Avila’s El Ranchito

Giving that it was a busy day I’ll give 2 stars here’s the problems I had
Terrible Margaritas
Over priced food
Slow service
Food was ok
Waitress was good but had to keep asking for drinks. Would not recommend this place.

Quick and friendly service! Cheap beer and complimentary chips can’t get better than that!

Disappointed. Got together w/​family for Surf City Nights. Craved Mexican food and Avila’s was the hands-​down choice. Food was fine, but here’s where the problem surfaced. A woman, not the waitress or hostess, but I’m guessing someone in an ownership capacity or manager, came to the table to ask how things were. We advised that the two pitchers of margaritas [$ 80 for both so I feel pretty justified here] were very weak/​watered down to which she responded, «But other than that is everything fine?» And that was it — never heard another word. No effort to fix the problem, no adjustment in the bill — nada! She just left the table and we never heard from her again. If you’re going to take the time to ask for feedback, you should take some sort of action if its negative. Or don’t ask! Won’t be back :(There are many other Mexican food options on Main Street.

A very good first time experience for all of us craving Mexican food in Huntington Beach. The staff was attentive and food is a sure hit with the locals. Escaping the Inland Heat wave made this place a definite return.

Food wasn’t very well seasoned and grilled onions were either old under cooked because I couldn’t chew through them. That being said, the Mama Avila’s Soup was amazing. :)

Super disappointed! If you’re a Mexican and love authentic Mexican food this is not the place for you! This is definitely white version of Mexican food. The chips and salsa was the first disappointment because the salsa was not spicy at all it just tasted like tomato water, then we ordered margaritas and they tasted like blended ice with a hint of liquor and it was supposed to be a strawberry margarita and it was super pale colored then the glass cup they gave me the drink in was broken a little from one side, which is not safe at all especially when it’s glass! Then our food came and the Carne Asada tasted like nothing I had to add salt and lime to try and give it flavor, the shrimp tasted like cheese and butter but mostly grease which was not good at all, and the whole experience was just not a pleasant one! I really wanted to enjoy this place but this is not real Mexican food!

I love going to Surf City Nights and last night was PERFECT!
This place is amazing love the décor and most of all the service. Ariel took great care of us talk about bottomless drinks. Every time my drink was almost done I looked over and there it was refilled like magic! I had a burrito gosh that was huge. I asked Ariel for spicy sauce and she truly delivered exactly what I was looking for. It was a great dinner with my little family.
Love the little Mexican flag and food presentation. Will definitely come back here!

It’s all about the steak and shrimp combo. Also, it’s Dave’s B-​day #numeroUnoBestBartenderInHB

So disappointed in this place today I use to love it. The food and the drinks (had to send it back twice) were horrible. The only good thing was our waitress Ana.

Just stopped in for a quick bite after walking out of another restaurant when we were completely ignored by the staff.
Different review.
Anyway… I had the crispy chicken taco and enchiladas. Delish! ! The service was fantastic. Michelle took great care of us! The food at this Avilas has gotten so much better over the last year! Love this stop!

Went there today for Easter Lunch. Usually the food is good. I returned the soup. Tasted like warm water with a splash of tomato sauce. The chicken in it just as bland. Husband got steak n eggs. Yeah the steak was so tiny. He’ll never order that again. My mechelada… basically a beer with a teaspoon of tomato juice.
VERY disappointed. Hated having to pay, but…

Breakfast burrito was horrible and so was strawberry margarita. This place has been good in the past but today sucked.

Legit Mexican food, love the chips and salsa. SOUP & Shrimp fajitas are my fav. The skinny margaritas are fabulous. Cucumber Marg is delicious too. Service is quick, only downfall is crappy parking but still worth going.

One of our favorite Mexican restaurants in the area. I’ve eaten 5 star meals here and I’ve eaten 3 stars. It’s pretty consistent that’s why I rate it 4 stars.
This location has a smaller menu than some of the other locations. It’s got a bar atmosphere open to the street and parking is basically nonexistent. I have probably eaten 30 meals here over the last 5 years and they have all been pretty good.
Chips and salsa are very good but you’ll only like it if you love onion, it is loaded. They used to make the salsa very spicy but now it is much less probably from all the gringos complaining. The food is very good and very consistent. It’s not a Taqueria but for American Mexican food it hits the spot. I like the grilled fish tacos and I sub the rice and beans for a salad with jalapeño cilantro vinaigrette. Crispy gringo shredded beef or chicken tacos are always good and their beans and rice are solid.
Service here is always great. A time or two ago we had a tall blonde waitress she was the first horrendous waitress I’ve ever had at this location. We even told the manager that she must be related to somebody because she was so bad. She had an attitude and we had to get another server to take care of us because she was that bad. If you get a mid thirties snobby blond as your waitress run! But normally the service is great.

