Mi Ranchito Mexican Restaurant

Their salsas are BAE. And you know everything you need to know about a Mexican joint from the salsa.

Alas I believe my fellow Unilocalers may have led me astray this time… the lobster chimichanga and scallop burrito looked so amazing! So I sent the hubby on a pickup trip to get us some lunch from here. Oops…
Back at home, we excitedly dug in. Yuck… Both were sadly very salty and dry! They gave us 3 kinds of salsa too but none were spicy. Luckily we had Tapatio at home. I always get hot carrots and jalapeños too, I love those so the hubby got some as well. When I opened the container up though, they are dry as heck and hardly had any taste! Unfortunately, I think probably the worst I’ve ever had. I had to remake them and put them in the fridge to be pickled further. In the end, I did not have any desire to finish the rest of my food.
Well, at least now I can check this place off my list. Next time you’ll find me at Vallartas in Mira Mesa!

I really wanted to like this place, so after one visit that left me very disappointed I tried again, ordering bunch of different food. Still, not so good.
I’m surprised by the lack of flavor in the food. I had a variety of burritos and tacos. The best taste was (as other reviewers have noted) the seafood; but the burrito is 10% seafood and 90% cabbage. The quality and taste of the carne asada left me feeling like I’d eaten steak-​ums (remember those?).
Unfortunately I can’t afford to sacrifice another meal. I can only guess that in Poway people appreciate Mexican food with little flavor; few miles south and the stars would be less I think.

Yes, the fish tacos are good and two of them can be had fr 4.99 on Tuesdays between 3 – 9.

Got the grilled chicken burrito today, it was great. I walked in and ordered at the counter and the burrito took no more than ⁴⁄₅ minutes to make. Most burritos have a ton of rice in them as filler, and makes them bland sometimes… These burritos however have very little to no rice in them and instead used diced tomatoes, cheese, etc to create a much more flavorful burrito. Service (at least from what you can expect from a take out order) was fantastic as well, and the guy at the counter was very friendly and personable. Definitely recommend this place, they have a big menu too!

I just had the worst carne asada burrito! The meat, what little was in there, was flavorless and waaaay over priced! $ 6.75 which should have been a $ 4 burrito. I felt like I was eating more tortilla than anything. Plus the tortilla tasted like from a grocery store. Very disappointed! Won’t be going there again.

Killer combos and single tocos! Salsa bar had fantastic selection and we went home with extra so great portions too.
No AC when we went but they had a real nice patio so no worries there.

Proper Mexican food needed? Come to this place.
Loads of choices, fresh, great service — Mi Ranchito is your choice.

Best customer service & nicest employees here. This place is clean & has a nice patio area. We live in Del Sur but it’s worth the drive & not far off the fwy. Love the seafood selection. They also have kids meals! And a nice salsa bar & they cater. I had the lobster burrito & my husband had the Mahi & mango. The food is out of control great & very moderately priced for the quality.

We recently moved to the area and tried this place out last night. The man working the counter was super nice and very helpful. He steered me to a grilled fish burrito which I chose the mahi-​mahi. I’m not a huge fish person but I’m glad I tried this! The fish was fresh, the flavors were excellent, and the combination of sweet (mango) and spicy was perfect. My son had the bean and cheese burrito and it was an enthusiastic two thumbs up from him. The beans were delicious (the kind you want to eat every day but probably shouldn’t! ;-)
We will definitely be back! I can’t wait to try several other items on the menu. You can definitely tell they care about the quality of their food.

This was a decent mexican joint, but it was incredibly hot, also the soda machine didn’t have water and the salsa bar wasn’t spectacular. Most of the salsas offered tasted the same and the Habanero was disappointing… definitely not hot.
I wish we had ordered the seafood, hopefully the sign is true and its truly fresh. The tortilla was «okay» and the food was decent, but on the expensive side. I think the quality was a little better than FreshMex and there are free chips and salsa. I’m just not sure if this place stands out enough outside the seafood offering, which again, we should have tried.

Wow, why have I not tried this place sooner?! Definitely somewhat of a hidden gem. or maybe just overlooked too often. I’ve lived in PQ/​Carmel Mtn area my whole life and always just skipped over this place, but I’m super glad I finally gave this a shot!
Walk in and the place isn’t your typical taco shop, it definitely (as its name states. obviously) has more of a restaurant like feel. like a hybrid between taco shop and full sit down restaurant.
Their menu is more seafood based, but they still have your standard items as well. The staff was very friendly, and the place was well kept.
We opted for the lobster burrito/​fish taco combo and 4 rolled tacos (beef). Oh and did I mention free (fresh and warm) chips? MMMM.
Their salsas were pretty good. at least according to my boyfriend. Uhm if you’ve read any of my reviews you’d know I have the wimpiest spice tolerance ever. Their mild one was pretty good though and not too spicy for me! Just enough of a kick with sweetness. and fresh too.
Food comes and its a good hefty serving. Seafood was fresh and I really liked their rice. I do wish the burrito had slightly more fill, the first few bites were overwhelmingly tortilla-​y. Once you get to the heart of it though it’s flavorful and filling. The only meh thing was that some bites of the lobster did seem too salty, but not eh enough to knock a star. it’s still that good! Of course for $ 11.95 for the combo, you definitely still get your money’s worth.
The rolled tacos were also great, filled to the ends, unlike some places that end up basically being rolled chips at the ends. Tip– order a side of extra guacamole and/​or sour cream if you want more sauce than just the cheese and salsa.
We didn’t even finish our food and ended taking it home. I highly recommend giving this place a shot, I regret all those wasted years. wah haha. We will definitely be returning soon to try out more from the menu, and oh boy I can’t wait!

