I loved the atmosphere. The drink and food i ordered was good. Definitely recommend. The service was just a little slow but worth it

This place is overpriced and truly underperforms in both of the areas I care about: food and drink. I ordered a sampler platter and was completely underwhelmed by all of it. It I could have gone to one of the hole in the wall joints, paid a quarter of what I paid here and gotten the same thing. The same goes for the drinks. Maybe it was an off night, but the margarita I had was simply not good. Maybe I wouldn't be so upset if I wasn't having to pay $15-$20 for an entree, but I know I would be happy to pay it if it tasted like it was worth it. There are lots of other options in Durham, and better options in Southpoint. Save your time and your money for a place that deserves it. read more

Stopped in to Uncle Julio's for the first time last night. We had a reservation and I was the first person to arrive. Despite the fairly empty dining area I was not allowed to go to the table until someone else from my party arrived. After being seated, I ordered the free table side guacamole they are offering if you download their app. It was pretty good! The chips were a bit too think for the guacamole. The ambiance here is casual. For some reason it was very loud here, even though it wasn't super crowded. Uncle Julio's reminds me a lot of On the Border. Unlike at OTB, I was not a fan of the salsa at Uncle Julio's, it is very peppery and not very tomato-y. I order the Soft Taco Plate with ground beef. It came with a side of beans and rice (these sides were both just ok). All in all, it was good but not great. I liked it but it doesn't stick out among the other soft tacos I've had. It was a ton of food though and I took 1 home for later. I prefer the On the Border combos, which are both more flavorful and allow for more combination pairing. Uncle Julio's does offer some different entree options, such as shrimp fajitas and salmon, so I think there's something for everyone here. read more

Uncle Julio's has good food and great decor too. Menu is reasonably priced AND THE SPICY MARGARITA IS HEAVEN!!

The food was great the portions could of been a little bigger due to me getting fajitas but it was very good maybe I just wanted more idk but I may be back read more

Forgot our table side guacamole order, ordered the skillet steak fajitas and the steak came out cold. Not a good experience, especially on someone' birthday, which we made it clear when booking the table with open table. read more

My friend and I went there for my birthday. It was a lively atmosphere and we had a wonderful time. The restaurant was busy on a Saturday but I made reservations ahead which saved us time. The food was delicious. We had great service and I give kudos to Peter the manager who was fantastic. We will come again! Thank you for making my birthday special. read more

There's a lot to like about this new upscale Tex-Mex restaurant. First off, it's a really nicely designed space that has quite a bit more ambience than any other Mex or Tex-Mex around. They tout everything made from scratch in their kitchen. The staff seems very polished and well-trained. We only had lunch, so our options were a bit limited (though the full menu was also available, we were looking for something lighter. The food was good, but not outstanding. My dining partner liked her lunch a great deal. My steak tacos were just ok. In one, the steak was really good and tender, but the other was way too tough and chewy. They really need to cut the meat up into smaller bites, instead of leaving them as strips of meat. There was no cheese that I saw, and you had to unroll ? Yes, unroll the flour tortilla to add any pico or guacamole. Each taco was simply delivered as a couple of grilled meat strips rolled in a flour tortilla. I also had the tortilla soup, which was a good sized portion and fairly spicy (good), but I don't believe mine contained any chicken. Not entirely sure if it was supposed to. We'll return for dinner to see what we think. The dinner menu did look interesting. Be aware that this is an upscale restaurant, so the prices might be a shock to those expecting something similar to Chuy's. It's nothing like Chuy's, and that's a good thing. read more

A bit overpriced for the food. It is A-OK, nothing special, but nothing terrible except for the sticky tables :-(. Asked the server to wipe it down, and of course she forgot about it, and the food was served. No worries, I had my own wipes to wipe down the table. I will come here until it gets so bad, cuz I frequent the mall and like Mexican food. But that's about it. read more

My first time was a great experience. The service was amazing and food was fresh with a great taste! I will return soon to enjoy the restaurant even more and try something different my next visit. read more

