Uncle Julio’s

Simply awesome. I love this place. The drinks are great and the shrimp tacos are out of this world. Granted the wait staff could be a little friendlier and not as pushy to get you out of here. But none the less I always have a great time.

A few days before Christmas I met with some old friends for dinner at the OO location. The service was good and the food was ok. Nothing special, and frankly a bit overpriced. I had the steak fajitas. I don’t know if my palette had evolved since my college days when my friends and I would frequent the original Uncle Julio’s on North Ave or if this location is just not up to par as the original one, but I was quite underwhelmed by it all. I’ll have to revisit the one on North Ave to be sure.

I keep coming back here and hoping the food will taste better. Sadly, it was just okay again. I ordered the tamales. There were 4 of them — I ordered 2 chicken and 2 pork. I should have ordered 4 pork because the chicken was so dry! At least the pork had good flavor. I also asked if I could order a Paloma drink even though they didn’t have it on the menu. Our server gladly obliged and it tasted good. The service wasn’t that great — our server didn’t check up on us much even though the restaurant had very few customers. I’ll probably be back because it’s so convenient to come here, but I hope the service and food will be better.

First time here, they told us there was a 20 minute wait and we got seated in about 10 minutes. Our server was super nice and helpful. I ordered beef enchiladas and they were absolutely amazing! I would definitely recommend to a friend!

I have been to this chain restaurant in another state, but this is by far the best one. It’s very clean and the staff is extra professional and nice. Very well done !!
I had Ulysses as my server and I was very impressed by him. I was dining alone so I notice a lot of little things most people wouldn’t if they were in someone’s company. Like management doing pass throughs and servers saying good bye to one another after their shift. Makes me feel like this is a professionally run restaurant. Well done ! WELL DONE.

I went to Uncle Julios with a coworker one night. There was about a 30 minute wait, which is fine. That’s what you expect on a Saturday night. After we were seated, we immediately ordered our food and drinks. We got the margaritas, chips and salsa right away and ordered the chicken and steak fajitas for two.
The food itself was alright. The rice and beans were not as expected. The beans itself were strangely watery. I honestly thought it was salsa until I discovered beans underneath. The rice was cooked well, but rather bland. But not everything was subpar, the homemade tortillas were delicious and the quality of the meat was superb. However, something was definitely missing. There was a certain flavor and kick that authentic Mexican food possesses that was lacking in this meal. It was overall a little bland and it only went downhill from there.
The food took an average time to arrive. Our server was a younger dark-​haired girl, not overly friendly or personable. She brought us a large serving plate with the fajitas, a container of tortillas and two small plates with the rice and beans.
We didn’t have any water or plates to eat on so she said she’d bring us some. After about 5 minutes pass of drooling at our food, we decide to use the tortilla container’s top and bottom as plates. It was a little strange, but effective. After eating for 5 minutes, still no water or plates. You would of thought that at this point we would have been slightly tipsy from the margaritas we’ve been sipping on for hydration, but nothing could have smoothed out this experience.
We asked a different server for water and he assisted us immediately. Halfway though the meal our server returns with plates and awkwardly apologies. She didn’t even come to check on us at all. I can understand if it’s a little busy, but there is a certain level of customer service that is expected. Especially when you spend $ 80 on a meal, you should expect plates to eat on, but apparently not at this establishment.

I’ve been here a few times now, and each time besides excellent company, the experience has been good, not great, and the food just alright.
This last time I came, there were olives on the seat in the booth. A number of the chips we were served were super greasy (some to the point of being soggy). Maybe food-​wise I should be ordering something else. This last time I had the enchiladas, which I had before and thought were good. This time, I ordered with the green sauce. A word to the wise: Don’t get it with the green sauce. A few of my friends ordered the salads, which were huge and looked delicious. Although all their salads seemed to come with a creamy dressing.
When I came in there were a number of people at the host stand, none of whom greeted me even though there were no other guests at the entrance. Our waiter on the other hand was excellent, he wasn’t overly friendly but he stopped by ensuring we were taken care of and filled our waters a few times. He also happily offered separate checks and gave them back individually by name. It’s the little things: D
Overall, one of the best things this place has going for it is the waitstaff and the location. Besides that, there are a few things that could be improved, what I’ve eaten here so far hasn’t justified the price I’ve paid (maybe it’s because I live so close to very good very cheap Mexican restaurants) but it’s a decent place for a meal.

