Avila’s El Ranchito

How the mighty have fallen. Not sure what’s going on, but the past several times we’ve been the food hasn’t been great, and the salsa is milder. So sad, we’ve loved this place for years.

Speedy service and consistent food. Disappointed that they don’t cary the same menu throughout their franchise. I prefer the location in Lake Forest.

Pretty typical Southern California «Mexican» food. Nothing bad, nothing exceptional. A busy place and fast service. One of our drinks was incorrect, but all was fine. Spicy, spicy salsa!

I paid $ 13.99 for fish ceviche and received a small spoonful of food not worth the price at all.

Came here for lunch on Cinco de mayo. I ordered shrimp ceviche and a chile relleno. Shrimp ceviche was disappointing. I can tell the shrimp was cooked prior to tossing in marinade. Traditional ceviche consists of raw seafood tossed with an acidic marinade like lime juice. I prefer traditional ceviche. As for the Chile relleno, it was delish; good amount of cheese and egg batter was light.

Came here on a Wednesday evening! Will never come back! How do you screw up Nachos well let me tell you:
Canned tomatoes
Hunks of chicken with cartlidge still attached to the chicken
Nachos were soggy!
My husband asked for pickled carrots just like we get at other Mexican restaurants, the waiter looks confused came out with carrot sticks!
He said that he did not want them and we still got charged $ 2 for them.
I could have made better nachos and I don’t even cook!

I was hoping this restaurant would be a more authentic Mexican restaurant. Basically I got a bunch of salt and cheese. Avoid the chile relleno, very disappointing. The fajitas were just ok– the best part was the tortillas (prolly not a good sign). And the major star dropper were the chips and salsa. Sorry but I judge Mexican restaurants on chips & salsa. And this place failed imo. I bumped up one star because my doggie was allowed to eat with us on the patio and the service was ok.

I have to say that this is an extremely amazing place for breakfast, lunch, dinner and taco Tuesday. There is a gentleman by the name of Abraham that is extremely kind, professional and efficient. I seriously go there more often cause of his service and everyone else’s great service. Kudos to Abraham for making me and everyone I take feel at home. The food is delicious, authentic and beer is always really cold. Highly recommend this place to anyone looking for great food, great service and authentic Mexican food. enjoy !

Food was ok, service was terrible, and found a hair in my guacamole. I understand these things happen but no apology just more guacamole. Left bad taste in my mouth.

Bummer that one of our favorite Mexican restaurants has fallen so far. No sour cream on an enchilada which was suppose to come with it l. No prob lets just charge you for a giant side of it. The waitress practically tossed our food on the table. She definitely did not want to be serving us right now. I would definitely leave my attitude at home when coming to work. Or retrain my employees on proper customer service.

Well, there’s the staggering amounts of oddities on the walls and the cramped seating arrangements – I’m not sure which deflates the atmosphere more. I always feel crammed into a corner when dining here.
The food is kind of bland, which isn’t what anyone wants when dining out. This makes the prices seem inflated.
The staff are friendly and attentive enough.
Ultimately, I’m left confused and mostly dissatisfied.

One of the first places I ate at when I moved to California unfortunately it seems the prices have gone up and the food has gotten worse. The service is normally pretty good with the same guys working there for many years but the this past Tuesday night I got seated and they forgot about me for more than 15 minutes.
They added a dollar to the fish tacos which is not written on the taco Tuesday menu, and its clearly under the 2 for 4 dollars menu so that doesn’t really make sense, why not just put it on the two for 6 dollar menu right above it… anyways. Disappointed in the food, what I ordered, 4 street tacos and the light fajitas was not worth $ 35.

