Carlos O’kelly’s Mexican Cafe

The food is flat out BAD.
The service was good, attentive, quickish.
But the salsa to start with, was bitter, rotten. I’ve tasted it before, someone overcooked the hell out of a lime, I’ve done it from time to time, when you do that, whatever you’re making tastes super bitter and nasty.
The chips were oversalted, so much it burned the skin off my tongue…
I had the El Dorado Chimichanga (yeah!) because it sounded like heaven. Chipotle Chicken and a mix of cream cheese, Monterrey Jack, sour cream, and green chilies — deep-​fried to golden perfection and topped with the world’s best Chili con Queso and Pico de Gallo. What’s NOT to love…
My order had been sitting for quite some time in the back. How did I know that? The refried beans had dried out so they had a hard outer shell that was cracking like a desert. The queso on my Chimi, it had grown skin on it, it wasn’t a liquidish any more, it was turning solid. It was very obvious it had been sitting under a heat lamp.
The rice was blah, no flavor, pretty much just filler. The Pico De Gallo was watery, soupy, and gross. All of this is a super damn shame, because that Chimichanga, without any of the other garbage around it, was pretty good. But when you have skinning queso on it, pico de gallo making it soggy, and clay drying beans next to it, it takes whatever shining positives from the Chimichanga, and ruins it.
We went there only for a school fundraiser, and we probably won’t go back anytime soon. We donated to the school charity and sadly, this charity case of a restaurant.

The first time we went to Carlos O’Kellys we loved it! We asked the hostess to put us in a place where our children wouldn’t disturb other patrons and the waiter did a great job of that. The waiter, Zachary was awesome. We have a large family and he did a great job of taking our order and attending to us. The food was great. My husband enjoyed his enchilada meal and my salad and dressing were great.
The second time we went I asked again to be separated from other patrons and the hostess tried to put us one table away from another party. I had to request a different location. My kids are not bad in public but I still like to respect others. The waitress K was still good but not as good as Zachary. My salad was okay but my dressing was very runny like putting water on my salad. I should have complained but didn’t want to wait for another salad.
I think we would be willing to give it another shot but that would be the deal breaker.

Note: I already enjoy Carlos O Kelly’s restaurants, so I’m comparing this location to other Carlos locations. If you’ve never eaten Carlos, you should know that: A) this is an «inspired Mexican» restaurant which means that they may not have all of the Mexican dishes you’re expecting, and B) you can view their entire menu online to save you disappointment if you had a specific Mexican dish in mind that you wanted.
I am a huge Carlos O Kelly’s fan, but I’ve never been to this location before. It’s a gorgeous location. The interior is clearly modern and taken care of. There’s a gorgeous red/​black theme to it, and it has a classy feeling to it. Unlike a lot of Carlos restaurants which seem to stick with a «fiesta» type of décor, this Carlos has an adult-​looking décor that is just gorgeous. The bar area is especially beautiful.
Server was friendly, but he also seemed pretty busy. Didn’t stick around to talk all that much, but he was very prompt when it came to taking orders, bringing refills, or taking care of the bill. All business, but he did his business well. Can’t complain.
Food itself was AMAZING! I’ve never had my Chicken Fingers and Fries basket quite this delicious before. The chicken was perfectly cooked — not overcooked or undercooked. The fries were perfectly seasoned, and all of the food was brought out when it was still extremely hot (as in, I couldn’t touch it for a couple minutes) Impressive!
My friend was a bit surprised they didn’t have some of the standard Mexican options that he’s used to eating at other places, but he seemed to enjoy his meal here as well — considering he ate all of it and seemed to enjoy it. They do offer some vegetarian options here. Be aware that Carlos O Kelly’s is an «Inspired Mexican» type of restaurant, so they may not have all of the authentic and super-​spicy Mexican dishes that you may be used to. (I mean, c’mon, I come here to get chicken strips.)
May is also their «May-​garieta» month (or something like that). You can get super cheap alcoholic drinks ($ 1.99 and up) for some pretty huge drinks. Friend was surprised that the «Jumbo» was so huge — but it wasn’t nearly as alcoholic as he was expecting either.
Fantastic Carlos O Kelly’s location. If this is how they always prepare my meal (seriously. it was perfect!), I’ll be back anytime I’m in the area.
As an extra note: Very quiet here, but we came mid-​day. They have three huge, modern TV screens playing games with subtitles on. Seems like a good place to watch the game if that’s what you like to do.