They had my reservation and walked us right in front of everyone. My date was impressed for certain we keep discussing how I need to make reservations from now on for whereever we go.
I have been to Uncle Julio’s out in Oak brook Terrace before.
This location was a bit nicer as it wasn’t as loud as the Oak Brook location.
I recommend the EL Jeffe Margarita if you like salt and pepper. My date tried my drink but ate or inhaled to much pepper and ended up coughing. I loved it.
Always good Guac

When in a Mexican restaurant I expect Margarita glasses. Not a margarita in a water glass. SAD. I ordered a small guacamole. Oh boy, it was not small, it was invisible. Rice with the fajitas was dried and hard. Poor service and high prices. Location draws people but won’t for long

It’s a 3.5. The ambiance, décor is pretty nice in a HGTV meets Telemundo sort of way. Now this is evaluating the lunch meal only… so brace yourself. Initially, the prices seemed high but I have to hold back criticism because food has skyrocketed everywhere. I just ordered the simple pick three – tacos and enchilada. I mean really no problems here. Was it exceptional? Probably not, was it bad no. I like it overall and would probably opt to go here over the other options in the mall… actually I would given the crowd I’m with. I have to admit… I thought this was Lalos at first so bad on me.

Service has been great the two times I have been. I tried the chile con queso and really liked it. I had the lucky horseshoe which was so tasty! For entrees, I had the combination enchiladas which were beef and chicken. Chicken was better than the beef. I disliked the mexican rice, had no flavor and tasted like it had been sitting out for a while. My husband had the grilled fish tacos, the tilapia had absolutely no flavor to them. I would just enjoy coming back for drinks and chips.

I placed an order to go two separate nights.
The first night:
I wanted a drink so I asked if I could order to-​go and get a drink while I waited. The hostess said that was fine and directed me to sit in the bar area. I awkwardly sat down at a two top and waited. No one paid attention to me. I walked up to the bar, no one paid attention to me, so I went back to my seat at the two top. Then I got up and asked the hostess if I needed to do anything else — she said no, she knew it was awkward but I just needed to wait and someone would be by. I sat back down. A waitress zoomed by with a menu and said she’d be back with some chips and salsa. I tried to tell her I was ordering to go, but she put down the menus and immediately walked away. She then came back with chips and salsa and then I stopped her when she was trying to walk away again so I could tell her I wanted to place an order to go and get a drink while I waited. She awkwardly stopped and said that the tables were for full service and I needed to sit in the bar since the tables weren’t really for people ordering to go. She then proceeded to pick the chips, salsa, and my menu and moved it all to one seat at the bar where I had to squeeze in and sit in between two parties awkwardly by myself. I drank a couple of skinny margaritas, they were really good. I enjoyed the chips and salsa, they were also really good. It took my food a normal amount of time. The chicken enchiladas were okay — probably would have been better fresh at the restaurant.
The second night I ordered carry out over the phone and was told it would be ten minutes until it was ready. I ordered chicken fajitas so it made sense it would be quick. I got there exactly ten minutes later and proceeded to sit at the bar for twenty more minutes until I finally tracked someone down to ask them what was taking so long. As I was asking a hostess to check, the bartender came out from the kitchen, apologized for the wait and gave me my food. Almost thirty minutes after it was supposed to be ready!!!
TLDR; service is sub-​par. skinny margarita and chips & salsa are both good.

This place was an average chain type of restaurant. I came here with my sister, mother, and 2 young daughters. It was honestly between 2 to 3 stars.
The pros are its a clean, nice décor, and kid friendly restaurant. Also we had a good waiter and pretty fast service for Friday lunch hour.
The cons are the food! We got the queso/​guacamole combo appetizer, nachos, steak fajitas, and chicken fajitas. We didn’t get any special drinks just soda. It was tasted average. The best thing was the guacamole but it was served on top of lettuce I think they did that to make it look your getting more? The queso was like cheap yellow nacho cheese with cut tomato and onion. I can’t believe I paid $ 9 for that appetizer. It was not all that big either. The chicken and steak fajitas were not that tasty and the onions and peppers needed more time to cook so they Carmelized. The rice and beans were just average. Nothing really impressed me. I mean altogether nothing was horrible but nothing had a wow factor. Also another con was the price! our check came out to about $ 65 without tip which is pricey considering we didn’t really get special drinks, desserts, or kids meals.
Overall I probably wouldn’t come back because none of the food impressed me.