This is a family owned establishment with a few chains in Orange County.
1. Food:
A) Shrimp Fajitas: It was great and a healthier alternative than the other options, however I thought for 17 $ i would get more pieces of shrimp. The plate was full of beans and rice which were a tad salty. Also the bell peppers were pretty much burnt.
B) Complimentary Salsa & chips: Not the best. The chips were thick and didn’t have any flavor.
2. Décor: Authentic.
3. Price: Slightly pricey
4. Service: Good. The staff was friendly and welcoming. The food came out fast but my water was not filled at all times and it was not very busy that day.
It’s a-​ok authentic Mexican food, but nothing really stood out to me that made me say I definitely need to come back here again

It was a soap opera deep, conflict whether to give them three or four stars. Sigh.
We like the prices. Food is fine.
i sense the waiter wanted to do a good job. Something just a little off. Especially chatting for at least five minutes with the other waiter right in front of us as we waited for the check.
The manager? came over and asked us if we had a nice dinner etc so I toss out some gold stars for that. I thought that was a sign of good service. so just nodded and smiled.
Though my husband leaned over and whispered «I think they’re on to him »

Coming from a Metzican family, I grew up on Metzican food. Living in South Orange County with all the loaves of Wonder Bread, it’s hard to find good Metzican food in the Wonder Bread aisle.
There is one Metzican restaurants within walking distance of my house and then there is Avila’s El Ranchito. Now it’s a bit of a drive to the «Other side» of town, yet it’s well worth it.
The food is almost like the way my mom and grandma use to make it, take out the Wonder Bread spin and put back the Metzican flare and you’d knock it out of the park.

This place isn’t bad, but living in southern CA I feel like there is much better authentic Mexican food. I would give it an overall 3.5 stars, but the service was so good I have to round up. The food, in my opinion, was way too salty and overcooked.
FOOD: 3.5 stars.
The drinks were absolutely amazing here. I got the skinny coconut margarita and fell in love with it. It wasn’t too sweet, which was one of my concerns, but the perfect balance. Our server recommended it for us and I was really happy with his recommendation. I love tequila and don’t mind the taste, so sometimes I’m hesitant to order something sweet and sugary like that. For our entrees, we ordered the skinny fajitas with shrimp and I could barely eat half because it was cooked in so much sauce and salt. My only complaint about this place is the food is a little too salty and not exactly «authentic».
SERVICE/​ATMOSPHERE: 4 stars
The service here was really good and then tapered off towards the end. I think from the time we got boxes for our food to the time we paid our check was an hour. There were multiple people taking our orders and I think it would have been better if it was just one server. I can’t complain, though, since everything came out correctly. This place is like a neighborhood restaurant. You can tell there are a lot of regular customers that come here and it kind of has a neighborhood feel to it.

Ordered a mango mojito which was pretty good as are their wet burritos, however I would stay away from their taco salads as the bottom of the shell was wet and made for a very soggy ending to my lunch.

I come here all the time for lunch and dinner. Spend tons of money, rarely get out of here without running up a $ 60 tab. Today, some employee walks over to me and hands me a bill for $ 30 from April (it’s August) and says I left without paying. Very odd because I am here weekly.
Not calling anyone a liar but why would I walk out on a $ 30 tab when it’s way beneath my usual tally. I’ll pay it but that’s definitely put a damper on my love of this place. I’m pretty sure I just paid some random persons bill that they couldn’t stick anyone else with. Posted copy of the bill, it’s not even what I order here. I’m a skinny margarita drinker and typically eat the Baja bowl.

I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed my favorite place in the world for the best chicken tortilla soup EVERRRRR
LOVE the food. Love the service. Great restaurant!
Enjoy!

A friend and I came here for Taco Tuesday a few weeks back and it sure did not disappoint.
Tacos here are decent size… I filled up on two of them. I also ordered a couple of margaritas and they were pretty tasty as well. My friend also ordered the same. Total was about $ 15 each with tax and tip. Little on the high side for Taco Tuesday, but the food and drinks were solid.
Service was a bit on the miss side the evening we came. I think it was due to them being so busy, so I didn’t mind too much. Gave my friend and I some time to catch up without being bugged by a server!
Restaurant was clean, restrooms were nice and location is easy to find (on the corner of Aliso Creek and La Paz).
I’ll be back here for my next Taco Tuesday adventure!
Cheers!