Rancho De Mendoza

When me and the man want good Mexican food/​sit down restaurant, we come here. My favorite is the carnitas plate. That’s all I have to say.

Came here on a mission for some Horchata around Downtown on a hot day. I paid $ 2.40 for a nice little to go cup filled with ice. It’s refreshing, very subtle sweetness though and not as much cinnamon flavor as I usually like. All in all, it was alright. I wish I could stay for dinner, but based on the Horchata I’d say this place is about 3.5 stars.

First time here. Def coming back. I’m Mexican. So I don’t mind the usuals sitting at the bar hablando de futbol and just random nonsense. The waitresses are very friendly. Their micheladas were delicious and I don’t even like micheladas. My margarita came with chili on the rim. Yummy. Its definitely authentic Mexican food. No yellow cheese here or white sauce for your fish tacos.

Just stopped in for the 1^st time for lunch. Great buffet and very reasonably priced. The food was all fresh and delicious!
My new favorite in downtown Santa Ana:)

Searching for the best Mexican food in town? This certainly belongs in the upper percentile of your list. The atmosphere is pure sticky floor with the juke blowin’ Banda and Noteno at near concert volume, but you didn’t come here for that, did you? You came because you are on a mission to find excellent Mexican food without having to fly to Michoacan. So simple and yet so hard to find. The basket of thick crunchy chips gets refilled without asking until you wave the white napkin and each canasta comes with house made salsa, and a bowl of bean dip that barks with some authority. A slow crawl of satisfying heat takes hold of your neck and begs for another chip full, but don’t fill up because the real good stuff is on the way. Burritos the size of a Duke football crammed with carne asada, chicken, carnitas or seafood of your choice and crispy tacos that resemble a Tridacna Clam. Yes, they have all your favorites and evrything we ordered came out hot and sumptuous. The high note was the Bagre (catfish) frito with Diabla Sauce. Okay, I thought this was going to be like everyother Mexican joint in Orange County, a small filet with the same table salsa. One can only hope for something unique. Hurrah, there is a Mexican Food God and He must eat regularly at Rancho Mendoza becasue the fish came out whole, with the tail and head on the table off both ends of the plate. It was hot enough to show up at any credible Chinese joint with a seafood tank in Irvine and laced with a true Diabla sauce that rocked. This platter at $ 18.95 can hold it’s fried head up high next to anything that comes out of the kitchen at Chinois on Main in LA at twice the price and half the size.
Stick around and watch the Trannie Karioke roar up to crusing altitude (excuse the reference). It’s hard to compare listening to «Feelings» in falsetto and Spanish with anything else you can think of to pass the time and when Muchacha Gaga sings «Candida» you know he really feels it deep inside. Have another icy Pacifco and enjoy the show.
And after a long night sinning why not stop by early for Chiliquiles, red, green or both? No soupy goo here. Chips that snap and crackle when you sink your fork into them. Add a couple of sunny eggs and some chorizo and you will think the goin’ up was worth the the comin’ down. Rancho Mendoza… worth the energy required to find a parking spot.

Great lunch buffet! Affordable and authentic. Right in downtown Santa Ana so parking not great, but if you’re on 4^th during lunch, this is the place to go for a Mexican appetite. TV screens too for soccer games.

Good asada tacos for a reasonable price, and good amounts of meat. Seems like the tortillas are freshly made, but not quite certain, they sure do taste fresh though.
The only drawback is the atmosphere. Seems a bit too stuffy in there. But overall, a decent place right next to lots of Mexican shops.

Came here from jury duty and what a find! Good hole in the wall, tasty margarita and super friendly staff. Did I mention the jukebox — fantastic

I’m not sure how to rate Rancho De Mendoza. It’s quite the experience. If you’re into shady Mexican bars crankin’ loud Cumbia, Raggaeton, Salsa, Mariachi… then this is your place. Not my regular hangout but everyone should try it at least once. Btw, the big broad shouldered women with beards are not women but they’re fun to dance with.

