Uncle Julio's Keller Springs — Restaurant in Dallas

I had probably the worst experience I have had at a restaurant in a long time….and It happened TWICE and TWO different Uncle Julio locations!!! Strap in because this requires a detailed explanation: First Location (Frisco Mall): see Frisco Mall review

Second Location (Addison): One of my friends (who is from out of town, here for the funeral, and also went to the earlier debacle of a dinner) was riding with me to a concert to meet other friends. She is diabetic and her blood sugar dropped, and she needed food quickly. What was close? You guessed it. I tell her Uncle Julio's is great that experience at Frisco Mall on Thursday was just an isolated incident. They are also usually really quick. We can pull in, sit and the bar, get your blood sugar up, and still meet everyone on time. We walk up to the bar. The restaurant is NOT busy at all. We are the only people even at the bar. I asked the bartender how quickly we can get food. She tells me 10 mins. I said, "Great!!! We are in a big hurry to make a concert and just want to order a couple appetizers." We order drinks and food. I ordered quesa birria tacos and she orders ceviche with no cilantro (she has the gene that makes it taste like soap). No chips and salsa are supplied or offered. I flagged bartender down to ask for some. 20 mins later, we still do not have food. I ask the bartender if she can check on the food. She comes back and says that they are, “putting the finishing touches on the food right now.” Another 10 minutes pass, we still do not have food. I ask about the food again. Bartender looks “put out” at me. She goes into the back and is gone for a few minutes. When she comes back, she only has ceviche. It looks like a child plated it and it’s covered in cilantro. My friend comments, “this is what you get for $20.” My food is still not ready. Five- eight minutes later my food finally comes out. Tortillas look soggy and greasy. I open up the tortillas and there is no cheese at all in my quesa birria (and honestly very little meat except for one). I flag down the bar back. I point out that there is no cheese. She looks at me and condescendingly replies, “that does not come with cheese.” To which a say, it is right in the name “quesa birria.” She looks at me, puts her hand on her hip, and tells me emphatically, “NO, queso is cheese. Quesa is that dipping sauce on the plate.” Then, she just turns and walks off. It was so crazy; I was left speechless. Neither bartender nor bar back would make eye contact with us or came back over after that. We had already paid out when we ordered since we were in such a hurry or I would have seriously considered just getting up and walking out. Before I left, I did get a copy of the menu and point out that the description clearly says Monterrey jack…which is cheese!! Our tab was $85 (without tip) and we already tipped before all the craziness. Needless to say, this experience was almost worse than the first and it will be a long time (if ever) before I go to a Uncle Julio's again!!! It is an expensive tab for such crappy service and food. Two bad experiences in one weekend at two separate locations says all you need to know about their...

I’ve been going to Uncle Julio’s at various places all over the USA . And since moving to Dallas 4 years ago ; Uncle Julio’s has been at Keller Springs has been the place for my family and I to go to every weekend . And it’s one of our best places to go to , and we always invite our friends to it. I haven’t been to it for the past month as I have been out of town .. Wanted to celebrate my mom’s birthday, so last night we went there; unfortunately we all have changed our mind about it and won’t be back again , and felt bad that we were always used to a high standard level provided by uncle Julio’s for the past 15 years. First thing was as we’ve entered. I have made a booking since a week , and saw my name on the screen there and the place was empty , it took them 10 minutes to have us seated . Then no one came to serve , and every time I had to ask for things such as chips and salsa or drinks that were supposed to be served by default . They brought in the chips as if it was some left overs and we were 3 and only brought in one salsa .. I had a child , and asked for his drink to be brought in a kids cup and that didn’t happen ( that’s still not a problem). We ordered the table guacamole , and it never came to us until I had to call the guy who makes the guacamole .. I had to call the waiter many times so that he can come and take our orders although he was wandering around doing nothing .. when our food arrived , unfortunately the carne asada was so dry and a quarter of it was a piece of fat. Still not an issue. Then had to call the waiter to pick away the plates which were almost empty , he was waiting for me to hand it to him ,And I helped him do that 🙄 . He suddenly comes to us and asks if we are leaving to give us the check , though they were already informed that we are celebrating a birthday and want a piñata.. We ordered the piñata , he leaves it on the table with no forks , no plates , and that was still fine . He didn’t even bother himself to come and pick the stick (bat) used for it , or even take the metal hanger or anything . Until a supervisor was walking around and asked us how’s everything, and I had to hand him all the stuff and he was so cooperative and polite and apologized about it ..

Unfortunately, the whole experience of that night and the quality of food and service was disappointing A lot has changed about...

We have been HUGE Uncle Julio’s fans for well over 25 years. Have frequently dined at several locations: Oaklawn, Grapevine, Arlington, Allen… but most often Keller Springs. We were so frequent that I’d say we at one point, and for about 8 of the 25 years, we went to the Keller Springs location at least 3 times a WEEK. We have also had their catering at our home on 3 occasions and hosted many large groups of business dinners. When we had business people or family in town, it was very often visitors requested Uncle Julio’s as they fell in love too. It pains me to say that after the last several visits this year, we would be hard pressed to go back. The food has just changed too much, and not in a good way. Salsa recipe clearly changed. Has almost a canned tomato taste. They also introduced a 2nd salsa which is terrible and way over salty all 3 times we tried it (and we love salt!) lol. I never see people eating it… Margaritas are made differently each visit…not consistent which is sooooo frustrating. We gave up and don’t even attempt getting a cocktail anymore. (Our fave was the Patron Classic). The only positive thing about the inconsistent cocktails is that it certainly made our tab waaaay less! You’d think a restaurant wants to get the cocktails right as I’m assuming it’s a big money maker! We understand inflation, but the portion sizes have gotten ridiculous and not nearly the quality they used to be. It’s crazy to pay $31+ for a fajita dinner that has 3 shrimp, 3 small pieces of beef and 3 small pieces of chicken. And why do you have to request rice and beans now? Also note that they have removed the sopapillas from the dessert menu!!!! It was funny that our last visit, we heard every single table around us asked their server for an order of sopapillas only to be told they were no longer available. We had to shake our heads thinking ‘who made that bad decision?’ What is going on with Uncle Julio’s???? We have supported UJ for a long time and thru Covid as well. Certainly hoping management will read this and take note. No longer the great experience we always had no matter the...