Rancho Viejo Mexican Grill & Cantina — Restaurant in Luray

We did not have such a good experience here...why 4*s then? Read on.

When we arrived, it was very busy. The manager was running around like crazy. No less than 3 people asked how many in our party and said it would just be a moment. We waited for about 15 minutes. There were tables, just no one seemed to he cleaning them. In fairness, everyone was running around, but still...

I watched as the manager chased after another party who was leaving because they were free up waiting.

We finally get seated and the server comes over. I haven't experienced such a surly server in a while. She rolled her eyes at us several times, and patronizingly explained to us something about 4 times that had nothing to do with what we asked about. She left us in the middle of our questions to attend to another table. She disregarded our children by looking to us to order for them, when they were trying to order for themselves.

She also gave us bad information about the sides. We asked if the beans and rice we're vegetarian. Only the black beans and white rice she assured us. This caused great confusion and stress when refried beans and Spanish rice arrived on 4 of the 5 plates. The manager did promise that both kinds of beans and both kinds of rice we're vegetarian.

After dinner was cleared away and the restaurant had significantly cleared out did our server finally show some kindness to us. In fact, she was absolutely lovely after that...like someone flipped a switch. She was chatty with us and cooing over the kids (the little one had since fallen asleep across 2 chairs). It was a nice way to end our experience, but too little too late.

The manager also chatted with us at the end. A very lovely, if overworked, man.

So, the 4 stars all goes to the food. I was pleasantly surprised to find it all so tasty and enjoyable (when it finally arrived). Seriously, if the food hadn't been so good, they would have gotten 1 star.

So, my recommendation is to go with eyes wide open about the service and not expect much of it...but hold out...

I've been coming to Rancho for many years and used to be a big fan. However, the last few visits to this restaurant have been less than desirable. We visited this past weekend to celebrate our birthday dinner. We were seated quickly and we both ordered our drinks (water with lime, one peach margarita) and waited about 10 minutes for those to come out, in addition to the chips with the famous white sauce and about two teaspoons of salsa. Waiter explained they didn't have any salsa made (really it's 4:30 on a Saturday night at a Mexican restaurant, no salsa?) but as soon as the kitchen finished making it up, he would bring some right out. I will mention that I didn't receive a peach margarita, but rather a jumbo lime margarita that I didn't order. About 35 minutes later, our food finally arrived and was lukewarm and flavorless at best. Our server basically ignored us from here on out. We ended up finishing the chips and white sauce since the food was so terrible, and then the server had the nerve to bring us the salsa at the end of our meal (about one hour into arriving), seeing there were no chips left. I seriously wanted to smack it onto the floor. The meat portions of our dish tasted greasy and bland.

Before I get judged on a harsh review, I know good service, and I spent years working in the food service industry. I'm a diner who tries to be flexible if there are screw ups during my meal, and I try to give staff the benefit of the doubt, but to bring out salsa when we are done with our meal and the chips are long gone is just insulting. There were no apologies for screwing up my drink order even after I pointed out I was given the wrong flavor and wrong size. I could hear other diners asking for their salsa too while they were halfway through their meals. This place is a mess and I will never return. It's a shame because we've always loved Rancho and their service for many years. So long, crappy food...

THIS PLACE DISCRIMINATES!! Anyone in need of a Service Animal won't be allowed to dine here. They will judge you, they will be rude. They will give attitude, and if it was a possibility for them... they would literally kick you out. (Dogs are NOT EMOTIONAL SUPPORT. both are about 13 lbs, each was trained for a different service & most of the time in their carrier bag since they need to be close to alert us) As I walked in, I asked if we could get a table, maybe a distant, slightly hidden table for 7 people because we we're traveling with 2 Small/Medium Service Dogs & we understand some people might not feel comfortable eating around them. Before I could finish my sentence I was slapped with a big "NO!" that "I needed to show them a document/certificate" that would prove the dog's are of service. Our so called "host" said they had this "law" in their restaurant that prohibited them allowing SD unless the person could prove it or they would get a fine. We asked to see this so called "document" that said had been provided to them. It quickly became a back and forth thing. We asked to see the manager, his response was conveniently "He's in a funeral, do you want me to disturb him while he's grieving?" So we dropped the "argument" and turned around. As far as my knowledge goes, this Restaurant/Host was actually going against everything the ADA stands for... an actual LAW! The day then was sunny, not too cold, outside sitting would've been acceptable by us. Had our "host" given us a different service/attitude, an option to at least offer service, had he been a bit more discreet and considerate, I wouldn't have minded explaining exactly what the dogs are trained to do or what my disability is. Meanwhile he didn't care denying service right at the front door while everyone dining there stared at us. We felt ridiculed, exposed, judged. The worst feeling we had...