Don Julios

Lunch specials are great and reasonably priced, especially the lunch fajitas!
Try something new and authentic, you won’t regret it!

We frequent Don Julio’s in White Bear Lake about four or five times a year. Tonight was the first time we’ve been disappointed. We arrived just ahead of the Friday evening rush, and were seated at a table in the small side room. All booths/​tables in the main dining were full. Service was typically attentive and our meals arrived without delay. The food was good, as usual. The great disappointment came about 10 minutes before we were ready to leave, when the wait staff delivered three smoking orders of Fajita’s to the table next to ours. The powerful, billowing, pungent smoke immediately filled the small room. It was terrible, so much smoke that it hurt your eyes and caused everyone at the other three tables in that small room to react and quickly get up and leave. The smoke poured out of the room and those waiting for tables were visibly annoyed by it. A young couple at one of the three other tables in that room (the young woman was pregnant) had not yet ordered and she insisted they leave. We gathered our coats and got out of the building as quickly as possible. Unfortunately the smoke had already permeated our clothes; our winter coats, Sarah’s varsity letterman jacket and my business suit. The clothes smell so bad we cannot hang them in our closets, and likely require dry cleaning. This could have been avoided, even if the wait staff had simply alerted everyone that they were about to bring three orders of smoking Fajita’s into the room. But no warning, no apologies. When I mentioned this bad experience to the cashier, she seemed indifferent. I told her this experience will cause us to think twice before we come back.

I eat here on occasion, for 2^nd time in a row I was helped by the manager on a take out menu and when I ordered 2 entrees he just wrote $ 10 dollars twice on menu and I said I wanted more sauce on the items he just changed price on the ticket, I worked in kitchens and so I asked how will the cook would know extra sauce as it just has a dollar more and didnt say extra sauce, he played dumb even after explaining 3 times.
THE KICKER was he came up with a price of $ 38 for 2 $ 11 entrees and 1x $ 4 bowl salsa. I asked how he got that number and he had me move aside while he helped another customer then I insisted he change the bill and only after I pulled out the calculator on my phone did he redo the check to around $ 28. This is the 2^nd time the manager has tried to run up my bill for «tip» for him. Never going back. Manager is a thief. Double check your bill if you do eat here or better yet eat at the one in forest lake.

It’s your typical Mexican joint. Salsa and chips served pretty quickly, and then a giant menu.
I tried the steak con camarones, which was a ribeye steak with shrimp with ranchero sauce. My main squeeze had the shrimp chimichanga.
The salsa was really uninteresting, it tasted more like a marinara. It definitely needed some onion and cilantro, but whatever it’s «free.»
Steak camarones was tender, I was happy with the steak and shrimp. It came with rice, beans, guacamole salad, and tortilla shells. My only grip was that the ranchero sauce was pretty bland, needed salt.
If a fried burrito smothered in cheese is your thing, then you will like the shrimp chimichanga.
Service was good. I wish they brought water right away when we sat, but it came super fast when I asked, and our server was very pleasant.
We left full, and the value was good for the price we paid.

My last residence was East LA which speaks for itself. The cuisine here is excellent, freshly prepared, and served by waitstaff who CARE if you like it! Not to mention GENEROUS portions at a low price. Even the wine and beer are fairly priced.
Of utmost importance is that Don Julios is very clean and inviting, especially the restrooms.
Are you on your way yet?

Not the best mexican food in the world, but its good for the location and the price. The inside is really cute, abd the patio is super nice, and happyhour margarhitas are amazing 5 dollars for a jumbo! The strawberry frozen ones are worth thr stop, but food wise it could do better.

Of all the Mexican restaurants in the TC, this has to be my favorite décor. I like how driving down 61 it’s just off to the right without the side streets. I had a taco and cheese enchiladas. I have to say they are identical to El Loro and I wonder if they are under the same owners. The non greasy meat in a hard shell beef taco topped with Mexican cheese was delicious. I like enchiladas at other places better, but these were very good. Free chips and red salsa to start were really generous, and the largest chips I’ve ever seen and none of them were broken pieces at the bottom. Another reason to go to WBL.

My family and I eat here every few weeks or so. We drive from West Lakeland to White Bear passing a number of other Mexican restaurants along the way to go to Don Julio’s. The food is always very good and reasonably priced. The salsa is fantastic! The service is ok and atmosphere is good. If you are looking for a 5 star restaurant open your wallet and go elsewhere. If you want really good food at a fair price then try Don Julios.

My friend and I were looking for something in White Bear Lake. Her and her parents frequent Don Julio’s and reported it was good.
We were greeting very promptly when we arrived. Our service was really great. That made the difference between a 3 star or 4 star. Our drinks and food orders were taken very promptly and the turnaround was QUICK. We were checked on frequently. Probably the best service experience I have had in a while. The staff was really great.
The food was OK. It is definitely americanized mexican food. I didn’t have any real expectations going in, so I can’t say that I was disappointed with the food. If you are looking for more authentic mexican fare, it would probably be best to look elsewhere. However, they have a large menu and several different combo items to get a little taste of everything. The prices are reasonable. I could see this as a place to get a decent, fast, well priced lunch.
I would return, especially for the service experience. That is a high priority for me when I go out. They also have a bar which appeared to have a lot of selection. It was not at all loud or obnoxious. I appreciated that as well.

Good food, Decent prices, fast service. Only drawback is parking.

