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Categories: Hotels, Steakhouses, American (Traditional) [Edit]
24505 W Dorris AveMon-Thu. 6:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Mon-Thu. 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 6:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Fri-Sat. 5:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 6:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Sun. 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
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Okay, so here's the story. You know when you're driving from SoCal to NorCal on the I-5 route, and you go by Coalinga, and even if you have your windows rolled up your entire car smells like cow shit? Come on, everyone's experienced this. It's so bad that (when I smoked cigarettes) I used to smoke a cig with my windows up so that at least it would smell like smoke instead of cow dung. Disgusting, right? Well not as bad as that smell. It's enough to convert all but the strongest of us meat-lovers into hardcore, hairy-pitted vegans (well, I'm already hairy-pitted, but I'm not vegan). Wearing berkies, funding PETA, and arguing over what overpriced restaurant has the best tasting flaxseed. But I digress... as usual...
So the wind generally has a south-to-north trajectory going through that portion of the central California valley. And what does this mean? This means that you can stop at Harris Ranch for a meal and not worry about walking through shit-flavored air. I have driven by Harris Ranch three billion, four hundred and thirty-seven million, five hundred and sixty-two thousand, four hundred and seventy-one times in my life. And I finally stopped in this past time.
There are two restaurants and a meat market inside, and the gf and I went to the Ranch Kitchen. It has a more extensive menu that is lower in price with a shorter wait than the restaurant, although this is indeed a restaurant as well.
First, the server brought water and some fresh almonds from the ranch. They were, quite simply, some of the best almonds I have ever eaten in my life. I don't usually say "wow" about almonds, but wow indeed. We really didn't want to waste a lot of time waiting for our food and having a long dinner, since we were tired after a weekend of my friend's wedding festivities and wanted to get home.
We both ordered the same thing, the tri-tip sandwich ($15.95). The meat was tender and of a high quality, no qualms there. It was served with sauteed mushrooms, parmesan cheese, and horseradish on a french roll. It was nothing out of the ordinary as a whole, but the portion was simply too small for that kind of a price for a sandwich. Honestly, I wish I had taken a picture... there were two bites of meat in this sando. Very disappointing. The fries that accompanied the sandwich were meh, whatever, nothing crazy. They were actually an important part of the meal because they were what actually made the meal somewhat filling.
I also ordered a double espresso, which was awful. Granted I'm a total espresso snob, but come on guys, that stuff tastes like dirt... in fact, the coffee was probably actually just water filtered through the manure dirt that they pull out of those narsty cow stalls that you see (and smell) when you drive through the stench of a shithole that is the pen of 50,000 cows just north of Harris Ranch (at the actual ranch).
All in all, I will give them 3 stars for the fact that this is pretty much the only quality food between LA and Sacramento on the I-5. The prices are way too high... next time, I'll bring a grill in the trunk, buy some supplies at the meat market and grill my own tri-tip sando for half of the price in the parking lot.
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The portions are huge, so that can be a good thing. And the meat is pretty good, but I definitely had better. The only time that I come here is, obviously, when we are driving back and forth to LA. Once, however, we flew in and stayed in a cute motel nearby with a nice pool.
It is a classic. But I do have a feeling that the quality is slowly taking a nose dive over the years. Or may be we have access to better meat and, by comparison, the taste is not as good as it was some time ago.
Still, if you are traveling in that direction, stop by and get a steak. It will be satisfying, if not top notch.
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So I just stopped in after hearing of this place a lot from my wife. I must say it kind of lived up to the hype... kind of.
I had a tri tip sandwich. The meat was flavorful and smoked nice. The bread was good. Here's my problem. They totally skimped on the meat, and my plate was supposed to come with cole slaw (which I never saw) and it was a whole dollar more than my wifes fajita plate, which was actually two plates of food plus a salad to start. I felt hungry still afterwards. Very disappointing.
I would have given it two stars but afterwards we visited their bakery which was very good and some stuff was quite affordable. That brings them up a whole star in my book.
My husband and I had a late breakfast here, so this review is on the restaurant and breakfast
The tri-tip we had with our "steak and eggs" was definitely 5-stars in flavor, even though it was past the medium-rare we'd ordered. This was the highligh of our meal. The bisquits were pretty good, too.
