Rancho Alegre Restaurant (Authentic Mexican Food) — Restaurant in Des Moines

I ate here with a friend on Saturday for lunch. There was a counter where it looks like you could go up to order and they had menus up above, but there was also a sign saying see yourself. This was a little confusing to us, but we chose a seat and were greeted quickly. We decided to order some margaritas. I got the lime, which was delicious. they start you off with some chips and salsa where they give you three different salsa. I really enjoyed this as it was a lot of fun to try so many different things. My favorite was the green one. I also decided I wanted to order the side of beans and was super excited when I saw that I came with Quesa on top.These were absolutely delicious. For my main meal, I got several different street tacos. My favorite was the chorizo, but overall, I enjoyed all of them. I also got the Asada, Pollo, shrimp and carnitas. Overall, the food and service was great. My main issue with the atmosphere is it was very sticky to walk on the floor, the seats needed to be cleaned and the walls needed to be...

We were in Des Moines for a soccer tournament and needed some lunch. This was the first non-fast food place to come up. Delicious! Everything was fresh and authentic. Steak tacos, enchiladas, and veggie tostadas....heavenly. The food was okay and definitely nothing to write home about. The reason to go back is for the raw oysters. I ordered the dozen and I was not disappointed. They were shucked correctly, big, and tasty. On top of that, they were reasonably priced at 13 bucks. I was amazed. Nothing fresh like one gets in FL., but I have had worse and paid more at "seafood" restaurants in IA. It comes with sliced limes...

Really wanted to love this place after reading the glowing reviews. Out the gate, the service and the food were fantastic. The salsa's were tasty and and overall meal felt underpriced which is rare these days.

The main knock was the vibe itself. The whole place needs a serious deep clean. It's like they tried a few years back, and then just stopped caring. Not asking for an expensive renovation, just cleaning it up to make the in-dining experience...