Whenever the semester gets too stressful, I endeavor to find a small escape to help me get through it.
Open since last spring, Rancho Alegre on Cleveland Avenue and I-270 offers that kind of escape. Relatively high ceilings, a fun color scheme, soft yet festive music and secluded booths provide a lively and intimate atmosphere.
As with most Mexican restaurants in the U.S., my meal was started with complimentary tortilla chips and salsa. The tortilla chips came out hot and perfectly crisp, and with a sprinkling of salt, provided a great crunchy contrast to the cold, pleasantly mild salsa. The salsa was on point, featuring a chunky consistency and tasting both fresh and refreshing.
Another thing Mexican restaurants typically offer is dips to go with the chips. Well, Rancho Alegre’s various pools of deliciousness were both affordable and tasty. Their queso dip was creamy and hot, featuring just a touch of spice. The guacamole was full of flavor and served with a pico de gallo, which is an uncooked tomato, onion and jalapeno condiment, that added both taste and texture to the creamy avocado.
I also sampled their choriqueso with avocado, and it was unlike anything I’ve ever had before. It’s a cheesy dip filled with Mexican pork sausage called chorizo, which provided a slightly spicy edge to the dish, and avocado that lightened the dip up and really stood up to the heaviness and richness of the chorizo and cheese.
For my entree, I tried their lunch chimichangas, and I was impressed to say the least. The chimichanga was crispy and soft at the same time and filled with deliciously moist chicken. They topped it with their in-house queso sauce and served it with refried beans and fresh lettuce, tomato and sour cream. I felt that it needed a little heat, so I requested some hot sauce. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that they actually make their own hot sauce in-house, and it provided a spicy and acidic edge that livened everything up.
Into combination meals? Rancho Alegre features a host of choices from tacos and enchiladas to chile rellenos and tostadas. They also feature traditional sides such as Mexican rice, refried beans and guacamole salad, and their combination meals provide a suitable match for everyone.
The service was relatively good. They were on top of things the majority of the time, and I felt welcome as soon as I walked into the restaurant. However, there was a period of time when I was in need of some hot sauce, and our server was nowhere in sight. But other than that, our service was really good, as my glass was always filled with water and our chip bowl was always full.
Is the wallet feeling thin, but you still want to go out? Rancho Alegre features a happy hour from 2-6:30 p.m. that will please both your wallet and your stomach. All appetizers including dips are half off, meaning that queso and guacamole together come out to be around $3. The featured drink specials are sure to quench your thirst, and a la carte options are also available to order something small and not pay a huge price for it.
All in all, this was a pleasant Mexican Restaurant experience for me, and I plan on returning in the future.
