Carlos O’kelly’s Mexican Cafe

My wife and I have gone there many times. Very nice atmosphere and food is great. Much more of a dining restaurant than some Mexican restaurants in town. We like the quiet atmosphere. Great service also.

Whenever I would visit the Bloomington/​Normal area, I would bug my boyfriend to come here! We stopped in once just out of the blue and I was hooked! Now that I live down here, if I had the money I would be here once a week or so.
The perks are that you NEVER have to wait! The food is good and fairly priced. I’m not 21 but I always see drink specials going on!
Other things that I can look past: the hosts are never really friendly or welcoming. Eh. The servers, though, are usually really good! We had Matt the other night and he was awesome! I’m also a little upset that they took the combo deal off the menu. It was like an appetizer, entrée, and dessert for a certain price, but they didn’t have that last time (that always had my favorite choices in it!)
Overall this place is nice for a lunch or dinner get together, it’s quiet and not crowded, full of good food choices, and inexpensive. I’m going to be a loyal customer for a while!

We prefer to come here for drinks-​n-​apps, and for that we say 4-​stars (3 if you’re looking for an actual meal). Corona, Dos Equis and margaritas in frosted glasses. We likee. Free warm chips and salsa. Sure. Chipotle Cheese Crisp and ‘El Guapo’ Brisket Tacos served in lightly fried shells from a recently revamped menu… I consider my Unilocal ‘Best of BloNo Appetizers’ list gloriously validated! Even the desserts looked interestingly good. And bartender Matt busted his fanny for us service-​wise.
To steal from Anthony Bourdain… not bad for a «TG McFuntsters» Americanized pseudo fresh-​Mex chain. It will stay on our small plates and drinks rotation because we miss Chevy’s for this and because one could do MUCH worse in this over-​chained restaurant megopolis.

Great service and excellent food! I have eaten there several times. I enjoy the fresh cilantro-​lime rice with the grilled fish tacos. The best salsa in town! Love the new inspired dishes and the freshness of their product.

The food was okay.
Liked the Queso Fundito and Seafood Enchiladas !

The service was just fine. However, it was a week night and later and quite slow when we went, so it would have been disconcerting if we had to really wait on anything anyway.
The food was okay. If I’m with a group of people who really insist on going I wouldn’t be vehemently opposed to it, but otherwise I would probably very rarely choose this out of other places to go. It basically reminds me of Chili’s with another name attached.

I’m obsessed with the frozen margaritas and the baja chicken wrap.

This is not mexican food. This is rubbish. I’m amazed it’s still open. I have less confidence in the integrity of this community because this place is still open.
I’m mad that bandwidth and server space is being used to post reviews for this place.
Why would anyone eat here if they’re hungry for mexican food?

Food is way overpriced. I had the prarie steak and enchiladas. Steak was overcooked –well done — and I had asked for medium. Waitress offered to take it back, but I never send food back as I don’t need the extra saliva. Waitress did not offer to take a buck or two off. Enchiladas were just average. I will never eat there again.

The décor in Carlos O’Kelly’s is strange. There was a pig with a saddle that looked like it came from a tiny merry-​go-​round near our table. But everything was clean and the booth offered plenty of space.
The service was fantastic. Both the waitresses were very friendly and attentive. Iced tea did not stay empty for long.
The food had some flashes of excellence. The southwestern egg rolls were fantastic. (I think they called them Juan Tons.) They came out quickly and were steaming hot. The chipotle ranch dressing was a nice compliment to the rolls. Main courses were Enchiladas de Poblano and the Chicken Picado. Both the main courses were good, not great. Pretty standard «Mexican» food. They came out hot, although I think this may have been heat lamp hot given the crispiness of the beans. The sides were not good. The Papas O’Kelly (mashed potatoes with 4 cheeses) were just plain awful. Clearly came from a box. The refried beans were crusty on the top and had a very strange flavor. The Mexican rice tasted like a packet of Uncle Ben’s 90 second microwave rice. The salad (which cost an additional 99 cents) was mostly lettuce and very small.
Dessert helped redeem the otherwise lackluster dining experience. The sopapillas were the second best sopapillas I’ve ever had. Unlike most Mexican restaurants who serve crispy friend sopapillas, they sopapillas here a soft and fluffy. Bite off a corner and drizzle some honey inside and you’ll find extra space in your already full stomach to finish the plate.
Prices were pretty high given the quality. I don’t think they have any entrees under $ 10.
I didn’t try any of their alcoholic offerings.
I would eat here again, but it wouldn’t be my first choice. If I did I’d save room for dessert.

