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Pete Tittl: Decor livens up visit to local Mexican eatery
| Wednesday, Jul 16 2008 10:46 AM
Last Updated: Thursday, Jul 17 2008 11:28 AM
Rancho Grande is a festive feast for the eyes, with carved chairs brightly painted and livening up the entire small dining room.
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5432 Stockdale Highway, 859-0803
Hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Prices: Appetizers $5.25-$9.95, Mexican breakfast $5.50-$7.95, American breakfast $6.95-$8.95, specialties $4.99-$29.99, salads $6.95-$7.95, combo meals $6.95-$9.50. Child’s menu $3.25-$4.99.
Payment: MasterCard, VISA and American Express accepted. Does not accept Discover, personal checks or The Californian’s Press Pass.
Dress: Casual
Amenities: Wheelchair accessible; full bar service; some vegetarian options.
Food: 21⁄2 stars
Atmosphere: 21⁄2 stars
Service: 21⁄2 stars
Next week: Valentien Restaurant & Wine Bar
Photos:
Jaime Garcia, an employee of Rancho Grande Mexican Grill restaurant, fixes a "mi chelada" a popular drink at the restaurant.
Efrain Fonseca, not pictured, has colorfully decorated his Rancho Grande Mexican Grill restaurant.
Jeff Sousa helps himself to the buffet at the Rancho Grande Mexican Grill restaurant.
Located next to a dollar store in the shopping center at the northwest corner of Stockdale Highway and California Avenue, it’s a place that would be upbeat fun even if a party had not been dancing a conga from the dining room to the bar, as they were on a recent visit.
They were there to celebrate, and I could see why. We have a lot of Mexican restaurants in our fair city, so you need to find a niche. Rancho Grande is going for the family trade, with an expansive menu that seems to have all the usual suspects, and with breakfast, lunch and dinner.
While the fare is not yet distinctive and accomplished enough to put it among the city’s best, you just can’t help but feel great with all those colorful chairs of bullfighters, cowboys, the sun, parrots and other animals.
I look at things like that and think how many hours did a human being take to create it, do you have to travel to Mexico to buy it, and are they too expensive for the restaurant business, which usually doesn’t seem to splurge on such things.
(Owner Efrain Fonseca said he picked them up in Guadalajara, even the bar.)
We sampled a wide variety of items from the menu, including the chili verde enchiladas ($8.95), the flautas ($8.95 with chicken or beef) and the beef fajitas ($11.95). They do have four vegetarian items, and pages and pages of choices, though most stick within the confines of your typical Mexican restaurant menu.
My companion was a bit puzzled by his enchiladas, which were served on the plate like soft shell tacos drenched in green sauce, not rolled like cigars. Taste was not a problem, just the logic of trying to eat it. I found the chunks of pork to be too fatty — not trimmed enough, but the sauce was tart and suitably hot.
My fajitas were served on a cast iron platter but were not sizzling noisily, and they were worth recommending if only for the ingredients and the presentation. I had red, yellow and green peppers mixed in with the skirt steak, and a lot of jack cheese drizzled over the top at the end, melting and marrying all the ingredients.
Not typical, but interesting and it truly works. If you’re an aficionado of fajitas, you need to try these. The only problem was that the spices for the dish, an odd orange color, could be found in chunks on the platter. How does that happen?
Unfortunately my companion’s flautas were not so charming. They were filled with beef, not chicken as ordered, and were overfried to the point of being dark brown and rancid tasting. We debated whether this came from the oil or the overcooking, and never settled it.
Service was fine from a very pleasant waitress with a nice smile. Other than the filling for the flautas, she got everything else right.