07/15/24 - This is the first time I've been to an Uncle Julio's. I've heard very mixed reviews on the food. The breakdown on the food I ate. The chips were ok, but I enjoyed both of the salsas. They were both good. The red one was very garlicky I really enjoyed this and kept munching on it. The other salsa had more of a smoky chipotle type flavoring this was also very good. For my main course I ordered 2 steak tacos w/beans & rice. The steak tacos were ok but nothing extraordinary. The beans was more of a bean soup than beans. The seasoning was very good. The rice was nothing special. Our server Diana was nothing short of remarkable. When I think of stellar service I think of someone like Diana. She was spot on in every aspect. From the time we got there she was there to take our drink orders & to see if we wanted to get appetizers prior to ordering our main courses. She was always checking back to see if we needed anything. THANK YOU DIANA FOR OUTSTANDING SERVICE. read more

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Great service, but food? Eh Service was overall great. Our waiter Patrick was very attentive and was full of smiles. The vibe is low warm light and cute. There is lots of seating as well. The main downside to my experience was the food. I ordered the quesa-birria tacos which were actually great as an appetizer, but my main dish was just sad. I ordered the enchilada combo, one chicken and one beef. The tortillas were stiff, and there was barely any salsa on them. The chicken enchilada was covered with an overwhelming amount of lime, the rice was flavorless and the beans were watery. I hesitate to call this place clean because my water cup had crusted gunk on it, which makes me believe they don't wash their dishes too well. read more

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Diana was so wonderful excellent service so knowledgeable. Excellent service..yummy steak fajitas fantastic sour cream and homemade tortillas. Really good garlic salsa and warm chips . Yummy refried beans and rice. Ate her before and thought it was average. A little pricy but we split a steak fajita and rolled out of there. . Thanks Diana for great service. read more

Went here to celebrate friend's Birthday. Unfortunately, they no longer have vegetarian entrees in the menu so we had a very very limited choice.we were told that they can't even make vegetarian fajitas as they do not carry any vegetables. We still tried to make the most out of it, had drinks and had fun but if they do not add vegetarian items back, I am not going there again and I know a lot of vegetarian people who lives in the area who won't be able to go here. These two stars are for proximity, ambiance and nice staff! I'd go again if I can actually order something here as a vegetarian. read more

Great chips and salsa! Service was okay for a 3pm on a Saturday. This place is incredibly expensive for what you get. $10 for a small cup of white queso. read more

Stopped in for happy hour because I wasn't sure what I had a taste for as a birthday treat. I was seated immediately, they told me happy birthday multiple times which was sweet. Michelle was the bartender and the woman who brought my food out was so attentive and conversational. We had a nice quick chat about the Watermelon Margarita(delicious BTW). I ordered the Stacked Nachos with beef. The chips were good, the queso was good as well but the beef left a lot to be desired, not seasoned well and too oily. The drinks were great however. Overall, I would go back for the cocktails and ambiance alone! read more

Uncle Julio's - Gold Marg - Mexican Near Me - Vernon Hills, Illinois

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Good, cute spot. Great for groups. The fish tacos were great, the vegetarian tacos were ok. The tableside guac was well worth it. The staff I encountered here was great, especially our waitress. read more

It has a nice dining area but food isn't worth the price. The wait time is longer than usual and wasn't prepared to quality standards. The menu is uninteresting and pricey. The food has no taste and includes small meat portions. I'm not interested in ordering again. read more

Uncle Julio's - Classic taco salad with steak - Mexican Near Me - Vernon Hills, Illinois

Food was good but overpriced. May have been the slowest service I've ever had. We were there for almost three hours. The restaurant had 4 tables by the time we left and getting our table cleared was painful. I had to do it myself. Then we got 2 chocolate piñatas and churros. They brought us no plates and silverware. Brutal.... read more

I was surprised by the other reviews! We haven't been to a restaurant in forever where there was constant attention on our table. The manager stopped by multiple times to ensure we had what we needed and our waitress was 10/10 kind. Like having dinner at a family-friends home. We did the Tuesday Taco Special and it was amazing! Table was clean, chips were fresh, and an allergy we had at the table was taken very seriously. Often times we mention it once and it's forgotten. When she brought our fresh fruit she reassured us it had not had any contact with strawberries. Thoughtfulness we greatly appreciated! read more

