Rancho Grande — Restaurant in Monticello

UPDATE: I went and gave the place a second try and they have really increased the service and quality of their food. I increased their stars because it is deserved. I will leave the old review below since it was a failure on their part, but will give them credit for my most recent visit. They did however mess up on our bill and had to edit it twice with random overcharges and strange additions to our bill that we didn't actually receive. If the bill was correct they probably would have got 3-4 stars.

The service here is beyond bad and the food is mediocre at best. We weren't greeted and the staff seemed borderline upset to see us which was odd because they weren't anywhere near closing and the place was completely empty. We eventually sat ourselves after standing awkwardly at the front door for a few moments and grabbed out own menus. After about 10-15 minutes a server came and said that he would be with us in a moment. 45-50 minutes after that he came back to take our drink orders and explained that he had completely forgot about us. At this point we had been in the restaurant for an hour and didn't have drinks or even our food order placed in the system.

The chips they gave us were super cold, cheap, and stale. The salsa seemed like it was watered down target brand salsa. The margarita he served us was clearly a cheap mix and tasted like Jose Cuervo Margarita mix that had zero added tequila. We ordered a chili relleno and it had zero flavor and seemed to be a from frozen microwave chili relleno from Trader Joes. The fajitas I ordered were 90% grilled onion and bell peppers with almost no meat. The food took another 15-20 minutes to get to us, so we had been at the restaurant for almost an hour and a half eating possibly the worst chips and salsa I have had at a restaurant. They never came back to check on us, see if the food was ok, refill drinks, or even give us a check. We had to go hunt down a server and ask for the check. We ended up wasting so much food because of the poor quality and inedibility of a lot of the food. I see a lot of positive reviews for this place which confuses me since the food and service here was REALLY bad. Maybe it is just that people in this town are used to Taco Bell or really bad Mexican Food because there is...

My family and I went in to enjoy our usual meal of fajitas and chips and cheese. And mind you we have always had pleasant experiences until today. This was the first time we have come across any reason to say anything. Starting g out out fajitas were mostly vegetables and very little meat. The vegetables were mostly large chunks of tomatoes. When we were asked if everything was good my husband told him that we were for the first time ever disappointed here and mentioned it was because it appeared to be more vegetables and less meat than we have ever gotten. The waiters response was immediately defensive and says we portion out our meat so it's always the same. We never short on meat it's done by weight. It's the same as it always had been. No apologies or anything for us being disappointed and walked away. Then when it comes to paying our bill was charged for 3 sodas instead of one. Ok that's not a big deal but added to everything else. Asked why the menu said the virgin daiquiri was $8.00 when the menu said $6.00. Got an immediate upset response. Said we have small medium and large. Now let me mention the menu only has two sizes one saying jumbo. ( when ordering My husband was looking at the menu asked for the big one. ) the guy wouldn't even listen to us when we asked to see the menu to try and clear up the confusion. He went and grabbed 3 glasses and said these are the sizes. We finally got a menu and he pointed to one saying small, the "jumbo" and says medium and then to the empty space below and says large. Um there isn't anything there so how do we know we are ordering a size not on the menu. My husband and I getting more and more upset that they are arguing with us said we haven't even received an apology. At this point another person working there comes up and throws $10 on the counter and says here if you can't afford it I'll cover it and says we need to quit arguing and walks off. We paid our bill and never even got one apology for being disappointed. I have never ever been treated so rude in my life. So sad that this is a place we enjoyed frequenting. After this I won't ever...

When we travel to Monticello-land, we eat at Rancho Grande. We were introduced to it a few years ago by Mrs. Whiskeyfellow's cousins, and we've been fans ever since. The good news is we wind up in this area about once a year, so we get to enjoy it. The bad news is we only wind up in this area about once a year.

First thing first: Parking stinks. If the restaurant is crowded, expect to park somewhere outside of the parking lot.

Second thing second: The service is top-notch. While we obviously aren't regulars, we have never had an issue with the service at Rancho Grande. Our party size is typically 20 or so. They can handle that in stride (again, if the restaurant is crowded, you may get split up). But everyone gets their food on time and together, and the orders are always correct. That's not easy, and I commend the staff for what they do.

Third thing third: I've not had a bad meal there. Neither has my wife. Neither have any of my wife's cousins who eat there regularly. On our most recent visit, I chose an enchilada dish with four different enchiladas: chicken, beef, bean, and cheese. It was smothered in a basic enchilada sauce. I've had Enchiladas Mole in the past, but it was not on the menu this time.

Mrs. Whiskeyfellow selected their Nachos, which you'll find on the appetizer menu. Trust me when I tell you this is a complete meal! It came with beef, pico de gallo sauce, guacamole, beans, and, of course, chips and cheese. The meat was incredibly tender.

If you don't like Mexican food (and if you don't, what's wrong with you?), they have stuff for you. There's a kid's menu as well.

The cost is about average for most Mexican restaurants (so long as you don't count Taco Bell or its competitors as authentic Mexican restaurants).

Long story short: If you're in the Monticello area, you want to eat at Rancho...