Mesa Ranch

I cannot say one bad thing about the experience!
We went for dinner on my birthday. The menu wasn’t huge, but didn’t need to be. I had the 8oz filet, cooked medium. The boyfriend had the 22oz ribeye, also cooked medium. Absolutely delicious beef!
Enjoyed the live music, with dinner. LOVED the cornbread shaped like saguaro cactus. Great ambiance. Will return the next time I’m in Austin, for sure!

I stopped off at Mesa Ranch recently with my boyfriend. The moment we walked in, we were greeted by the owners, and the female owner directed us to a booth. She was very pleasant, and chatted with us briefly while handing us menus. She asked where we heard about the restaurant, and I admitted that I had just done a search for where to get quail in Austin, and she mentioned that theirs was award-​winning.
We started with an appetizer of the fried prickly pear cactus. The cactus was beer-​battered, and the amount of batter on each piece severely detracted from the flavour of the actual cactus. I started just picking the batter off of my pieces, and after my boyfriend asked what I was doing and why, he ended up doing the same. The appetizer came with two dipping sauces — one queso, one ranch. I thought the ranch was okay, but I didn’t like the queso with it at all, which is surprising, since I normally like queso with everything.
We followed that with salads (which were average), and then our meals. The boyfriend had tilapia, and said it was good enough (there was shrimp on the side, so I couldn’t touch it), while I ordered the quail I was so excited for. Unfortunately, it was over-​cooked, and while it was seemingly well-​seasoned, it was far too dry. I ate about three bites of it from different areas of the quail (just in case), then gave up and just ate my baked potato instead.
Our next course was dessert, and as soon as our waiter mentioned peach cobbler, I was sold. I looooove peach cobbler. What I received, however, was not peach cobbler. They brought it out in a cast-​iron miniature baking pan. The «cobbler» was more of a bland peach «cake»; it was primarily breading, cooked till it was firm and cake-​like, with four slices of peach on top, and two hidden along the sides; one of which was burnt and not worth eating. The bottom of the breading was also burnt, and none of the breading had peach flavour at all. Once we ate the peach slices (which seemed likely to have been from a can, and were able to be pulled right off the top of the «cobbler»), we just had a bland mass of plain, solid, breading — with a few shallow dips where the peach slices had been. You could easily lift the entire «cobbler» with a fork (which my boyfriend made sure to test).
I was not impressed by the meal (though the waiter and owner were quite nice), and I didn’t care to make a fuss at the time, but I do not intend to dine at Mesa Ranch again.

I miss the good ol’ days at Mesa Ranch!
I’ve been going to Mesa Ranch for a long time, and it’s seen much better days. Back in the day it was THE BEST STEAK VALUE IN AUSTIN! Food quality was above excellent, as was the service and atmosphere.
Since then I’ve heard that the ranch has had financial problems (most likely tied to their ill-​fated second location at Oltorf and I-​35, long gone now). I think the current location was listed for sale at one point — not sure.
Long story short — this is not the same Mesa Ranch that existed 5 years ago. Wait staff is slow /​indifferent /​untrained. Food quality is a dice roll (every now and then a hint of the good old days).
REDEEMING POINT!
If you want a fun evening or happy hour just go and sit in the bar. If Carl Hutchens is on stage, with or without his ‘almost large band’, you are in for a treat. Carl’s repertoire is a mix of old-​school country and honky-​tonk favorites. There’s no cover and this may be one of the best free shows in Austin. Bar service may be slow (I’ve been known to order 2 drinks at a time), and food may be mediocre, but you will really enjoy the music — you’ll forget that you’re sitting in a shopping center in Northwest Austin!

It pains me to write this, so I will be gentle.
I love to support local business so I will limit my comments to the following: this is a steak house that does not have baked potato’s instead they serve mashed potato’s that taste like they came from a box. The steak tasted like something you could get at Luby’s no on second thought Luby’s would taste better..
The live music was the best thing about this place but be careful if you are seated in the bar as we were. Apparently some parents think its oh soooo cute to allow their toddlers to dance on the very small dance floor that you enter and exit from if you are seated in the bar area. Just what I would do if I had a toddler, allow them to dance in a bar on a busy Friday night, ewww, so not! Not only did the adult customers have to dodge these kids so did the wait staff that was picking up drinks from the bar for the customers seated in the other part of the restaraunt.
Most of the customers looked like they may have wilted or lost more then a few of their taste buds. Which may account for the blandness of the food. If they did some menu touch ups and purchased better quality meats this place may just make it.
Never to be one to leave on a bad note I will say that their wine and beer list was very good. They serve their beer on tap and it was chilled to perfection. I may drop in for a hh and appetizers next time I’m in the area. Live music and great drinks is always a good thing!