Me and my fiancé visited the Uncle Julio's in Vernon Hills on Saturday, October 5. We hadn't been there in a while and sadly, like many other restaurants, quality and service has taken a hit, especially since Covid. We were very disappointed and dissatisfied with the service, staff and food, to say the least We arrived at about 6:20 for a 6:30 reservation. We were seated right away. We waited for at least 15 minutes for tap water in a small pitcher and two glasses. (No ice). We asked for ice and did receive it, eventually. They were strangely very attentive to the chips and salsa. Lol. I was a little puzzled by that one in the end but they were on the ball if they saw that the chips were running low. If they had been as attentive to everything else, it probably would have been a much more positive experience. The salsa was very flavorful with a little bite to it. We enjoyed it. We ordered house guacamole which had very large chunks of the Avocado and we had to mash it up. It was actually pretty good, I'm just not sure why they didn't take the time to make it a lot easier to eat. We waited at least another 15-20 minutes for our waiter (H*nter) to return to take our order. He wasn't very attentive. We didn't see him return to the table until well after we had gotten our food, which was close to 30 minutes to get. The food was just.....ok. I had the two taco dinner with skirt steak, with rice and beans. The steak was very bland and just warm, NOT hot, with far too little seasoning for my taste. The waiter stated the meat was cooked medium-rare, which is what I asked for anyway. It was much closer to medium-well to well done. My fiancé ordered cheese and onion enchiladas. She wasn't overly impressed with the flavors either and hers wasn't hot either. It was barely warm and the cheese had gotten "rubbery". Upon the conclusion of our meal, the waiter curiously and rudely hovered over us at the table while my fiancé used the credit card processing machine. She was becoming noticeably uncomfortable to me because she felt she was being spied upon for the tip. I advised her, I'd leave cash. I proceeded to place the tip on the table (20%+ a little). The waiter asked if that was the tip. I advised him, yes. He proceeded to pick it up from the table and thanked us and hurriedly walked away from the table. I was shocked that the waiter hovered by the table for this tip and hurriedly grabbed it off of the table and walked away. I have no clue if it was the end of his shift and he wanted to go home or if he was concerned that someone else was going to try to pocket it. I'd never had such an awkward moment with a waiter. Needless to say, we won't be returning anytime soon. The restaurant has obviously changed a lot since we were there last and not for the better. Save yourself some time and money, imo. There are other Mexican restaurants in the area that appreciate their customers and their money, a lot more than this one apparently does. read more

I had a great experience, the service was great! I was greeted at the entrance by the manager himself, everyone who took care of me introduced themselves and was polite and welcoming! I had two margaritas which were delicious! The strawberry one was my favorite, sweet and strong! I cannot say enough about the ambiance which felt cozy and elegant with soft lighting!. I feel like the tacos were a little less authentic though. I did not like the ground beef, it had good flavor but not for a Mexican restaurant. I would love to come back and try something different on their menu for sure! read more

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Great food love the freshly made tortillas. Great lunch specials. The dining area is clean and nicely decorated. Fast service. .

Uncle Julio's offers a somewhat limited Tex-Mex menu, so while items like tacos and enchiladas are offered, burritos are not. My first visit was a couple of years ago for dinner, but mostly for the chocolate piñata. Dinner was average, and the piñata was amazing -- and, racking it right after dinner, it was too much dessert for six of us to finish. On my most recent visit, for lunch, I ordered the chicken tortilla bowl. Despite being full of onions, peppers and avocado (among other ingredients), I found the flavor to be pretty bland. It improved when I added some salsa to the mix. The environment is nice and the service is good. I'm sure I'll return, but it's not at the top of my list -- unless I'm going for another chocolate piñata! read more

Uncle Julio's - Chicken Tortilla Bowl - Mexican Near Me - Vernon Hills, Illinois

Uncle Julio's surprised me with one of the best salads I've eaten in a long time. The Fresca Salad with chicken was great as an appetizer: light, flavorful, and healthy. I thought the vegetarian fajitas could have used more vegetables, but they were prepared well. The service was responsive. Adrian, our server, always had a smile and was very attentive and pleasant. Surprisingly, I liked this place and would happily return. read more

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Super bad experience!!! First, it took almost 25 minutes to be seated, even with a confirmed reservation. Then, we were left waiting for another 40 minutes without anyone checking in, taking our order, or even acknowledging us. All we had were four empty cups (yes, the lady dropped off four empty cups and then disappeared). Ironically, the table that arrived after us was checked on twice within five minutes: "Oh hi, has anyone taken your order yet?" Apparently, we weren't welcome and could be completely ignored. So, we just put on our jackets and left... lol. Not sure what caused this or why. It was supposed to be a nice family dinner to celebrate the New Year. Unfortunately, this will be our first and last time visiting Uncle Julio's. I mean, if you can't serve your customers, then don't take reservations or at least warn them that you're super busy and service will be very slow. Also, it's always a good idea to follow an ORDER when serving your customers. One star for both 'Food' and 'Atmosphere.' Since we never had the chance to enjoy the food, will leave the star rating for 'Food' blank. read more