Along with our shared meal of steak and eggs, I ordered their homemade granola (OK but not as good as other specialty granolas I've eaten) with strawberries. This was an enjoyable dish as well.
The service was a little too casual and sloppy. I ordered a mocha cafe but that machine was broken, so I settled for the hot chocolate/coffee combo...which I could've made at work (if we still had packets of cocoa to put in our coffee). When the server dodged slightly to avoid a co-worker, the choco-coffee spilled over the edges of the mug. He put the messy mug down and grabbed a couple napkins and put them down on the table for me to clean up with. If I were a server, I'd have taken the whole mug away and either cleaned it up myself or started all over. At least he brought me free refills of coffee once I'd finished the choco-coffee.
The prices weren't too high. If we're out on the 5 driving north again, we'd probably stop here for breakfast again.
In the last few years, I've gone back and forth between northern and southern California a lot. There aren't too many choices along the way, especially if you wanna avoid fast food or questionable diners. If it's all up to me, Harris Ranch is the only place we'd stop at.
I just have to say one thing. Their Ranch Burger is delicious. Each time I've had it, it's been without a doubt the freshest tasting hamburger I've ever eaten. I'm a big guy with a tiny appetite, but I have no problem inhaling that burger. Plus, it comes with sweet potato fries. Sweet potato fries!
I've never had a bad experience at this place, although service can be a little slow at times. Compared to other places along the 5, though, and this place is an oasis.
My little sis and brother-in-law love this place, so when we were driving back home from LA, we figured we might as well give this place a try. Since we were going for a late lunch, we went to the more casual restaurant instead of the fancier "Steakhouse" that's open for dinner only. This restaurant didn't take reservations so we just went and got a beeper while we walked around.
The store was pretty cool...I really like browsing little gourmet stores so I kept myself pretty well-occupied by looking at all the sauces, jams, and other goodies they had. We wandered around the store for about 15-20min before we were paged.
We went to the first desk we saw, so actually wound up eating at the bar (21 and over) area instead of the "family" restaurant. This suited me just fine, at least no kids running around or screaming, and they had a good selection of drinks. Hubby got a glass of the Frog's Leap Cabernet., which was pretty good from my small sip...I was driving this leg so just had some water.
We started off with some soup and the spinach-artichoke dip. Both were pretty good, though nothing special I guess. We then shared the porterhouse steak...didn't want to eat too heavy since we didn't want to get too sleepy for the long drive. The steak was cooked medium-rare like we asked for, though I gotta say it was a little bland. It was good, but I didn't think it was much better than steak I can buy at Safeway. Since they were famous for this, I expected better I guess. It just didn't have that really beefy flavor, maybe because it wasn't dry-aged? Ruth's Chris is much better IMO, and even the steak we bought at Whole Foods and cooked at home had more flavor.
It wasn't a bad meal, and it was a decent stop for our road trip, but I don't think it's worth it to go out of your way to get their steaks here. I think next time we'll just stop by In-N-Out and be just as satisfied for much cheaper.
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Better than fast food. We stopped here after reading reviews on yelp. It was Sunday at 7pm. Place seemed busy. We had a 10 min wait for the ranch kitchen. Drinks came quickly. Ordered the tri-tip sandwich with sweet potato fries. Fries were good. Sandwich was ok. We also had the chicken fajitas. Large portion. It comes with a salad, rice & beans. No room for dessert. Will stop here again if driving the long haul on I-5.
My real rating is actually 3.5, but I rounded up since it was the better of other sit-down stops of it's kind.
Did the crazy drive down on a Sunday and came back the next day, Monday, all to meet a client. Yeah, so don't tell me we don't go the extra mile(s) for the client. My boss, this crazy workaholic, decided not to let her client down and surprise the client with this super mad dash down to Orange County with me by her passenger side.
On the way back up to NorCal we got lost, thanks to the outdated GPS. Although our original plans were to be in San Jose to have good Vietnamese comfort food, time escaped us fast. We found ourselves approaching half hour before 10pm and starving; then memory jogged me that Harris Ranch was the only recommended grub out of nowhere. We stopped by to check it out with our growling stomachs, and boy, was it a wise choice!
