Uncle Julio’s Arlington, VA

I decided to check out the local eats in Arlington and found myself at Uncle Julio’s, a Tex-Mex restaurant offering classics plus a few extra exotic items, such as frog legs. I sat outside in the patio because, compared to Boston, the weather in Virginia is very pleasant! I ordered a Margarita, made with Patron of course. For $10, I would have liked more Patron because after two Margs I was barely tipsy. Zero points for Uncle Julio for making weak, expensive drinks.

I wasn’t very hungry, so I only ordered an appetizer. I ordered the vegetable tamales topped with Cotija cheese and sour cream. I liked this dish, but I do have some negative criticism. I was expecting a lot of vegetables: mushrooms, onions, peppers, maybe a zucchini or two, but what I got was two corn tamales, topped with a drizzle of sour cream, a few crumbles of cheese, and 3 slivers each of red and green peppers. All was forgiven when I took the first bite. The masa was firm in texture and had a smoky, spicy aftertaste and to my surprise, I found a few corn kernels in it. Maybe these were the vegetables they were talking about. They were served on top of dried corn husks, not wrapped in them like I would have liked. These were simply for garnish and I applaud their effort to make the dish as authentic as possible.

I browsed through the menu and the food seemed rather pricy for a Tex-Mex restaurant; however, I noticed the people around me had massive portions served in front of them, so I am sure you got your money’s worth. I certainly did with the tamales. I was able to eat one and take the other one back to my hotel room. Did I mention the complimentary all-you-can-eat chips and salsa? Perhaps they were the reason I didn’t finish the second tamal.

Will I come back here? Given, that I have to travel to Arlington for work a couple times out of the year, yes! Next time, I’ll definitely show up hungry so that I can have an entrée, such as their fish tacos or even their frog legs! But, I think I’ll skip on the $10 Margarita and order a Corona with a lime next time.

Bon Appetit, or as Uncle Julio would say, Buen Provecho!