Wow! Superb dining experience at Uncle Julio's Mexican Restaurant. Friendly, efficient service, delicious food, 5-Star dining experience. Waitress Alise was exceptional. For appetizer had Chicken Tortilla Soup that was homemade good. Guacamole was prepared chair side with fresh cut avocado. Juanita platter dinner was a multi-tiered delight of delectable food. read more

Went there yesterday for lunch with a co-worker. Our waitress was enthusiastic and nice. We ordered guacamole and cheese dip to go with our warm fresh chips. Bomb!!!! I ordered honey chipotle chick fajitas....OMG. Rita ordered shrimp tacos. We agreed great atmosphere and fresh food. We are planning to go back when we do not have return to work. So we can try one of their adult beverages. read more

I've been waiting for uncle Julio's to come to town. Really great food. We tried the beef and chicken fajitas and the chicken is fine but the steak was great! The queso is best I've had in the area. The bacon wrapped shrimp or camorones are phenomenal. I really enjoyed the enchiladas especially the ground beef and cheese and onion ones. read more

Fresh Mex, the best in town! The chips are wonderful along with the very interesting dark salsa! If you like Margaritas this is the place to go! The bar is big packed! Love everything so far, the shrimp tacos were good too. Guacamole was made table side with 2 avocados - plenty for 2 people. Place is packed! It must be giving the other restaurants big competition! read more

The service was great! Food was unbelievably good. We ordered the Chicken and Steak fajitas for two and it was more than enough for the both of us. read more

Great fajitas and margaritas. El jefe is the best if you like something a little spicy.

Over priced and food was terrible compared to other Mexican restaurants. Meal was a 2/5 in flavor and tasted like it was expired meat.

It was as expected after reading the reviews. My mom got my boyfriend a gift card there for his birthday so we went. When we got there we sat ourselves (as instructed) at the only table left open, which had not been bused down. It took them a while to pay attention to us. I had to ask for silverware after a guy told me he'd get us some like 15 mins earlier. The waitress was nice and did a decent job. The queso was good. Our chicken fajitas could not compare to authentic mexican food but they were fine. The place overall has inferior service and is quite over priced. I do not plan on voluntarily going back. read more

Really good Mexican food, great Margaritas, excellent service from enthusiastic waitstaff. All is good, but prices are high. Go expecting to drop $90 for a couple. read more

I don't give poor reviews lightly. But after such a horrible experience... The five (?) hostesses seemed so happy to have us, I thought we were in for a good time. (Note: just for the record, we endured all that you are about to hear about with patience and smiles. We were not offered any sort of compensation at any point.) But from a sticky table to forgotten straws and refills, what didn't go wrong? Two out of seven of us got the wrong meal. One guest was wrongly informed and so given something she didn't want. One child had the world's largest order of chicken tenders while the other was served 4 (!) tortilla chips with cheese as "nachos." It took 45 minutes to get our food. Wait staff was frequently confused. Food ranged from good to mediocre. Portions pretty small. Prices high. So cramped that I could not leave my seat. Loud enough that I had to yell at my table-neighbor. When I had to leave early because my child got sick, I was given the wrong to-go order... twice. They forgot to acknowledge the fourteen year olds birthday after specifically asking. And to top it all off? They served another kid a food they're allergic to after being told twice! Never. Again. read more

Uncle Julio's was so good! The menu isn't very big but had enough to choose from. I had Juanita's platter. It came with a taco, a beef enchilada, chicken enchilada, a tamale and rice and beans. It was so good! I ordered the table side guacamole. The guy making it was friendly and made it just like we asked. He actually came back a second time because we wanted another bowl, it was so good! It even comes in adorable pig bowl! I also ordered a swirl drink. The waitress was great at explaining the different swirl drinks to me. The swirl combined my two favorites! Sangria and margarita into one frozen drink. It was really good! It tasted a bit strong even but not complaining since usually restaurant drinks aren't strong. All the staff were friendly. The music in the background was just right, loud enough to hear but not even to make you shout to talk to your table. Will definitely be going back and this time I want to try the chocolate pinata! read more