Since we arrived so late, we decided to head to the Kitchen part of the business and ordered fried calamari to share and split the Brown Sugar Rib Eye served with scalloped potato and corn on the cob. The split portions was perfect for us and we loved the beef. Best meal that day, we had here.
Although the calamari was fluffed up by lots of lettuce underneath, the beef entree, however, are huge. The trick here really is to order few and share.
Service was ghost-like. After briefly taking our orders, the server disappeared. After our food was served, the server disappered. The bill appeared when we were done and the server, yeah you guessed it, server: disappeared. Yeah, disappeared as in no one except the patrons/customers that were in the dinning area, which, we didn't mind.
This is my new do have-a-cow joint.
One of the most disappointing meals ever. I had a $30 steak that felt like rubber, was overcooked, and was cold when served. I've had far better steaks Sizzler. Do yourself a favor, when you're on a long road trip on California and you see Harris Ranch, just keep on driving.
Always a welcoming place and welcoming place to stop at Harris Ranch restaurant.
We ate in the bar and had a TriTip sandwich. The beef that is served here is pretty good.
The stop here is always welcoming for it is hotter than blazes in the valley, and a good lunch, cold drink, and good air conditioning is great.
Check out the deer heads on the wall in the bar.
Experience is good.
We went on to Pasadena after the lunch stop.
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Harris Ranch is situated about mid-way between Los Angeles and "The City by The Bay" (as if there are only one city and one bay that matter), making it an ideal place to stop to cool your heels... oh, and scarf down some pretty tasty grub at the same time.
I have now sampled Harris Ranch for both breakfast and dinner, and overall, they were both very good meals. For breakfast, I tried the tri-tip (cooked on the open pit BBQ out front) and eggs. The breakfast was very good, but a bit on the pricey side. For dinner, I had a filet mignon, and both it and the sides were delicious.
How many times have you driven past Harris Ranch doing 80 MPH but you're in a rush to get where you're going? Well................... Hit the breaks next time my friend. I finally did and I can't wait to go back. I actually stopped here a few times over the years to get "aged filet's" [to go] but this time I stopped with a few friends to have lunch.
I had a coworker who makes the drive often and he told me to try the pot roast. It was very good and the gravy that came with it was mouth watering. I walked by a table that had an end cut prime rib and it looked damn good, I'll get that next time.
They have an extensive menu so you'll find something that looks appealing for everyone. There were lots of waiters so beverages were filled up all the time, I like that.
Remember folks.... This is in the middle of nowhere and they do a great job and they do have a meat market.
I have not stayed at the hotel. My review is only for the meal I had at the Horseshoe Bar, the most casual of the restaurant options at the roadside stop.
The outside makes this place look appealing, with the Spanish architecture, and seeing how everything else on this exit (as well as all along I-5) is along the lines of Taco Bell and McDonald's, seeing an actual restaurant, one would assume that the food is good, right? And you especially think the beef would be good, right? Seeing as how that is what this place is famous for and you are steps away from their feedlots and meat processing plants. (A very appetizing visual by the way.)
I had a Cobb Salad, which at Harris's means beef takes the place of the turkey and bacon that is usually on a cobb. The beef was refrigerated and cut into little cubes. The vegetables tasted fresh and the salad was decent, but the beef tasted like it came out of a package at Safeway.
My dad had the Pot Roast, which came with Mashed Potatoes and Corn as well as a salad. I did not try any of it, but according to him it was disgusting. He ate the salad and the corn, but in his own words, "it tasted like dog food." How, you may ask, does my dad know what dog food tastes like? Well, he claims he tried it when he was curious as a kid. So I guess he is one of the few people who can say this and mean it, haha!
In any case, I do not understand the hype about this place. Extremely mediocre and overpriced food (the salad was $14), and next time I'll be going to Subway across the street.
When my cousin moved down to San Diego my entire family would make a monthly/bimonthly weekend road trip down to visit. And we ALWAYS stopped through this place on our way back to grab our lunch/dinner.
We usually wouldn't eat breakfast or not a big one at least, and would save our stomachs for the delicious meal we were ALWAYS given here.
