Just a note about a little restaurant my friend Susie and I discovered the other night. By discovered, I mean other people found it first so we actually just followed suit and went by the reviews posted online, and the fact that I had a coupon from my 2012 Entertainment Book. So...nothing really exciting about the way we found it. It's in University City about two blocks north of the Loop on Kingsland. We drove by it the first time and as we turned around to come back, there it was. In a strip mall. Susie immediately said, "I don't want to go there." A little whiny, but it did look a little...meh. Not exactly the character of many other restaurants in the Loop, but the parking lot was packed. And they were rated very highly. We decided to give it a chance.
We walked into a very nicely decorated, roomy and larger-than-expected place. It was busy, but not loud. So far so good! Our waitress was right there to take our drink order, and the chips and salsa were next. Good chips! Not greasy at all, and the flavor fantastic. The salsa - yum. I'm not super picky about salsa the way some people are, but I'm sure we've all experienced good and bad salsa. The worst, which also in fact involved my friend Susie, was basically...well..ketchup. I can't remember the name of that restaurant, but I do remember it was a desperate hunger stop and also in a strip mall. And I imagine it's now closed. So the joy the joy when the salsa was yummy was not disappointing at all!
Susie ordered a Dos Equis Light, which came in sizes of small, large, or pitcher. She got a small. I ordered a margarita, of course, on the rocks with no salt. My selection of sizes was small, JUMBO or pitcher. Naturally, I ordered jumbo. That's how I roll. Good stuff.
We ordered cheese dip for the chips. Cheesy with a small kick but nothing that made me drink my margarita faster. I like it that way, but some people may want more kick.
The menu is quite vast. I ordered the Enchilada Supreme, which was just what I wanted...tortillas and cheese with some lettuce over the top. It came with a Bean, beef, chicken, and cheese enchilada all topped with cheese, shredded lettuce and sour cream. Nothing majorly different than anywhere else, but it tasted fresh and I must admit I was not disappointed. I planned on taking half home for leftovers, but as we talked I ate, and talked and ate. Next thing I know, my plate is quite empty, other than some shredded lettuce. What the hell? Oh I was full.
Susie ordered the Guadalajara Special, which surprised me, mainly because it's loaded with food! She's usually a bit more reserved but we're talking a tamale, two taquitos mexicanos (chicken & beef) one nacho chip with beans, one nacho chip with chicken, one with rice, one with beef, and cheese on all four with lettuce, sour cream, guacamole and tomatoes. Huh. I didn't get the whole "one chip with..." concept, but it was all pretty well together there on the plate, so it was a non-issue. She seemed to enjoy it and also ate the majority of the food on her plate, although she took a bite of something that caused her face to turn into "bitter beer" face. She was not sure what it was, but it looked like chocolate from what I could see. No matter. She had plenty else to eat and by the end, she was as full as I.
The whole bill came to about $35. Not bad since Susie had ordered another "small" beer and including my Jumbo margarita. So the price was right. Our waitress had been right on with her timing and her friendliness, but when I called her over to ask her about my coupon, I asked, "Will you take this?" and she said, "No." And after a pause, she smiled big and laughed! Awesome! We laughed and she kept apologizing, but I assured her I was used to being treated in such a manner and that I appreciated her humor!
We left stuffed but pleasantly surprised and happy with ourselves for taking the chance and stopping at Mi Ranchito. One can never stock up enough on good restaurants to be able to take or refer friends! This one gets:
I would give 3-1/2 forks, but I am not proficient enough to cut one of my forks in half. Sorry Mi Ranchito.
