El Ranchero — Restaurant in Dublin

You would think that all Mexican food taste the same…but that is NO where NEAR the TRUTH…El Ranchero in Dublin Va is by far one of the best Mexican restaurants around! Their food is always hot and delicious 😋 and the service there is pretty good…at least it was this day but of course my brother and I went around 11:30 am so we were pretty much the ONLY ones in the whole restaurant at that time on a Saturday so I would definitely have to worry if we didn’t have good service 🤣. The restaurant was very clean and the employees i encountered all spoke even in passing 🥰. I forgot my To-Go box so i went back in to see if it was still there and to my surprise it was and not only that but one of the employees had it in there hand walking to meet me as i came back in!! I was quite impressed…most places it takes them 2 seconds to toss it! 🙃 So i highly recommend checking out El Ranchero if you find yourself in Dublin Va…there’s plenty of parking it’s easy to get to and it’s right off interstate and you actually have to go through Walmart parking lot to get there so it’s very convenient if you need anything from Walmart or the Liquor Store bc there’s one of those within walking distance from El Ranchero. You’d be all set and you won’t be disappointed 🤗....

We arrived right at 6:30pm and got seated pretty quick. Drinks came fast. But then it went down hill quickly. We placed our order right at 6:45. 7:17 we still hadnt gotten our food. 7:30, 45 minutes later, my husband and daughter-in-law received their food. Almost 15 minutes went by and my son and I still hadnt gotten our food. We address it with our server and was told, "its not my fault. It's the cooks. I cant do anything about it. In case you didn't notice, we're busy". When my food FINALLY arrives, the rice and beans were cold. My husband's quesedilla was also cold. Then, they brought my daughter-in-law a second plate of food. This isnt the first time we had received poor service and food. About two years ago, there was a black hair INSIDE my burrito and my husband was brought a quesedilla that had been refused by another customer. It was stone cold. Decided to give them another shot because we had been loyal customers for years. But, after this, we will not be back. This was written by the person...

What a pleasant surprise. After driving many hours and feeling exhausted, this was such a nice experience. My waiter was quick, friendly, respectful and he repeated in English what I would order just to be sure I was ordering what I thought I was. The chips, salsa and queso were average, but the dinner was far above average. The shrimp, grilled veges over rice with guacamole salad was absolutely perfect. Shrimp cooked just until done. Yummy! The veges were grilled to perfection with each piece having a slight crispiness to the bite. The rice, which accompanied the meal, blended so beautifully in taste and texture. It was so good, it needed no other seasoning or tortilla. The guac salad was a bit of a shocker. There's a definite spicy bite to it, which was unexpected. It went so well with the lettuce and cheese. Overall, I think this is the best meal I've eaten in a Mexican restaurant. And, I do love Mexican food. I was raised on it for my 67 years of age. Thank you for such great...