The place outside smells of BBQ smoke, which is probably because of their huge smoker outside, and the inside looks so quaint. With a cute fountain and 'grocery' shop that you can buy their meats at. I've always had to wait for a table, but it is always worth the wait so I never mind. It also gave me a chance to walk around the building.
The restaurant's decor looks like a ranch (duh, right.). It looks so country and has a southern feel to it. The service is always great, esp since we come with such a large party all the time it's great to have servers that are patient. The food is ALWAYS fresh and tastes fantastic. -- AND their menu is VERY fairly priced. You won't leave here worrying about your financials, just VERY satisfied.
I'm thinking about planning a road trip JUST to eat at this place again. It's that delicious ... I just wish it wasn't so far out in the middle of no where.
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FROM PREVIOUS POST
While I don't normally eat much red meat, Harris Ranch was the nail in the coffin of me eating anything other than free-range/grass-fed beef.
While you probably can't get much fresher steak, the cattle here just looks horrific. Minimal shade, living in mud/slop, not a green blade of grass in the entire place. This place makes me sad every time I drive between SF and LA.
It's an interesting contrast seeing the cattle a bit farther north, roaming around in the hills and living seemingly normal lives. Not sure of any restaurants attached to them, though.
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What you are seeing at Harris is mostly the cattle that have been sold to Harris by ranchers all over, including those you saw comfortably grazing in the hills.
I stop there between LA-SF trips when I drive (about half way) to get a boost. Usually have a Caesar, Spinach or other salad in the bar (fast service). I stayed here once when I was unable to drive the full 8 hours, the rooms are nice, clean, and I even went swimming after dinner!). I also found the gas station to be a little cheaper than the other 1 stop stations on hwy 5 in the valley (some are $.80 more than SF prices)
Every time I drive down to LA, I end up stopping here either coming or going--sometimes both. It's a nice place to stop, stretch, use the facilities, and get a meal or a snack.
I like the California Rancho style of the buildings and grounds. There are a few places to eat on-site, but I usually go for the Ranch Kitchen. Breakfasts are always good and hearty. But today my sister and I stopped for lunch and tried the burgers. The Harris Ranch hamburger patty was very tasty and juicy, and overall the burger was done just right. Prices are a little on the high end (the burgers at $9 were about the cheapest items on the menu), but I guess you can do that when you're the only restaurant around for miles!
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I think it's 3.5. Actually very nice for a road trip stop. It was triple digit weather. We left SF with jackets on. Upon each pit stop, we removed one article of clothing. This was our second stop and my baby was now only diaper-clad.
Got the prawn fajita. Husband got the roast beef. My fajita was huge for lunch. At least 10 huge prawns and onions and peppers on the skillet, and a separate plate of guacamole, rice, beans, lettuce, cheese. I just ate them like that, without wrapping them up in flour tortillas, which would be the proper way to do it, but would be too much food.
Great service, well air-conned! Very nice family dining room.
We'd be back, but I highly doubt we'll be doing the SF-LA drive anytime soon. But it's good to know this place exists. I wanted to stop at Denny's. Thank goodness my husband makes better pit stop decisions than I do.
Dead serious. I thought I was done with this place, but I proceeded to have 3 days of food poisoning. At least it wasn't mad cow disease.
Stick to the gift shop with their expired Barefoot Contessa muffin mix.
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THE SERVICE IN THE RESTAURANT IS HORRENDOUS!
I used to love stopping here during my road trips from…
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We had a wedding go to in Fresno, and my husband decided we should make a detour and go to Harris Ranch on the way. Definitely a good idea on his part!
This is the first time I've been here that I haven't had to wait for a table, and it was a Sunday lunchtime - I would have thought a lot of people would be driving home. I got a BBQ Tri-tip panini with sweet potato fries. AMAZING! My husband got the baseball cut steak, which he thoroughly enjoyed. Afterwards, we stopped in the shop and picked up a couple of pastries for the afternoon drive.
This stop is a must if you're driving the I-5 to or from Southern California.
Harris meats by far excel in quality. They even offer an American variant of Kobe beef. This is where the review diverges from this lovely fluff.
The service sucks, our waiter walked past us several times and never noticed our flagging him. Eventually another waiter took our bill. yes they got a bad tip.