I’m a Unilocal fanatic! When I’m bored I tend to open the Unilocal app and look for reviews in a certain area in hopes to visit one day :)
I hadn’t written a Unilocal review in 7 years until this restaurant made it happen! It was during Happy Hour so my wife and I wandered down Main Street. We have been coming to HB for years so we knew the area real well. Always thought that Avila’s looked like a cute place but never checked it out previously. In hind sight wish we would have walked elsewhere!
At our nearby Hotel there was a magazine article swearing by their mind altering chicken tortilla soup. Wife ordered that and it was definitely not what she expected. The chicken in the soup was actually quite good but the broth was really watery. It was a disappointment considering our expectations coming in!
Chips and salsa were okay. Chips were warm and crunchy but the salsa was watery.
I had a Tecate can that was on special for $ 4…not a real special and apparently the only special during Happy Hour! I guess they don’t abide by other Avila’s HH in the surrounding locations. I then ordered two house margaritas that were $ 7.50 each and had to send them back! Completely awful! Server was decent enough to have bartender hand make two more that were better but still shitty in my opinion.
I ordered the chicken fajitas. Overall appearance was fine but they put everything jammed on one plate with two tortillas rolled in foil on top. Had to ask server for another plate so I could deconstruct everything and put everything into a tortilla. Plenty of Bell Peppers which sometimes is lacking on a fajitas entrée at other restaurants. Chicken was okay but wish there was a bit more.
Server asked while I’m eating if I needed additional tortillas? I answered yes and said I probably will need at least 1 if not 2. Mind you there was a lot of food. She promptly came back and gave me two more flour tortillas wrapped in foil. I ate a lot of the peppers with my fork which is why I didn’t ask for even more tortillas.
So when the bill comes I see I’m charged $ 1.25 for additional tortillas!!! This is the nickel and dime shit that really pisses me off at restaurants! Especially since I ordered chicken fajitas which always come with tortillas and to up charge is a joke! I politely ask the server what this charge is about and she gives a lame excuse that it’s a kitchen charge. I’m like whatever that means assuming she will take off the charge of $ 1.25…Nope!
Don’t get me wrong $ 1.25 won’t break the bank but it’s these types of business practices that make me write lengthy Unilocal reviews! Plus the server at no time informed me when asking if I would like more tortillas that there would be an additional cost.
Total bill came to $ 53 which definitely wasn’t worth it! I contemplated leaving a shitty tip but was a reasonable guy and left $ 9 which Is lower than I normally do. Always leave at least 20% or higher just not in this case!
Buyer beware at this restaurant! I for one will not be returning to Avila’s again!

Small menu
Ate at Laguna Beach looking forward to similar items but has totally different menu.
Felt rushed was ok

Wow! How horrible can a Mexican restaurant really be?!? If the watery salsa wasn’t enough, they had the guacamole version, to match It was awful. The drinks… awful! The waitress was nothing special, she brought the food out and that was about it. The manager in a pink blazer was rude, rushing us out of the restaurant shortly after we finished our meal. Hands down the worst experience I’ve ever had, anywhere. Their customer service straight out sucks! Don’t waste your money here. There are plenty of other places to go eat on Main Street. I wish I would have Unilocaled it before, yuck!

Stopped in for taco Tuesday. Well they don’t have taco Tuesday like other el ranchito locations do. We ordered off the dinner menu, the chicken fajita burrito was more like bell pepper burrito mind you it was at full price. Not happy hour or kids meal.
Server was pleasant. But the food was below average

Great food and great service. I ate here with a friend after a day of hanging out at he beach and shopping. We split a grilled chicken quesadilla and carne asada street tacos. The quesadilla was the perfect size for sharing. The atmosphere was great too. The restaurant is designed like a giant patio. The entire front of the restaurant is open to the street, great for people watching and enjoying the beach weather.

I never thought much about this place. However, after visiting here and trying their Mexican chicken soup and chicken green enchilada, salsa and chips, I was convinced everything they served was consistent, fresh and super yummy.

This is a really good Mexican restaurant on Main St. We had dinner there on a Saturday night, and we were seated right away. Service, food and drinks were great!

