Ranchos Cocina

This place is divine! Food is amazing and even loved the Frida Kahlo decorations. I will be coming again!

I got the vegan carne asada enchiladas with rice and beans and they were amazing! I’ll be back for sure.

For my 100^th review, I thought I would pick a place that I would not hesitate to endorse.
I pride myself on trying to eat authentic Mexican Food. It’s hard to find where I live in Las Vegas, so I enjoy going to San Diego, where the choices for authentic Mexican food are abundant.
The atmosphere is a hybrid of Authentic Mexican and a touch of Gringo, but make no mistake, the food is 100% authentic. Though they do feature a vegan menu to please the local hipsters that reside in this area, I stayed true to the dishes of tradition that have brought me comfort for many years.
The service was very good. We were pleased to see that my son’s orchata was refilled at no extra cost. Food was good, and did not disappoint.
We would have stayed longer and enjoyed dessert, but there was a large party of snobby hipsters starting to celebrate a «promotion at work», and I didn’t want to ruin the enjoyable experience of my dinner, listening to them brag about themselves.
When in San Diego, I would strongly suggest this place for a complete Mexican Dinner or Lunch.

Love this place! Went there for the vegetarian/​vegan options and was in for a treat when I found out there was more than just a handful of offerings. For instance, instead of most Mexican restaurants merely taking out ingredients to make their food vegetarian/​vegan they had the option of getting Daiya cheese (yes!), fake Shrimp (also yes!) and the other meat substitutes like Soyrizo and tempeh.
My 2 big favorites were getting the Vegan Surf N’ Turf or the «Shrimp» Quesadilla using Daiya. Also loved the Chipotle Tempeh Torta. There’s a whole list of other things I’ve tried and liked, but I just wanted to throw out some highlights. This is significant because I’m the kinda person who gets the same 1 or 2 menu items at most places I frequent because I feel like I get burned when I try anything new because it’s either bland or just gross.
Also, having so many vegan options alongside menu items with meat was really helpful when you wanted to take any friend there without having to worry about any dietary concerns. Everybody was covered, and everyone I ever took to Ranchos was pretty pleased.
Just a side note for diaper babies like me:
During the summer, I couldn’t go here just because they only had fans for cooling. Not only can I not handle being hot, but combine that with eating spicy food and I was aware enought to know my limits. I don’t think it’s worth taking a star off because most of the people I knew in San Diego could handle it.

Dragged my friend out here for dinner. Heard it offered a vegan option for almost all of their vegan options. Yes they do offer a vegan option but what I ordered was barely edible. I’ve rad other reviews that have loved this place so I’m guessing I just ordered something that wasn’t to my taste. Three stars simply for offering so many options. Always appreciate a restaurant that openly accommodates vegan/​vegetarians. I do wish their mushroom filling was vegan though. Their vegan options were meat substitutes. And I’m not a meat substitute fan personally.

Very charming place. Cheap. Decent food (there is better in town, but some its in a great and charming area).
Very pleasant and fast service.
Yummy nachos and salsa.
Had the pollo asado and it was tough and chewy. Pallatable but not a repeat dish.
No wifi (manager did not have password)

Lost their touch the food was not what we remembered.
My girlfriend got the chicken enchiladas and I got the vegan shrimp al mojo ajo and they were both not up to par. We came last year and the food was amazing.
My food was too salty and over seasoned and both tasted old.
Shame will not be back

Loved this place! I had been wanting to try it for quite some time & when date night rolled around I knew I had to make the little trip down there. I’m a vegetarian and my fiancé a total carnivore so this place was a perfect choice! Anything on their menu can be made vegetarian/​vegan. Their food is amazing! Tastes like it came right out of someone’s kitchen. Total authentic Mexican flavors. And their horchata was out of this world. Only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is because finding parking is a pain and the service was a little slow but besides that it was awesome and I will definitely be back!

