Gave it another chance. $14 lunch tacos. There was little chicken On them. One had a single pitiful sliver of bland gristle. Comes with fruit 4 grapes 5 pieces of pineapple. I wanted rice and beans... nope can't have them. Nope never again. The manager looked at the taco and said he will talk with the cook. Comped me but for free I'm out. They do have a special frozen margarita for $16. Nope no no. read more

This post is a compliment on our server, but I just want to say walking in, the hostess was not professional or welcoming at all. I didn't catch her name. Just the way she greeted us and sat us was like she could care less about her job. We watched her seat other people as well and basically toss the menus on the table and walk away leaving the customers confused as to what's going on. So right off the bat I was concerned this wouldn't be a good dining experience. Then came Jesus. Right away we knew he was good. He acknowledged and greeted us and said he'd be right with us. He didn't ignore us. He did his greeting and offered drinks, appetizers, etc. What I really liked was how he knelt down to our level at the table and talked to our 5 year old daughter and was patient with her. So many servers don't acknowledge kids or care for them. She's pretty shy too, but he had her laughing and talking to him it was very cute. He even asked if we wanted some water in the lemonade so it's not so sugary and sweet. Again, just looking out for the customers. Food was delicious. He was attentive to not only us, but his other tables as well. He prebussed the tables, got refills on drinks and asked if we wanted extra tortillas for the fajitas when he saw we were out. Even though he was busy, he took time to talk to every table on a personal level. Just getting to know people. I have nothing negative to say about him and his service. He was great. I was a server for many years as well as many of my family members and he did an awesome job. He did all of the things a server should do and even beyond. We will be dining there again and hopefully will have him as a server! read more

Nice atmosphere. It's cool how they make guacamole right in front of you. The food is mediocre and over priced. My friend and I ordered margaritas and they were very sweet and did not have a kick of alcohol at all. read more

I have been here a couple of times now and I never leave disappointed. My children love coming here because their chips are "awesome". The food is better than most. I have never had a problem with the service here. They have always been prompt and welcoming. I don't have a problem calling anyone's manager over to make them aware of anything but pleasant service. I've been here during Saturday's lunchtime hours and I will go back again. I'm in love with the Guadalajara plate, it comes with bacon wrapped shrimp freshly made tortillas, ur choice of steak or chicken and rice with a side of beans. I love this place. You will not be disappointed! read more

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Our waitress Naomi, was the best, she had great recommendations on drinks, appetizers, and food. We went with her suggestions and everything turned out amazing! She suggested the chicken fajitas, which ive never had, and it was delicious and had great sides to pair with. Also, since my mom couldnt have meat she was helpful to give options for that as well, not many waitresses/waiters can help so fast as she did. Definitely coming back again read more

If I could give zero stars I would... first I called twice only to be left on hold. When I went to pick up the food there were 2 table that had seated customers but no one could answer the take out order line!! Then they tell me they don't take apple pay or any form of digital card payment !! Clearly no other customers would be served tonight as the doors were also locked at 924. So the $70 worth of take out is going to be thrown away or eaten by one of the rude employees. The hostess and a person from the kitchen laughed when I said WHO DOESNT TAKE DIGITAL PAUMENTS??!!Horrible customer service. read more

We met for dinner prior to Christmas Eve services. The service was prompt and cordial. Our waitress returned to check on our progress periodically, without becoming a pest. the food was excellent and the margaritas tasty. read more

Mismanaged and totally overpriced and overhyped 30 minute wait was more like a 60 minute wait. And then another hour goes by after ordering food and nada! So many tables with guests and no food ! Did the kitchen personnel walk out last night?!?!? We did read more

Service was ok, food was awful. I've had better from an elementary cafeteria. Bland and cold tacos, they didn't even warm the tortilla. The tiny enchiladas were a joke and both entrees had more cheese than meat. And the onions on everything including the guacamole were giant 1inch chunks. Not sure how they're still in business. Save your money and go to chipotle. read more