I ordered the beef ribs, which came with a salad. The salad was a hodge podge of items thrown together. It came with iceberg lettuce, bell peppers, black olives and two sunflower seeds, slightly over drowned in dressing. I at least hoped they'd do ribs right. NO :( these are cross cut (hard to work with) fatty boiled ribs. I asked for dry ribs as i dont like them drowned in sauce. Well i know why they drowned them in sauce, Even though they are boiled, they are some how dry and greasy. Our dogs will be happy with the left overs. My gf ordered a pot roast which looked like what id get from my elementary cafeteria. For the prices they charge Id expect more. This used to be our stop point as it was the only decent food on the 5. With the quality so bad, I rather take my chances with circle k across the freeway. The store is good if you plan to cook you own however their prices are ridiculously high.
It's not bad for road trip food. Way better than McDs right?
Go the Horseradish beef Salad. Great cut of beef and I thought the salad was pretty tasty. 3.5 stars
Tri tip beef sandwich dip. 4 stars. very tender and juicy
Hamburger... hmm 3 stars. I like my In and Out better.
I really liked the sweet potato fries. They don't make it extra thin and extra crispy so you can taste the sweet potato flavor more.
Very kids friendly. Got the kids cups, kids menu, crayons, & color paper.
Service was pretty good. Had to wait about 30 min off peak hours.
This last time:
had the prime rib, medium. It was a great piece of meat. I got an end cut, so that was a great bonus.
In the past, i have had mediocre cuts, so minus one star for that.
K down a star cuz the service was just okay. They have too many hosts and not enough servers. Our server was friendly enough but we didnt catch her as much as we liked.
I love Harris Ranch. omg try their sweet potato fries and of course their meat. Drool.
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Love Meat. Love Steak. Loved Harris Ranch.
If you can ignore the poo smell of the cow outside and…
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One word: overrated.
I ordered a tri-tip sandwich for two reasons: 1) I like tri-tip, and 2) it was the cheapest thing on the menu.
I had a piece of my friend's prime rib, but it was way too undercooked and too fatty for my taste. I like meat, but not when it's still able to moo at me.
Next time I'm on my way to or from Socal to Norcal, I'll continue what I've done during previous trips before this one and keep driving. At least I know that McDonald's will serve me a meal that I'll be pleased with.
The only knock I have on this place is that I think they only cook your burgers well done.
I read something like that on here before I went, ordered my burger medium, the waitress said ok, and then it came out well done.....along with everyone elses.
I got some sort of gorgonzola bacon burger and made it a double. long road trip will make you pretty hungry. definitely recommend stopping here.
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While I don't normally eat much red meat, Harris Ranch was the nail in the coffin of me eating anything other than free-range/grass-fed beef.
While you probably can't get much fresher steak, the cattle here just looks horrific. Minimal shade, living in mud/slop, not a green blade of grass in the entire place. This place makes me sad every time I drive between SF and LA.
It's an interesting contrast seeing the cattle a bit farther north, roaming around in the hills and living seemingly normal lives. Not sure of any restaurants attached to them, though.
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Let me just tell you, my boyfriend loves this place. I have to say though, for being in the middle of cow town, it's pretty nice. I am a little biased though in this review because I don't eat meat. My bf likes to stop here everytime we are traveling up north, I don't get a choice. I either can pout in the car like a little girl or eat and be disgusted by carnivorous peoples eating meat all around me.
Anyways, the food is okay, but again I am limited in choices. Service is pretty decent for a place like this and depending on what you order, it can come out really quickly.
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How to put it... ?
We have driven past this place many times to and from Southern California, but never stopped. The timing was right for once, so we decided to give it a try. The steaks were really wonderful. We had the fresh cut, but they also offer dry-aged. The only place that I have ever had a better tasting steak was the grass-fed beef at The Hitching Post in Cheyenne, WY. And they actually have a home vineyard here at Harris Ranch. I had a glass of their Cabernet, and it was really dry & woodsy, dark cherry, and well-balanced. It was a good wine.
