Ranch Kitchen — Restaurant in Coalinga

I grew up in nearby Hanford and driven by so many times, and I never really thought much of it. I've heard a lot of good things about the food here and I finally decided to stop on by with my family for the first time. We came on by on a Sunday afternoon, around 3pm and there was plenty of parking. It's sort of busy inside with people using the restrooms and going to the stores as well as the restaurants. Not sure if their restrooms are clean but I know there is a lot of foot traffic for the restrooms. We were greeted by 4 hostesses at the front counter and were told it would be about a 20 minute wait to be seated. So we waited and we were seated quite quickly. Someone came by to get our drink orders and our waiter Oscar came to help us with our food. The ordering process felt rushed and i think it could be because he had his break time coming up and he was getting close to his 5th hour of working. I don't expect this restaurant to be high end or top notch like the one next door but I really didn't like feeling rushed to order either. The restaurant looked busy but at the same time it looked overstaffed. I see a lot of employees moving around everywhere and a few young ladies just having a casual conversation during their shift at the front counter. I don't know about everybody else but i don't think it takes 4 people to greet customers at the desk and let the wait staff know how many are waiting. Although nobody was rude, the food did take a while and I'm unsure if it's the sudden influx of customers that slowed things down or the amount of food we had ordered for 5 people made a difference in wait time which was between 35 to 45 minutes. We had ordered the porterhouse made medium well, the ribeye medium, the fettuccine, the pot roast and I believe the lemon pepper chicken plate. Food came out hot but my kid thought the pasta was a bit too dry. I was able to sample a bit of everyone's plate and overall the food to me is just okay or "mid" as the kids call it nowadays. Nothing to me made my experience match with all the positive hype everyone back in my hometown raved about. Service was mediocre and the food was simply okay. I feel our bill of about $250 for 5 people wasn't crazy expensive but the taste of the food itself didn't justify the price we paid for. Personally, I'd be happy with an Applebee's Steak than from Harris Ranch. I don't recommend this place and I don't think I would come back but it's not a terrible place to eat at, at all. Who knows, to you it could be the best restaurant in the world. I think what you're paying for when eating here is the quality of the food and the experience. Just for me, the taste of the food and the quality of service doesn't match up with how much I paid...

I stayed at the Harris Ranch and had both dinner and breakfast here.

Dinner: My recent dining experience at the steakhouse left me with mixed feelings. While the steaks and potatoes were indeed delicious, the removal of the prime choice filet mignon was incredibly disappointing. It was once my go-to dish, but now it's gone, leaving a noticeable void in the menu.

The steamed vegetables were lackluster, lacking the flair and excitement I expected from a reputable steakhouse. However, the biggest letdown was undoubtedly the missing prime choice filet mignon. The decision to remove such a beloved item from their offerings seemed unnecessary and left me questioning their choices. I suspect they did it to make their prime steakhouse more unique.

Despite the enjoyable aspects of the meal, the absence of the prime choice filet mignon overshadowed the overall experience.

Breakfast: During our breakfast outing, we decided to try both the eggs Benedict and granola yogurt. Unfortunately, the eggs Benedict didn't quite hit the mark for me. It seemed like the restaurant was overly focused on the meat aspect, with only a minimal drizzle of hollandaise sauce and an overwhelming amount of meat, leaving the dish unbalanced and not to my liking.

On a more positive note, the granola yogurt was delicious, but the portion ratios were a bit odd. The bowl was filled to the brim with granola, while the yogurt was served in a weirdly small side bowl, making it difficult to enjoy the granola and yogurt in harmony.

Overall, the breakfast experience was a mixed bag. The eggs Benedict missed the target due to its meat-heavy approach, while the granola yogurt was tasty, though not well-balanced in terms of...

Harris Ranch is a pretty neat place. One of my must stops when driving down the interstate from So Cal to No Cal and vice versa. I like to stop in the main building to use the public restroom, admire the pastries at the country store’s bakery counter, and check out the dining options (Horseshoe Lounge, Prime Steakhouse, and Ranch Restaurant).

For the dining options, I usually opt for the Ranch restaurant fit my red meat fix. This past visit, we ate there. The menu is way scaled down, just two pages and that includes their non-alcoholic drink menu.

I ordered the open face steak sandwich $40. It was a 10 oz New York steak served on a butter piece of toast. Yes toast, not a roll as in the past. The steak was delicious though. The marbling was good, giving it tenderness and flavor. They topped the steak with melted butter. I don’t recall that from before; hey def not complaining on that move. Butter makes everything better. The entree came with a side; I chose the baked spud. It was a biggum. Hubs ordered a small chopped salad. It was a mere $6.95, one of the cheaper items on the menu.

Our food came out fairly quickly, drinks refilled, and dishes taken away. But our tab included an extra soda that we never ordered. This was pointed out to our waiter and he quickly fixed it...