Food was delicious and Drinks to. Our waitress was Amazing, love this place it family friendly ! Highly recommend coming here for dinner, celebration, birthday, or just because it's family friendly read more

This location is definitely a friendlier place to dine in! We walked in and few minutes later, chips and salsa we're on our table! The waiter, Christian asked what we wanted to drink and if we had any questions regarding the menu, that's really fast service! We order: 1. Cozumel Shrimp tacos-three corn tortillas, seared Shrimp, pineapple, mango-jicama slaw, mango habanero sauce with cilantro rice and black beans. $16.49 (When you take a bite, it had a nice crunch and juicy) 2. Fajita quesadillas-sauteed onions and Monterey jack on flour tortillas with sour cream and fresh quacamole, I had it with skirt steak. $14.99 (it was cut into 8 huge pieces and the quacamole was really fresh but needed just a little more salt and lime, the steak was cooked to perfection, soft and tender) 3. Grilled fish tacos-three corn tortillas, grilled talapia, shredded cabbage, Pico de Gallo, avocado creme with cilantro rice and black beans. $15.49 (presentation was great, didn't get to taste this one) 4. Chicken enchiladas-pulled chicken with creamy hatch Chile sauce, you can choose 2 or 3 enchiladas, 3 is $13.59 (the chicken was very soft and it was tasty) We also saw two tables order the chocolate pinatas, it looked kinda small, it looked bigger on the TV and! Overall, we all agreed that we'll come back and try other entrees, cause the service was great and the food was delicious! read more

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This is a beautiful restaurant with a lot of space for big parties and large groups. I enjoyed the food. This was my second time eating at this restaurant. I ordered the taco salad because my friend preferred it at our last visit. The taco salad with grilled chicken was tasty and filling. The tortilla chips were light, tasty, and crispy. The waiters were responsive and very friendly. The music played was pleasant. I have visited the restaurant when it was busy and when there were few people present. Both visits were enjoyable. read more

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Being that it was a Saturday the server was attentive and we got our food fast and it was hot, which was good. The drinks were delicious. His recommendation of the watermelon. Margarita was absolutely perfect. read more

I can't believe it's taken me so long to get here! It was busy in the night we came but we didn't have to wait at all! Extremely friendly service from the get go. It's like people are grateful that we're all getting slowly past this whole pandemic. As for the food...ummm you know I'm a sucker for Mexican food and spices! Taste is king and this king is fresh. Top off a perfect meal with a cocktail with a little spice to it and you have the makings of a perfect night out! We will definitely be back to hit that large drink and food menu! read more

This place is great for celebrating or big groups. It's a little on the pricy side but the food and drinks are absolutely delicious. Service is great each time I've been. They have tons of seating and a big menu. Definitely try this place out they have lots of delicious options. read more

Uncle Julio's - Guac - Mexican Near Me - Vernon Hills, Illinois

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We stopped by the past week to celebrate a birthday. Only to discover the location to be closed, with no announcement or warning. This location was in our regular rotation for Tex-Mex food and our visits were always very enjoyable. We are all sad that this location is now closed and have no idea why as the restaurant was always busy and had consistently good food and good service. To the staff, thank you for all the hard work and great times, you will be missed. read more

First off, I grew up in Texas so I take my Mexican food seriously. This is a chain that has a lot of locations in Texas my expectations on the food was high. And for the most part, the food and drinks were both quite good! Especially the beef fajitas (ask for the garlic butter sauce and dump it on top, it's SO GOOD), but the enchiladas were also solid. Salsa they give when you sit is definitely different than the standard ketchupy salsa you get at other places -- roasted chiles and served warm. YUM! we also sometimes ask for pico de gallo and it's always nice and spicy. Guac is also solid! But the service. Whooooo. We were last there during a weekday for lunch and I couldn't have been more irritated by how bad the service was. The server only had 2 tables but managed to never offer to refill our drinks, took us asking TWICE to get silverware, and we specifically asked her to start the chocolate piñata mid-meal but she didn't fire it so we had to sit there for 20m waiting with two antsy kids. Not cool. Speaking of the chocolate piñata. Yes it is crazy $ but it's also massive! The churros were the best part, but obviously the kiddos loved the whole spectacle of it. My biggest gripe is that the fruit was clearly cut on a cutting board/with a knife that had previously cut onions and garlic. Seriously couldn't eat more than 1 strawberry because it was so gross. read more

I like this place because it's easy to reserve a table through Resy, even for a larger group. The atmosphere is inviting, and staff are friendly. Service was excellent! They also give you all the chips and salsa you can eat without backing down. Drinks were a little concentrated so had to add a little water to mine, but I recommend the seasonal margarita otherwise. Also found my fajita bowl to be a little on the dry side. Otherwise a good experience and worth trying again. read more

Uncle Julio's - Fajita bowl - Mexican Near Me - Vernon Hills, Illinois

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Great food, great service. Our waiter was so on top of refills! Highly recommended Armando's section.