The service was friendly enough, but disinterested. Our kids' meals were supposed to include cookies. Our waitress never said anything about them, and never brought them. Initially, we had forgotten - but we remembered later when we needed them to do some damage-control for our kids - but more on that in a moment... I asked the hostess to help me, and waited a full 15 or 20 minutes, because they had to send someone over to wherever their in-house bakery is, to get some. The restaurant was out of stock, and I guess they just hoped that no one would remember. The slightly creepy guy who was sent to fetch came back with one cookie and one bear-claw pastry (for a kid's meal?), because they were in fact, flat out of cookies. Okeedokee.
So here's the weird part...
It never smells pretty in Coalinga. The air in cow towns in general is redolent with cow fragrance. But it's usually not overpowering, just stinky. Coalinga, though, is a feed-lot city. For those who aren't 100% on what that means: a feed lot is the place that cows go for a final fattening before they are slaughtered. I call them the "Cow-schwitz" death camps... If you doubt the applicability of this nickname, drive by one of the big ones on California's Interstate 5 at night. There are glaring lights, smoke rising, and a real sense of doom. There are thousands upon thousands of cows, living in filth, wading in the mucky ground. I believe that's when they do their slaughtering. I'm only guessing at this, but the magnitude of the stench at night is so profoundly much worse than in the day, that it seems likely. What else could be the cause?
Well, Harris Ranch is basically on the premises of the very worst one. There may be others that are just as massive and atrociously fetid, but this one is right on the highway, so you get to experience it up close.
When we arrived, the air was just cow-stinky. Not pleasant, but manageable. Remarkably, the air inside the restaurant & gift shop complex didn't bear one trace of cow. Not a whiff. I was really surprised.
So we finished dinner, and were walking down the long hall towards the front entrance. I noticed that the smell was now intruding about 20 feet or so into the restaurant. "Hmmm," I said to myself, "Maybe someone left the doors open." But a second later, I saw that the doors were all closed. I was a bit puzzled, but not for long.
We walked out through the doors, into a cloud of sh** and death. The air was so suffocatingly thick with this literally ungodly stench that you could taste it. What changed in the time it took is to eat our dinner? Were they slaughtering? Do they do it right there? I found myself almost unable to take a breath. My body literally didn't want to allow the "air" in. My older son actually bent over and vomited.
This was the point at which I remembered the cookies.
My husband and our little one got in the car and turned on the air conditioner. I brought my oldest back inside to get him calmed down, and then we got to wait those 20 minutes or so for the cookie and the bear claw. I spent those minutes looking at the people who worked there with new eyes.
At last, we were back on the road home. As we turned right onto I-5, I saw for the first time just how close the restaurant is to Cow-schwitz. It is literally right next door... There is a stand of trees, and just on the other side are the feed troughs under those giant metal roofs. You could throw a stone that far...
So the steak was good. But I simply do not understand the existence of this restaurant. Why, of all the places in the world, would they put it there, in that exact location? Even a half a mile away would be more conceivable. But this is practically inside the feed lot. I don't get it.
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Our experience was flying into the airport at Harris Ranch for dinner at the steak house. No matter what, it was still a very fun experience.
The good:
-If you're already on I-5, it's basically the only sit-down place around.
-It's one of the only airports you can land at, day or night, and have a choice of food.
-The aviation fuel prices are very low for the area.
The bad:
-My $37, 16oz prime rib was served to me just a few degrees above room temperature. It's disappointing that a specialty steakhouse can't even get the simplest of steaks right.
-The flavor of said prime rib was good, but more like $25 good.
-The service was mediocre at best. Not quite Red Lobster on a busy Friday night, but certainly not commensurate with the $120 check at the end of the meal.
Conclusion: Get ready for high prices, spotty service, and don't be afraid to send something back that isn't right. Disappointment may be minimized by going sticking to lunch basics.
Was here a couple of years ago and had one of the best steaks ever.
Recently was here and got the prime rib. It was ok, but not nearly as good as it should've been being 20 feet from where all the cows are.
Really overpriced as well, and on a holiday weekend, looks like Darwin's waiting room.
So we finally made it here on our way down to LA. The thought of (potentially) dining in a stinky room had never been appealing to us, but thankfully, David P was right -- there was no foul smell inside the building.
