Don Julio's Mexican Restaurant & Cantina — Restaurant in Adel

No ambiance it's so brightly lit I almost walked out before seated. decor is few coke signs in groups mainly...tacky cheap. Decided I'm here wait for a seat. I was by myself no one said hello nothing you just stand there few minutes cashier looks at you it's awkward. Guy seated me called me "baby" he was my server. Took my order but not once gave me a refill on my drink didn't ask if I wanted dessert not asked if food was ok etc. I ate half my meal with no drink. No excuse ...when he came to drop my ticket just nonchalantly walked up dropped it on table I told him I want a drink and a dessert to go. He looked obviously annoyed went to kitchen got me a drink and dessert to go. Handed me new bill. They charge you .25 for to go order too. Just not a genuinely nice person maybe he doesnt like his job.

Get seated maybe 7 tables occupied not busy for the Amt of servers walking around. Drink order given came quickly. Ordered food Chicken Popeye . Asked if you want flour or corn tortillas....I specifically asked for corn but got flour not corn tortillas. Flour tortillas as someone said they are not homemade they are store bought tortillas.

Food tasted fine 3 thin slices of chicken breast few pieces of tomatoes onions green peppers and spinach. Could use more veggies. Very small amt of rice Given.

Chipss and salsa standard faire but salsa too hot for my taste usually it's mild enough to enjoy. I didn't enjoy it. Couldn't eat it just too hot.

I pass this place for years live in the area 20 plus years and I never stopped until now. I won't be returning. It's literally a tacky decor no ambiance and just wasn't a fun experience. I eat out daily drive THOUSANDS of miles each week hauling my livestock..I know service and food. This place is not good. It's only in business because...

complementary chips and salsa served upon being seated.

after asking the very nice waitress some questions about the menu I was highly disappointed that this restaurant was more tex-mex than actual Mexican.

we proceeded to order anyways to give them a fair try.

the kids ordered off the kids menu; a chicken burrito with a side of rice and a chicken taco with french fries, both very basic, nothing special to note however fair for price & they had 2 horchatas.

my husband ordered an option off the lunch menu - #12 - it was underwhelming portion, there was more beans and shredded lettuce w/ pureed avocado on the plate than steak & an unsweetned tea that tasted sweet for some reason.

i chose to go with the mexican guacamole - i don't think it's something they like making since the waitress asked me at least 7x if i really wanted it, apparently they make to order so it's more laborious than other menu options, it was absolutely delicious and best option ordered off menu.

the food took forever something like over 40min to arrive, we were there approximately 1.5hrs from sit down to paying, extremely long for a quick lunch.

I don't think we'll be visiting again however, it just wasn't our kind of Mexican food.

The place was packed though, so if you like tex-mex...

I'm glad people like it with the good reviews. I ordered corn tortillas but got flour ones. Tab said corn. The flour was still delicious. Neither the free chips or dip tasted right. Usually, I order another chip and dip but not this time. I ordered a medium rare steak, but it was rare in most of it. It's like they seared the outside and left the inside alone. A portion of the steak was good. The steak had a ton of fat in it, and also VERY bland.

The steak knife was missing a screw in the end of it, so it would leak dish water onto my fingers when using it. I didn't want to pay the $3 for a soda, so just ordered water. It'd be nice if they filtered the water. It tasted like water from the bathroom. Most disturbing of all... they have used beer bottles that were filled with beer, now containing salt and rice. Can we get some legit salt shakers? Those bottles were probably emptied into someone's mouth. How well were they cleaned, because a dishwasher probably couldn't get everywhere it needed to.

The smell in the area attracted me into this place, but I'm not going to go back i don't think. They're kinda expensive and just not what I was expecting out of a...