Good Margirtas. Friendly staff. Food is good kind of reminded me of Casa Bonita in Colorado. Same cheese sauce. But the margaritas are good.

Let me first say that there are no great Mexican restaraunts in Lincoln, NE. Period. They’re all sad. But of the choices one has here, Carlo’s O’Kelly’s is pretty good: prices are fair, service is good, and the food is tasty enough if you want Mexican food. For all the naysayers here posting comments, they must have been anticipating a fat, corn-​fed cow, a bottle of tequilla straight, and a free meal.

Don’t waste your time or money. The salsa is pretty much only tomatoes and cilantro. I ordered a chimichanga. It was brought out completely soggy so I sent it back and explained how a chimichanga should be crunchy. They took it back and brought me another which was more soggy than the first. Absolutely disgusting!!! Also the drink I ordered was horribly weak. I didn’t complain about the drink. They took the meal off I payed for the overpriced sour mix and left. The manager was a joke .No customer service skills whatsoever. I know it’s in Lincoln NE but if they ever want more people to move here instead of people just passing thru this place needs to close down!

Carlos O’Kelly’s! You could be so good. But you fell short in so many ways.
Chips and salsa are pretty good.
We started with the queso with the ground beef added for one dollar. (At Cheddar’s it’s free.) Cheddars’ queso is tasty and cheesy and good. Yours is bland and gets cold quickly because the dish you serve it in is too shallow. More surface area = more heat escapes.
We ordered the fajitas combo with a side of beans and a side of corn tortillas. Let’s start with the corn tortillas need to be heated all the way through before serving. Both the flour and corn tortillas you served were cold. We warmed ours on the fajita plate. This demonstrates a clear kitchen personnel problem.
I thought the shrimp were good, but not plentiful. The steak, too tough. The chicken, a little dry and no flavor. The side of refrieds were a strange color and had a strange taste, not really very good. I would also expect beans and rice to come with an order of fajitas, myself, rather than having to order them separately.
Overall: Not inspired. Probably won’t come back.

First time here. I should have known better. First of all, let me say that my waitress was outstanding. The service was very good and the portion size was large. I like that.
I started my meal with the chips and salsa and knew immediately I was in trouble. The salsa definitely had a ketchupy taste to it. I instantly knew this wasn’t going to taste «authentic.» The raspberry ice tea looked dark red and was very «un tea like.» The chicken enchilada soup was very unspectacular and nowhere near as good as Chili’s version.
I got one of the sampler platters and it was very unappetizing. Very ordinary, and tasted like I would expect from a Taco Bell only MUCH more expensive.
My «lunch» which was a combo platter, drink, and an extra $ 1 for the soup was over $ 18. Way too much for lunch. With tip, into the mid $ 20 range. For one person. At lunch time.
I don’t think I have ever enjoyed a Mexican restaurant less. One and done.

Some of the reviews posted here are just plain vindictive and hateful; and to be sure, untruthful. Each visit I have made to Carlo’s has been quite pleasant… good service, tasty food, nice sized portions, fair prices, with a relaxed atmosphere… and quiet enough to visit with your company. You won’t find a loud environment here. It’s everything I ask for in a restaurant that I enjoy.
I can’t vouch for the drinks though because I don’t drink, but apparently if you plan to get hammered while eating, this may not be the right place, according to the alcoholics posting here.
And please, how is their name even an issue when there are restaurant names like Leadbelly’s, Buzzard Billy’s, and Bison Witches in Lincoln.

