Avila's El Ranchito — Restaurant in Santa Ana

First time here, thinking a 4.5 was great. But we arrived hosted did not acknowledged us, then a waiter greeted us and was going to sit us, but when we said we wanted outside, he said there is tables? And we Said yes he handed my husband the menus and said to go sit at an empty table and we had yo sit our selves. Then we ordered our food everything was ok until I ordered an horchata did not liked it it tasted like on cinnamon, so I asked the waiter for a coke I finished eating and my coke never arrived then I saw the waiter so I told instead of the coke can I get a coffee, he brought the coffee but ut was cold I told him and he said he would make a new one, we ordered desserts, the flan, fried ice cream . We got them by the way still waiting on the coffee, the fried ice cream was not fried it was surrounded with Kelloggs, and I have hasmd fried ice cream do I know what it looks like. My coffee never arrived. They brought us the bill we waited for the waiter to come get it he never did so we got up to the counter to pay. Also the waiter (Gomez) never came back to our table to see how was everything. I excepted more having a rating that high, I was very...

Stepping inside, you enter what could have been a former house turned into a restaurant. There are a series of rooms all set with tables, different decor, etc. There is even an upstairs area with tables and a small area that can function as a bar. This entire restaurant can be used to section off smaller or larger parties. In other words, perfect for your event.

Now, on to the food. Is it "authentic"? Probably not. However, it is good comfort food. The quality is great. The tortillas are often handmade. They have very good happy hour specials and the serving staff is attentive.

The soup is very good if you like chicken and rice soup. Someone has complained that the rice and chicken are not cooked together.. it doesn't make the soup any less tasty. The broth has that wonderful salty taste and the portion is massive. More than enough to fill up most people.

The refried beans are perfection. Yes, bland and slighty salty, covered in cheese. The rice is slightly flavored and does what it is supposed to do; add bulk to the meal to help fill you up. Various burritos and other choices are equally good, all large and flavored nicely.

Come expecting...

Had dinner with wife and kids.

Had bean&cheese burrito and soft taco kids meals, with curly fries. Those plates were cleaned off, with my youngest declaring it was his favorite Mexican food restaurant.

My oldest had a tamale combo plate. He substited fries for the beans and rice. While he could have easily finished a kids plate, he only ate about half a tamale with the fries. He thought the tamale was slightly spicy, but kept eating, so not too bad.

My wife had the chicken soup. Even when scooped into a tortilla, It was still chicken soup.

I had the Camarones a la Diablita. Simmered in a slightly spicy sauce, these shrimp were delicious. There was plenty of sauce, guacamole, lettuce, and tomatoes to stuff the tortillas that come with the dish. I also mixed some the sauce in with the rice to make a mildly spicy side, this was quite nice. The beans were well done, well flavored, and not too runny.

I also had the guava margarita. This tasted nice, though I thought there was an excess of ice in the glass.

Overall, we all left saying this was our new favorite...