El Rancho Grande Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Bend

I was really looking forward to returning to El Rancho Grande Mexican Restaurant while visiting my family in Bend, as I had fond memories of their great food. While the food remains excellent, my experience today was totally tainted by the service, and it has left me feeling very disappointed.

The trouble started when we arrived. I have a service dog, and we requested to sit at a certain booth. They reluctantly agreed, which already set a negative tone for the experience. When the waiter arrived, he seemed rushed and impatient to take our order. The food, which included a chicken quesadilla and chicken enchilada, was delivered fairly quickly, and it was delicious. However, we had to ask for extra salsa twice before we finally got it.

What really soured the experience was the lack of attention after the food was served. We sat at the table for over 25 minutes with our plates stacked up, and no one came to check on us. I eventually had to ask the hostess for another drink, and I handed her my debit card to pay for dinner, treating my parents. The waiter, however, brought my card back and gave it to my dad’s fiancée, assuming she was the one paying, which was not the case.

The real issue came when I was handed the checkout machine. The total on the screen was $102, which seemed high, but I scanned my card without asking for a receipt at first. When I told my dad the total, he was surprised, so I asked for the receipt and requested to speak with a manager. Instead of the manager, the waiter returned, and his attitude was immediately defensive. I just asked him to clarify the bill, and it turned out the original amount was $82, but a 25% tip had been added without my knowledge. He insisted that I had selected the tip amount myself, but I had not – he had pre-selected the 25% tip before handing me the machine.

After some back and forth, they refunded me $21, and I ended up giving a $10 tip. But it left me wondering how many other customers, especially the elderly or those not paying close attention, might have been scammed like this. The waiter continued to place the blame on me, saying I had chosen the tip, which I had not. He even mentioned they had cameras, and when I asked to see the footage, he pointed to the ceiling and gave a vague excuse.

In the end, they refunded the overcharge, but the whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth. The food is still great, but the people working here have questionable ethics, and it feels like they are trying to scam customers. It’s sad to see such a good restaurant marred by poor service and unethical behavior.

Beware: This place has amazing food, but the service is shady at best. Watch your bill...

Thursday, 12/22/22 3:00 pm

We have been here many times over the past 6 plus years. Always sit in the bar. There were three other tables in service this day. One table (4 top) was done eating, 1 table was eating (2 top), the 3rd had just sat down seconds before we did (2 top). The server, a man, brought menus to the couple that sat down next to our table. Walked away and began clearing a table. At which time he finally greeted us and brought us menus. Then walked away. He returned a few minutes later with chips and salsa. And left again without asking for a drink order. There appeared to be a bartender and other staff at the bar (4 men). One appeared to be a manager, dressed in slacks, shirt and tie and traveled between kitchen and bar. The server returned about five minutes later to take our food order. I asked him if he could take our drink order first. He took our order and return about 5 minutes later. Left again and returned a few more minutes later to take our order. This time frame was in total 20-25 minutes to get drinks and order. Food came out quickly and was very good. Asked for more salsa, very good by the way. So was the soup. The server never returned until we finished. We enjoy the food and atmosphere here but the service has always suffered. I understand this is not fast food. But some training in proper greeting and serving time would benefit the restaurants bottom line. If the restaurant and or bar had been busy we would have expected longer wait times. But they weren't. It was actually appear quite slow through the whole...

Customer Service needs to be made a priority.

Made a reservation for my birthday yesterday, there were six of us total. We let them know when we made the reservation that we're all adults & like to have some elbow space when we eat. We dropped off the older ladies of the group first & the workers had reserved us a tiny table in the cantina. The ladies asked one of the men if we could sit at one of the booths on the other side & he said no. My Father & I arrived & were surprised to see the rest of our party sitting at a tiny table in the Cantina, so we asked politely if we could be seated at a different, larger table on the restaurant side. There were plenty of tables open on that side with only 1 other group sitting there & we would have preferred the experience on that side more to celebrate my Birthday. 2 of the male workers fought us hard on it for a few minutes, still making us sit in the Cantina even after we told them it was a Birthday dinner & we would be uncomfortable at the table they sat us at. That was not how I wished to start off my Birthday Dinner and certainly made everything after quite uncomfortable. Needless to say, the tiny table with 6 adults around it was not a very comfortable experience, especially when the workers are all giving you weird glances. Not quite how I expected to spend my Birthday Dinner.

Food was good (ordered the Carnitas Tacos & the salsa verde was delicious), but Customer Service definitely needs some major work. Makes you re-think ever visiting this...