Rancho Pancho — Restaurant in Great Britain

Tried to visit here once before but place had no free tables for the rest of the night which is always a good sign. So we booked ahead of time and visited Rancho Pancho on Sunday night.

We got there a few minutes after our booking but we weren't on the reservation list. We had gone through the website so I showed the email, was then asked to show the text we got, then a different text but ultimately no matter what showed there wasn't a table to give to us so the hostess told us to take a 15min walk and come back as a table next to the door was just finishing wine...

When we got back sharp and there wasn't a table set up for us yet but eventually we were sat but not at the table we thought and unfortunately it was right next to the section of the bar where all the plates come in and out to and from the kitchen. As a result I smelled like a burrito the whole walk home and in the morning realised my jacket must've got a lot of the spit from hot plates travelling past as I smelled like I'd done a shift as a KP.

A different hostess then served us and we greedily got the mixed starter platter for 2 which was incredibly generous in size and equally as delicious. There's a few things my girlfriend doesn't like and a few things I don't like so we were able to split it pretty evenly and very little was left.

However, our mains came and our high expectations after such a good starter were amazingly succeeded with more huge portions with really smoked and spicy authentic tastes. I polished mine off somehow and got her leftovers bagged up for lunch the next day. (Even the leftovers were enough for a full potion).

After that we took a little deliberation about risking a pudding as we'd still the walk home up the hill ahead but decided to not say adiós without some churros however when attempting to ask for a desert menu we were asked by the initial hostess "Did you want the bill?" which was a little rude.

We got deserts which were still good but not as exciting and overshadowed by the mains but overall food was undoubtedly 5/5.

Service on the whole was 5/5 whole waiting staff tried their best to keep an eye on us ask us how the meal was throughout didn't have to wait long between drinks.

Only let down was the reservation mix up really and the table which although the place is small I don't think should be where the staff are constantly going to be passing back and forth between the back of your chair and the wall with drinks/hot food.

Will definitely be back again but would ask not to be sat there and hopefully can sit down at the time of my...

EDIT: Note the rude and misleading reply below from the owner. FYI, ‘made to order’ does not necessarily mean freshly-prepared; it often means, and, in the case of Rancho Pancho, absolutely does mean ‘squeezed onto a plate once you’ve ordered it’. Amidst the rudeness are outright lies; there is absolutely no way that that pico was homemade, or the guac - or just about anything we ate (the cheese they served it with was like those plastic cheeses you get in packets at the supermarket). Yes, they may well have cooked the beef there - but when it’s smothered in UPF and then served with a load of other UPF, that’s hardly the point of a restaurant. Ultimately, the fact that they’ve replied so venomously, with lies and obfuscation, shows what this “restaurant” is all about.

Original review (the one that touched a nerve with the owner):

We went here for dinner tonight, and we now wish that we hadn’t.

Easily 90% of what we were served was UPF - at freshly-made prices. It tasted like a supermarket fajita pack (it probably was).

The service wasn’t any better. Around five minutes after we were seved our starters, a frustrated-looking staff member came to check if we were finished. The fact that we were still eating prompted an eye-roll from her before she dramatically stomped off. A couple of minutes later, another did the same thing.

A couple of minutes after that, another came and passive-aggressively suggested that we should keep our starters on the table while the mains came out. We had had our starters for nine minutes in total by this point.

When the (frankly, disgusting) mains arrived 10 minutes later (why were they so desperate when the mains weren’t even waiting to go?), we picked at them for a bit before asking for the bill. At this point, I also asked how much of the food we’d just been served was prepared fresh. The waitress laughed and suggested it’d be ambitious to assume ‘a majority of it’. Ambitious indeed.

If you’re still reading, please save yourself the disappointment and instead go to an actual restaurant where they cook food instead of squeeze it out of packets and castigate you for failing to eat it...

Always had good food from this family run business however, a special occasion was booked well in advance then I called a few days beforehand to adjust the booking to be told they were unsure if they were going to be open, that someone would call me the next night...guess what? I had to phone them back to be told no manager available and still unsure if open could I call back? So called the next night....unsure why I was even bothering at this point tbh but no manager again, the girl was just home from uni and helping out could I phone at 4pm the next day....the DAY BEFORE OUR BOOKING, I phoned anyway as we actually wanted to still go lol but when I did phone, I was advised the manager was serving a table, could they pop me on hold? ....Then I was cut off....so I phoned back AGAIN to be met with STINKING ATTITUDE, asking if I was the one who had been continually phoning??? Eh yes!!!! I was utterly shocked to be told that I had been told already they are closed on Saturday........When I pointed out my many phonecalls during which not one of their staff knew the restaurant was closed that day, I got a half hearted apology said in anger. I have been left utterly shocked and appalled by this behaviour and aggressive attitude towards me that I honestly would not feel comfortable to ever set foot in that place again. I advised that it is totally understandable that things change but advance warning would have been preferred in order that I may make alternative arrangements. This is no way to treat loyal customers. I think he may not have spoken to me like that had I been male, shouting over me any time I tried to convey my upset at this treatment. Anyway, I'm not interested in your no doubt justified response to this review, you know how you acted and I'll NEVER RECOMMEND THIS...