Went for the $.05 Queso special. Had our usual Cinco Samplers and hubby had the Steak Fajitas. The cilantro rice didn't have the same buttery and savory flavor as usual, which was a disappointment. Service was great but the poor server was waiting on too many stations. It wasn't all that busy but without enough servers, a lot of waiting for food, not getting drink refills or additional queso if we had wanted it. Not having enough staff seems to be the norm nowadays though. Loud as always and lots of tv screens in the bar area to watch. read more

Carlos O'Kelly's Mexican Cafe - Happy Hour Menu - Mexican Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

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I don't know what the dine in experience is like but the delivery definitely isn't worth paying for. Cold food, overpriced for what you get, and it's nasty. read more

Carlos O'Kelly's Mexican Cafe - Cheese Enchilada plate. Thin entree, delivered cold. - Mexican Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

My friends and I dine-in for dinner after work. It was nice and warming atmosphere. I got the chimichanga dinner w/ carnita pork, salsa verde and Mexican rice and fries as my sides. We settled for friend ice cream for dessert. It was a little difficult to eat the friend ice cream. We couldn't figure out a better way to eat it without causing a mess. read more

Carlos O'Kelly's Mexican Cafe - Fried ice cream (strawberry sauce) - Mexican Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

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Great waitress, she the most delicious lunch recommendation when I was not too sure.. she also gave my daughter a free extra side of jello so her baby sister wouldn't steal hers ;) food came out quickly and I was happy with their drink menu. I will definitely be back when I come back to the area! read more

Steak quesadilla was delicious... seafood enchiladas was ok... chipotle burrito is good! Gold Margarita was delicious read more

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I wanted to like this so much. I'm staying right next door and thought it would be convenient to have a good Mexican food place within walking distance. Alas, the food was not very good. I ordered the combo fajitas, and was underwhelmed by the seasoning and the quality of the ingredients. The meat was tough and chewy, the chicken was dry and the shrimp was not very good. The onions and peppers were not even sliced thoroughly. It seemed like it was rushed, and it tasted accordingly. I also ordered a side salad and guacamole, which was pretty ok. The best thing I was served was the chips, which were very tasty. I decided to give the Gold Margarita a try, and I couldn't even drink it. It was very flavorless and unsatisfying. So, I definitely will not be back, maybe I'll just walk across the parking lot to Applebee's? Or perhaps just drive down the road to a better spot. read more

Awesome place to eat. Lots of food of high quality. Go during "Happy Hour" and get appetizers at half price. We had the two meat fajitas and it was really good. Unlike some restaurants, they had lots of grilled veggies on the plate. We really like that. We got their guacamole plate and some queso (both at half price) and stuffed ourselves full. Everything was hot and delicious. Can't say enough about them. read more

Third time I've eaten here because it's right next to the hotel but I'm all done coming back. Service is fine but the food is not. My burrito was so over cooked. It was dried out and crispy, never had a crispy burrito before. When it says it smothered in sauce, you expect it to at least have a little bit on it but no such luck here. Taco Bell has better burritos than this place. read more

Today my husband and I had an early dinner at Carlos O'Kelleys. We had started out at Los Aztecas in Asbury Square, where we sat for 15 - 20 minutes w servers just walking by us, no one said anything or made eye contact so we left and went to Carlos O'Kelleys. We arrived at Carlos at around 4:45 PM. Ann, was our server at Carlos. First we were greeted by a very nice young man who took us to our booth and then Ann arrived to take our order. She was a complete DELIGHT!!! She was friendly, efficient, knowledgeable and just an outstanding server. I asked how long she'd been in this work and she said "only 22 years". Our meals were delicious but more important was the exceptional service by the host who seated us and then Ann. The other servers were buzzing around carrying huge trays of food and very heavy drinks but they were all smiling. I've worked in food service years ago and it was tough. To be as dedicated as Ann is truly honorable. She's a keeper and I hope their manager appreciates the great staff because we sure did. It's so rare to have staff even make eye contact with customers let alone actually do a stellar job of catering to us. Thank you to Ann and the friendly young man who greeted us. It was a lovely dining experience!! read more

- I was unaware this is a chain-restaurant without local ingredients. - Service was wonderful. - I ordered the brisket-taco because I was hoping they used local beef. It was very rich, creamy, and salty. It looks exactly like the picture on the menu. The tortilla was accented with greased toasted cheese (I picked it off). Coming from California, I'm not used to this style food so I wish that I could just leave this note without selecting a number of stars. The lack of fresh local ingredients should not be a surprise because I'm in Iowa in the winter. All the crops are picked and the fields are empty. I would try this place again with proper expectations. read more

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I know they have great food, but we didn't even make it past the hostess the last time. She was so rude (not only to us). She didn't want to be there and you could tell. We went next door to Applebee's and it was much better service. read more

great service I will definitely come here again! food was absolutely great. I would recommend this to others

The food is very good and the service is great in Dubuque. I've never had bad service here, and my wife and I are regulars. Take advantage of the drink specials and enjoy. read more

Carlos o Kelly's was very busy tonight. Two big parties were there when we arrived yet we got seated and served quickly.

