Shrimp Al Pastor

Recently, I met a date at the classic Uncle Julio’s on Lemmon. I love that place and have been going to years. However, I received a special invitation to try something new they have apparently been cooking up, along with some of their classics, like table-side guacamole.

Fajitas have to be my absolute favorite Tex-Mex dish. I especially love seeing them sizzle when brought to the table. We had fajitas and more. I’m not going to lie, I took this special opportunity to sample some of these dishes with a first date I met from Hinge (similar to Tinder, without the stigma). To be honest, my company wasn’t compelling, but the dinner definitely was intriguing.

Here are few of the new items we enjoyed:

·       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.

Red Snapper

Something which Uncle Julio’s offers that’s slightly different than other Tex-Mex seafood seafood fajitas, they 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.

We wanted not to waste any time, so we decided to try three Uncle Julio’s dishes all at once, which anyone can do, not just media people. There three new fajita combinations are something else — one even includes grilled King Crab! Needless to say, I was floored.

Here are a few of their new combos:

·       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.

The combination we enjoyed was 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, which is standard with all.

Ahi Tuna

I had a Pavlovian reaction to the new level with the introduction of Filet Mignon Fajitas (not pictured here), served with homemade creamy sunrise sauce (aka, I had to wipe my mouth a bit). The Filet Mignon Fajitas were served with handpicked peppers, and onions chopped by hand and sautéed to bring out the flavor. They were 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, served warm.

We rationalized that an authentic Mexican food experience at Uncle Julio’s would not be complete without a signature Swirl Margarita. These were actually invented by Uncle Julio’s and feature layers of frozen margarita and homemade sangria. For other margaritas there was a choice of 15 different tequilas. One crowd pleaser, especially for ladies, is the Patrón Skinny Margarita (made with Patrón Silver and skinny agave sour). After a couple of these, we called it quits, had an awkward hug and I jumped in my Lyft car. I’ll be back, but it looks like it’s back to Tinder.

Uncle Julio’s History

The first Uncle Julio’s opened in Dallas in 1986 and operates 19 restaurants in seven major metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Austin, Boca Raton, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.unclejulios.com.