Came here because it was right next door to where we were hanging out at. Décor consists of religious shrines and crosses on the wall. Service was fast, and we got our food in a timely manner. I ordered the carne asada burrito with chicken very authentic and flavorful. The waiter was on it the whole night. Brought us more chips and salsa, checked on us, and refilled our drinks. Our friends came a bit later to join us and he took their order right away. Really felt like we were being taken care of. Great way to end the night. Good food, good service, prices are reasonable. I’m happy.

The service was amazing! I ordered queso fundido that wasn’t even on the menu and the waitress didn’t hesitate to say they could whip it up! It was one of the best I’ve had in San Diego! So happy she did because I’ll definitely be back just for that alone! The chicken enchilada and rice and beans were really good but I don’t think I’ll get the soft taco again but it was still good! The service was great too!

I wish I could tell you how the food is, I really do. But that would mean I’d have to come back here 10 more times and get 10 different things each time, because the menu is just ridiculously extensive. What impresses is that, despite the menu size, almost every option seemed like it had a vegetarian alternative. The beer selection isn’t as large as the food, but that’s ok considering that the restaurant is right on the intersection of 30^th and university where all the major bars are in North Park. If you have a craving for typical Southern California Mexican food with hordes of beef/​chicken/​seafood and expect to drink a bucket of grease, there are plenty of other options for that around the corner. If, however, you’re looking for a healthier vegan/​vegetarian place with good atmosphere, decent service, options on options on options, and feel like Mexican tonight then this place is worth a look.

Already familiar with the OB location, but was in town an thought I’d try this location.
Same broad menu of vegan entrees as OB locaiton. Quaint décor with many Freda Kahlo prints adorning the walls.
Hope you love beer, because they have that well-​covered. Wine choices are so-​so and their Margaritas are made with a wine. No, they don’t have a liquor license.
Waitstaff was very attentive and pleasant.
Parking is hit or miss, due to the somewhat urban location. There is a parking garage on the adjoining block South of University Ave. In evening hours the garage has a flat $ 5 price.
We liked this location a little better than the one in OB.

Authentic-​style Mexican food with a TON of vegan options.
This was an unexpected find, as we walked past Ranchos about 5 times looking for a vegan place to eat the day after Thanksgiving. Lo and behold, Ranchos has an enormous range of vegan meals, and pretty much anything on the menu can be made vegan since they have Daiya cheese and Gardein-​style «pollo» and «carne» asada. Also, the beans and rice are all vegetarian, so you can mix, match, and order to your vegan heart’s content.
The servers are friendly and efficient, and the prices are more than fair for the amount of food you get. I ordered the «trio enchiladas» with vegan pollo, carne and cheese enchiladas, which came with large sides of refried pintos and Spanish rice, and couldn’t even finish it. My meal was – wait for it – only ten dollars. They also have delicious vegan desserts, such as cinnamon rolls and carrot cake.
I’ve been to both the LA and SF locations of Gracias Madre and frankly find the food much better and much more authentic here at Ranchos, plus the pricing and service are much better. You can have lunch or dinner here, plus dessert for under $ 30 for two people. The icing on the cake in that you can get vegan horchatas here as well.
The owners really care about the power of sharing a meal together, so they provide food for all dietary choices so that friends and family can all find something to eat on the menu and sit down together to eat. It’s the perfect place for all of your friends to meet for food and drinks because everyone is sure to find something they love on this menu.

Awesome service! I ended up ordering a vegan horchata (my server even filled up my cup again with the left over horchata that was in the blender) and I also got the vegan burrito (which was amazing, the burrito was nothing that I expected, it was a bbq flavored, I would defiantly order that again) before your food arrives they give you salsa and chips, I didn’t even have to ask for some more! I’m glad that I finally found a vegan breakfast to go to now! Yum
I gave this restaurant 4 stars instead of 5 because the bathrooms need to be updated… It took forever to flush

My friend came to visit this weekend and it’s always a struggle finding a place that is vegan friendly for her. This was the perfect spot. Great food with TONS of choices.
I had difficulties ordering because there were so many choices. So make sure you have an idea what you want (i.e. a burrito or tacos). If not, you will not know where to start. Thankfully the waiter was knowledgeable and set us up with some amazing food.

