. There’s no way they cooked a fresh dish up in one minute. I don’t know what the rice is. It clearly is not Tex-​Mex or Mexican rice though. It was not good. The tortillas used for tacos appear to be the same in taste and texture as the ones that you buy at the grocery store. Not that that’s a bad thing, but these seemed to have come right out of the bag onto my plate without heating them up or toasting them, etc. They were just dry and bland and cold. The cheese is also some stuff right out of the bag and onto the plate. Not good quality cheese. The meat was very much lacking in flavor. It was all just sort of bland and boring. Seriously, it was exactly the kind of meal that I would make for kids to eat if I only had a few bucks to spend and went to the grocery and got a cheap bag of tortillas and some ground meat and a bag of discount shredded cheese. Everyone keeps telling me that Omaha is a «restaurant town.» I’m not getting that vibe.
Great chips and salsa here though. And again, the service is really good, but I don’t care about good service if the food isn’t going to be worth it.

Stopped in here last week since most of the good places in Old Market area were filled already, bad mistake. First clue should have been the lack of silverware or napkins until after our food was served and we had to ask for it. Felt pressured by the waiter to order an alcoholic beverage which I normally would in a Mexican place but was not planning on drinking that night. Seemed like he just couldn’t let it go that we didn’t want a couple of margaritas. Had a complimentary mixture of flour and corn chips that were below average, salsa was spicy and tasted fine. Ordered the seafood enchilada given it was Friday and they were advertising a Lenten menu. This was just down right bad. I understand Omaha is 1500 miles from any source of shrimp but they tasted of poor quality and had little flavor other than a slight fishy taste. Won’t be visiting again.

I’m sort of torn over how many stars to give this place. The happy hour special of $ 2 margaritas was great, and the drinks were good quality. The chips and salsa was pretty good as well. Things went downhill when my super cheese enchilada arrived. I’m vegetarian, so how can you go wrong with a cheese enchilada?! Rather than your standard enchilada sauce it had a watery soup like sauce that contained bits of hamburger?! I had to send it back and in return I got a tortilla rolled up with melted cheese in the middle, completely dry, which is basically a quesadilla in a different format. It was tough to choke down so I didn’t eat much. My boyfriend ordered a dish that had that strange rice on the side as did the other reviewer. It was like white rice or pilaf or something, not a good combo.
Anyway, I’ll go for the happy hour margaritas and chips for sure but not for dinner :(OH the wait staff was great too, no complaints at all there.