If this place is at all related to the restaurant by the same name on North Santa Fe avenue in Vista - know this: Â After waiting almost an hour for our lunch I walked out. Â My daughter and 3 grandchildren were starving so they waited longer. Â EVERYONE around us saw this and after waiting another 10 minutes my daughter was told "WE lost your check." Â The owner had told us "5 more minutes for OVER AN HOUR and then told us he would give us 20% off. Â REALLY? Â I encourage anyone and everyone to boycott this place! Â 20% off is an insult and we will NEVER go to your restaurant EVER again.
Review Source:Ok, finally found some Mexican food that tastes like what I was used to in LA.
This little place is right across the street from the Avo Theater, where I was going to a dress rehearsal of "The Mousetrap" with Darcy and Robert. Â The restaurant is definitely bare bones, tile floor, plain walls but then that's often what you get with good, traditional Mexican food.
Robert had the fish tacos and said they were really good. Â Darc and I had the fajitas: Â she had the steak fajitas, and I had the steak, chicken and shrimp fajitas, with an eye to taking home a nice little plate of steak to Joey.
The fajitas were quite good. Â Not the best I've ever had, but served with pride and topped with lots of well cooked yellow and red peppers, and lots of onion (love that onion).
The side dish was a meal in itself: Â Darc had pinto beans, I had the black beans. Â Then there was a nice glob of both sour cream and guacamole, a little salsa, and rice. Â With a tortilla, really, someone could have had that for their meal. Â But instead, we ate it all! Â And lived to tell of it.
This is a definite I'll-be-back kinda place, amigos.
Meh. I've experienced MUCH MUCH better. Â This is NOTHING like the other El Ranchero in Vista!
It was a gorgeous day... wanted to sit outside but you can't have your margarita outside. Â Which I don't think is a real margarita anyway......... Â
My mom would say.... we'll skip that restaurant... there aren't any cars outside.. which means it's not that good. Â Whelp, when your on Main Street you can't tell there aren't people inside! Â A girlfriend wanted to meet for lunch. Â I hadn't been here... I could name 15 other mexican restaurants I'll meet her at next time!
Chips were thick, cold and greasy... you could taste the grease. Â The salsa was ok. Â It did have a lil kick to it.. very little. Â It may have been dead because we were there on a Sunday around 3pm...
The cheese enchiladas were good, the rice was flavorless and a lil dry. Â The beans were ok... probably because they were covered in cheese and I love cheese. Â Didn't care for the tortilla soup at all. Â $6.99 for lunch $2.49 for the guacamole (it was good but, I'll pass next time) $4.99 for a strawberry margarita. Â (which I think I could have had a sonic slushy..... )
I went to El Ranchero's about 5 years ago. Â I remember it being much better than it is now. Â The menu items that I remember that were good were the salsa and the avocado dressing that goes with the salad (comes with your meal I think).
I went about 6 months ago again and think that the service and the food have deteriorated. Â I still liked the salsa - not the best I've ever had but really pretty decent but the enchilada's I had were only ok. Â Nothing really super great about it. Â Didn't have the avocado dressing this time.
The problem with the service was that the lady didn't really understand English that well so she misunderstood us several times. Â I think I asked for more of something and less of something in my order but didn't get what I requested.
I have had better Mexican food.
The wife and I are big on trying out every hole-in-the-wall Mexican place in North County. Most of the time, we don't eat at a certain place more than once before moving on to the next one.
We go back to El Ranchero quite a bit.
We really like this place. From the nontraditional primers like tortilla soup and salads to delicious main courses (I really like the cheese enchiladas), El Ranchero is close to our house and a nice place to go grab a quick bite to eat.
The only demerits are small ones. There's nowhere to wait for a seat, and everytime the door opens in the winter time, it can bring in a cold rush of air. That's what you get with small places, I suppose.
But the fact that El Ranchero is in our permanent rotation speaks volumes about the experience. We'll keep going back.
I have been eating at El Ranchero for over 14 years and NEVER had a bad meal. Â It was owned by a man who moved away but sold it to his brother (current owner). Â It's the best mexican food I've ever eaten. Â My daughter always orders a corn cake whether her meal comes with it or not.
Review Source:Oh, I love El Ranchero! It's so quaint and has such a calm atmosphere. Prices are cheap and the food is awesome with a decent vegetarian selection. It's hardly ever busy so the service is always good and it's usually the same little lady each time. The decor and the lighting make it a great place to go when you want a low key, relaxing place to just chill out while you eat. They also have outside seating which is always a plus for me.
Review Source:I love this little hole in the wall, extremely delicious Mexican restaurant. Amazing wet bean & cheese burritos and shrimp quesadillas! The guacamole is so good but my absolute favorite thing from here is the little bit of corn cake that comes on the side if the burritos next to the rice and beans. But sometimes they forget to put it in my take out box! Then I'm sad for the rest of the day. One of these days I'm going to dine in so I can make sure I always get my little sweet cloud of corny goodness. Mmmmm
Review Source:One of my favorites. And believe me I search for good mexican food all the time. This is a place you just have to try. It's a simple family owned place but that explains the consistency and quality of the food. The fish tacos are amazing, as are the carne asada plate, ranchero burritos, and shrimp dishes.
The salsa is fresh and tasty and the price is right.
This is one of my favorite Mexican Restaurants. We have been coming here for the past 4 years and the food is consistently good and the ingredients are fresh. Our favorites are the fish taco platter, carne asada, ranchero burrito, chili relleno, and a few others. Please order the "Frijoles de la Jolla" instead of the regular beans - they are the best pinto beans EVER!
Review Source:This is hands down some of the best Mexican food you're going to find in north county. It's not a fast food place so much as a classy little sit-down eatery, but the prices are incredibly reasonable.
The service is always great, just about every time I've been in there I've been served by the same incredibly sweet Mexican lady. It's a tiny restaurant with maybe 10 tables total, so getting her attention is really easy if you need anything. Very relaxed, cozy atmosphere, great place to bring your family, a date, or a couple of buddies.
Where this place really shines, however, is the food. First off, the portions are enormous. You're going to leave this place completely stuffed, or with plenty of leftovers. Everything tastes incredibly authentic and home-cooked. Every single thing I've tried from the menu to date has been just perfect. I strongly recommend the chile relleno, it's the best i've ever had. I usually get the combo plate that comes with a chile relleno, beef taco, rice, beans, and their amazing sweet corn cake, and polish it off with a Modelo Negro. You really can't go wrong.
One more thing: On Tuesdays, they've got a buy-one get-one half off deal crackin', that's the best day to go.
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