My favorite Mexican restaurant. This was the first time I have been to this location and It was really good. I mean the food is completely the same so it should be good.
Parking is a royal b. They don’t have a lot so you have to find street parking which is a bummer.
Here is what i like to order.
I am a creature of habit and I always order 1 Corona, 1 Cadillac Margarita, and the Mayan Treasure which is the amazingly amazing wet chicken burrito. It covered in green sauce. It’s heaven. I highly recommend it or the 2 tacos combination is the bomb as well.
I did notice that they didn’t give me any tortillas like the Costa Mesa location does.
The experience at the HB location was less authentic but still really good. What i mean by that is it seem more like American Mexican. I actually prefer the Costa Mesa location better because its has a more legit atmosphere and it really feels like an authentic Mexican restaurant but overall everything was great and ill be back soon.

Expensive Mexican food that is just OK. Service was also just OK. Keep driving down PCH to Sunset beach or Seal Beach.

This place is SO BOMB!
First of all, the salsa and chips! I can’t get enough! You can always tell how good a spot is going to be by the salsa and this place is on point! Perfect balance of flavors.
I am in love with Mama Avila’s soup! Filled with lots of white meat chicken, rice and avocados… So filling and delicious! You gotta try it! You won’t be disappointed, I promise!

CAme Early and staRted Early. EverYonE orDereD sOmetHing DifFeRent fRom ChiCkEn FlAutaS with riCe and Beans, Carnitas, And SomethiNg thAt wAs sUpPose to Be Carne AsadA and two OrDered oF GuaCamOle, which caMe wiTh almosT a wHoLe AvoCado that no one MaDe aNy EfforT tO Mash iT. ThE SaLsa Was oK but nOt grEat, ChiPs weRe fResh. Now I know it waS earLy in thE morNing buT oUr DriNks weRe weAk, vErY wEaK, not wOrth thE pUrchase. Overal the fOod wAs GooD buT noT gReat. SerViCe wAs a LittlE LousY our WaiTreSs wAs fOrgEtful and slOw. i musT adD thAt thE FrEe MenudO and The PozoLe wAs a suRprise. ThAt Gave thEm an exTra Star.

Had to come back a second day in a row to try the Mahi ceviche. Definitely worth it.
Margaritas were good too.

Ambiance (⁴⁄₅): Trendy open-​air appearance on main street. Access is easy.
Service (²⁄₅): Our waitress did not write our order down which is always impressive. Unfortunately, she screwed up both of our orders. After taking our order, she came back to asked me to repeat my order because she «completely blanked out». My GF ordered the nachos without sour cream and you guessed it… the nachos was covered with sour cream. Don’t memorize the order if you cannot remember them. After delivering our meal, our waitress came back to our table ONCE! The place was busy on a Sunday afternoon but there were so many waitresses just sitting or standing around doing nothing.
Food quality (3/5):…Meh! The sausa was good and spicy. My Chorizo and rice was cold, probably from sitting on the warmer too long. My GF’s nachos was soggy, again probably from sitting around too long before being served.
I have been to the Orange location several times and the food and service there were always excellent. We probably won’t be coming back here again.

Food was bleh. Drinks were dope though, our bartender had a heavy hand! Ordered several margarita’s with Patron Silver, and I swear it was 14 oz of Patron Silver and 2 oz of whatever else they use to make a Margarita! I would come back for the drinks, but would skip out on the food.

Good pricing and excellent location but only okay dining.
My bride and I were in town during the Vans Open and stopped by for margaritas. Two of the three were decent but not mind-​blowing. They weren’t very generous with the tequila as after two it felt like I was drinking drink mix, not a cocktail.
Good chips/​salsa with good heat.

Came here on my bday adventure. Just grabbed a quick lunch before our hotel check in.
The atmosphere is young and fun.
Service was super quick and friendly. I ordered the chicken fajita salad which was ok and had the skinny margarita but it was too sweet. Also tried the Chile relleno was not the best. The food isn’t very authentic Mexican, it’s missing the real bold Mexican flavors.

Chips were hot. Salsa was ok. too many onions for my liking.
Service was decent. Our waiter was attentive without being overbearing. He didn’t check on us often enough to offer more salsa though or napkins.
The 3 stars is for having too much chicken in the Chilaquiles and not being authentic Chilaquiles that were delicious. I wasn’t impressed. They also put way too many beans on my plate.
I’ll have to go back here to try their fajitas though. That seems the way to go.

I ate dinner at the bar at the Huntington Beach location on Main Street. The seats overlook the main walkway, which is a nice touch. The whole thing has a vibe that its populated by locals.
I always get the Avila’s soup. It’s a chicken soup with avocado and cilantro. Excellent. I haven’t ordered anything else in years, honestly.
The service was non-​committal so that dropped by rating by one star, but the food and atmosphere at this location are great.