Uncle Julio's Fort Worth — Restaurant in Fort Worth

We went today to celebrate my moms divorce being finalized. We showed up at 5:00 with a reservation set for a table for 12, set 3 days in advance. We showed up and waited about 15-20minutes after 5:00 for our table without them being very busy at the doors. We were seated with CJ who, with given the resources and management staff he had, did an amazing job. The manager Joanna came over to introduce herself and stated if anything was needed to let her know. We very soon found out that was a very false promise. CJ was seated with not only our table of 12 but many other tables as well and was trying to keep up the best he could. However we ended up waiting around 45 min for our alcohol beverages from the bar, most of which were frozen margaritas. My mother had to get up and find the manager who kept walking around the floor aimlessly, to ask for her to get us more water, more chips and check in on our alcoholic drinks. Joanna slowly helped with our request then never came back to check in again. CJ then was able to bring our drinks and took our orders. The entire time we were there the manager continued to introduce herself to tables, sweep here and there, and help the host seat tables, but was of no real help to her wait staff who all seemed very stressed and could have benefited from the manager at the very least going to the tables for refill help or seeing how she could better support her staff. Once everybody was done eating. It then took us till 8:15 to finish getting our tickets in order and paying. Their system for checking out large parties is absolutely ridiculous, took us close to an hour to complete and has no reason to be as difficult as it was. Joanna one more time came over only to inform us that CJ himself was sorry it was taking so long and that he was having to fight with the system to get everyone’s tickets separated, but never offering an apology of her own. She then from a distance continued to watch us wait, never offered CJ help and never once asked if there was anything she could do, nor did she say anything once everyone was finally able to leave, never once turning towards us to offer a simple “have a good night” or “sorry for the wait” and even eye contact for that matter. Just kept her back to us as we all left. Majority of our table, having all had food service work experience or food service management themselves were absolutely appalled with how she handled the floor and the lack of help she gave the staff members that truly needed it. CJ never once complained or showed any distress but was very apologetic and sincere. We tried our best to assure him that we could see he was doing the best with the circumstances and that our frustrations were in no way towards him. Although the food was great, the management handling and the time it took for everything really dampened the experience and we now know that “large” parties is not something that can be handled at this particular restaurant. I would have loved to be able to leave a 5 star...

Our server today, John West was super nice and very helpful and I don’t think we could have had a better waiter. He was great! On the other hand, this used to be literally one of my favorite restaurants hands down, but today, the food quality was just bland. The carne asada that used to taste amazing, was bland, a lot smaller than I used to get, and tasted like liquid smoke. It was not a natural smoke flavor, more like the artificial seasoning and was just ok at best. The beans used to be my favorite and I would literally go through 2 or more bowels of charro bean soup. It was bland, no where near what it used to be, and they also tasted like artificial Liquid smoke. It was weird. The restrooms were disgusting. Looked like they haven’t been mopped or cleaned in years. Just gross. I think management has lost control on this place. That’s really sad because this was one of my go to places. Probably will just go to Pappasito’s and pass on Uncle Julio’s because it was not what we were used to. This is not a one time thing, this was our same experience the past few times we’ve been back. Feels like it’s going down hill. Our waiter did his best to make sure everything was as good as possible, and he was amazing. None of this was his fault in the slightest. It’s more of whomever owns or operates this place obviously doesn’t understand what made it great in the past, nor understands how to maintain a clean restroom facility. Makes you wonder what the kitchen must look like. When there’s rust on metal Around the toilets and sinks and “gunk and grime” build up along the walls and behind the toilets and floors, you know it didn’t get there over night. That’s a complete disregard to having a sanitary restroom facility where you serve food. Just gross. Uncle Julio’s, you were once great. Not sure...

Not the place it used to be. Restaurant policy for booking parties is a 2 1/2 hour time limit and a $30 minimum head charge, regardless of whether there are kids in the party. We had a party of 23 people that had gone to the Fort Worth zoo with their kids that could not afford the restaurant's required charge per head and ended up not eating at Uncle Julios. The restaurant easily lost several hundred dollars because of their policy.

This used to be one of the best tex mex restaurants in Ft. Worth and one of my favorite places to eat at growing up. It was always a special occasion when we ate at Uncle Julios. The restraunt took my ringing endorsement and turned away business at the door. I decided to dine in anyway even though our group didn't end up going there. The manager came to my table and wanted to charge me a minimum amount to eat there even though the group had canceled. I told the waiter afterwards to let me know now if I had to pay them $30 per head so that I could go ahead and leave instead of ordering. They shrugged it off as a misunderstanding and let me eat there without overcharging me, how gracious of them (sarcasm). Shame on them for not being flexible on their policy. Won't be eating there again, as tex mex places are a dime a dozen in DFW and they are overpriced for what others charge way less for. I'm not a cheapskate, but I felt pre-qualified at the door by their management like I wasn't their usual customer they were used to serving. Overall and very...