Yum town!
This first timer is impressed. I ordered the lobster burrito and fish taco combo, but really I could have just got the burrito. It was so much food!
The lobster burrito is incredible! Even the next day it was great.
Complimentary chips and a fresh salsa bar too!
I love that the menu has a variety of items, including vegetarian options. There really is something for everyone. They also have daily specials like Taco Tuesday.
And now I’m hungry again just talking about it.

Man this place is the BOMB!
Shrimp and fish burrito was very tasty. I also added a shark taco. The Salsa fresca is not usually my thing but damn — the pineapple sweetness mixed with their incredible salsas was legit!
White sauce was off the chain too.
As for salsa bar. The Chile Arbol and Habanero sauces were 8 stars. Habanero isn’t fire scorch but has a tasty slow burn that I appreciated.
I mixed the two and slammed a bowl of free chips.
Service is great as the big man behind the counter, is the nicest guy ever. Clearly proud of what they serve.
Must try!

Welcome to San Diego, where you can find Mexican food more easily than Starbucks. And it’s all pretty decent. But this place ain’t just decent. It’s the best. Hands down.
Their seafood always tastes fresh, their carne asada is as soft as butta, and their salsas are on fleek. Seriously though, their chile de arbol salsa is my favorite salsa in the world… And I pride myself as a connoisseur of the spice.
The dudes working here are always super nice and have a smile on their faces. I guess I would smile too if I was around this bomb food all of the time. One time I came here and there was a long wait (which is worth it for their burritos) and the manager came out to apologize and assure everyone that they were working on things.
In conclusion, eat here.

This place is absolutely wonderful! Excellent service, beautiful décor, and delicious food! I always order the pollo asada fries here and the lobster burrito. The portions are huge and whenever I come back to San Diego, I always come by here and get food. This place is run by a family and they are always very polite. Also, with every meal, you get free chips and salsa! So yummy!

We ordered two fish burritos here after reading many good reviews about it. The burritos were extremely dry and did not taste food at all. Very poor experience.
I’m sure that some of their other food is good, but the fish burrito definitely missed the mark by a longshot.

Not sure why I didn’t realize this place existed, but glad I know now.
At first glance it appears to be a regular SD taco shop. You order and pay up front and they bring the food to your table.
The menu is quite extensive so I asked for a recommendation from the guy at the counter. He suggested a fish dish that had sweet sauce but I told him I was more of a spicy kind of girl. He told me that I needed to get carnitas with chili colorado so I did.
They provided a basket of warm chips and you can grab salsa from the salsa bar. I tried all 4 and the green had the best flavor. Would’ve been perfect if it was 10 levels hotter.
When the dish came I was wishing I had brought a few friends with me so we could all have lunch. It was HUGE! (Worth the $ 12) It came with small
flour tortillas, guacamole, rice, and beans. The sauce was so tasty. The spicy flavor reminded me of New Mexico red sauce. The pork was perfectly cooked and the rice and beans were average. (Hard to rate because the plate had so much sauce)
I took the rest of the plate home and had 2 additional meals from it.
This is a solid place to grab some Mexican food if you’re in the PQ area.

Small place. Great service. The fajitas can be ordered «naked» so they are paleo friendly. Try them before they end up moving to a bigger place, so you can say, «yeah, I remember when they were in this little shop»
Ok. Here’s a tip. Order one order of chicken and steak fajitas on the same plate, naked. Paleo heaven. See the picture for what you get.

After being in rancho penasquitos for quite awhile now, I never realized this Mexican shop existed until it randomly popped up on Unilocal.
Probably because its located in the big plaza with McDonalds next to the freeway, and when you’re passing by, you just drive straight to the freeway and not notice anything else in there.
FOOD:
Lobster Burrito and Fish Taco Combo $ 11.95
I have never seen any other place that puts seafood into their burritos besides shrimp. This place had lobster, scallops, calamari and much more ! So wtheck i gave it a try. I would love to point out that they use a special tortilla unlike the regular flour or corn. It is called Chipotle Tortilla. It is more dark colored, i almost thought it was whole wheat but it was totally different. its more crispier and a slight flavor. I enjoyed it very much except something about the lobster meat seemed too salty. Maybe it was drenched in too much butter, not sure.
The fish taco was really good. They only served a skinny piece of fish but it was super crunchy ! It was topped off with cabbage and a light white sauce.
I asked for no beans since i dont like beans. But I did get the rice. The rice was quite unique. It was not like the usual rice that tastes like tomato sauce, it tasted more like Mediterranean rice. It had corn and greens in it and tasted kind of powdery like a curry flavored rice.
Calamari Burrito $ 9.95
This burrito was absolutely delicious ! It felt more like a cross between a burrito and a healthy wrap ! Oh my, this was the most healthiest burrito I’ve ever tasted. It had fresh lettuce and veggies, and the fried calamari was perfectly cooked. It was oily or greasy. It was simply healthy and good.
It was great that they also served us a complimentary side of tortilla chips.
Surprisingly the chips were warm like they have been recently baked. They were also crispy and addicting.
I did also ask for a side of enchilada sauce. Did not like it. Tasted like a tomato mild hot sauce kind of soup.
Overall, this place is a great alternative for healthy Mexican food. They have a HUGE menu and a lot more variety than all other shops. They also offer vegetarian burritos with whole wheat tortilla as well. I recommend checking this place out at least once before you judge !