Julio's Barrio Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Greater Strathcona

THE SHORT VERSION: Love the food. Had one very rough customer service experience (after many amazing ones) but management eventually went over and above to make it right even though it was inconvenient to them. Thank you to the management team!

THE LONG VERSION: I have been a long time fan of Julio's (over a decade) but live in Calgary. We used to have an awesome location here, but it closed years ago. Since Calgary no longer has one, I make a point of visiting the Edmonton location whenever I am in town.

I don't get out to Edmonton often but, in January 2023, my fiancée and I made a trip out to see a show and stay overnight. As a part of our visit, we made an in-person trip to Julio's Barrio on Whyte Ave. During this visit, the service was great and the food was (as usual) delicious. Though the prices have (understandably) increased post-COVID and I was sad to hear that they have eliminated the free chips and salsa that used to accompany each visit, we enjoyed ourselves very much.

After our meal, we ordered some additional takeout so we could stretch out our enjoyment a little more once we were back home in Calgary.

We also (very unexpectedly) found our dream wedding dresses while strolling though West Edmonton Mall and, as such, had two additional visits to make to Edmonton over the past few months for dress fittings... One in early Spring and a final one just recently in early July.

When we returned for our fittings, we did not stay overnight as the cost is too high. We just drove out for the day and drove back early evening the same day.

The crunchy incident we experienced was during our Spring visit to Edmonton.

I'm going to spare the finer details, but on our Spring trip we had a terrible, truly toe-curling experience with an unbelievably rude staff member which left us 100% unsatisfied -- we didn't end up even staying to eat. I'd planned to never return and to write a scathing review.

After returning to Calgary and cooling off a little, I got in touch with the management team instead of writing a bad review and the manager was very kind and understanding. He invited us to contact him next time we were in town and promised that he would take care of us and make it right. He even offered his direct contact info so we could get in touch specifically with him.

I knew we had one more trip to make so I looked very forward to visiting Julio's in July and enjoying the food. We hit a little snag at first because, when I first got in touch with the manager the day before we visited, it looked like he might not be able to be accommodate us after all as we had scheduled our final fitting appointment on July 1st, which is, of course, a busy day for the restaurant.

Normally, we would happily wait for a different day, but we live three hours away and now that our series of fitting appointments was finishing, we did not plan on returning to Edmonton any time in the near future.

So, after some back-and-forth, both the manager and assistant manager made it happen for us. Though it was a busy day they bent over backwards to help us and make sure we got to enjoy Julio's food.

Bottom line: When I DO return to Edmonton, whenever that may be, I will now feel great about returning to and recommending Julio's as I enjoy their food and I know they care enough to fulfill their promises and preserve...

Visited this location on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. We asked for a patio table and the hostess explained she’d have to check to which my friend replied, “ We see two free tables”, during this communication, We noticed the waiter roll his eyes at us. Not sure why l. We were then seated. No service for at least 10 to 15 minutes when eventually the waiter came over. We ordered a drink. I asked For a pint of draft and the waiter looked at me like I was from mars, and explained that they really didn’t have much On tap and he could bring me a corona. Their menu clearly states ask the waiter what is on tap. I asked him why he made such a weird face at me, and if there was a problem, he continued to admit that he did make a face, but it wasn’t directed at me. It was that he didn’t know what to offer me. His attitude was over the top and so he suggested he could get us another server, and we could speak to the manager to which we agreed. Eventually, another server came over and asked what we wanted. My friend ordered her drink and I said I would just have water. He then proceeded to say but I thought you wanted a beer and I said no thank you but we will be ordering food and he said oh you’re not ordering food? I asked what the problem was and he said every story has two sides l, we continued to question What exactly the problem was and why he was now giving us attitude. He then finally asked us what the problem was, and we explained the attitude we received from the first server. We then asked to speak to the manager And he explained that was him, but he was only a supervisor and the manager wasn’t actually around. We then asked for our bill for the iced tea that my friend had had and he said don’t worry about it. Not wanting to remain there with such poor service, we explained that we were leaving and he said I don’t care. I then stated that Google reviews are powerful and he again said I don’t care! The service is deplorable And yes, I understand. It’s a busy restaurant and one bad review does not equate to all the great reviews but what a damper on a beautiful Sunday when me and a friend just wanted to go and have a meal on the patio. Thanks for making me feel like a welcome customer And again you say there’s two sides to every story, but you weren’t even willing to...

Taco Tuesday...

Lets talk about it.

1st. Called ahead to order some seats for the patio, 2 separate calls and received the same answer from [Bartender] not the owner. Was packed with a line up out the door when we arrived.

2nd. 50 minute wait for a 2oz traditional margarita... With a over salted rim which I drank in 0.5 seconds because it had way to much ice the ice/drink ratio was way off.. Do not order Pina colada as a double also 0 out of 5.

The wait time for tacos was very short maybe 10 or 15 minutes at most and honestly not authentic. Also gave me and 2 others stomach cramps and diarrhea for 2 days.. Which now leads to me to believe the reason they call it "Taco Tuesday" is because they pre cook up all the Hamburger that is probably going to go bad from the week before and prepare it in a "BIG SINGLE BATCH" And apply the beef to tacos as they order to reduce wait times. Another reason to believe this as the Tacos came "Barely Warm To Touch" and "Unmelted cheese" that was sprinkled on top.. Which indicates that the beef was never Cooked at the time of order, maybe warmed up in a frying pan but not cooked, But rather served.

This is my 2nd time ever coming here, and never going to return. The seating arrangements are cramped. You nearly need to over talk every other table around you, especially on the patio. The cost of drinks is "OUTRAGEOUS" I'm not broke, but people shouldn't be responsible for paying a "premium price" for an inexperienced Bartender serving up Junior quality drinks. Sure they use some premium spirits, But that does not make up for the preparation and Presentation of the drink it self. Very discouraging and the use of quality alcohol to charge more money to the consumer is just TOXIC.

My favorite part was probably leaving.. From the moment we walked in the door, it was just overwhelming, Vocally loud, Barely any music playing, and very very overstimulating..

Our whole order was over $90+ for 2 Adults...