Uncle Julio's Frisco — Restaurant in Frisco

I had probably the worst experience I have had at a restaurant in a long time….and It happened TWICE and at TWO different Uncle Julio locations!!! Strap in because this requires a detailed explanation: First Location (Frisco Mall): It started off great but ended horribly. I called in same day to make a reservation for 12 people. A friend's mother had passed away and some of her friends wanted to take her and her husband out for dinner the night before her mother's funeral. I had already been turned down by a couple of restaurants for a 7 pm reservation because they had said they did not take same day reservations, but we could be accommodated if we wanted to come in and wait to be seated. Uncle Julio's told me we could have a reservation for 12 people at 7:30. Great!!!! Our entire party was there by 7:30, but it was around 8 pm or later before we were seated (exactly what I was trying to avoid…which is why I made a reservation). Thankfully, my friend’s father (who had just lost his wife) decided to stay at the hotel as he was the whole reason for a 7pm reservation and 7:30 was pushing his dinner. The waiter was struggling from the first. He took forever taking our drink orders and it was almost 8:30 before he took our food orders. Drinks took 30 mins to get to the table and multiple drinks were completely forgotten. I had to ask about one drink order three times and it was almost an hour between the time I ordered it and when it arrived. Some friends just started going to the bar to get their drinks. By 9:15, we still do not have our food. The waiter stopped by to apologize for the delay and promised food would be right out. It was not. Around 9:35, we finally got our food. My beef fajitas were a weird gray color and looked like they had been boiled and the chicken was dry. Another friend’s beef fajitas looked they hadn’t even been cooked (a true rare). Other dishes had issues too, but that is just too much detail to go into for this review. In sum, everyone at the table had issues with something being wrong with their meal and/or not receiving their drinks on top of the huge time delays. Finally, one of my friends had enough and he asked to speak with the manager. The manager apologized and his response was that it was a “new” waiter, and he had another 8 top. To which my friend responded with, then that is a management issue because why would you give someone that had only worked as a waiter for one week our table and an 8 top at the same time??? The manager did take off the overcooked and under cooked fajitas and gave us the piñata dessert, but the service did not even improve after the complaint. Needless to say, it was a miserable experience from start to finish and I think more could and should have been done after the issues were brought to the attention of the manager. I really liked Uncle Julio's and was not completely dissuaded. At this dinner, I even tried to convince my very unhappy friends that maybe our bad service and food was because that location just opened and was still working out the kinks. This brings me to my second encounter with Uncle Julio's in the same weekend…. see Addison/Keller...

Prime Complaints: Food quality is inconsistent Service is lacking No draft beer Margaritas are just average

More indepth details: My wife and I have been to this Uncle Julio's location 4 times. The first time we went was within the first week or two of opening where we sat at a booth in the bar area. The food and the service was good. We loved the tableside guac and everything we overall a good experience.

The next time we went, the tableside guac was extremely salty, like a doubling or trippling the salt. It was likely an accident so we had to send it back. The new one seemed very light on the salt, but aside from that, no major issues.

The the third trip, the service was lesser than we had come to expect based on the first two trips and the tableside guac didn't seem to get any better. It was missing something, we think the lemon or lime or something. The lady did not speak english so we had to find someone to translate. The service was not good and we went long periods without drink refills. We are starting to see patterns of poor service and lowered food quality.

The last trip was 12/27. The hostess lady told us the wait would be 45 min which was shocking because there were only two people sitting in the entrance. We got on the list but stepped outside to discuss other options when we were notified our table was ready. It hadn't even been 5 min. Very strange. We sat down it started out ok, we got our drink order going, ordered a tableside guac and again, it's missing something and the lady putting it together doesn't speak any english. Maybe we're just spoiled by other places. The waiter let our drinks go dry to the point we were looking around to get someone to help us. We finally ordered our food and we waited for at least 30 min. We were getting aggitated at this time, then the waiter finally comes over and says he was sorry for the delay and they are making our food now. Nearly 15 min later the manager brought the food and appologied stating he will comp all plates of food. This was very appreciated. However, everyones plate was either cold or dried out and my wife's salmon was rare and she didn't request any temperature. I have never seen such and uncooked piece of salmon at a resturanut in my life. We can't even get it uncooked enough for us at "fish" resturants when we want medium rare. Anyway, my wife ate it anyway. The waiter was very unprofessional in how he handled the entire situation all the way to payment. We have decided that 4 times was enough of a chance, each time it gets worse so we will not be back to...

**Title: Uncle Julio’s in

Let’s cute to the chase. Uncle Julio’s isn’t just a restaurant—it’s a vibe. A vibe that involves sizzling fajitas louder than a Cowboys fan’s halftime meltdown, bartenders who double as sports therapists, and queso so good it could broker peace between NFC East rivals.

The real magic? The bartenders. The gentleman behind the bar, a Mavericks philosopher in disguise, nearly spilled my margarita mid-rant about Dallas trading Luka Dončić. “That’s like throwing away a winning lottery ticket to invest in Beanie Babies!” he hollered, as I nodded solemnly between bites of a tortilla that tasted like it was hand-delivered by the carb gods. Meanwhile, my lament about the Giants’ eternal rebuild was met with a pat on the back and a fresh drink. “At least you’re not a Cowboys fan,” he whispered, like he was sharing state secrets. “Everyone hates them… until they’re good again.”

His partner-in-crime, the female bartender, was a maestro of chaos. She kept the chips coming faster than Daniel Jones gets sacked, cracked jokes sharper than the salsa, and when I returned weeks later, greeted me with, “Back for more emotional damage?” before introducing me to the owner mid-rush. The owner, by the way, was juggling three things at once—probably the secret to their queso recipe.

The food? 10/10, no notes. The fajitas arrived like a fireworks show, the guacamole was so fresh I half-expected an avocado to wink at me, and the enchiladas? Let’s just say they’re the reason stretchy pants exist. Even the prices felt like a win—unlike the Giants’ playbook.

The atmosphere? Imagine a sports bar and a family reunion had a baby. NCAA games blared from TVs (not stadium-sized, but who’s complaining?), fans high-fived strangers over buzzer-beaters, and the energy was so contagious I almost forgot my team’s losing record. Almost.

In short: Uncle Julio’s is the kind of place where you leave with a food coma, a new bartender-bestie, and a burning desire to argue about NFC East drama over margaritas....