Rancho Nuevo — Restaurant in Front Royal

My wife and I took a 3 day weekend and rented a cabin in Front Royal to stay at, and to go to Loray Caverns. We found this gem of a restaurant online before we even left for our trip, and we definitely decided we should check it out. I am sooo glad we did!! We arrived there on a friday early evening around 3:30pm. They were not super busy (a bit early before the rush, lol) so we were seated immediately. Our original waiter was a very kind yound man (sorry, didnt catch his name) brought us over a pile of homemade warm nachos and the best house slasa either of us have ever had!!🤌🤌The atmosphere was excellent, place was very clean, including the bathrooms. We placed an appetizer order and ordered two drinks form the bar. The Peach Margherita was amazing, and my wifes mixed drink was delicious and they aren't shy on the alcohol content (but not too overwhelming either, lol). As we were enjoying our drinks and talking, the owner himself came to our table, thanked us for coming in, and was asking me about the awesome vinyl wrap i have on my car (we took my company vehicle for the trip.) He then started talking to us about the 4 food trucks he owns and operates as well, and how he has them wrapped, which was ironic, because my wife and I want to open a food truck when we retire from our current careers, so it was very refreshing to just have a nice conversation with him about something like that! The app we ordered were the loaded french fries buried in carne asda steak and seasoned chicken, and cheeses. I literally could have eaten that for a dinner! The chicken and steak were cooked.to perfection and the portion was more than enough for two to share. My wife ordered the steak and chicken fajitas, and i got the Ranchero T Bone steak with mexican seasonings. They both arrived sizzling hot and were absolutely delicious!! Steak was cooked to a perfect medium as I ordered! The owner came by our table several more times to check on us and make sure we were enjoying everything. Being slow at the time, he could of easily just stood at the cash register, but he made every effort to make sure everyone there, including us, was enjoying their experience. You just dont see and receive that kind of personal attention in most establishments anymore! We almost finished our meals (portions are more than enough)and a few more delicious drinks (the green dinasour is a must try), and the owner again, came over and asked of we were ready for dessert. I dont know how they even have a dessert menu because after all the chips, salsa, app and dinner, we were tight!!🤌🤌😳 But we sucked it up, and ordered these light fluffy cinnamon covered things (i completely forgot what they were called, lol, sorry!) They were amazing, and as a nice little surprise, the owner came over with a complimentary Flan for us to try for dessert as well as neither of us had one before. Just like dinner and the app, the desserts were out of this world!! This place was a gem of a find, and we will absolutely be dining there again when we return to Luray. If you're within an hour of this place, I can assure you its worth the drive, go check it out! Thanks for an amazing experience, and keep up the excellent service...

I don’t typically write reviews of restaurants because every place has hit or miss items on their menu and I typically always give places a few chances before I choose not to go back, but this meal deserved a review.

We are major fans of Mexican food and just recently moved to Front Royal, so we’re trying to find our new go-to place. We ordered 2 of the Texas fajitas, 3 tacos, 2 orders of rice, & cheese dip.. The original plan was to order enchiladas, but that changed when they said they couldn’t substitute the shredded chicken with grilled chicken (not sure why?). I got excited when I went inside to pick the food up and saw that they typically offer a buffet (obviously not open during COVID) & I had never seen that before, so we definitely wanted to make a trip back to try that out. The definitely won’t be the case. The taco meat was in big chunks, almost looked like it was a hamburger patty that had been chopped up, and had zero flavor at all. With the Texas fajitas, in each order there was 7 small pieces of chicken, 6 small pieces of steak, & 3 pieces of shrimp. The chicken wasn’t great but at least edible, the shrimp was super fishy & rubbery, and the steak was absolutely horrendous. It was basically the consistency of beef jerky & tasted like it had been heated up in the microwave. I’m not exaggerating when I say it could barely be chewed. After the tip we paid $70 and honestly half the food went in the garbage. The plus side was the staff member who took our payment was super friendly and chatted with us for a few minutes while we waited on the food to come out, so I’m sure their customer service is overall pretty good. But the food was super disappointing. At the price point of $70 for a meal to feed our family of 5 & the quality of food we received, I definitely don’t think we’ll be back for a second chance at spending that kind of money for a possible second...

Good food and service. You could tell that everything was fresh and well cooked. Those that I went with were satisfied with their food and portions they received. I think just about everyone took something home.

However my only issue was the carne asada. It was served with a rib eye instead of the traditional skirt steak. I was curious, so I got it anyway. It was good but could have been better. It was a well done steak that had been seasoned but not marinated, with all of the customary fixings. If I wanted a rib eye I'd most likely just order one and get it medium well, its not particularly good well done in my opinion nor the flavor I was looking for. From what I've learned the point of carne asada is to marinate the skirt steak or like cut of meat to make it tender so when you cook it is not only tender but tastes awesome. I'd call the dish I had either a "house take" on carne asada, or change its name altogether because its not really carne asada.

So it is just more of a naming issue than anything else but by no means a deal breaker, I'll just try something...