A great rib-​eye (it was just missing a stronger sear and a good crust, but it was cooked to order and melted in my mouth), and I was happy that I got the quail side.
The fried cactus was fun (the cactus has just a little tang), but I’m not quite convinced – the cactus strips are moist, floppy, and smooth, so the batter doesn’t take that well to them. The strips are also long and the dipping sauces are thick, so everything just falls apart.
I’m also not sold on the cornbread croutons.
It was a good place for the kids – their burgers looked good and the atmosphere is casual.

I first found out about this place thanks to a special on travel zoo. The reviews were pretty good and the price was great for a steakhouse, so I went for it.
We started our meal with a couple appetizers: fried cactus strips — a pretty simple batter, but pretty tasty. The queso dip it came with wasn’t terribly useful — it was too thick, the cactus couldn’t hold up against it — but with just the ranch it was great. So just get two of those.
We also got the fried jalapeños with goat cheese and bacon. When I read the description, I was very excited — after receiving them the weren’t quite all I’d hoped, but they were still pretty good. They came with a blackbean/​corn relish… It didn’t really seem to go, but whatever.
Next came the breads and salads. A pretty standard Caesar for me, the cornbread was really good — and the melted garlic butter was an awesome companion!
Next came the meat. 22 ounces of bovine perfection. As far as I’m concerned, you can keep your filets, gimme a ribeye any day. I was very happy with mine — and my side of cholulah hollandaise — with grilled zucchini. I tasted the filets at the table — not quite as yum, but ok.
We left a good chunk of food on our plates for boxing up, but after splitting the fluffiest cheesecake I’ve ever had and an order of fresh peach cobbler, none of us had room for a single bite more.
The cons: between the décor and patrons, I felt like I was visiting my grandparents in Arizona. The pros: the food and service. Rather than coming here for a date — bring your parents instead.

We tried Mesa Ranch with the Travelzoo offer and I was highly impressed. My friend said it was one of the best restaurants he’s eaten at since he’s been down here.
We ordered the ribs for an appetizer and I LOVED them. They were fall off the bone tender, great BBQ sauce, and moist.
The bread was ok. The butter was very interesting, a special homemade herb blend butter, and tasted good with both the cornbread and the rolls. The cornbread was in the shape of a cactus, which I thought was kind of cute.
The next course was the only disappointment, the Caesar salads. There was not enough dressing, the lettuce was all the super crunchy ends, and instead of croutons, it had bits of the cornbread, which didn’t give it the nice crunch like croutons.
The main courses were awesome. I ordered the 22 ounce ribeye and it was HUGE HUGE HUGE. I literally got 4 meals out of it. It was cooked perfectly and had good flavor. I asked the waiter for a recommendation for a side and he recommended the green beans sauteed in olive oil with garlic, which I ordered. I was sorry immediately because the sweet potatoes sounded so good, but when they got there, YUM! I have fallen in love with green beans now.
My friend’s strip steak was good, too. He said it was a little on the bland side but it was cooked correctly and he liked it very much. He also said his broccoli was cooked well, not soggy or hard.
For dessert, we got the apple pie with ice cream on top. They make the apple pie as you order it and it was absolutely delicious.
The service was good, too. Very friendly and attentive. I would definitely eat here again and I would have never known about this place if it weren’t for the Travelzoo deal.

Friends from out of town actually told me about this place. I had never heard of it but I was up to trying something new to me. We had dinner reservations, which was a good thing, because there was a line as we walked up. We were sat pretty quickly, the atmosphere was set to a romantic mood, not to dark to where you could not read the menu but enough to give it that right feel. They had a country musician playing live near the front, and it was not annoying, so many times at other places the music is so loud you can hear anything. This was perfect; there was also a small dance floor up by the band area if you felt the need to.
One interesting thing I found on the menu was the fried cactus we ordered as an appetizer. Served with two varieties of dipping sauce it was great, I had never had cactus before. It was lightly fried not to heavy and or saturated with oil.
I ordered a sirloin steak cooked medium rare with a side of mash potatoes and sautéed mushrooms. The presentation was great and the aroma was fantastic. The steak was cooked perfectly, the mushrooms were tasty, and the large heap of mash potatoes was great!
For dessert we ordered some sort of death by chocolate something. I don’t remember what it was called, just that it was very delicious! A great finish to an awesome meal!
Mesa Ranch is a hidden gem far from the interstate and not near downtown. Definitely worth the trip for a great meal!