The food was better than expected with a name like O’Kelly’s on a Mexican restaurant. The salsa was remarkably fresh for late winter– great tomato flavor. The rest was a bit better than average. Tap beer selection was poor but the Margarita’s were the obvious choice around the tables (did not try one). Wait staff was a bit too cheery for me, helpful but less than sincere, but we did dine just ahead of closing.

Ate here twice while I was in town. Nothing special here. If you want good tex mex then I would recommend. The chicken burrito was HUGE! Second night I had the fish tacos and they were ok. The corn tortillas were a little rubbery. Not crunchy and not soft. Service was great!

Stopped in because it was close to the hotel and was intrigued by the name.
Food was good and reasonably priced. Margarita lite was good, a little sour but has half the calories. Portions large defiantly worthy of the price. Some entrees are pretty spicy, and are marked as such.
Service was good
Overall worth the stop

Visiting Lincoln for a college sporting event and this restaurant was recommended to us.
When I first heard the name, I was not impressed. Ridiculous name.
Waitress was great and very attentive, but it was late and the restaurant was not crowded at all. The chips were good, but I thought the salsa was too thick and very bland.
Menu looked promising and a variety of items were chosen by our group of 5.
I ordered the Suiza Con Pollo. There was a lot of food on my plate, way to much for one person to eat, but overall everything on my plate was bland and didn’t taste like mexican food.
One in the group ordered at Chicken Santa Fe Salad which he enjoyed, but didn’t reseamble Mexican food. Others order buritos, tacos, etc. It was a mixed reaction to the food. The person that ordered the Burro En Fuego and he said that he didn’t really care for it.
We are from So. California and enjoy real Mexican food, so don’t believe that we would ever eat at one of this chain again.

I will never know how anyone can eat the slop they serve here and call it «Mexican food». The only food I would touch there are the mints they have at the door.

Very good portion sizes. The food is pretty good but not great. The cheap margaritas don’t have that much liquor in them, but you get what you pay for. The service was great.

We went because it was next to our hotel. The service was great, the food and drink were decent, and fairly priced (actually seemed really inexpensive compared to my hometown).
Top shelf margaritas were too sweet for my taste but only $ 4.99. Steak was tender and cooked just as requested. Mini portion of cheesecake empanada dessert was good and just right.
Waitress was doing a great job selling drinks to the inebriated young table next to us… they kept ordering another round.
Never found out where the ridiculous name of the place came from.

I agree this place is a JOKE! I will never go back even if it was free! Went there on Tuesday to take my visiting sister in law, wanted to go to a local Mexican place never again I will say this the service was Great but the food I couldn’t finish and the margarita I sent back for a beer, they don’t even have a happy hour (it wouldn’t help I’d they did)

We went to Carlos O’Kelly’s last night. The waitress definitely took her sweet time getting to us. The chips and salsa were excellent. My husband and I weren’t very hungry, so we decided to split the light fajita enchiladas and rice. My daughter had the kids cheese pizza and jello. The enchiladas were good, but nothing you’re going to get all excited about. To be fair, they were LIGHT enchiladas! My daughter’s pizza was like cardboard but, being six years old, she isn’t too picky. We’ve been to Carlos O’Kelly’s in the past, and I can tell you that the Pasta Diablo is really tasty.

This place is a joke. Its nice to know that when you order chicken burrito that they cook the chicken in the mircowave! %^*^ nasty. Oh ya and 1.99 mug a ritas night. In there 3 gallon mix they use ½ Handel of tequila and ¹⁄₃ gallon of vodaka, 2 cups mix and the rest tap water. The bar tender was making it rite in front of us…
The taco truck down the street serves better Mexican than this

A good Mexican restaurant. The food is nothing spectacular but the chips and salsa are good. The prices are reasonable for the amount of food you receive. The highlights of the restaurant are the half priced margaritas on Thursdays.