Ranchero

Ranchero is a fine establishment. I hesitate to give it five stars but actually I don’t have anything bad to say and for a foreign food place in Istanbul that in and of itself is outstanding.
First of all, I had the most lovely melon margarita ever. Having turned 21 after leaving the US I can’t say I’ve ever had that many margaritas. But this one was strong, delicious, and flavorful. It really was great.
I got a combo fajita (beef and chicken) and it was also tasty and nice. It came with 10 hand-​made tortillas which was the perfect amount for the food that I had. Very, very nice.
It also came with black beans, salsa, guacamole and a white sauce I wasn’t familiar with. All nice and fun and hard to find elsewhere of course. My dinner date and I also shared a plate of nachos which was excellent.
I want to complain about price — for our two dishes and two drinks the bill flew past 100TL — but honestly, how often do you get to eat Mexican food in Istanbul and if you tried to make the dish/​drinks yourself you would easily spend that much in supplies. For that reason, I find it acceptable.
The only thing I would advise them to do is make beer a bit a cheaper. Who wants to spend 13TL on a 33mL draft beer? Yikes. I would have stayed longer and had a few if the price was more reasonable.
After your meal they serve a little lemony blue drink which is some kind of curacao based, non-​alcoholic delight. It’s kind of like a shot but not. A not shot. Very nice touch.
Service was average, they were attentive but not friendly. No one said bye as we left, which is a bit unnatural in Turkey but didn’t bother me that much. :)
All in all, highly recommended for a special night.

This restaurant is in my neighborhood so we come here with some regularity. If we were in America or of course Mexico it would be an average restaurant. That is not meant to be an insult to the Mexican owner. I am sure it kills her to not be able to serve genuine Mexican food. The ingredients are just too hard to get in Turkey. However, they make their own tortillas and they are really light and good. Their black bean soup is outstanding. My husband generally gets beef dishes and he is always satisfied. I have tried a lot of things on the menu. I like the California burrito. I always leave feeling like it’s too expensive, but that’s the Istanbul dining scene. And I always leave wishing it was just better. But I think they are doing the best they can.