Tired of the Cookie Cutter

El Ranchito #5

2310 West Waco Drive
Waco, Texas 76702

254) 235-9470

Web Page

El Ranchito numero Cinco… hey I can speak Spanish! Okay, maybe choppy Spanglish.

I ate here once before last year with my dad, and I believe I tried the carne guisada. It was a delightful lunch, but at the time I didn’t write about it. I thought it might’ve been a chain and didn’t really put much research into it like I should have… I was being lazy. 

            I went by there today for lunch, probably about a year since the 1^st time. I met up with a new friend, who owns and runs the Waco RelyLocal chapter, Mr. Sal Ali. RelyLocal is a business, that is aimed at progressing, helping and expanding locally owned and operated businesses.  A Business that is right up my alley, as many of you know. We decided to dine here, since they just joined RelyLocal and I’ve been needing to add some Mexican restuarants to my blog… it just isn’t that easy in Waco. Waco is a harbor for cookie cutter Mexican restaurants, all trying to please the typical American’s simple palate. 

            Earlier last week Sal and his wife ate here and really liked their Shrimp Diabla and since he was hoping I could write a review about this place we ordered a couple of different items, instead of ordering each a separate plate. What we ended up sampling was: 1) Chile Relleno- A poblano pepper topped with ranchero cheese sauce, and stuffed with your choice of meat or cheese.   2) Chicken Chipotle- A chicken breast topped with chipotle sauce, and melted cheese.  3) Shrimp a la Diabla- Shrimp cooked in diabla sauce.

             I have had Shrimp a la Diabla before, at a local joint called Sergio’s (formerly Siete Mares). His version is a little bit different than the one I tried today. Sergio’s is lightly marinated then grilled, whereas this version is cooked in a spicy tomato based sauce. This style was pretty good, the sauce was very excellent- definitely has a spicy kick, a tad sweet, little garlic and pepper, don’t really taste the tomato base. I bet the sauce would hold up nicely on a heavy fish like Snapper or Mahi-mahi. I was dipping the home-made corn tortillas in the sauce… Mmmm. The shrimp though were lacking, a little over cooked and chewy.

            Next I tried the Chicken Chipotle, It was alright; the chicken was fairly bland with a little seasoning flavor coming through, and some nice flavorful cheese melted on top. But nothing that just struck me as WOW or even “man, I wanna order this again.” The chicken was a little chewy too. At least the avocados were nice and fresh, thrown in a corn tortilla with some of the diabla cause…. It wasn’t too bad. Speaking of their corn tortillas, they were pretty dang good. They were light, sweet, and they didnt crumble apart like so many. 

            I love poblanos, I love beef and I love cheese; sounds like a triple win to me, so we had to order one of these bad boys > Chile Relleno. I was not let down, this dish was delicious and plan on getting this next time I go by. The entire dish was nicely cooked; the poblano tender, the meat juicy and flavorful, the cheese equally as delicious. If you like poblano peppers or green chiles (New Mexico), I highly recommend you give this dish a try.

            This place doesn’t fall in the category of cookie cutter Mexican restaurants. Owned and operated by brothers, they have tried to change the pace up some in Waco’s Mexican restaurant scene. They have many dishes that you CAN find at many Mexican joints, but they also have plenty of items others don’t serve. I hear they also serve a mean breakfast. The place was very clean, the waitress very nice and attentive (cute too). Since I don’t live too far from them, I will definitely be stopping in more often… maybe even stop by for some margaritas one evening in their mini bar area.

Maybe its just me, but I've never seen #1-4.... Hmmmm