STEAK: We had the porterhouse and the top sirloin - medium rare. Both were satisfying and of course very meaty, and we appreciated the fact that they were clean and not overly marinated. My sirloin was nicely lean, just how I wanted.
SIDES: Lots of options here, but I'd always go with the vegetable beef soup (very tasty) and the baked yam (so butterly sweet).
SERVICE: No complaints. When our steak was served medium instead of medium-rare, they quickly exchanged it within minutes. They were angels compared to the stuck-up arrogant folks at Peter Luger.
AMBIANCE: Again, thank goodness for the odorless air. It's comfy and relaxing at the booths. Don't forget to visit the gift shop/cafe next door for some souveniors and coffee!
SUM: 4 stars. I would love to revisit, but minus the drive.
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I used to fly light aircraft and I'd stop here on the way back from LA without fail. I also sometimes flew here just to eat.
A caveat to pilots - the runway is narrow and there are obstructions northbound so you need to fly sharp here. Not a lot of room for error.
I always get the prime rib because it's the best I've ever had. We always eat in the bar because people with children usually eat in the Ranch Kitchen and we don't like having our meals punctuated by the shrieking of the little urchins.
The staff has always been friendly to us, the food always great. Because of a medical condition I cannot fly any more but when we have occasion to drive to LA, this is a stop, coming and going.
Please parents, keep your kids out of the bar. I don't want to see or hear them.
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I finally got my chance to stop here and eat on the way to L.A over the 4th of July weekend. Our party of six ate at the Ranch Kitchen. All the choices looked so good that it was very hard determining what I should eat. I finally decided on the prime rib. Oh, my god! The prime rib was absolutely the best piece of meat that I have ever eaten. Excellent!!! Ordered it medium and it came medium well. Both the horseradish and the au jus sauce was a good accompaniment. It is well worth the money.
While I was there, I also got to check out their store. Fine looking store. Very surprised to see them sell other things besides steaks.
I will make this my future #1 rest stop to and from L.A.
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All right, if you're not in a hurry to get up or down California blowing through the Five at 90+ MPH, then stop by and take a load off at Harris Ranch. You know where it is if you've ever driven the I-5. It's where you smell all that cattle and roll up your windows, hit the recirculate button, and up the A/C. Well luckily, the Ranch Inn & Restaurant is about two miles south so you won't catch wind of any of the herd.
Restaurant: Since this is the supplier of beef for Albertsons, Vons, and many steakhouses like Cattlemen's, I think I had pretty high expectations for their steak. C'mon, the source is a hop and skip away! Maybe I have a thing for aged steak or something, but it seemed just okay. Well, I should correct myself. When I say "just okay" I don't mean like Sizzler level. I mean that I probably was expecting something to bounce chain steakhouses like Ruth's Chris or Mortons, but fell a bit short. The prices are a tad higher as well, though they do have two restaurants--one fancy and one casual. There exists a wait during busy nights like Friday and all-day Sunday.
Store: I like the store here. You can get candied snacks and fudge to go. You can also get their steaks to take home and cook for yourself! They're market price (a rib-eye runs $11 or so per pound) but I did get one to grill for myself and it was very flavorful and juicy. It's the same meat they serve in the restaurants, so you can probably buy it for 1/4 the price and DIY when you get home. They also have random knick knacks for the kids and adult travelers... the whole place is very western ranch themed.
All in all, one of the best stops off the I-5. Clean bathrooms, cool little shop, and a place to get your fill of steak, right from the supplier.
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Was excited to hit up Harris Ranch on my drive up to SF from LA. Great location - 200 miles north of LA, just about half way up. I'd come again.
Given that this is a steak place, I was not going to waste my visit and order a sandwich. I'm taking this yelp thing seriously now! As such, for lunch I ordered a rare 16 oz ribeye steak w/ 1/2 1/2 sweet potato & regular fries, with a spinach salad.
Let's start w/ the ribeye:
FLAVOR: Great! Salty, smoky. Every bite was full of taste. Good job!
TEMPERATURE: Poor. Rare ribeyes can't sit out too long after grilling. They need to be served ASAP, and based on the temp, this wasn't. It really takes away from a steak.