NOT GOOD. NOT GOOD AT ALL. But let me explain. This is obviously the Red Lobster Mexican food. But if you like that kind of thing then sure go check it out. The setting is very nice, large and open with comfortable seating, as well as outdoor seating options. But that's where the good part of your experience will end. This is obviously a chain because the wait staff have a very strange way of greeting you & presenting the food. And if you've never been there before make sure you mention that so they give you the entire performance. And yes I call it a performance because it's exactly that. It made me feel very uncomfortable. Canned and unnatural, forced. I'm sure in the same way a cheap prostitute makes you realize they wish they were anywhere but there. Now let's get to the food. The chips and salsa they bring you at the table are soooo bad. The chips are paper thin and if you order guacamole they break every time you try to scoop out some guacamole. They do give you a heaping helping of chips but as I've mentioned they are paper thin and useless. No flavor. The salsa taste horrible. It's some sort of concoction they've come up with because I've never seen it in any other Mexican restaurant or while visiting with Latino friends. If you don't like chipotle then please don't go there because they must think Mexican food is only about chipotle flavoring. I personally can't stand that flavor and think it's overrated. But apparently they haven't gotten out of bed in 10 years and think it's still all the rage. If you're accustomed to going to cheaper local Mexican restaurants and getting fairly decent food for a low price and a whole lot of it then you will be disappointed with not only the quality of the food but the amount and then the disproportionate price they charge for what you get. The food is way overpriced and does not measure up to the flavor that you get at a local cheaper Mexican restaurant. The ceviche was way too salty and they put too much lime juice on it, the chicken fajitas we're like a frozen dinner warmed up, looked and tasted like processed chicken breast with about 7 strips of chicken on the entire plate for $16! The small amount of guacamole they give you as the appetizer looks nothing like the picture - believe me. The one thing that struck me towards the end of my experience there was that there were no Latinos in the entire restaurant. Whenever I go to a local Mexican restaurant around half of the people eating are Latino. What does that tell me? That this food sucks! One additional comment, the noise level in the restaurant was ridiculous. I was sitting at a small two-person booth with a friend, no more than 3 1/2 feet away from each other and we were having a difficult time understanding what the other person was saying. It's very echoey in there and all of the noises from the kitchen, the TV, the stereo and the crowd all mixed together into a giant oppressive sound ball of yuck. The only thing I could hear through the undifferentiated annoyance was the kick drum sound coming from the music through the stereo speakers. So basically it sounded like somebody was doing construction next-door too. I will never go again and if anybody ever brings it up I'll remind them of what an idiot they are for thinking they should go. And you should do the same. If you don't like this review and think I'm wrong then please let me know where I messed up. read more

Food was amazing which is why I'm leaving 4 stars! I enjoyed how the guacamole was made at our table. The chips were sooo good, very addictive. Salsa was good too. The side room where we sat could definitely be cleaned more throughly though (food in the seats and a lot under the tables). We asked to be moved to a different table because it was too congested with waiters coming back and forth behind us (we were sitting very close to a counter where the waiters were putting in orders and the floor/rug next to the counter and our table was really dirty and my parents said they smelled a weird smell). I think if we sat in the main area it would've been nicer. It was my birthday when we went and really enjoyed the time with my family. The grapefruit margarita was good too. I also think it's a tab bit overpriced and the service was good just kind of slow. read more

My wife and I anticipated the grand opening of Uncle Julio's for about 2 months now, we signed up for notifications on our email! And it didn't disappoint, we've been to the Nashville and Atlanta location, and we've been nothing but excited for it to have finally arrive in North Carolina especially in Durham where we've needed an authentic Mexican restaurant!!! The service was spectacular, our server Nicole was by far one of the best waitresses I've encountered in a lot of the restaurants we have around this area. Very sweet, enthusiastic, she's very knowledgeable. The general manager stopped by (Lakesha I believe) and even offered us some desert! Excellent hospitality!! We will definitely be regulars here. read more