The food was good, not great. Great service and I was satisfied overall, but the whole experience was underwhelming. Will probably go back, I definitely need to try one of the margaritas

Stear clear of the steak whatever you do. The menu claimed it was ribeye, but I think not. It was loaded w/​fat & gristle and barely edible. I think I spit more of it out than consumed. Shrimp is good though. They never run any hh specials either. How do you expect to draw business away from any # of fine establishments in the WB area without doing so?

Muy Authentico? Of course not, you’re at Don Julio in White Bear Lake. If you come here with the right expectations, you will be pleasantly surprised. If you come here wanting Grandma Julio’s homemade tamales and barbacoa slow roasted over the fire pit out back, then you’re out of luck.
My family has been coming here for about three years now. It’s somewhat comparable to Acapulco or maybe even Ol’ Mexico, but the food is better, tastier, and very well priced.
Our service has always been quite good. The wait staff are always attentive and have never gotten our order wrong.
Standard chips and salsa. A huge cold Dos Equis served in a frosty mug always starts my weekend out nicely. Fajitas are good, nothing real special. Enchiladas poblanos are excellent and my favorite, the mole sauce is awesome. Chimichangas are always good too. Kids meals have nice portions and are very reasonably priced at $ 5 with a drink included.
I would challenge you to stay away from those dreaded «combo plates». They are never a good idea. Instead go for the chilaquiles, tacos al pastor, tacos carne asada, the Steak Tampiqueno, or the Chile Colorado. These are the dishes that are going to be as close to authentic as you get in downtown White Bear Lake.
During the nice months, the Patio/​deck is a nice place to hang out. A little noisy as its right on Hwy 61, but still a great place to soak it up and relax.
We’ve never tried the dessert, but why would you when the Cup and Cone is a short walk away?
Give the Don a chance. If you know what you’re getting into, you’ll be glad you did.

Never tried this place before and decided to check it out with my parents. They claimed its real good! We toke the long drive and its a cute small place! very clean and neat and not to loud with the music not like other Mexican place were I’m like screaming to the server cause the music is to loud!
they sat us down and because they recognized my parents we got good service from a server who always waits on my pops
Right away I ordered a pina coloda it was sad looking lol just white slushy basically no fruit no umbrella no nothing. The taste was just like juice didn’t taste the alcohol in it watever it was still good but never again!
I ordered Nachos Supreme it came right away the portions was okay I would expected by the name to be like a mountain high it was boring looking too just brown color but I was hungry and with my parents so I didn’t complain! my dad has seen me throw fits and he hates it! My dads steak was over cooked that it shrunk and my boyfriends plate was decent because it was just beans and rice and my mom well she loves food she never complains! for $ 60 I wouldn’t come here again I rather go to like Chevys
plus the servers looked all mean they kept mean mugging my boyfriend like they wanted to get punched or something! but our server which I forgot the name this young small dude was very nice

Consistently excellent. Authentic Mexican food in the heart of White Bear Lake. Nice atmosphere, large bar and plenty of seating. They do have an outside patio as well.

My fiancé and I go to Don Julios very often, as we LOVE their chorizo queso dip, and it’s within walking distance to our house (which is really fun in the summer.) It’s nice to sit outside on the patio when it’s nice out, although the view of highway 61 isn’t ideal. The food is very good but the margaritas are only average. Unfortunately I can’t give them 5 stars because their service is not great. We’ve lowered our expectation when we go so we’ve just become accustomed to it at this point. Often times the servers don’t come by to refill chips or drinks for big chunks of time. Once I had to walk straight to the bar to request a drink and a refill of chips, because we had neither when the server brought us our chori/​queso dip, and she didn’t come back to check on us for a solid 20 minutes (so the dip got completely cold.) We’ll still go back for that dip though…

Our first trip here
had the Parrillada Fajatis and we really liked it.
Salsa was good, Margarita was great.
Will be going back soon.

One of my favorites in White Bear. Have had many very nice weekend lunches here over the last couple of years. Food is very good and the service is prompt. Highly recommended.

I ventured on Cinco De Mayo. Naturally for the occasion the place was packed! The parking lot was full and I needed to park on the street behind the restaurant.
They gave out numbers to keep the parties straight, we got #31 when we checked in, and they were seating #20 at the time. The total wait wasn’t too bad though, about 20 mins.
Once seated the server brought the complementary, fresh from the kitchen, totrilla chip and salsa. Since it was a Monday all bar drinks were 2 for 1, which made the decision to get a margarita quite easy!
The menue was extensive with combos, lunch and dinner specials. I ordered steak fajitas and was not dissappointed in the portion or flavor.

Peach Margarita? Yes, Please!!!
Had a great time here a few weeks ago. Margaritas are reasonably priced, especially at Happy Hour. I love that they give you a bottle of salsa. Salsa was really good, chips were average.
Food–
Carne Asada tacos-​Loved these, they were so good. Most authentic Mexican tacos are served with onions, cilantro, and lime so next time, i will add this, but even as they were, they were yummy. I brought one home for Ci and she gobbled it right up.
Refried Beans-​Perfect. If you don’t like your refried beans smooth, order the regular pintos. These are really blended but that’s how I like them.
Chicken Flautas-​I tasted these, they were good but nothing I would order.
Service–
Worst Service ever!!! Its a good thing this cutie was easy on the eyes, and we each had a few margaritas in us, because he was so horrid, most people would have gotten mad.
He did not refill our waters and we had to ask for everything. He was so inattentive, it was funny. We were actually laughing… He even brought us saucers for a cup, when we asked for small plates. You know, the plates that go under the cups…
I was with my BFF so nothing can bring us down when we start talking and laughing but I am reserving a star for next time. If the service improves, i will bump it up.