El Rancho Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Long Branch

Where to start? I am giving El Rancho five stars for a variety of reasons and this review is based on two separate accounts. I came across this little gem several months back when I first moved to NJ. I am a Southern Californian guy and have had my fair share of great Mexican food. When I walked in during a late lunch I sat and had some of the best enchiladas ever. Everything was fresh and I later learned everything was prepared in house. I also met Sylvia on this visit, the warm and welcoming owner of El Rancho. After finishing my meal and having a nice chat with her I truly felt like I had a wonderful home cooked meal in Sylvia's home.

Fast forward several months later to present day, I was setting up a lunch for an office of 27 I call on in my sales territory. Mexican food was requested and I knew just the person to ask! I called and left a message for Sylvia and when she returned my call she remembered exactly who I was and recalled everything we had talked about months prior. Instead of placing the order over the phone I met Sylvia at the restaurant where I was greeted with a hug and a "welcome back". I also got to meet her lovely daughter, Cathy, on this visit who sat with us and together we put together the catering menu which was thoughtfully put together.

Sylvia went above and beyond putting together this lunch. When I walked in I couldn't believe how beautiful everything looked. At the center of the table was a large fruit platter with large vibrant yellow chunks of pineapple, red watermelon, and kiwi. Surrounding it were bowls of fresh guacamole, salsa and chips, rice, refried beans, a beautiful tossed salad with her personal heirloom tomatoes from her own garden, El Rancho's signature steak and chicken burritos and quesadillas. I was told by many of the staff members that this was the nicest lunch anyone has ever brought them and they were overwhelmed with how delicious everything tasted and the overall beautiful presentation that Sylvia took the time to create.

El Rancho is a GEM in Long Branch. Whether your'e headed in for lunch, dinner or having Sylvia cater your event, you won't go wrong with El Rancho.

Keep of...

Empanadas were the best I've ever had ... crunchy without being dry; flavorful and moist without being greasy. Prices for them were extremely reasonable, considering. Server and chef were both very attentive toward how customers were enjoying their food, and what would enhance their experience (e.g. refills); patient and courteous. I liked the atmosphere.

Three odd things I noticed during my meal, though:

The churros are way too small. For $3.50 I got three pieces which, laid end to end, would still be smaller than a single churro from any other place.

The churros tasted crisp and freshly fried on their own, but were served with Reddi Whip and (I suspect) Hershey's syrup. Legit, homemade whipped cream and fudge sauce are not hard to make, speaking from experience, and could have justified the price all on their own.

(The big one, why I rated this seemingly good place a 2/5) My bill in total came to $10.02. I only had big bills, so I asked the waitress if I could break a twenty into smaller bills from the till. Now, in a situation like this you might expect to receive the full twenty in smaller bills, or maybe nine or ten dollars if they're going through the trouble of depositing your check for you. I instead received five dollars back out of the full twenty. I found it very strange that after being so pleasant during the meal, the waitress would decide on my behalf that she had a right to tip herself $5 from my change.

Mind you that's about what I was going to tip anyway ... maybe she's a mind reader, I don't know ... but I found it rather rude that someone could decide FOR me how much I would tip.

Overall this place gave me a pleasant lunch. But if I return then I will carry...

Okay so I came here twice with my boyfriend. The restaurant itself looks nice so we wanted to give it a try. First time I came I got a shredded chicken burrito and there was pieces of chicken bone in it and I almost chipped my tooth. When we got desert we ask the waitress how big the tres leches cake was and if it’s a decent size for the both of us. She look like she was confused and said yes it is. Then when we got it it was so small for like 9 bucks?? Seemed like they try to make it bigger by adding ALOT of whip cream. So we ended up coming again just to give it another try. I wanted to ask for extra rice and beans because it seems like they never put a decent amount on the plate. So we asked the waitress how much it would be if we ordered extra. She said about three bucks and change and she seemed like she was confused again like she really wasn’t sure about the exact price. And then she was saying how her mom loads up the extra rice and beans pretty well. I didn’t want to pay extra for it but my boyfriend told the waitress anyways to get extra. When we got it it still seemed pretty small. After we were finished with our meals the waitress came and gave us a check and then she told us before we open the check not to be startled because the extra rice and beans were about 5 and change. This really pissed me off cuz not only did we get a small amount of it but she basically ripped us off And charged us more. When she could of went to the back and ask to make sure about the price instead she gave us false information about it and we ended up paying extra at the end. Never coming here again...