I came here for lunch buffet. I was worried there would be no vegetarian options but I was wrong. They had fruit, cactus salad, desserts. In addition, once i asked what was vegetarian (i.e. contained no lard) they pointed to some egg and salsa entrée and they also brought out fresh sopes made with lard free beans just for me, friends were jealous :)

I was a hot mess at Rancho De Mendoza. Karaōke and Mexicans = the real deal.
Fabi, our waitress and bartender, was a curvy hot tamale. She started us off with a few beers. Five beers later, we are singing our hearts out to obscure Spanish songs. I’ve never felt more uncomfortable and alive. I took the stage a few times, singing oldies. Their repertoire of songs were limited. I think the most recent track they had was from the mid 90’s — ridiculous.
A midst the fun, I did however manage to squeeze in dinner. I don’t know why but I ordered a dinner plate with this huge ass fried fish, beans, and tortilla. I’ll never forgive myself for that.
Drinks prices were so-​so. $ 4/​beer. No happy hour here.
I left Rancho De Mendoza feeling like an exposed tranny. I loved it. Skip the dinner and go right to the singing — you won’t regret it.

Ayyyye Papi!
That was what the wonderful karaōke diva sang during our meal. These people get down on the mic, no joke. I had my share of songs too, me and my friends went 90s nostalgia by singing 4 Non Blondes and Spin Doctors. I was amazed they had these songs!
The food was yummy. Homemade tortillas? Check. Amazing chips and salsa and bean dip? Check. I had the bacon wrapped shrimp stuffed with cheese. Pretty tasty. I also loved their rice, it tasted just like my moms.
Get your tummys and your voices ready for this REAL Mexican food joint in the heart of Santa Anna

Great enchiladas and a great all you can eat special. They also have karaōke!

I think the word TJ comes to mind when My friends leaned out of the second story window of an unmarked building off Main and fourth– I had to search out the entrance and ended up in a dentist office. finally going the other way from the dentist office I wandered through a completely unlit room and followed the light from the windows of an attached room where I found my friends– I quickly realized I wasnt going to get a waitress served beer so i wandered over to the bar where I paid 4 $ for a Victoria beer, which was in a cooler full of ice– excellent!!!

I went to Rancho de Mendoza with my AP Spanish class after visiting the kids of Washington Elementary School.
Right when we entered, I noticed that the food was already out and ready for us to eat! Definitely a plus for me, because it meant food without much of a wait.
Because my eyes were tenfolds hungrier than my stomach, I took a bunch of things on my plate (s): rice, beans, enchalda, tostada, taco, papas con cebollas, cactus, and fruit salad (with pineapples, papayas, and melons)… I also ordered some horchata to drink!
Everything was very, very good! I was about to get the soup, but my friends warned me not to get it… but other than that, I was very impressed. Though the pinatas and papel picado created somewhat of a corny atmosphere, it made the experience even more fun and familial.
If you’re looking to eat yourself silly with authentic Spanish food, then definitely, definitely consider Rancho de Mendoza. The combination of a drink and the all-​you-​can-​stuff-​in-​your-​face buffet is only $ 12!

Me and my babe went today and we don’t wanna come back. My babe said the place looked filthy. She got mojarra, which is the whole grilled fish. My babe said it was okay but she wouldn’t want come back. I got tacos de pescado which are fish tacos and I couldn’t believe they didn’t have any of the white sauce you put on them! What the hell? The waitress brings me two different white sauces alright but it was ranch then tartar sauce!!! Seriously these were the worst fish tacos I have ever tried! What a disgrace to fish tacos. I can make a better fish taco!!! Geeze.