I really enjoyed my first visit. My second was less impressive. My dinner was so spicy I could barely finish it. My friend had the same issue. I asked for sour cream to help reduce the spiciness which helped. The sour cream showed up on a friends bill. When she asked for it to be removed from her bill the waitress insisted it be paid for even though I wasn't told it would be a charge and my other bill had already been processed. I was with a large group who spent a lot of money. They also ignored our request to be sat in a room so we could have a meeting. We had to insist to be sat in there because we had called ahead to make these arrangements specifically. It seemed like it was an inconvenience to them to honor our arrangements. Most everyone in our group enjoyed their margaritas and food. Our food came out a bit disorganized and a couple drinks got forgotten. At the prices they have I would expect a more well oiled machine. read more

Visited on the opening night. The restaurant itself is beautiful. The bar area is the spot to hang out and mingle with others. The staff was very welcoming and everyone was really friendly. I did feel as though the food was overpriced and didnt "wow" me. $11 for a margarita!!! Also didnt care for the salsa. Overall not bad. read more

Just okay. Nothing special and the service was slow. I had the fish tacos (I get them everywhere I go) and I didn't like them! I don't know why, but they just didn't taste good. Maybe there wasn't enough fish in there? Overall, I think this place is very AVERAGE. read more

Average food, below average service, not cheap but not expensive. The inside is ascetically pleasing

Went for dinner. Made a reservation, so didn't wait when we arrived. As others have said, drinks are way overpriced but good. Chips and salsa were delicious. My husband and I shared the steak and chicken fajitas, it was good, but the portion size was a bit small, for two. Wanted to get the chocolate piñata for dessert, at $30 was too expensive. Overall a great dinner. read more

Okayyyyy so this restaurant was so good. I didn't take any pictures of what I got but I remember so that's no problem. First things first, you definitely have to get the table side guacamole it was so delicious! It's so fresh and it's honestly the best guac I've had at a restaurant if I'm being honest. Then for my entree I had the enchiladas I got the combination plate so I got chicken and beef since I wanted to try both. So since I've tried them I'll save you the time, they are both good but the chicken enchiladas are better. I was way too full to get dessert but I'll be going back for my birthday to see what that's about. I got two drinks but can't remember the name all I know is it has swirl in the name. It was good if you like sour drinks, overall my experience was great. The only con was the wait time to get seated but I was just hangry really lol. read more

They don't seat parties over 5 till AFTER 9pm? Ridiculous. We took our party of 7 and spent our money elsewhere.

I have been to this locations often and I have always had great service. Until tonight. We went there for my cousin's birthday and we had a large party (about 20 people) and were divided up into 2 long tables. Our table had the worst service. It took over 20 minutes just to order our drinks and longer than that to get them. Our waiter Gerardo was more concerned with other parties than ours and we had to ask for things more than 3 times. I informed him when we had someone new join our table and he looked at me blankly and said "Ok" and walked away never acknowledging them. The biggest issue outside of his lack of attentiveness is that we were in the middle of eating our food and he came and tossed to go boxes and bags on our food. I immediately went to the manager Lucretia(sp?) and she was very attentive and apologetic. She sent another server to our table to take care of us named Desiree and she was phenomenal! Honestly if it hadn't been for the manager and the new server, I'd probably nix this place. Gerardo needs to be placed in another area because his customer service is BEYOND lacking. I will be back to eat here though. I will make sure he is not my waiter and I will definitely request Desiree. read more

It was decent. Not bad. Not amazing either. My husband said the same about his plate (Cozumel Shrimp Tacos) which I also tried and just thought was okay. I had one each of the three enchiladas. The chips were very salty and my husband said his tongue tasted like salt at the end of the meal. read more