Lovely food Welcoming atmosphere No doubt it's a authentic Mexican restaurant The food was beyond belief I got their Tex-Mex Mixta on my birthday a few years back Also got an order of Cozumel Shrimp Tacos And a Corona for a very very good price total The employees were beyond polite and very courteous Definetly a family restaurant And a place I would go to time and time again I would bring friends and family And I recommend it to anyone and everyone who likes Mexican food read more

My son and I chose this place over Corner Bakery because he felt like Mexican food. The waitress was pretty nice. I had the shrimp quesadillas which were ok. But my son had the steak tacos which were a complete disaster. He ate half of the first one and said that the meat was cool and very chewy. When we looked inside the tacos we saw that the meat was almost raw. This was so disgusting. Who orders tacos rare or even medium rare? When we complained, the manager was extremely nice and apologetic but still, he could have at least comped that dish or given us a credit for next time! They did remake the steak tacos but we took them to go. This time they were cooked thoroughly but my son was still grossed out and could not eat them. We gave the tacos to our dogs who seemed to enjoy them. read more

Uncle Julio's Old Orchard - The meat on our steak tacos was almost raw! It was really gross. - Mexican Near Me - Skokie, Illinois

I think uncle Julios is so-so. For starters, the prices are outrageous in comparison to the quality/quantity of the food. I asked for a side of queso for my tacos and I received the same ramekin you'd get ketchup in .. the cost? $7.99?! That's insane. The service has been good the last two times we went. The servers were attentive and friendly. We have been there on their off hours, which based on other reviews, I recommend doing. The shredded chicken tacos are actually surprisingly really yummy. They were super tender and delicious. Their salsa that they offer at the table is good and the table made guacamole was the decent. Overall, a pretty good experience. read more

Came to this restaurant today when it was very packed. Made reservations through open table and they sat us exactly the time that was reserved. The food is always great. Very flavorful. I recommend all the fajitas. Steak fajita is my go to. The chips and salsa are real good too and the drinks are amazing. The only reason I am only giving it 4 stars is it is a bit pricey for both food and drinks. They have plenty of parking spots. I highly recommend this place if you want good tex mex food read more

Uncle Julio's Old Orchard - All fresh ingredients for their salsa and guacamole:) - Mexican Near Me - Skokie, Illinois

I have been here several times and food is great. Totally recommend if you like Mexican food

I don't come here often but when I do I always get the table guacamole (super duper delicious). Last week when I went with my bf we sat by the bar to watch the cubs game and we got there 15mins til closing. The server by the bar was so rude, she was giving us attitude. I didn't see her name on the receipt (wish I told the manager about her rude service at the spot). She was skinny, around 5'2, glasses, and long black hair. At the end when she gave us the receipt it says $62, but after we paid the other receipt says $74. We were like wtf?!! Why is the price so different, so we told her and she was like oh sorry I made a mistake. I'm sure she did. Such a scammer!!! read more

Very disappointed in their customer service. I went to the website, ordered almost $200 delivered. Delivery by Postmates, no choice. Got food, and was missing a steak. I called and was told sorry, no credit, no delivery and basically called me a liar. Manager said they all remembered putting it in. It wasn't in the box. If it was because of Post mates, they should still make it right. Was told we could go and pick up another, so we did. Started to eat and no cheese. None. Not ok for Mexican food. I don't care whose fault it was, whatever happened to the customer is always right. Poor service, poor attitude. Very disappointed....... read more

I've been here 4 times now and have had a great experience each time. It's a great place to go if you like Tex Mex, which is what I prefer. My favorite things here are the chili con queso with warm tortilla chips and the chocolate piñata full of fruit and churros. The piñata feeds a table full of people, so definitely get it if you're celebrating an occasion or just want a special dessert. read more

Uncle Julio's Old Orchard - Chocolate piñata full of fresh fruit and churros - Mexican Near Me - Skokie, Illinois