TEXTURE: Poor. For a ribeye, was not tender enough & lacked consistent marbling throughout the cut. The only fat was along the edges. We don't order ribeyes for a lean cut. Marbling is a must!
The asparagus served w/ the steak was excellent. So much so that I bought a small bundle of it next store to give to my friend in the Bay Area.
The sweet potato fries were excellent, recommend these over the standard fries.
The spinach salad was good. Nothing fancy. A good hearty salad and I'm glad I got the dressing on the side, as the person's salad next to me basically looked white as it was slathered in so much ranch dressing. The spinach leaves were spot on.
All in all, was disappointed by the steak (Temp, Texture) - but I'll be back on future road trips up to SF.
Best place to stop and eat between the LA and SF drive. Service is okay, but come on, its like a roadside diner with a huge hotel attached to it.
And it smells like sweaty cow butt, but its cool cause so does parts of Chino and Rancho Cucamonga.
Great breakfast platters and open faced ribeye sandwiches.
Check this.
Bone-in ham steak, 3 eggs, toast, country potatoes, fresh squeezed orange juice, $15. Not bad, not bad at all.
Plus they have a cool little shop with all kinds of dope farm stuff, i.e. 20 different kinds of jams and preserves, fudge, cookies, you name it.
I stop every single time I make the drive up to the Bay Area.
This is a must stop for the BF & I whenever we head towards SoCal. Granted that it's super duper smelly out here, but the inside of the restaurants bares none of the stinky smell.
We usually ate at the Ranch Kitchen, the BF tried the porterhouse while I had the pot roast. Both were delicious. But I think I still prefer the tenderloins. The freshness of the food and the friendly service is what I keep coming back here for.
If you ever drive by, try & stop in for a grub.
So, after my initial "Eh" review, I decided to give Harris Ranch a second chance on trip from LA to the SF bay area last summer.
At that point, I had more disposable income and a bigger appetite than I did the first time there, so I opted for a steak. I ordered the ribeye (my favorite cut) which was about $30 and I have to say it was one of the best steaks I've ever had. I asked for it medium and it came medium. Good spices and flavoring, very tender and deliciously fatty (I mean... "marbled". Sounds much classier that way). Don't get me wrong, I'm no connoisseur, but I'd like to think I know a good steak. The only problem was when stepped outside the restaurant afterwards, I almost lost my dinner when I got a whiff of the nearby cattle ranch, but I guess I can forgive that.
So I went one more time on a trip from LA to the bay area a few months later and ordered another ribeye. Somehow, it wasn't as good this time. By the time they served it to me, it was kind of cold, and it was oversalted and overspiced (and I'm someone who piles lots of salt onto everything!). Still good, but not as good as the previous time.
Based on my three trips there, I'd say it averages out to 3 stars. The fact that the food was cold when it was served to me two out of three times might have had to do with the fact that I sat in the bar area, so maybe your mileage will vary if you eat in the regular restaurant area but that's a total guess.
Having read good about Harris Ranch on Yelp and a few other places, I decided I'd give it a try. It… Read more »
When my travel plans take me past Harris Ranch, I make it point to either stop in for lunch or dinner. Why only lunch or dinner you ask; why not breakfast too. Becasue they only serve my favorite dish for lunch and dinner, that's why. What is my favorite dish you ask? Mountain Oysters! That's right, bull testicles.
Harris Ranch is also a great "in between" stop while your on the I-5. They have everything from clean restrooms to a pretty decent cup of coffee at the General Store. Just an all around nice, clean place to take a break from driving.
But again. Harris Ranch has some of the best tasting mountain oysters around. If you don't believe me, just give them a try on your next visit.
You can never go wrong with cheap, quality steaks. I always pass by this rest stop on my way back home from San Diego so stopping here is required for great steak. We ate at the Ranch Kitchen today, which serves steak and eggs all day. For around $15, I got tri tip steak with three eggs over easy, two biscuits, and fruit. The steak was very flavorful and cooked perfectly. Their burgers here are also very good. This restaurant made me feel like I was in Texas with their menu and cowboy decor on the walls. They also have a bar type restaurant, which I have yet to try and also an inn. I'm not sure why you would stay overnight in a small town like this - maybe just for those die-hard steak lovers.
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