El Rancherito

Had a great lunch here today. I’m an al pastor fan and they serve up some of the best I’ve had and very generous with the serving. Salsa was on point and tasty horchata. The lady working the register/​serving was great, she seemed amused by my «confused white boy» jokes. 4 hours later and still full but want more. The beans on the chips was a little suprising but good. Will definitely go out of my way for another meal here.

You just can’t go wrong with this place and their staff here is honest and hard-​working. Always a pleasure to stop by here and get something. Chicken and asada tacos are outstanding, and OMG the caldo de pollo (chicken soup). Just stop by and check it out. Damn delicious, friendly, and quick. You won’t be disappointed.

I haven’t written a review in very long time but I thought this place more than deserves a 5-​star review. Friendly, warm, and generous staff. And just like the previous reviews, this place serves authentic, fresh, and delicious Mexican food. Will be my go to spot from now on for Mexican food.

Good atmosphere and the workers are very friendly. And food ohh my god this is best Mexican resturent in town … I always order no:28 mojarra Frits … … And the price is very reasonable… They had a different kind Ko sauce. Red spicy salca is the best one … Good food I will defenately keep coming …

Perfect. You get a gigantic breakfast burrito and chips and beans for less than five dollars. This might be the cheapest burrito in the l.a. area, but don’t quote me on that. The burrito was also delicious. Had a lot of heat to the eggs chorizo mix

My go to place for tacos! They have dollar tacos Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday! The salsas are always fresh and spicy. The workers are extremely friendly as well. Order Over the phone and your tacos are ready in less that 10 minutes!

The food here is amazing!
Recommend it to anyone who’s trying to find a good Mexican Restaurant.

Nice friendly ppl. Food was nice and the prices are really cheap. Would definitely be back.

This place has bomb food for a low a price. I stop here at least once a week. The tacos and menudo are a must try.

Mexican food is one of my favorites so I am very picky about it but this place has met my expectations on authentic Mexican food. I had the taco plate that comes with three tacos of asada, rice, fried beans and chips, the portions were very generous and the meat was probably the best asada I’ve had so far in tacos since they usually give you super toasted and chewy meat but this one was perfect! All for the total of $ 7. I’m definitely coming back! Give it a try.
FYI though this place does not have AC :/

Been coming here for years now and the food is always good and so are the Aguas frescas. They also have a little market right behind the restaurant.

Followed fellow Unilocal reviewers advice and got the tacos. Boy were they delicious! Tacos are $ 1.39. They have a special I believe on Tuesdays and Wednesdays for only $ 1. The taco plate was presented well, they give you loads of protein and a portion of chips with beans on top (I love beans). Service was great, they were calling my friends and I all their amigos.
It’s located right next to a carniceria, so you know they keep that meat fresh. It’s a bit of a drive, however I plan to be back for the taco special sometime! The tacos were that good. It gives me a peace of mind that they have an A rating (: The downsides are that there were no apparent restrooms and they only had fans, no AC. Food is definitely authentic and great quality.

Big menu. Cheap tacos after 4. And delicious meat!

Taco special Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday $ 1.00 each. Very fast and friendly staff. Walking distance.

My new Mexican place here in Van Nuys! Call them they take order over the phone! Everything is good here from the Mexican food to the Horchata/​Fresh Fruit drinks! Best of all Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 4pm-​10pm is $ 1 TACOS! ($ 1 TACOS: chicken, al pastor (marinated pork), carne asada, Chorizo). the food is well priced and delicious, my biggest regret is not finding this place sooner as ‘ve been living in Van Nuys my whole life, always drive by this place but never went in!!! Great staff too!

First time at this restaurant. Staffs are very nice. A lot of selections. I ordered the menudo and al pastor tacos. Boy… that menudo is so good. tender and tasty. They gave a bit of part of beef bone that still has some tendon muscle and it so tender too. i haven’t eat any menudo as tender as this one. The taco is so good too… want to order more but my tummy and my cholesterol said STOp come back next time. so i did.

El Rancherito is a Restaurant and Market separate buildings… I stopped by the restaurant strictly for some tacos but after looking over their large menu selection… I didn’t know where to stop!
Peeps are super friendly and food didn’t take much time to be served, though all the food was good, I gotta keep it real and put them on blast for one item and I’ll explain later.
Tacos —
Carne Asada —
Nicely grilled lean meat with good flavor, they have a variety of salsa’s from their self serve salsa bar! 4-​Star
Al Pastor —
Heavily marinated piggy, caramelized onions and pieces of pineapple, they must use pineapple juice in their marinade it was overkill… 3-​Stars
Birria de Res —
For you gabachos that’s Beef, the broth was clean and had great flavor, beef was fairly lean just a little fat
an excellent dish that I’d recommend to anyone. 4.5-Stars
What time is it, Time to Keep it Real…
Torta Ahogada — IF I were to review the torta for flavor only, I’d have to say 3.5-Star… so what’s the issue, say you?
A Torta Ahogada is a typical sandwich from Guadalajara Jalisco Mexico and SHOULD look something like this
a birote salado filled with pork carnitas, the torta is dipped in a tomato based sauce which is slightly spicy, the torta is generally ordered media ahogada or bien ahogada and if you wish it spicier they have a spicier sauce they dip it in, but as you can see from the photo it’s a thinner sauce.
El Rancherito’s version of a Torta Ahogada —
Again YES it tasted good, the point is it’s far from what it’s supposed to be.
1) They use a Boilillo and NOT a Birote Salado, the difference is the birote is more like a French roll, firmer outside and the dough is salted, it holds up to the wetness, the boilillo get’s soggy.
2) The Ahogada — for you gabachos that’s the drowning or Wet, NOT the traditional style sauce they just dump salsa on top.
3) Non-​Traditional toppings, Lettuce, Cheese, Tomato, Sour Cream, Avocado…
Torta Ahogada —
Authentic Torta Ahogada it’s NOT = #Fail
But if you could care less about having an Authentic Guadalajars Torta Ahogada, this one is pretty tasty! the Carnitas were real nice, the salsa was HOT, the only mess was the soggy bread.
Torta Ahogada — Zero Stars
Taste — 3.5-Stars

Tacos are great. Juices made fresh. Salsas are good. The Staff is pleasant especially the main cook. Excellent Mexican food. The only thing is that the place itself doesn’t appear very clean and not very neat. But other than that this place is great. The food is top notch.