El Ranchero Taco Shop

It’s not just that they serve you a side of beans or rice with a simple burrito, or that they have 12 flavors of shaved ice to go with your meal that really gets the five stars.
It’s that the people working there greet you every time, are quick to learn your name, and are friendly. That is what makes a good place to stop and eat.
Oh! And their habanero sauce isn’t just hot, it’s delicious, which is rare.

This taco shop has great food, I’m addicted to their barbacoa tacos. If you want to try authentic barbacoa like the one in jalisco, this is the place to get them. They have great customer service.

I had 3 tacos shrimp, barbacoa and Asada. they were all good lots of flavor. Shrimp was my favorite I also had a raspado it was really sweat. They grill there meat out side. Defently will come back.

The worst California burrito I’ve ever had, I didn’t even finish it all. My mom said her taco was soggy and my stepdad said that his tostada had a stale taste.

This place is really good! Anytime my family and I feel that we are getting a cold or soar throat, we can always count on some hot soup (caldo). Believe it or not, this soup could be the cure for the common cold and hang overs. The spicy broth with a squirt of lime… Mmmmm, mmmm good!

Really tasty food and good customer service… I love coming to this taco shop because it feels friendly and the guy always asking if you need anything or if everything is ok. Also I love the raspados specially the Chamoy with mango, and tamarindo

These are good tacos. Is there really anything else you wanted to know?
Since Unilocal basically demands more words, they offer a very Mexican-​style taco with several ingredients, including fish, barbacoa, and shrimp, all of which are very satisfying. They have several salsas, including a habanero salsa for those of you bold enough to try something really spicy.

Their fish tacos are excellent! I will eat at this taco shop again next time if I stop in this town again.

Hands down the best taco shop in SD I’ve found since moving here in 2008. I used to live close by there when I first came to sd and I will still drive down there from mission valley to get tacos sometimes. The barbacoa tacos are what I get every single time. Hands down best I’ve ever had, and that’s saying a lot. «Best taco»

I’m a total food snob and was very hesitant at first but glad I gave this a try. The place is bomb! I tried fish, barbacoa, al vapor, carne asada and my favorite shrimp! They all were great choices and equally different. The barbacoa was a little dry but not bad. My Bff raved about the tacos de cabeza. They also sell an awesome agua de pina and a super good chamoy raspado! This place is very inexpensive, quiet and surprisingly pretty lonely. perfect for those anti social days :)

We were in the area and needed something quick to eat so I Unilocaled, this place came up, it had 4 stars so we decided to give it a try.
Its a little hole in the wall which I normally don’t mind but its not the cleanest place. I ordered a carne asada burrito and the hubby had a shrimp burrito. For the price I was expecting something bigger so off the bat I was not impressed. My burrito was bland and only had meat and some sort of avocado salsa which is the only thing I could taste. No beans or rice in the burrito although it came with beans on the side that weren’t very good. The Hubby’s burrito was much better. It didn’t have tons of shrimp but it was tasty. His plate came with a side of rice that was neither good nor bad just blah.
The only reason I gave this place 2 stars is because like others have said, the raspados are good. My daughter had a coco and strawberry with lechera on it and it was pretty darn good. I personally wouldn’t come back just based on how dirty the place is but there weren’t many choices and we were short on time.

I love this place for raspados. Their barbacoa is also good. Great cheap Mexican food.

Best raspados!!!

One of the best out there! Small, quick, taco shop feel with authentic mexican food. I’ve always come just for raspados, which are THE BEST, but recently came in for lunch. The carne asada tacos were perfect!

I ordered a cheese only quesadilla. Took about 5mins for food to be served. The quesadilla is made using a large tortilla which then is sliced into three pieces. On top of that, its served wih a side of beans. The price was right. I added a side of green salsa. This salsa was good, not too hot, not salty and a bit tangy. In other words, he salsa was perfectly made. It was spicy enough to wake up your taste buds. I also bought a mangoa amd chamoy raspado. That was a good combination. The refreshment was nice, cold and sweet to reset your tate buds from the spicey queadailla. I gave it 4 stars because the place was well kept and the food was just above average.

This place serves tasty, inexpensive, authentic mexican food. Had the carne asada plate which had a lot of meat, with 4 corn tortillas. The cook grilled the beef outside. Bueno. $ 6.99 I think. A friendly guy from Chiapas behind the counter (Chiapas abuts the border with Guatamala, so deep south).
The salsas are caliente.
Worth a stop if you are in the Chula Vista.

such sweet workers! i didn’t know what barbacoa was (my limited spanish could not save me) so they gave me a sample. ended up getting the birria, cabeza, and carne asada tacos. all were yummmmy!
my friend loves the raspado, mexican shaved ice thing. they have many flavors for you to mix and match: chamoy, tamarindo, mango, pineapple, etc. and freshly squeezed lime juice! the workers, again, were super sweet and gave us extra ice if we needed it.
i’m realizing to go closer to the border for good hospitality and delicious, authentic mexican food!

This place is great.
Strategically located right down the street from my house too! The guys working here are always very nice and very helpful. Service with a smile.
and the food! The food is really good. I always try to get something different when I come but no matter what I get I always leave happy.

I liked this place, I had the Fish, Shrimp, Barbacoa Tacos, and a Mango/​Chamoy Raspado… bomb!
I wanted to try the shrimp cocktail but I was already full, salsa’s were pretty good here to, few people from work came and most of them like the food here too! I would recommend trying it!

Went here tonight with my 2 buddies… one of which lives right down the road and has said how good this place was. Some parts were good, some were just ok. I ordered 2 barbacoa tacos, 1 fish taco, 1 carne asada taco and a Coke. Here is how they stacked up…
Barbacoa– Best barbacoa taco that Ive ever had. These things were massive! Double corn tortilla which was slightly crisp and it was stuffed with tender meat, salsa and cilantro. Easily the best taco out of the bunch and I would definitely get them again.
Fish Taco– I ordered it without white sauce… even said so on the receipt. Guess what? It came with white sauce. I grabbed it and just ate it. The fish was good. It would have been a good taco except for the sauce.
Carne Asada– Meh… I didnt even finish it. It was gristly, and tasted like plain beef. No flavor/​seasoning whatsoever. It was one of the worst carne asada tacos I can remember ever eating.
Overall this place was just alright. The tacos are gigantic. They aren’t the small street that Im used to. The Coke was $ 1.40 and it was just a can of Coke… not even the Mexican Coke in a bottle. $ 11.50 for my food which was alright, but the white sauce mixup, and the crappy carne asada make this dinner just average at best. If I was at my buddies house, I would come here again and stick to the barbacoa only… that my friends is good eats. I wouldnt drive down here though to eat here again. Especially when TJ is only another 4 exits down the road. My buddies seemed to enjoy their food though (fish tacos, birria tacos, adobada tacos) and it was good times hanging out with them so the trip wasn’t a total lost cause.