I went back to Uncle Julio’s, looking for Salmon tacos. Instead, I found a decent brunch.
Honestly, I didn’t expect to find a decent breakfast option, much less on a Sunday, nor, as it turns out, no wait! These sorts of things usually don’t happen anywhere near Evanston on a Sunday morning. Parking was difficult to find, though that’s normal for Old Orchard. In Uncle Julio’s however, I found a somewhat empty restaurant and a rather large brunch menu, complete with full bar options.
There is something immediately satisfying with the notion of eating spicy guacamole and chips while noshing Huevos Rancheros and a flank steak at the same time, especially when I remembered to bring my own ghost pepper powder to help heat it up a bit.
The menu selections were many, including breakfast tacos, something I haven’t seen since my days in New Mexico.
The service was prompt and reliable, and though you’ll spend a little more than you may otherwise intend to — just remember that good breakfast options in and around Evanston are difficult to find.

Some friends of ours really like Uncle Julio’s and while my husband and I aren’t the biggest fans, we’re usually ok with the North Avenue location.
This one was not nearly as good. The service was slow and the skirt steak tasted boiled vs grilled.
Here’s what good: «light» margaritas, grapefruit margaritas, chips (light and crispy), the side of beans and rice, grilled veggies on the fajitas
Here’s what’s not: fish tacos (very dry), the steak — again, tasted like it got boiled — i suspect it wasn’t dry enough when put under the broiler — and a broiler, btw is not the same as a grill, the cheese enchiladas — I SWEAR some of the cheese was american or velveeta, The cost — we spent 90 on dinner for two. Granted, we had 3 drinks, but seriously?!
I should know better as it’s a chain, but not one I want to waste money on. Ever again. I might be convinced to go back to North Ave.

When I first heard Uncle Julios was opening a location in Old Orchard I was psyched. Mostly because it meant fun GNOs with margaritas. Then I got pregnant, which meant there would be no margaritas in my future for at least 9 months. Although I’ll need them more then ever after #3 arrives.
After some back to school shoe shopping at Nordstrom yesterday we were ready for lunch. Our go to at Old Orchard is epic burger, but we were looking for something a bit closer to Nordstrom and ended up at Uncle Julios.
At 12pm on a Saturday there were plenty of open tables. And they were still serving the brunch menu. Breakfast quesadillas for me and chilaquiles for my husband. We kept it simple for the kids with kids quesadillas and a fruit cup. The kids were happy with their melted cheese and I thought my breakfast quesadillas were ok too (3.5 stars). My husband said his chilaquiles were gross but I was nice enough to share my very large portion.
Service wasn’t great. They ran out of kids menus which meant no coloring to keep my kiddos busy. Annd took forever just to get waters to our table. Food wasn’t fast, but we waited a little while.
To be honest I’ve never had a great experience at the city Uncle Julios so probably about the same, although I’ve used them for catering in the past which has been great. I’ll probably stick with this location for catering (and margaritas) too.

We made a reservation for 7 tonight and started off ordering a salad, 2 soups that were recommended by the waitress, a steak, a fish dish of some sort, a wrap, a few more dishes and a bottle of wine. Our total ended up being around 270 not including gratuity for 5 adults and 3 kids.
The food was average and nothing that really stood out. The rice that was provided along with some of our dishes was really dry.
The service was another thing to be discussed. We had quite a «strange» waitress. When we had just arrived and sat down, she said, «You’re supposed to say hello.» Who does that? And later on when someone in our party asked a few questions, she said «let me finish talking».
Later on when we were finished with our meal, she asked for us to «guess the bill».
I’m not sure if that was supposed to be a funny game of some sort, but I certainly didn’t share the same sense of humor.
The one thing that stopped me from leaving a one star review was when she brought out peppers when we requested for a spicy sauce of some sort.
Would I go to this place again? Not for the food and definitely not for the service.