We came here recently and it has been a while since I have been here but I have not forgotten my love for Rancho de Mendoza. I was craving their Chicken Mole and a Shrimp Cocktail and for some odd reason a Margarita also sounded pretty good which is odd because I am not into frou frou cocktails.
They don’t skimp out on giving you the shrimp. It was so tasty and large enough for the two of us to share. Now the chips and salsa were perfect. The chips once again not greasy nor salty. Just perfect. The salsa was SALSA-​LICIOUS! None of that «made in New York City» chili here. The Mole… Just as my abuela used to make it… The portions are rather large here so I had enough for another meal… The Margarita was the WORST thing ever. i felt like I was at some lame slushy bar where they whip out that high sugary tasting drinks that resemble a slushy. Take my advice and order a bloody beer and not the nasty margarita. Or request to have it on the rocks…
The Juke Box. How could it not get any better when they have artist like Vicente Fernandez and Los Tigres del Norte y Los Tucanes De Tijuana!!! BEST MEXICAN JUKE BOX EVER.
Oh. on weekends they have live bands upstairs in the bar area. oh and request for a Michelada (Mexico’s version of a Bloody Mary pero con cerveza!

While walking around 4^th street, I saw the place. The entrée plates looked a little pricey, so I just ordered Tacos ($ 1.95 each). I had shredded beef, chunky chicken and chunky beer in red sauce tacos. The meat was tender. Taste was good.
The Service was fast. The restroom was somwhat unclean through…
I would say 3.5…

Located right across the street from where I work, so we come here often enough where the waitresses know us. They have the option of a lunch/​breakfast buffet. I usually get the enchilada and chile reano combo plate that comes with rice and beans. Either it’s the lard or whatever, I’m usually super stuffed after finishing it. Probably because they give you salsa and chips. The salsa is a bit spicy but good. I like this place.

We saw this place while driving through Santa Ana and hubby wanted to try it. We were there around 10am-​ish and there were people in there drinking alcohol and beer already! We ordered breakfast (which is served all day long here) — lil guy got the huevos con jamon y tocino (eggs with ham and bacon), I got the huevos con chorizo (eggs with chorizo) and hubby got the chilaquiles (all were $ 6.95) but hubby added a slice of carne asada with it for 2 bucks more. You can also opt for chicken for the same price.
We each got a drink — large freshly squeezed orange juice ($ 2.95), large horchata ($ 1.75), iced tea ($ 1.95). Just a word of caution. If you don’t like your iced tea sweetened (uh, like me) then don’t order it here. The tea is pre-​sweetened and there’s no returning it once you’ve had a sip. They also do not tell you it’s pre-​sweetened so unless you happen to ask, you won’t know. The horchata was so-so…we’ve definitely had much better. This one needed more cinnamon. The OJ was really delicious though.
Food arrived — I wasn’t blown away at all. Lil guy’s ham was pretty good. I had asked for his eggs over hard but they arrived less than over easy. It grossed lil guy out so I swapped my chorizo with eggs with his eggs. It was too runny even for me, but I ate ‘em since I was pretty hungry. The eggs with chorizo was so-​so, chorizo tasted funny. Hubby’s chilaquiles was such a let down after my really tasty one at Taco Adobe last weekend. The chilaquiles was flavorless, not enough cheese and not enough salsa. At least the carne asada was tasty, otherwise the entire meal would’ve been lost. On the whole, the 2 things which stood out for me were the beans and rice. We’ve found that it’s very hard to find a place which serves up good main courses as well as good beans and rice. It’s either one of the other. Kind of sad really, but seems to be the case everywhere we go.
Rancho D Mendoza also offers a lunch buffet from Mondays to Fridays for $ 6.95 between 11am and 3pm. Of course this is posted nowhere in English. Luckily the 8-​week Spanish course I took taught me how to read the days of the week and whatever little I needed to decipher the information from the poster by the main entrance. It says that they have popular items such as chile verde, carne asada and others which seem to have escaped my memory right now. I guess if you’re around the area on a week day and wanted to sample a whole bunch of stuff, this place might work for you.