In my numerous visits to the two area restaurants has left me unimpressed. Though the service has been good, the food, not so good. It lacks flavor and portions. Prices are above the quality of the food. read more

Portion size is ok, looks big because served on big plates. food is fresh, but flavor is seriously lacking. I'm really expecting more given that this is tex-mex and $$$ expensive food. Guac and chips-- guac is freshly made, too light on the lime, cilantro and onion. Chip is thin and crispy, but so extremely salty! Chicken enchiladas-- green sauce is not spicy enough. Also too little sauce. Chicken is flavorful but texture is so very dry. The rice was red in color but flavor is lacking. Bacon and beans, both are kinda of bland. Fish tacos-- fish just tastes like fish, chunk size is not bad, but not much flavoring at all. Veggies are fresh and crunchy. Rice also was bland and so were the beans. Food took an hour to come, despite it being a random weekday and not too busy. My older kid was getting a stomachache from hunger and just eating all the chips. My younger infant was screaming bloody murder. We ended up eating just a little bit and packing the rest to go. My experience here would've been one star higher if food came earlier. read more

Uncle Julio's - Chicken Enchiladas - Mexican Near Me - Vernon Hills, Illinois

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Seriously the worst service. 1 hour for them to even get us our apps and drinks... then they came back and said one of our entrees are not even available and to pick another option. At this moment we were sure they didn't even start our food. By this time they served the other two tables and we were pissed. Our food finally came out COLD with no sides, beans, rice, or tortillas. Never again! Go elsewhere read more

I recently went to the Vernon Hills Illinois location and was very disappointed with the Chicken Tortillas Soup which I previously thought it was the best. To me the soup was very plain. The Manager explained that many found the soup too salty. It was recommended that I share in a review. read more

The food was tasty but the portion sizes are very small and extremely overpriced. Service is not the best. Our waitress really only checked in a couple times and then would disappear for long periods of time. Made a reservation but still waited 25 minutes for a table. Mentioned in the reservation we were there celebrating a birthday. No mention and no celebration from staff. Underwhelming experience. Won't be back read more

It's not About Food but it's about whole experience when customer comes first Time. First of all no restaurant have policy displaying when you enter that don't take picture of employee making a table side guacamole. Second one is being professional being a manager with your customers and not being rude and third and most important part is paying attention to when customer said in advance PURE VEGETARIAN then you should make sure not to put a piece of BEEF with sautéd onions and peppers. Over All food was OK but for customer service I would give negative review. Hope this review will be seen by someone from corporate whom I will try to reach with my concerns soon. And I am not a customer who complains for small things but when your staff is rude,unprofessional and not paying attention to someone's religious belief with food then sorry you didn't lost only 1 customer but a whole lot of business. read more

Uncle Julio's - Beef in Sauté Vegetables - Mexican Near Me - Vernon Hills, Illinois

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I had the pleasure of trying this made from scratch, Mexican restaurant. My Mom, and I, decided to try this restaurant located in Vernon Hills. It is on the corner of route 60 and Milwaukee Avenue. Many of my friend's recommended it. It was a busy Saturday night around 6:30. We were greeted by the hostess Zoe. She was friendly and efficient. We only sat at the bar for 5 minutes prior to being seated. The restaurant was a little noisy. We were seated in the center, near the kitchen and bathrooms. Next time I come here I will see if I can get a booth or sit further away from the kitchen. The music was upbeat, but not background music, it was overpowering. It was difficult to carry on a conversation with my Mom. I like to have the entire experience when I dine. My Mom and I were greeted by our server James. He informed us that he and only started 3 weeks ago. He was young, inexperienced however friendly. We liked him, however he was extremely absent when it came to just serving the two of us. He was definitely overwhelmed since he had many large groups. It took 20 minutes for my Mom to receive her Julio's gold margarita. Most everyone knows the main money in restaurants comes from your bar bill. I could tell this night was going to be a slow one with the service we were receiving. We enjoyed munching on homemade chips and salsa. My Mom and I decided to split the Bacon Wrapped Shrimp and Chicken Fajitas. They were delicious and more than enough food for us. We actually had leftovers. Overall our dining experience was pleasant. My only complaint was that the place seemed short staffed for the amount of people that were in there. My Mom ordered a 2nd Julio Gold margarita and I was surprised that again we had to ask where her drink was. Our server had one excuse after another. He rarely checked to see how we were doing. When he did stop by the table to see if we enjoyed our food, or bring the check, it was one excuse after another. The next time I dine here I will sit in a different location and I will make certain that my server is experienced. No offense it's better to have a seasoned waiter, or waitress on a busy Saturday night. This place was exceptional, the food, atmosphere, and it was very comfortable. read more