We had never heard of this place until we purchased a Travelzoo offer.
The hostess and our waitress were very friendly. Our water glasses stayed full and our courses came out in perfect sequence.
We ordered the fried cactus and a half rack of ribs to start. I cannot say enough good things about the cactus. It was delish! The ribs were just ok.
For the main course, we both ordered the 24 ounce cowboy ribeye. Talk abut a HUGE piece of steak! Over half of each steak went into the doggie bag which will be tonight’s dinner! The steaks were cooked perfectly.
For dessert, we ordered the peach cobbler to go. It was a nice evening snack after returning home.
The live music was quite good. It was loud enough to hear, but not too loud as to overpower conversation.
Way to go, Mesa Ranch!

The deal we obtained for Mesa Ranch was completely inaccurate. It stated that we would be treated to 1. an appetizer to share, 2. an entrée each, and 3. a dessert for me to eat alone (or to possibly share).
What we got was
1. an enormous appetizer, featuring a whole open-​face chile topped with shrimp and enough cheese to smother a medium-​sized elephant;
2. a self-​replicating bread basket with cactus-​shaped cornbread (meh) and rolls (sweet yumminess);
3. pre-​entrée salad with delicious chipotle lime dressing;
4. a stomach pump to help us accommodate the entrée;
5a. a succulent mixed grill of delicious sausage, crispy quail, venison, and perfect squash and zucchini for him;
5b. pork tenderloin (a little dry) with scrumptious mashed sweet potatoes that weren’t too sweet for me;
7. a box to fit the remainder of our entrees;
8. skillet-​hot peach cobbler with a pint-​size scoop of ice cream.
By the time we were selecting dessert, we were hurting pretty badly. And yet, once it appeared, all of our worries vanished. I heard the generator start on my back-​up stomach, and I was ready to go. When I could eat no more, I watched as the boy sealed the deal. It was a no-​peach-​left-​behind kind of operation.
But it’s Dasha, our waitress, who takes it up to the 5^th star. It doesn’t get much sweeter than her. Her suggestions were spot-​on, and her darling accent reminded me of my old Eastern European roomie. Mix equal parts Dasha and delicious food, add a dash of classics played by a country band, and you have an awesome dinner at Mesa Ranch.

We had their fried cactus and the stuffed jalapenos for appetizer. Both of these were fried, and covered in which i felt was too much bread crumbs. You have to sit at the bar to get the appetizers for happy hour price but the waitress was nice enough to give us the discount anyways.
We ordered steaks which came with dinner rolls, corn bread (shaped as a cactus) and a salad. The dinner rolls came with a garlic spread which was good but the corn bread was cold dry and tasted like it’s been sitting out for a long time.
My steak was at least ¹⁄₃ fat and didn’t enjoy it that much.

First visit to Mesa Ranch was abbreviated by the fact that the Hostess was on the phone and gave us the «index finger-​hang on a minute» gesture. OK, we hung on a minute. When she hung up it rang again, and we were once more consigned to the previously mentioned gesture. There were about 4 waiters standing around who could’ve seated us right away, but noooooooooo… SO we gave our own finger gesture to the place and headed across the street to Mirabelle.
So a couple years later, here we are trying it again…
Sigh…Where to begin? Let’s start with gristly ribeye. Overcooked and of course, could’ve done a better job blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back at home (remember that night honey?) The fried cactus was interesting as were the sweet potatoes, but a bit on the bland side. My friend had a burger and fries that was nothing out of the ordinary.
Too bad. Very few places in Austin serve Cactus and Sweet Potatoes, and I’m a huge fan of both.
Anyway, wethinks this place has seen better days. Probably has loyal clientele that keep it in bidness.
Live music aside, it was A-Meh-zing…So two stars it is.

