Uncle Julio's Columbia — Restaurant in Columbia

EDIT 3/22/24

Apparently if you want to eat here, you'll need to make a reservation some time in advance.

We decided last minute to make a reservation via Google, and the Maps showed that there was a spot for 4 available at 645PM.

I don't know if there was a Glitch in their system or what, but when we got to the hostess table, we were told that "Since you made your reservation 10min ago, we have to get those who made reservations before you seated first" like a Seinfeld episode. A reservation shows availability. It's not supposed to be a substitute for a waitlist.

We took our business to PF Changs which had tables readily available (and really affordable kids menus with kids menus you can color!)

OLD REVIEW

My husband and I have been here many times and have had good experiences overall, but tonight was a remarkably bad one. We invited two friends to go with us.

I don't know if our server was having a bad day or what, but Vanessa was aloof, curt, and impatient with us. She didn't double check to confirm our choices, didn't offer dessert, and didn't ask us how the food was (the manager who came by later did though). She took our orders and periodically checked on us every 15min or so. If I remember correctly, all she brought were our waters and the checks. Other servers and the managers brought us everything else.

We were a simple table, ordering two skirt steak fajitas for two people each, and three drinks, one of them a Happy Hour Frozen Margarita/Sangria.

We were there during Happy Hour (around 5ish) and our drinks came out after our food, but our food came out quickly today. I didn't see any Happy Hour food options though, just drink ones, so that's probably why.

I was not impressed with our skirt steak. Both of us ordered medium rare and both of our orders were overcooked. The flavor was still good, but a little tough.

We sat there for around 10-15 min waiting for our tortillas after telling Vanessa that we didn't have them. I think a manager came out with some servers and brought them herself and asked us how we were doing.

We were seated at the tables closest to the windows in the front of the store by the Barnes and Noble, past the bar. The music is very loud in this section. My friends, husband and I had to repeat ourselves many times. Also the tables are really small if everyone is planning on ordering fajitas.

Because of the conversation we were all having, I forgot to ask Vanessa about the restaurants military discount (if there is a way to add a loyalty member with a military affiliation that would be great).

When she came back with the check, I asked her, and she said "It's honestly not that much...just a couple of dollars" like she didn't want to run the check again. During a busy time I completely understand, but she said it, like much of her interactions with us, in a flat, disinterested tone of voice, barely maintaining eye contact, and borderline disrespectful. At a table with 3 active duty members and a veteran, her apathy to apply the discount was off putting.

She also said she couldn't split the check 3 ways.

I think my husband and I will be back at some point, especially since the Annapolis location gave him food poisoning, but are going to try other places before considering...

I do not know how many people did not show up for work today, but we were a party of 11 people with a reservation. Seating was painless.

All the glasses had 2 oz of water in them, making us wonder if they were dirty, left from another party, or someone else's glass.

Fill them or leave them empty. That looked nasty.

The party arrived at 645. I arrived at 7p.

We weren't asked if we wanted something to drink until 8 p.m.

The drinks arrived at 830 p.m. Mine didn't arrive until 9p. All I asked for was a bottled beer. It was warm. Perhaps sitting on the bar for a while 🤔

We then ordered appetizers. They arrived at 925p. We put in our orders. My skirt steak fajita arrived with the vegetables, onions and peppers, still kind of raw, I asked to have them grilled a bit more, at the risk of being the "Karen" at the table. The food was good, although the basics weren't even ready. I had no utensils, no steak knife. I borrowed my cousins knife to cut up some steak for my Li'l granddaughter. We ordered the chocolate piñata which the children enjoyed breaking, and we dug in with our fingers. The fondue forks were brought and offered after we'd all just used our fingers to get the fruit inside.

The dishes from the appetizers and empty drinks were still sitting on the table, crowding our experience when they brought out the piñata. There was no room for it to be set down with all the dirty dishes still sitting there. They should have cleared them first.

This was my birthday celebration.

My family works and travels constantly. It was a miracle we were able to get four households of cousins, nephews, nieces, all my kids, and grandkids in one place at the same time. I know they had been planning this for months and to have a server who was so busy, so distracted that he couldn't focus well enough to serve us properly, well, that was truly irritating and diminished the experience. The fact that he was running and gone while we were still trying to get his attention, and this happened more than a few times was even more aggravating. The fact that no one came around to ask if we needed anything, how we were doing, clear the dirty plates, and they just left them there, that was beyond unnecessary.

I don't know where the break down was but I will not be driving 35 minutes to experience this again.

I suggest going to a place that can actually cater to their clientele properly for a more joyful experience. I; for one,...

I have eaten here a few times and the food has been consistently good. Certainly not chef-prepared, but tasty enough. I've sat at the bar and have been seated inside so I will share each perspective. The bar- service is OK, they get the job done, and with so many people seemingly running around back there, they surprisingly bring your food and leave you alone. So if you just want to eat and maybe watch sports on the TV, you will be happy.

The dining room- both times I've been there the place seemed pretty busy with patrons. The waitress took our order in a reasonable amount of time, so no complaints there. The issue we had, for which I took a star off, was the person who brought out our food, mixed up the order. Not sure if it was his fault or the waitress's. Wouldn't have been a big deal if the person I was dining with wasn't a vegetarian who has NEVER eaten meat (which is what I ordered)! Once she bit into my taco dish, which was placed in front of her, she realized, it wasn't vegetarian. By that time, I had also taken a bite or two of her nonmeat dish and thought it was rather plain. When we alerted the waitress, she seemed irritated that we didn't want to switch plates. Ah…uhmm… but we each had already messed around with the other person's food. This was shocking to me for several reasons. 1st of all, it's unsanitary, especially during these times with COVID and cold season etc. Secondly, while I enjoy dining with my colleagues, I don't know that we want to share food, especially after each of us has eaten some from the plate. That's nasty. The waitress never apologized for the mix-up. She just looked irritated. Anyway, the chef (or cook) came out and asked what happened. He said he would prepare our dishes again and ensure they were right. This was the right thing to do, in my opinion. One thing I did notice was that the sides of beans looked different on the new plates. My saucy. So, I presumed the first cups of beans were older and had mostly dried up. I'm just saying.

Finally, after we were done eating, we were not offered dessert, so I can't speak about that. And, we literally waited a half hour and lots of waving our hands to get the waitress's attention to bring the check and another 15 minutes to get her to acknowledge that we were ready to check out. I guess she wanted us to know she was annoyed with us. So again, the star...