ZERO STARS… steer clear…
omg, has this place gone downhill. if you want to ask for water 3 times, beg for more napkins numerous times, never get a chip refill (when you have a table of 6 sharing one basket of chips, they don’t stand a chance in the first 10 minutes), chase down your pissed off server — yep you’re lucky you even got a tip after slamming down my plate after i bitched to your manager about you basically ignoring our table every time we waved you down for that water… and finally, serving up our fajitas… then the accompanying tortillas 20 minutes later…
the portabella dunked in stewy beans (i.e. my veggie fajitas, sans tortillas) was boxed up then thrown out when i got home.
it was obvious that the service was bad and after getting the manager involved, no compensation?
STAY FAR FAR AWAY.

Sometimes you just need to decide between the food or the service…
The food is good, their chips and salsa are great. The highlight is always the fajitas for me as they churn out freshly made flour tortillas. The flavor is all there though the steak may be chewy, and the chicken dry. Shrimp is awesome though. Use the tortillas to clean up all that buttery goodness from the hot plate.
The servers are fantastic, our server was quite attentive, with my drinks refilled without me knowing, and was quite responsive and anticipated our needs.
So if I came at an odd hour on a weekday, I should have a fine time and would just rave about the food.
My gripe is with the front of the house. If you want to have a good experience, either have patience or come during the off hours. I am convinced the staff does not know how to seat parties of diners when the diners start rolling in.

My second time here on early Sunday night at 5:30 pm. First time was understandable, new place, new staff, getting its feet wet the wait was more than 1hr. This time, no more excuses.
Apparently you cannot make reservations and you cannot put your name on a list when there is no wait. So try calling ahead to avoid waiting even longer, and keep calling if there is no wait, as when I finally arrived, there was now a 30min wait after calling just 10mins prior.
A quick walk to the washroom revealed that there were several tables unoccupied, two 6 tops were empty for 40mins, 4 two tops, and three 4 tops were all available as I walked to the washroom. The hosting station does not have a clue which tables are available, and they just give random time quotes for people asking how long it takes to get a table. It seems that day that no one on staff was willing to take initiative except our server after we were finally seated. He went over to hosts and said he had 4’s and 2’s available. Only then was the queue of diners eliminated.
Here’s some advice for Uncle Julio’s in Old Orchard…
you have alot of staff, but its all chaos up front.
get some handheld radios — have a rover relaying info back to front on tables.
have a dedicated person to take orders, a person to clean tables, and a person to refill drinks/​chips. Having your server run around doing all that delays turnover.
This will allow your restaurant to function smoother, allowing for more turnover of your tables during peak hours.
You can do it Tio. Make it happen. Make it a better experience.
Until then… I’ll just keep shaking my head as I wait for 30−90mins when I see ten empty tables that could easily be filled.

The décor is really nicely decorated, ample room for seating and a great outdoor area for the warmer months!
The food is prepared in a scratch kitchen which is something I really appreciate. That being said the food had its highlights, like the chips, salsa and gauc. I ordered the Juanita platter– it was okay pretty «generic» tasting Mexican food. I was hoping and expecting a lot more since it is a scratch kitchen. Even my brother’s stuffed pepper was just okay. Its overpriced!
Drinks are very good here; they have a great selection of margaritas!
Experience:
My family came here for my moms birthday… The waiter was really nice and there was an incident where he dropped the Corona on my Step dad’s lap all over the place… He was of course upset, my mom got wet too but whatever mistakes happen. I felt really bad for our waiter– I understand mistakes happen and that’s a sucky mistake. We all have off days.
The manager offered a dry cleaning voucher but we did not want to dry clean our clothes it was just jeans and a shirt, instead we said we will take a discount vs a voucher. He said he cannot do this… so you offer 2 customers who has beer all over them a «all or nothing» solution? I think not… AND not to mention our waiter’s friends were sitting in the booth behind me and I heard all of their conversations, one thing that upset me was our waiter told his friends that he was «comping all of their meals, he couldn’t get the alcohol but he got the meals… «
So I don’t understand how the waiter wants to comp his friends meals but leave customers with a full bill and wet clothes. BTW the Corona spilled before the appetizers even got out so you can imagine how unpleasant it was eating with wet shirt and jeans. This really upset me… I thought the situation was poorly taken care of.
We never got glasses of water, which I feel like it s restaurant staple– had to ask for it half way through our meal bc we already emptied out our other drinks– maybe he was avoiding the table out of awkwardness?
All in all, I remember the Lincoln Park location having better service and food. I prefer the Chicago location. It’s a good place to visit in the burbs, I want to come back for outdoor seating.