Did I go to the same Mesa Ranch as the other reviewers on here? To me they are like the person that tried a little too hard to be your friend. Its just too much, the décor is complete over kill and the seasonings in the food pretty much took that same route.
How can you mess up a hamburger? Oh by dumping a gallon of mystery sauce on it.
If you’re a Texas tourist and you are dying to experience the cliché cowboy motif this is your place. You’ll be so distracted that your food is shaped like cactus and boots you won’t notice the sub par taste.

Mesa Ranch has some character, which goes far with me. I haven’t tried the burger that so disappointed an earlier reviewer, but it’d be fiscally irresponsible to spring for steaks here every time, tasty as they were, so for more affordable alternatives (if you don’t want to risk the burger, either), I suggest the chile rellano and fried cactus appetizers, which leave room for the block-​of-​chocolate dessert, with its crunchy layer of ganache wrapped around mousse, covered in cake, syrup, and whipped cream. It’s flourless, so your gluten-​free friends can help.

Based on previous reviews, I was excited to try this place. For a restaurant billing itself as a steakhouse, my friend and I were sorely disappointed. She ordered the ribeye — it was so tough, she couldn’t chew it. Said it was like eating shoe leather. I ordered the hamburger. For $ 9, this was the wimpiest burger ever. It literally looked like a Burger King burger. No, wait. I think BK’s burgers have more meat in them. This was the tiniest, thinnest, grayest looking burger I’ve had since a bad airport burger this spring (that’s another story). And it came with, I swear, frozen Ore-​Ida steak fries. Really.
It has a good ambiance inside and we enjoyed the live music, but otherwise not. Won’t be back.

What an amazing dinner. How has this place escaped my notice? I had the pork loin, my companions had the ribs, the rack of lamb and the quail. Every thing was done to perfection — even the lamb, which amazed my friend.
The fried cactus starter was a sweet twist on the traditional nopalitos. Each of the meat dishes were hot and fresh and yum tum good. The man playing classics on an acoustic guitar was a nice addition to the ambiance and the owner stopping by to check on our meal was a nice touch.
Five stars up for this experience. And thats not just the wine talkin’

We went here for an early dinner recently. I ordered off of the half-​price happy hour appetizers, so I had quesadillas and a caesar salad. The quesadillas were good and fresh, but the salad dressing was really sugary. Not good. My husband enjoyed his steak, but said it was not worth the price.
Speaking of not worth the price, my husband ordered a scotch (no special scotch, mind you), which the waiter said would be on happy hour special. When the bill arrived, each scotch was $ 18 AND they charged $ 1 for ice on each drink. Lesson learned to make the waiter go look up the house scotch price, but the charge for ice is why we won’t be going back. That has only happened at one other place in Austin, and we no longer go there either. Really? A dollar each for ice in a bar drink? I find that insulting.

I had a great dinner here! A few parts were not stellar, but overall the food was fantastic.
L and I went here last Friday night for slow dinner out, somewhere nice that serves a salad with the meal. :)
She ordered the fillet (I think it was one of the best I had ever tasted.) and I ordered the mixed gill plate (Elk, Venison and Quail.) What a dinner. I will for sure be coming back to try some more of the food off the «game» section of the menu.
There was live music being played my some good old country lounge musician’s, it helped set the mood for the décor of nice farmhouse with lots of random Texas stuff on the walls.
Like I said before, I am looking forward to going back and trying some more of the food!

I don’t think there is any place like Mesa Ranch in Austin. The décor is «cowboy proper» and the food is predictably good. It’s odd to walk in and see my son’s former high school photography teacher strumming his guitar and singing for the diners. He’s good. I think better at the guitar than he was at teaching.
We had a lovely dinner here recently with my brother. My filet mignon was cooked and seasoned perfectly with a side of cinnamon sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli. The mister and bro both had big steaks and lick their platters clean. No to-​go bags that night.
I skipped dessert as did hubby but my brother got hot peach cobbler served in a skillet topped with cinnamon sugar and ice cream. Service was fine but a little slow due to the large crowd that night. I highly recommend this great neighborhood restaurant. So polish those boots and git on down thar, Buckaroo!

I went here a few years ago before I was married. I must say, this is one of the better steaks that I’ve had in Austin. Tender, juicy and just plain delicious.
The décor is nice and the waitstaff is great. I’d hug the chef if I could.