El Rancho Grande - West Alexandria — Restaurant in Eaton

Overall: Just okay.

Food: Chips were hard/stale and the food was boring for Mexican. I was disappointed in the bland taste. Making it spicy with hot sauce provided on the table wouldn't have made it less bland.

Menu: Menu is absolutely massive and disorganized. You could spend 15 minutes just reading the menu; a huge menu is usually a bad sign, IMO. I have designed many menus in my life as a restaurant marketer and their menu is poorly done, typos and all.

Pricing: I felt the dishes were overpriced, even for the massive portions. Expect to pay $14 - $30+ per person. Most dishes are $16-$20. I would rather pay less for smaller portions. (I don't want to pay extra for bland soggy leftovers to take home since the portions are huge). I realize big portions are common in Mexican-American restaurants, but the portions here are even bigger. I recommend splitting a dish if you aren't super hungry and want to save a little money.

Building/Staff: The building is beautiful and clean and service was good. I'm shocked how much this chain invested in renovating this location.

They had plenty of staff for the time of day, which increases their overhead. Several members of staff just stood around talking, which is fine, but tells me the payroll overhead is probably higher than needed and could be contributing to the high prices.

I'm not sure how a restaurant with these prices in this location stays in business. If we do hit a recession soon, I have a feeling this place won't survive it. I won't be back unless someone I'm with...

We went during the weekday around 2:00 so we was the only customers in there at the time which was I tried this strawberry mojito which was my first time trying the price wasn't too bad it was under $6 for each drink and it was beautifully presented the food was amazing some of their prices are a little pricier but the variety difference between them and Fiesta char veteran Powell county is they do have some other Seafood options and some other food options that I haven't seen some of the meals range from 10 to 15 and some other meals ranged belt 20 to 23.00 they do have a kids menu where they can get corn dogs we got the Texas fajitas and we got two orders I think we would have been able to share one but each meal was about $23 the corn I tried had mayo and a few other things which I forget but it was really good and different from what I have normally tried I use my chips to use it like a dip and I put some of it in my fajitas as well the restaurant inside is absolutely beautiful they have a lot of room and two full bar areas on each side of the restaurant the booth seats are very nice because the back part is very high up so you don't have to look over and see the people behind you when you're enjoying your meal the bathrooms were extremely beautiful the sinks Bavaria unique...

Hands down the best service I’ve ever had at any restaurant — and I don’t say that lightly. We had Elias as our server at El Rancho Grande, and he made the entire night unforgettable. From the extra care he put into our drinks (he brought me a glass with salted rim and 4 lime wedges just to pour my Victoria into) to the laughs he shared with our table, he went above and beyond in every way.

He even made a special drink rim candy concoction for my pregnant sister-in-law just so she could still feel part of the fun. This man has heart, hustle, and a gift for making people feel welcome. He’s open about his past and determined to build something better now, and I have nothing but respect for that.

Elias — if you’re reading this, keep going. You’re damn good at...