This place is the bomb if you want some real good Mexican food this is it probably be best I’ve written reviews about other Mexican food that I’ve eaten and this is top notch. Juan is extremely professional he knows a lot about the business and is a great character to talk to. I owe please order the carne asada burrito it is very fresh and is super tasty yum yum yum.
The carne asada is super tender juicy very flavor fall I go here with my friends a lot and only get the highest level of customer service more than you know or can expect.
Also I have tried the cheese enchiladas and boy those are to die for here. When does fresh toastada chips arrive ask for a the side of guacamole because they make it fresh and that ish has secret ingredient or something cause man that guacamole sure is bomb.

Local —
El healthy veggie burrito — *** ⁵⁄₅ ***
Omg, this veggie burrito was un real. We accidentally ran into this place but it’s now on my top 3 burrito joints in San Diego. Not only do they have a huge menu but they offer a ton of great vegetarian and vegan options. Everything was fresh and full of flavor and the portions were huge.
Most of my reviews are on burrito joints and so I must point out that there is a difference between my 5 stars on other places. The reason why this burrito is different from other 5 stars is because of how fresh the ingredients were. You could literally taste every ingredient in it which I thought was pretty amazing.
Environment — *** ⁵⁄₅ *** I’d prefer sitting down here rather than taking out. They have a nice patio with flowers and vines and dogs allowed which is always a plus. Their staff was great to us and I liked how they helped each other out. It made for a very pleasant dinner.

Yum!
_​Grilled Fish BURRITO BOWL ($ 7)
White fish, yellow rice, cheese, peppers & onions, and a tortilla
= tasty, satisfying! The fish was very tender and moist. I recommend this dish!
_​«The Works» Chicken BURRITO ($ 8)
Chicken, rice, beans, guacamole, salsa.
= big momma! Good for one large meal, or 2 meals.
Both were satisfying and delicious, plus they provide unlimited complimentary chips & salsa. Yum!
Good service, nice décor, and did I mention that the food is delicious? Delicious.
Have and will return.

Authentic Mexican with natural ingredients and tons of vegan options? I wanted to love this place, but the service was absurdly slow and quite unfriendly, and the food completely missed the mark.
My friend ordered vegan carne asada tacos, which I found to be okay, but nothing special. Overly salty with no complexity of flavor. I ordered a vegan breakfast combo, which for $ 14, was a lot of food. The potatoes were good, as was the soy chorizo, but these are both things that are difficult to mess up. The tofu scramble was terrible. I had a sip of my friends vegan horchata, which was also terrible. I love horchata, but this tasted like melted soy ice cream. Gross.
The only excellent thing I tried from here were the multigrain blueberry pancakes, which were the best pancakes I’ve ever tasted. However, who really comes to a Mexican restaurant to get pancakes? I don’t hate this place, but it wouldn’t be my first choice for vegan Mexican in San Diego.

Our very first impression was with the chips and salsa and those alone turned us on as fans. The chips were yummy and crispy, not hard, but not flaky either. Salsa was also delicious, had a fresh flavor and a bite to it.
Boyfriend recently turned vegetarian, so we’ve been trying more vegetarian based restaurants. He ordered the soy chorizo rolled tacos and he said they were different, but they were good. I ordered the enchiladas rojas with chicken and I wasn’t that impressed. The sauce wasn’t the most flavorful, but the chicken was really moist. Nothing worse than dry chicken! There were some sautéed veggies, I think onions and peppers inside the enchiladas, those were yummy.
Another of our favorites were the rice and beans. You can always judge a Mexican place off things as simple as chips & salsa and rice and beans. We get homemade rice and beans from his grandma all the time, and I’d have to say the rice and beans were close contenders. I wish we lived closer so I could pick up a side of rice and beans on occasion!
Their menu is HUGE, so many things to choose from. We were worried that with a large menu comes mediocre food because can you really offer that many dishes and excel at every single one of them? Maybe not, but we had a good first experience! We’ll be back to try more Mexican vegetarian friendly dishes. :)