My friend and I stopped here for lunch after going to the Illinois Holocaust Museum. We both adore Mexican food and Uncle Julio's did not disappoint. The first clue of awesomeness were the fresh house made delicate tortilla chips and perfectly flavor-balanced salsa. We decided to go wild and chose table-side-made guacamole, made to order. The food of the gods, table-side-made guacamole converted me. For our entrees, we each chose different enchilada dishes, both were very good. Mine benefitted from extra salsa I added. The only negative for me was that I felt mine needed more melted cheese to be perfect. Our waiter was very friendly and didn't rush us. He made a few recommendations. I will definitely return! read more

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I've been here many times, not by choice of my own, but that of my family. I will say, 5 star ambiance, it is definitely a family friendly fun place to be, however, the service is hit or miss, and the food is, miss. This particular time, our server was not in the mood for chit chat whatsoever, and took 10 minutes to get our beverages started. The beef tacos were such low quality I dont understand how it's served. The beef was overly seasoned and it tasted like something I would try and fail cooking at my house. The chips however are great, but overall this is not worth the price. Save your money. Go to a non commercial Mexican place, authenticity matters. read more

This place is good for what it is- an Americanized Mexican restaurant that usually has wait times under 15 minutes. They have frozen margaritas, your basic Mexican fare, etc. The food is just okay; I wouldn't go in expecting homemade chips and salsa. I ordered enchiladas and asked for "mole" sauce and was told they don't offer that as an option. I do like the location in the mall, which makes things convenient. That's what keeps me coming back here. read more

Errors in the order, no refill on beverages offered, billing inconsistent with what we were told, Generally disappointing.

Gave our name at 5:30pm. Waited 3 hours!!! I can understand waiting. But when they tell you 90 minutes and then at the 2 hour mark tell you it will just be a little longer, and then accidentally delete your name, it's not good. The manager was helpful and got us a table. We used this place for private parties. Not planning on repeating that anytime soon. Read another review here where he eyed a server who purposefully sneezed into his plate after he asked that it be reheated. There's an apparent big mismanagement problem with this franchise. read more

Food and service has gotten worse over time. We used to dine here at least once per week. Gave it a another try and found it has gotten even worse. Over priced with poor food quality and service. We will not come back. read more

We ordered the steak and chicken fajitas for two, we asked for our steak to be cooked medium well. When the waitress brought out our meal the steak was charred. The waitress noticed and agreed to bring us another order of steak. When she brought out the next order it was cooked "medium".. we felt bad and didn't say anything because the waitress was very nice. The chicken wasn't tasty either. I wouldn't recommend the food at all. The service and drinks are good. read more

Tried fajitas, barbacoa quesadilla and margaritas. Everything was delicious. I wish they had piña coladas.

I'm giving this four stars because my expectations for mall chain Mexican food is low, so I'm starting with that disclaimer! To start, I was unexpectedly pleased with the margaritas here. They were tasty, albeit overpriced and small, margaritas, plus a nice, big selection of them (Could use a much better beer menu, though, for sure, and what they call craft or local were generally neither). I had the grapefruit margarita because I'm a sucker for St. Germain, and it was refreshing, though it could have been a just a tidge stronger. Hubs had the fresh strawberry, which was great-- not too sweet-- and he let me have the tequila-soaked berries at the end, so I was very lucky. Hubs enjoyed his fajitas and my chicken enchiladas with hatch chile sauce were good, though a little dry. Service was fast but the check back after the food came was not very prompt. Still, overall, it was a solid three and a half star experience, and I have rounded up (again, because when my expectation was much lower. Especially on Mother's Day. Ack). read more

Uncle Julio's Old Orchard - Yummy salsa - Mexican Near Me - Skokie, Illinois

Dear Uncle Julio, You raped my wallet. How dare you charge me $15 for a little ass bowl of Guac that you call fancy cause you throw some gross pineapple and sprinkle not even enough queso to feed a hamster. Your special margarita didnt make me feel so special either, Julio. BYE read more

