El Rancho Review

In traveling to a different restaurant once a week for four months, my adventure brings me back to Broadway which is just an absolute food haven. Do not be deterred by the neighborhoods you’re driving by, good food is good food regardless of the area of town you’re in.

With that said, I stopped by 2801 N Broadway to El Rancho on the recommendation from a friend of mine.

El Rancho is open Monday 9 am – 2 pm and Tuesday through Sunday 8 am – 9 pm.

If you hadn’t guessed by now, El Rancho is an authentic Mexican restaurant. Inside the employees are about as fluent in Spanish as you can get with some speaking English. Their menu (pictures at the end of this review) is mostly in Spanish with parts of it in English.

By all accounts, their most popular item is the barbacoa taco. My friend told me and I quote, “if you want a Barbacoa Taco that will straight murder any other place in town, try this place out.” I should state I’m against murder. I believe it’s wrong but I ordered a couple Barbacoa Tacos.

Along with the Barbacoa Tacos, I ordered a Guisado Verde Platillo.

This isn’t your typical Mexican restaurant where you are served chips and salsa, so keep that in mind.

The service was quick and friendly though. It did not take too long to receive my food along with the sides and salsa to use on my lunch items.

I started it all off with the Guisado Verde Platillo (pictured below). After my first bite, I did not stop at all. I honestly do not recall breathing anytime while I completely devoured my meal. For those wondering what Guisado Verde means, it translates to “So Friggin Good” in Eddy speak. In English, it means “Green Pork”. It was seriously some of the green pork I’ve had in a Mexican restaurant.

I split up each side of rice with the hotter red sauce and the more mild green sauce. I preferred the red sauce because I love the spicy bite it had.

Once I got to the tacos, I realized I had a problem. I ate so fast my stomach was telling me no but my mouth……..my mouth was telling me yes. So to partially quote R Kelly, “I don’t see nothing wrong with a couple barbacoa tacos”.

The Barbacoa Tacos came with a divided container of cabbage, cilantro, limes and onions. I sprinkled a bit of everything on the tacos, added in some hot salsa and was headed to Chow Town. I’m not sure I’ve had Barbacoa like that in any Mexican restaurant in town. It was different but in a good way. I was a fan.

Overall I’m not sure there’s anything negative to say about El Rancho. Even on my quick lunch stop, they were very busy but the service was on top of everything.

When I checked other websites, El Rancho was listed as cash only. Come to find out they do in fact take credit and debit cards on top of cash.

It’s a worth the drive to North Broadway for another gem of a Mexican restaurant.

Happy Dining.