I received a complimentary dining experience at Uncle Julio’s for purposes of this review, however, the comments here are all my own.

When you live in Texas, your opportunity to eat Mexican food – or better yet, Tex-Mex are almost on every corner. However, to find GOOD Mexican and Tex-Mex the whole family can enjoy that not’s not just another version of meat, cheese and tortilla, but something delicious and unique is few and very far between. I’ve have a short list of the places we frequent as a family and the probable entrees we will order. Fajitas for my hubs, tacos for the kids and I’m normally the wild card, but I lean towards seafood almost always.  However, for tonight’s dinner plan, we wanted to mix it up, but know we would have a good dinner – which means we all ate our food, no one cried and we would want to come back the next time.

Always known for good food, good service and a good atmosphere, we were excited to try out Uncle Julio’s and their new menu featuring fajitas with several seafood options! Since the idea hit all the buzz words to make mom AND dad happy, we sat to peruse the menu to make some choices. Considering it was July, a cold margarita was definitely at the top of the list, but not just your normal lime, agave & tequila type. Our server made a recommendation that since this Uncle Julio’s Grapevine location was the site for trying out new items, we would really enjoy a fresh peach margarita. Quickly two were put in front of us as we took to our first sip and learned exactly what summer would taste like if it had a flavor. Just as quickly, we ordered another round, however, it wasn’t just because the cool refreshment was just what the doctor ordered, but because my mouth was flaming hot from the Three-Pepper Guacamole.

As the kids continued to play with their tortilla dough (a great way for kids to pass the time – just ask your waiter), mom and dad caught up on their day as we narrowed down our options.

I’m not good with choices, so it was hard to pick just one from these:

• Shrimp al Pastor, seared shrimp with pineapple and a mango habanero sauce;
• Grilled Red Snapper with chipotle crema and sweet sautéed peppers; and
• Spicy Seared Rare Ahi Tuna, which is pan-seared and served with soy ginger sauce.

All seafood fajitas are served on a bed of julienned zucchini and yellow squash with mango-jicama slaw and a choice of homemade flour tortillas, crisp Bibb lettuce wraps or corn tortillas.

For my hubs, he had a lot more to consider:

• Three new fajita combinations — one even includes grilled King Crab! — give you a variety of options on one plate.
• The Plato Vallarta features grilled King Crab legs, served alongside Uncle Julio’s signature chicken and beef fajitas.
• The Coronado combines two Mexican food loves: crispy beef tacos with Uncle Julio’s chicken and beef fajitas.
• The Laredo takes a Mexican food favorite and turns it on its side, with two stacked beef enchiladas, presented in mouth-watering layers of high-quality tortillas, beef and cheese, served with fresh chicken and beef fajitas.

All combination fajitas come complemented by fresh guacamole, sour cream, cheese, pico de gallo, Mexican rice, frijoles a la charra, sautéed peppers and onions, and fresh-from-the-oven homemade tortillas.

And then there was the Filet Mignon Fajitas. Served with homemade creamy sunrise sauce along with handpicked peppers, and onions chopped by hand and sautéed to bring out their delicious flavor, these fajitas are served with guacamole prepared to order with fresh, hand-picked Haas avocados, sour cream, cheese, pico de gallo, Mexican rice, frijoles a la charra and homemade flour tortillas.

While both dishes had lots of food; there wasn’t so much that we didn’t both enjoy most of our dishes – thankfully without buttoning our pants. And with the best server, we were so happy with everything. I was still sipping my margarita and nibbling on the peach bits in the bottom of  the glass. We were both just blissfully happy (which doesn’t happen normally when you have two little people at the table, too!)

And while we could have gotten up from the table and been completely happy with the fajitas, the margaritas and the guacamole, the server’s recommendation for sopapillas seemed like the icing on the cake – especially when they were perfectly bite sized for the kids. Warm, cinnamon, sugar and honey was too hard to resist and mom and dad dove in as soon as the plate hit the table.

Since are experience at Uncle Julio’s in Grapevine, I’m almost positive we’ve told everyone around us about how good our dinner was and that we were planning to go back very soon. With so many other fajita options to try as well as the other dishes we couldn’t help to ogle like Bacon Guacamole and a weekend brunch, we plan to be back very soon. And as for our Mexican food shortlist, you’ll find Uncle Julio’s at the top of ours.

Uncle Julio’s
1301 William D Tate Ave, Grapevine, TX 76051
682.223.9965
Website