I wish that I could write a better review but my friend and I were so disappointed. We ordered the crispy taco platter (ground beef) only to get what could of been better said a bowl of salt. My friend and I took one bite and could not attempt to take another. The waiter came and we explained the problem. The manager came and stated that all the ground beef was already salted this way. Ok we exchange the taco "beef" for the "pulled chicken" only to experience the same. I had high hopes for this place, sadly, we will not be coming back. There are other spices besides salt. Perhaps the cook needs a better culinary class. Thanks but no thanks. read more

I've given Uncle Julio's the benefit of the doubt on (perhaps too) many occasions, where my visits have spanned a variety of times of day and days of the week over the better part of a year. And all I've come away with is the fact I must be insane, because I keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. This place simply cannot get its sh*t together. Without exception, service is beyond slow. I get it, it's a fairly big restaurant and there's a lot of ground to cover. But each time I've been here, the place has been at no more than 50% capacity. What's the hold up? They're quick to bring out the complimentary chips/salsa (both of which are quite tasty) and offer up the freshly made table side guacamole, which has never disappointed. But that's where the punctuality and attentiveness ends. Food orders take unreasonably long to fulfill, from ordering to receiving. We looked around and saw other groups who'd come in after us receive their entrees 10-15 minutes before we did. And we've never ordered anything remotely complicated - quesadillas and tacos are pretty simple fare. Let's not reinvent the wheel here, folks. And without fail the food is always sub par, especially for what you pay for it. As far as the quality of its offerings, I can admit Uncle Julio's at least lives up to its name of "Fine Mexican Food". As in, "Uncle Julio's? Ehck,*shrugs*. Fine." read more

Food is always good never had a bad choice The swirly drink is the best highly recommend everything you see :) read more

Uncle Julio's Old Orchard - Mexican Near Me - Skokie, Illinois

Had a fabulous experience! Started with made at your table guacamole made extra spicy and a margarita. I love that the margs are made with fresh ingredients and not a mix. Shared an order of the fajita's with my BF which were delicious !! I will definitely be back again! read more

Enjoying a mojito and some chips and queso while shopping. Was surprised at how light and fresh the chips are and the queso is just the right balance of cheese and Mexican flavors. The mojito is just a wonderful combination of sensory and delicious flavors. Nice to sit and relax after a lot of shopping. The service has been friendly and quick. The drinks are happy hour priced I'm told, however 7.50 doesn't seem like a special price for a drink in a short glass. Other than that I'm pretty happy with my first experience here! read more

This my favorite spot for steak fajitas! Uncle Julios has the best most tender steak! They also make fresh guacamole table side, there chips are also great. If you want an amazing drink order there swirl margarita it's so refreshing and yummy. read more

Uncle Julio's Old Orchard - Steak fajitas! Yummmy - Mexican Near Me - Skokie, Illinois

I love Uncle Julio's, and I'm a long term loyalty member. It makes my husband crazy that it's usually the only place I want to eat. But this review is for yesterday when I ordered food to go. First of all, I ordered at the bar, and the bartender and my margarita were both fantastic. The food, however, not so much. I ordered shrimp fajitas for 2; there was certainly not enough for 2, but we had to throw the shrimp away, because they were little, chewy, and hard. They had the consistency of pencil erasers. Fortunately, I got an order of enchiladas too, so we actually had something to eat. But for the price it wasn't worth it. Sorry, I should have taken a picture, but I just didn't think about it. I was more concerned about what I'd have for dinner. The tortillas were very good. read more