It's not often enough you get the kind of service that makes you want to come online and leave a good review. Uncle Julio's was absolutely the best restaurant we have been to in quite some time. Not only was the food spectacular, but the service was amazing, the server was super friendly and knowledgeable, the food while freshly prepared still came out in a timely fashion and our drinks were phenomenal. Will absolutely return and recommend them to anyone I talk to! read more

I love the experience of having a meal in a nice restaurant as much as the next guy but the service here is not the most desirable. Waiter took forever to greet us and took even longer through the evening. The food was nicely plated but very bland. The guacamole was delicious, along with the steak, but for an upscale Latin place you'd expect a little more flavor. Wouldn't recommend Plus side to my evening we had a delicious swirl margarita which is a frozen margarita with a sangria swirl read more

The food was amazing. We had a free tableside guacamole which is made fresh in front of us. It was delicious. We had steak fajitas and shrimp fajitas for my kids. Food was delicious.my kids loved them. Take note one of my kids do not like mexican food ( the only reason she agreed to go here was bec of the chocolate pinata). Of course we had chocolate pinata for dessert, the homemade whipped cream was delicious and the fruits was a nice balance of sweetness. I just wish it had more fruits. Overall experience wasn't bad. We will definitely be back. read more

Typical overpriced chain restaurant. Like a chili's or Applebee's except way overpriced for what it is. It looks nice inside. We went on a Tuesday evening so it wasn't crowded and the service was great. We ordered a taco platter which had ground beef as one of the toppings. Literally a greasy bowl of unseasoned ground beef. I told my wife I felt like I was eating overpriced Taco Bell. My daughter ordered the kids nacho plate, which was 4 nachos topped with cheese. The chocolate piñata had unripened strawberries in it. With two kids meals, 2 margaritas, a $20 taco platter, and a desert we payed over $100. Visit a local Mexican restaurant two or three times for this price and get a better tasting meal. read more

Me and my family dropped by for dinner. I was excited to try out the place, but as soon as we walked in it was clear I would be disappointed. We were not greeted as we entered, and when we tried initiating a conversation, the 2 women behind the stand were avoiding eye contact as if trying to ignore us. After telling one of them that we were interested in a table for 8, the woman (unsmiling), after a long pause, told us there were seats at the bar that were first come first serve. I told her I wasn't interested in bar seats and asked if there was a long wait time for tables. Then, the phone rang. She answered the phone and completely ignored me. I looked at thee other woman, and she just stood there expressionless. Finally, a gentleman came along and showed us to our seats. Surprisingly, there were several empty tables, so idk what all the fuss was about. The server was incredibly nice and helpful. The food was good, but after such a crappy entrance, it was difficult to have a good dinner. read more

I ate there for dinner with my family. We started with the (non-table side) guacamole, which was perfect. The carnitas tacos were delicious and the beans are full of flavor. Don't miss the Sopapillas - a big plate of tiny pillows of fried dough served with honey - they're hidden on the dessert menu with no description. The only downsides to Uncle Julio's is that it's a bit expensive and the service can be hit or miss. However, our waitress for this visit, Sonia, was fantastic and gave us the best service I've ever had at at Uncle Julio's! read more

My husband, baby daughter and I tried Uncle Julio's for the first time for lunch yesterday. It was very busy. We were seated promptly and our waitress greeted us very soon after. We put in our order. After what didn't seem like a very long time at all our waitress came to our table to inform us that our food would be out in 15 minutes or so and she apologized for the delay. We told her not to worry at all. We could see how busy they were. Not long after that the manager came over to apologize for the wait as well! We thanked her and told her again it was no problem because it really didn't seem like that long. We got our food. It was hot and delicious! My husband is from Dallas and went to the original Uncle Julio's - he said it wasn't too far off! We asked for our check only to find that the manager comp'd our entire meal! Wow! Between the yummy food and excellent customer service this will be our go to lunch spot! read more