5 star margarita. Rest is just ok.
Decent standard Mexican food. Friendly service. The standard margaritas were marginal. But the specials margaritas, made with the Don Julio tequila, were well made and tasted great.

Good variety on the menu … food was good, great margarita specials. And who doesn’t want garlic mashed with your enchiladas?!

I’ve eaten here once… and I’ll never go back. My girlfriend and I attended the restaurant thinking that it would be a standard fare Mexican café. Little did I realize: it was more like standard fare blandness.
The service was nice, but the decorations were repetitive and boring. The food didn’t look too great, either. The entire aesthetic of the experience was just depressing. The food even tasted depressing. The waiter gave a definite vibe that he did not want to be there and didn’t want to be serving us (he still got a good tip, cause the service was good and I felt his pain).
The chips served tasted like grainy Tostitos and the salsa tasted like it was straight out of a jar off a supermarket shelf made by Frito-​Lay. The food was salty, bland and tasted like everything was made with supermarket mixes or right out of a box. The distress that the food caused to my stomach caused me to miss the first half of my shift at work the next day.
Not my cup of tea, at all. If you’re a picky eater and have a stomach made of steel, this place might be for you.

I’ve only eaten here once but was not impressed. Alot more money than the rest of the Mexican /​TexMec places in town and the food was marginal at best.

How can you not love a place called Carlos O’Kelly’s? I admit, though, I wanted a little more Irish in my Mexican food — maybe potato tacos? Or enchiladas with a little Bailey’s in the mole sauce? But, seriously, the food’s pretty good, and the service was really outstanding, and they have lots of combo plates (and are chill if you want to split the giant combos).
The chips and salsa were okay — I personally (HEART) warm chips, and these were about room temp.

What’s wrong with three stars? Absolutely nothin’. So stand proud Mr. O’Kelly. In a town with more mexican restaurant choices than a town of our size can conceivably keep alive you hold your own.
1. I never have to wait for a table which is awesome. Cuz when this girl is hungry, she’s hung-​gree. now.
2. Your chips and salsa are pretty good and tide me over til the platter o’goodness arrives.
3. Your frequent $ 2.50 bottle beer specials. Why yes I would like a Pacifico with my meal, thank you.
4. Enchilada options! I love enchiladas and you have plenty of great choices.
Bottom line is that you are a solid choice in the middle of town, with ample parking and good service. And there is always enough space that I can avoid the screaming child table if need be. Yes, we are «those people» who don’t have kids so haven’t developed patience. Don’t worry, I won’t yell at your kids. I run away. I have a flight reflex.
So kudos Carlos. I’ll be back. Gotta maintain that Duchess status right?

I went here for 4^th of July (Yup, Mexican+Irish to celebrate our country’s independence day) and the place was at 30% capacity. We got seated and waited right away and both greeter and server were nice. The food was pretty good, I had a Burro en Fuego and yes, it was spicy and loaded with Jalapeño pepers inside the burro itself. It came with refried beans and Irish mashed potatoes, never had this mix but it was quite good.
Couple of problems:
1. The food was microwaved, you can tell by the skin the potatoes or beans form after cooling down, i guess they might have been microwaved when they melted the cheese from the Burro but who knows. I’m not a fan of Microwaved restaurant food as it put its freshness to question but the taste was good, I didn’t notice anything bad with it.
2. We ordered Strawberry lemonades and they tasted like strawberry-​water. We told the waitress and she fixed them right away, the second time around the lemonades were just fine.

Right… So it’s fairly standard issue Tex Mex. The menu is chock-​full of chimichungus, enchiladas, fajitas and taco salads. It’s a chain. If you want super authentic Mexican food, I sincerely doubt you’d find it on the strip mall hell that is Veteran’s Parkway.
I ventured here for a little family reunion. I will say the service was great. Our server kept our diet Pepsis (boo… no diet Coke) full, our chips and salsa overflowing and brought our meals out on the quick.
So embrace the hot queso dip and bowls of cheap chips and jarred salsa. You know you (secretly) like it.

I ate there twice when in Bloomington and both times it made me sick. The service was poor the first time but better the second time. The salsa is ok but the food itself was «just gross».
I do not recommend this at all!

Carlos O’Kelly’s?
Mexish? Mexican and Irish?
Whatever. We went here because Chili’s and Bennigan’s had a long wait.
We got sat down after 6 minutes in a barely occupied restaurant and had to wait nearly 15 to actually get a server to dish out water to us. The food was unimpressive and barely put together– my three tacos seemed like I had to put everything in there myself. After being forgotten for the check, I didn’t have to fight hard for the lowering of the tip.