Worse location EVER. ok lets start with the greeter... her attitude was absolutely awful.. i asked her where the bathroom was after she told me and my party that we wouldn't be seated for another 30 min and instead of actually telling me, she points as if i knew where the hell to go.. then as we wait, we see 3 different parties that came after us be seated. Apparently the greeter knew she screwed up because she had the "oh shit"look on her face when she saw we were still sitting there waiting... Then we sit down and order and i asked for a mango margarita. The waiter tells me they dont have that. I let him know that i had it before just at another location.. instead of just making sure, he becomes combative.. (all over a damn margarita). So after taking everyone elses drink orders and bringing them back, he comes to say "oh yea we do have mango margaritas". Instead of stating the obvious i let it go... then we order our food. After waiting damn near 40 min, our food was absolutely awful. I have eaten at Uncle Julios thousands of times at the North ave location and there is a HUUUGGGEE difference... my supposedly SOFT tacos were hard as hell and my steak was soooo damn burnt... omg i will never in hell come back here again.. Our waiter was a real smart ass. Everyones order was wrong and/or half assed and he didnt care... then when we asked for the check and containers he brings up 2 small containers (mind you it wad more than 2 ppl and we had a healthy amount of food left so idk ehat 2 small containers was going to do) and i asked him to split the checks so we know what we all need to pay. 15 min later (yes just for the damn check) he comes back with one bill..not split whatsoever.. at this point we are all over this situation paid and left. I will never come to this place EVER again Worse service from start to finish read more

Uncle Julio's is to Mexican food what Olive Garden is to Italian food. Just don't bother unless you have to go for some forced function. The food is mediocre and overpriced. The drinks are decent tasting, but filled with sugar and seriously lacking in actual alcohol. The service sucks and the place is filled with screaming unruly kids - in a dining room where the acoustics are pretty bad to start with. There is nothing authentically Mexican about Uncle Julio's other than the Montezuma's Revenge I experienced after my second visit - yep, full on food poisoning. There are plenty of decent restaurants in Old Orchard Mall - this just isn't one of them. read more

Delicious food! Great atmosphere! Wonderful drinks ! Friendly staff! Why the two stars people?? Hmmm. read more

Let's start with the basics: Parking: LOTS OF IT. Restaurant is located in mall with more than enough FREE parking. Valet parking available ($6.00). Restaurant: Extremely clean, BIG, with beautiful decor!! The ambiance of the place is electric and very lively with GREAT music playing in the background (music wasn't blaring/loud, it was at a comfortable level. You're able to speak without YELLING at the person sitting next to you). Staff: Friendly and vibrant. A++ Food: NOTHING SPECIAL! I had the chicken flautas, EXTREMELY greasy, yet FRESH, if that makes sense. They were extremely HOT, HOT, HOT (right off the fryer). The rice that accompanied the flautas, seems as though it came right out of Uncle Ben's box/Rice-A-Roni box. Dry and tasteless. Table side Guacamole: Delish!!!! Of course here comes a downfall, we had to wait 30 mins for the "guacamole guy" to come over with the cart. Apparently (according to our waitress) he was not only new, but it was an extremely busy Saturday night. How about you have MORE THAN 2 GUYS working that cart especially on a Saturday night Uncle Julio! Service: Awful, ratchet, horrible, dreadful, heinous! I mean seriously, don't offer up the "excuse" what a busy night it is, EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT IS A BUSY NIGHT AT RESTAURANTS! Staff should be OVER-MAXED, ready, trained, to handle large groups and an overflow of HUNGRY customers! I was disappointed with our service and as a result it not only ruined our meal, but we will NEVER return again! Wanted to love it, instead, unapologetically loathe! read more

We had a reservation for my birthday dinner for 7pm and was not seated until 7:38pm. We asked a couple times when the table would be ready but was not given an answer for how long or why it was taking a while. Our server was not attentive at all. Orders were taken incorrectly. Food came out room temp and almost cold. Made to order guac came out brown. Drinks were not refilled. Overall an underwhelming and disappointing experience. read more

This is my go to restaurant. It has such amazing food and staff. I was there today and I had the sweetest server, I was very impressed her name was Susan she was so nice and funny and took care of us real good despite of how busy they were. I will definitely be back again. Thank you Susan for making my experience so much better and memorable. Looking forward to seeing you again! read more