I do not like most chain restaurants. Read on if you don't care about that bias. I reckon you could stop here too, if you anticipate the "chain-experience" that I'm about to describe. I have nearly blind faith in my fellow Yelpers. I paid the price for that this week. A quick google would have shown that there were many other locations. I would not have been surprised if my server had been sporting more than 15 pieces of flair. The sign out front, claiming in bright neon "Immediate Seating Available" did give me pause. I went in anyway. But, I digress. The food was bland. The salsa was chopped tomatoes with little noticeable spice. Whatever.....just don't go here. read more

Tonight's dining experience was 5 star! Our server, Kaya, was EXCELLENT! Food was very good; they even offered Lite versions of menu items that included fat free sour cream and tortillas. Of course we ruined some of that with the fried ice cream but it was worth it. Keep in mind that for parties over 7 they add 15% gratuity automatically. Not a big deal but I almost left a 30%+ tip! Great restaurant, highly recommend. read more

Carlos O'Kelly's Mexican Cafe - Menu Cover - Mexican Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

There used to be a carlos okellys in my town but it closed some time ago. I was excited to have my favorite fajita cheese crisp again. It was nice and crispy but two things bothered me: there were about 8 chunks of chicken in a circle around the plate and the sauce was too sweet. The amount of chicken would have been fine if they had taken the time to cut it up a bit and scatter it over the whole thing. As for the sauce, maybe the recipe has changed from years past but it was not the buttery, garlicky taste I remembered. Also, the chips that I got where very large. They must fry them in house and only cut the tortillas in half so the chips were large half circles . It was obvious that they just didn't take the time to cut up the tortillas before frying them. All in all these things showed me a laziness in food prep. I don't know if it is indicative of all carlos okellys or just this one. One last comment, the service was excellent!!!! read more

The one star is the staff was nice I have never left a negative review about a restaurant because it usually semi-decent and I let it go wherever I am but this is an exception the dinner I got there was absolutely awful I ordered enchiladas to go One was supposed to have poblano Cream sauce and one with Diablo sauce neither had any sauce whatsoever they were tiny dry flavorless stuck to the freaking tin to go container I was given less than a half a cup of rice and some cold runny black beans I wish I could say I was exaggerating but I'm not I paid $13 for this shit my only serious regret is not taking a picture of it to post here so unfortunately you'll have to take my word for it I have no need to badmouth this place I'm only in town for two days I wouldnt eat here ever again read more

Plenty of Mexican places in town with some better and some worse. This page remains a constant with a nice variety of food. read more

Carlos O'Kelly's Mexican Cafe - Top shelf - Mexican Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

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Great happy hour specials m-f 3:00 till 6:00 $3.00 jumbo margaritas and 1/2 price appetizers. ..outstanding food and kickass price need to check it out . Waitress Heather is amazing be sure to as for her!! read more

Carlos O'Kelly's Mexican Cafe - Fijata Cheese Crisp very good! - Mexican Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

This place is great! The staff is very personal and is out standing! Emily one of the supervisors/bar tender is one of the best I have ever run across. She keeps everyone in a good mood and never lets your drink go empty! I can say it is the people that keep me coming back They really want you to feel welcome!! read more

Our server Kayla was excellent, the food was OK but the place needs cleaning and some remodeling. The backs of the booths are getting thread bare, the windows look terrible, most of the pictures on the wall are either finger marked or splattered with food, looking up I was greeted by spiderwebs. And one of the windows looks like it is cracked. Might be better off getting take out. read more

Eh. Place is white owned with no mexicans working the front or the kitchen which I find odd cause it's a Mexican restaurant. Ordered a margarita, bartender handed me a premix margarita, I sent it back and asked for a margarita with patron, she started to make a margarita then added margarita mix again, I watched her do it so I sent it back. I then showed her a recipe for it and she made it :)),all the meanwhile I watched plates of food being brought out that looked like TV dinners imitating Mexican food, I didn't want to order any food after that, after a few rounds I got the bill , was surprised how cheap it was, paid the lady and was on my way, if your looking for authentic Mexican food go somewhere else, if your looking for Taco Bell type Mexican food then look no further !!! Enjoy !! read more

I highly don't recommend this place , Managers are not great! Destiny which is one of the managers was the worst I've dealt with in customer service she did not help she made my issue worst!! I've been in the food & beverage industry for 12 plus years & customers is priority ! She made me no priority at all which goes to show they don't care about service , satisfaction of a customer etc! I will NEVER order them again! Nor recommend it to any one ! Portions are not what is seen in 3rd party apps! Manager tried to tell me what I ordered which was the Con Chili Queso when I knew what I ordered plus it's on my receipt which was the Naked nachos ! Did not accommodate me or even give me my refund I had to go through a 3rd party app to get my full refund! They gave me two big bags of chips & the naked nachos came with very very little amount of beef & cheese! Like enough for 5 bites! But when you eat nachos in general it's more than just 5 bites! So disappointed in my first attempt to eat at this place! Never again this place doesn't deserve a start not even one! Going to explore other Mexican food else where! read more

Everything was bland, including the salsa and the entrees. A meal from McDonald's would have been a better choice. Buying sliced cheese and sandwich meat at the grocery would have been a better choice. It is really hard to comprehend some of the positive reviews. read more

We eat here at least twice a month and love the combo plate. The thin chips are made in house and we love the salsa with a little sweetener added. The wait staff is very friendly and the newly remodeled decor looks great. Highly recommend this location. read more

Had a side salad and most of the lettuce was brown and slimy.... they have wayyyy too much salt on their chips!! Other then that food was great read more

We got exactly what we expected - acceptable food with a Tex-Mex bent. The server was accommodating but not exceptional. Our salad and tostata were tasty but exactly what one would expect at a chain restaurant. read more

Very good..I had the Pasta Diablo. Cheesy with a hint of spicyness. Will def. order again

I don't understand how anyone can rate a restaurant of this caliber with more than three stars. I'm from out of town and a lot of so-called good restaurants end up being low-class pallet, like this one. Is this restaurant Mexican or Irish? For certain it does not deserve a great rating. I've come to believe that for many, being full even if the food is sub-par is often called good. To me, good means tastes great. It must be a local thing. Some people need to get out of town to sample other food. read more

Food was awesome! Huge portions! Service was horrible and it was so cold that I really didn't enjoy myself.