Atmosphere is very nice,service was good, food was alright but prices ridiculous. If I have a coupon I'll go again but skip the margaritas. read more

Very strange visit, $24 Fajitas is a lot especially when the chicken tastes rubbery and burnt like it was cooked and sliced days in advanced. Service super slow wasn't busy or anything, we sat with empty drinks for 10-15 mins while our server cleaned the tables inside had to get up and ask for a manger and check. When the manger finally did show up he some how wanted me to find someone the very second I didn't like my food so they could "fix it" and "not at the end". Kinda hard to do when your trying to feed two kids and your server never shows up. read more

Oh my gosh! Where do I begin!!! The service is awful and we waited such a long time for our food. Had to get up and ask for a refill on our drink. The table next to us also complained about where their food was. The place was empty and we waited so long!! We saw our server twice. Manager walked by our table and saw we had empty glasses and didn't say anything. This place needs a whole new management team. And my steak was super salty on top of it! And I love salt on my food but that was unbearable. read more

This is a restaurant that my family and I frequent and our server, Armando, was the absolute best. It was to the point where I felt the need to let his manager know and found out he has only been there for three months. There's a reason why we keep coming here. The service is always great (today was the best ever), the food always hits the spot and the space in general is a great vibe. read more

Uncle Julio's - Chicken fajitas, chicken enchiladas and margaritas - Mexican Near Me - Vernon Hills, Illinois

I was in the mood for fajitas and had just had On the Border recently, so figured why not try Uncle Julio's. After all the time it has been in Vernon Hills I haven't visited. Mostly because I heard it was just alright and the prices were high, but I figured I would give it a shot, and I placed an online order for some fajitas, guac, and queso. First off, if you are going to charge $7.70 for a side of guac or a side of queso - there should be a heck of a lot more of it! The amount they give you is beyond a joke. I should have ran down the street to Chipotle or across the parking lot to Qdoba. It would have been of equal quality and a whole lot cheaper. Second, why is it that so many restaurants, including Uncle Julio's, seem to have these extensively lengthy wait times for pick-up, yet the food always seems to have been sitting there for a while? I picked up my food at the exact time they said, and it took me 4 minutes to get my food home. Everything was cold, and the queso was completely congealed and covered in a thick skin. It was almost solid. Which tells me that they poured it and prepared the food when I ordered it and then it all sat there. As for the fajitas - I ordered the combo chicken and steak. The chicken was dry and had the most overwhelming charcoal burnt flavor, like maybe the grill was dirty? The steak was even worse. I got one fajita out of the meat that was good. The rest was gristly and fatty. Their own knives didn't cut through the "meat" when they were slicing it, yet they still tossed it in the container anyways. Good notes - the guac was okay, and the queso was pretty good. The chips are perfection! Plus, the curbside pick-up service was fast, attentive, and super friendly. But unfortunately those aren't enough to make up for all the bad. No read more

Uncle Julio's - Fajita steak - so gristly and fatty that their own knives couldn't cut through it! - Mexican Near Me - Vernon Hills, Illinois

Great atmosphere, spectacular drinks, wonderful service. Robbie the manager/bartender was so awesome an knowledgeable about the menus, many things to choose from an the decor is spot on !! Attention fresh tortillas made in house! read more

Uncle Julio's - Mexican Near Me - Vernon Hills, Illinois

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This place really disappointed me. Yesterday, I ordered online for pickup. I requested my order (steak and chicken fajita combo) for 5 pm and I received a message that it was ready at 4:40 pm. So for 20 minutes, it was sitting on the shelf at the entrance of the restaurant. When I returned home, my steak and chicken were lukewarm at best. The chicken was extremely salty, but the worst part is that I requested my steak be prepared medium and I ended up receiving some pieces with a lot of fat, some overcooked, and some SO rare I could not even bare to look at it. Absolutely unacceptable. read more

Uncle Julio's - Top piece is over cooked steak and bottom piece is extremely rare. Terrible. - Mexican Near Me - Vernon Hills, Illinois

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