Taqueria El Ranchero — Restaurant in Hawaii

I just Need to say first and foremost that I am not Native to this beautiful island. My review is based off of my personal experiences. I am originally from the Bay Area in Northern California.

That said, I Highly recommend coming to El Ranchero for some Authentic Mexican food that is from the state of Guanajuato in Mexico and is Heavily influenced by San Francisco's Mission District. This isn't Tex Mex. This isn't SoCal Mexican Food. This isn't New Mexico Mexican food. This isn't Taco Bell--Taco Bell is located by Cheesecake Factory if you're craving it. This is A Mexican Owned Restaurant. Most of the recipes used belong to the owner's mom.

I have been here plenty of times by myself, with guests from out of town and even with my own kids and we have had predominantly positive experiences. I've noticed sometimes things are hectic when the place is super busy. For the most part, most of my servers have been very kind and thoughtful of my kids.

We like their Cali fries with carne asada (steak). It's on par with the carne asada fries I've had from the Bay Area and my daughter inhales it. We like their burritos--if you can't find one on the menu that has everything you want then do what we do. We order a regular sized burrito and specify what we want in it. I appreciate that the option to fully customize it to my liking is available. I've never tried a wet burrito but it's massive if you've got the appetite. I recently took my visiting grandparents and they had dietary restrictions. They only wanted fish and veggies. My grandmother really enjoyed the fish and the shrimp tacos. She said it tasted really fresh and she liked the kick of the sauces. My grandfather had their veggie quesadilla and he ate everything. He said it was delicious and filling. The Chile Relleno is delicious. It comes with rice, beans and some garnish.

Do Not Skip Dessert! They have a 'Loaded Churros' item menu, which are Churros (fried perfectly crispy outside and chewy inside) with Vanilla Ice Cream and Chocolate Syrup drizzled all over. This was such a big hit for the kids.

Drink recommendations I would say Coke in a bottle or their Watermelon Aguas Frescas or the Horchata. Those three are the go to drinks for my family. If you are dining in my 6 year old likes to order a root beer float. For the adults I like their blended Li Hing Margarita. It's delicious. Oh! And the hubby enjoys their Michelada.

The ambience here is nice. I really enjoy the art around the restaurant and the restaurant name in lights inside. I like that you can watch the line of cooks preparing the food as it's ordered. The restrooms are always clean.

I also recently found out they have events at night. Taco Tuesday: $2.50 tacos and $5 house margaritas from 6-10pm. Karaoke Night Wednesdays starting at 8pm. Live Local Music on Thursday Nights starting at 8pm. They have changing events with different DJs on Friday Nights. Saturday Night is Salsa Night from 10pm to 2am. It sounds like fun but my kids probably won't let me go. Lol.

Overall, come by. I'm sure you can find some delicious food and have a great time here.

Visited Friday, 18th November 2022

Server: 4 stars Food & drinks: 4 stars Atmosphere: 3 stars Bill paying experience: 2 stars

Three of my friends and I met her Friday evening for food and drinks. Two of us arrived together ahead of the other two so we decided to get a table and wait for them. While waiting, our server, Izzy, introduced herself stating it was her last day of training. The two of us decided to gets drinks while we waited for the other two to arrive. We were seated quickly inside. It was a bit loud so maybe if we go back we'll sit outside, depending on the weather.

Izzy was very attentive and checked on us frequently. However, at no point did she ask us how the bills would be split nor did we think to mention it beforehand. Once the rest of our party arrived, they ordered drinks, then we ordered our food.

The food came out correct and in a timely manner - three of us got tacos, one got a plate taquitos. When we were done eating we sat around talking and sipping on the remnants of our drink. The food was good and since I got beer, I had no complaints. Two of the others ordered an additional drink each, one a michelada and one a Negra modelo. The michelada came out, no issues. The model on the other had was a "regular" and the one who ordered it informed the server (not Izzy) that it was incorrect. She returned it to the bar and not even a minute later a different server (not Izzy and not the other server) brought the SAME beer out. He informed her that that wasn't the beer he ordered. After a third attempt, they brought the correct beer. But, that wasn't the big issue.

Once we were done drinking, chatting, and catching up, we were ready to pay and go. We looked around doe Izzy but did not see her. After about 5 minutes of waiting, another server came to inform us that she would be cashing us our since Izzy's shift had ended. Okay, no problem, that happens.

Here's the kicker - the bill was together and the server said she could not split it. We informed her that we were each paying separately and with cards. She said okay, she'd have to speak with her manager to approve the split :/ The server leaves to go find her manager then came back with "good news" lol she said she was able to split the check three ways!! Again we informed her since there are four of us, we need to split/pay four ways. This time she went to get her manager. The manager comes out trying to explain to us about the convenience (he might have used another word but I can't remember which) of the bill being together :/ but my friend was not willing to accept that and told him to figure it out. After about another five minutes, the server came out with each of our individual bills, which we gladly paid. I'm not sure what the others tipped but I had a good meal and good service from Izzy so I tipped accordingly. I would assume having four separate payments/ tips would be most ideal but it seemed like such a difficult business decision.

Hopefully, if I go back it will be an even better experience and we'll definitely remember to tell the staff to split the bill...

This was our first night in Hawaii and after traveling all day we wanted something quick and easy. We are staying at the Hampton Inn which is literally connected to the mall (awesome choice of hotel)

We walked around the mall looking for something that would be quick and easy and decided on this place. sadly (and we learned too late) due to a few waiters calling in sick, one young lady was having to wait on most or all the tables. When we first got there everything moved slow but it was wild to see everyone of the employees pitch in to help... so as far as customer service... i respect theirs as they made every effort and the waitress couldn't have been sweeter--- and over worked... i hope her night went well, however, as the customer it was not a great experience as nothing came out right and the food was less then stellar (probably because it wasn't what we ordered)

In any event the food: we had super spicy salsa - which we loved- but our drinks took a long time so our mouths were on fire.. In an effort to help (the waitress and my burning mouth)i was going to head to the bar and just get my drink. They didn't want me to- but i was super thirsty .. waited another 10-15 for the drinks and my husbands 7$ beer took even longer.

He ordered a quesadilla grande and we spent time talking about how much we dislike sour cream and to please not put any on. His showed up with sour cream and there was no way we were going to wait around for anything new as the place was getting busy, 2'with little service available. I ordered two tacos---carne asade and one chicken. I got two carne asada tacos. I did not like them until i removed the weird red taco sauce on top that has a spice in it that detracts from the carne asada that was quite good. Again- order was wrong but not worth fixing.

Basically they did the job as we left and passed out so we could hit Hawaii running. If I lived here and this was my life, i would not go back as everything was wrong and it just took too long. While i understand there is staffing problems with Covid, restaurants should equally understand if the service is going to be so subpar ---that there are other restaurants handling our universal situation better.

Time wasted All orders wrong Super friendly service-- loved the waitress but her situation was unfair.

Tourists stay away- expensive and time waster with orders wrong and expensive drinks coming far too late. Just not worth it! My mouth still has a...