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Taqueria El Rancho Grande
Category: Restaurants [Edit]
Neighborhood: East Boston300 Bennington St
(between Bremen St & Chelsea St)
Boston, MA 02128
(617) 561-5111
- Nearest Transit:
-
Wood Island (Blue)
4 reviews for Taqueria El Rancho Grande
Excellent, fresh, super-cheap Mexican fare makes the not-so-fresh room easier to overlook.
Eastie's Day Square is home to Taqueria El Rancho Grande, an utterly unprepossessing little room serving fabulously fresh-tasting Mexican. A fiery, finely pureed tomato salsa with good tortilla chips sets the tone. We hear a blender whirring in the kitchen shortly after we order guacamole ($4): out comes a good cup's worth, creamy and zingy as yogurt, with maybe a tang of tomatillo. The three tacos on the El Rancho platter ($8) let us sample gamey goat, zippy pork and green chilis, and rich, stringy chunks of beef cheek (cabeza, a Sunday special), reminiscent of short ribs, in soft corn tortillas with onions and cilantro, plus lemons for squeezing and two salsas (the red is hot, the brown habanero-hot.) Spicy, runny refried beans and savory rice round out the dish. Enchiladas de pollo mole poblano ($9) are richly, gloriously sauced with a complex, umber chocolate mole. We can't recall many tastier Mexican lunches in Boston, and the check is under $20.
I'm all about hole-in-the-wall Eastie eateries, but this particular taqueria really didn't wow me.
First of all, you've got to have homemade chips. This place did not. The salsa was OK, but very spicy, watery, and thin. I was impressed with the guacamole, however, As MCslimJB pointed out, they make it fresh as soon as you order it. Some may not like it because the consistency is very yogurt-esque and not chunky. However, I enjoyed the guacamole very much.
I ordered shrimp with "special sauce" and garlic. The flavors were good, but it was extremely oily. Additionally, the shrimp were served with the shells on them. It made it difficult to eat if I didn't want to make a huge mess of myself. I've often ordered shrimp at Mexican restaurants and never has it been served with the shells. Apparently you are suppose to suck off the "special sauce", peel the shells, and then eat the shrimp itself. I prefer the shrimp to be edible while smothered in sauce.
Rice and beans was OK. The "salad" was disappointing... it was literally two pieces of iceberg lettuce and a slice of tomato.
Service was terrible, and the credit card machine was not working, which they didn't tell us until we had to pay. The other patrons were young men downing bottles upon bottles of Mexican beer. Cool, do your thing, but I don't think they were of age and they were being loud and disruptive.
I won't be back.
Don't let "Taqueria" in the name fool you. This isn't exactly fast food or a counter-style taco and burrito joint.
The menu is filled with a variety of plates - including healthy portions of enchiladas, steak, and fish dishes. We had basic enchiladas in a red chile sauce, a burrito al pastor and guacamole. Both came with rice and beans, decent fresh salsa.
The guac was good but too thin and light on lime and cilantro. Would have loved some chunks.
As the search for good Mexican food in Boston continues this family-owned joint deserves a return trip.
My favorite Mexican place in the area.
