El Ranchito Michoacano

Great authentic Mexican food! They have mole verde which is really hard to find! It was fantastic! The whole party enjoyed the meal! We’re not from the area, but we Will definitely be making the drive back to come here!

Amazing food! Employees were so friendly. A little bit spendy, but the quality of the food makes it worth it! If you want a darn good margarita this is your place!

After trying many restaurants in Waukegan, today my wife and my self decided to try El Ranchito Michoacano wow the the food was delish the seviche for apettizer was superb, enchiladas costeñas and the mariscada was to kill for it the service was excellent the place is clean for sure we will go back, price range is decent the owner went by a couple of times to insure things were good, highly recommended thumbs-​up!

Damn good food … in a clean, festive environment. What else could you ask for?
Today, I had the enchilada meal (to go). It comes with three enchiladas (I chose chicken), rice and beans. The price is a little heavy, but you get what you pay for, and it is very good quality.
Teresa (the owner), is awesome. She is friendly and has a great work ethic; both of which appear to rub off on her staff.
Keep up the good work!

My husband and I have been here twice and it will now become our spot since we live so close and we love it. Food is delicious! Service is spectacular and drinks are cheap. Food is a bit expensive but well worth it!

The food was very authentic and delicious. However, If you are a fan of Mexican-​American this place is not for you, though. The menu is also seafood heavy, so if you don’t like seafood you may not like the smell of this place. Overall I really enjoyed my chimichanga and the cheese dip is a must order!

Wow! Super impressed with this place. I have to point out that some of the bad reviews about this place are for the restaurant that was here before this. That place was gnarly. Anyhow, El Ranchito was very pretty inside! Really pretty paint on the walls, lots of nice, live plants, decent lighting and CLEAN. The night we went, there were 2 acoustic guitar players playing, not miked, so it was a good sound level. Service was extremely friendly. The food was so delicious. It was lent so they had some not-​so-​standard fare such as pumpkin blossom quesadillas. I was boring, though, and got shrimp mojo de ajo and it hit the spot. Nicely cooked and nice and garlicky. My husband got grilled shrimp and fried catfish, which he loved. Both meals came with rice and sautéed vegetables! Yay! Fresh sautéed vegetables! There were carrots, poblanos, mushrooms, red and green bell peppers. This made me very happy. I don’t really like going out to eat that often around Waukegan because it’s too heavy and fatty and processed so seeing fresh veggies was welcome. There were some other unusual things on the menu as well such as quail. They also have some good drinks besides regular margaritas and beer. I had a mezcal margarita. Yum! They have a spicy margarita and quite a wine selection. So, I say, get on over there! Definitely one of the best restaurants in the area. Ooh! I almost forgot: House made tortillas!!!

Wow — what a fabulous restaurant.
The food melts in your mouth. Great flavors, great taste and carefully selected ingredients.
You will find some awesome Mexican treats here that you cannot find anywhere else. The seafood selection is huge. You get the regular Enchiladas to Tacors to Rellanos to some very authentic dishes.
The guacamole was fresh and tasty — the only gripe was the chips were a little oily.
Great food with friendly service.
We ordered coconut flan which was out of this world. The server told us later that it was on the house!
What a delightful restaurant in the middle of Waukegan, IL.

Big fan of this place. As far as Waukegan goes it’s probably the most authentic Mexican right now IMO. It’s the only Mexican restaurant my picky father frequents and for me that says a lot!

Menu très varié! très bons plats composés de poissons ou crustacées mais également de steak. Le cocktail «Jamaïque» très frais avec le rhum coco. Les petits apprécieront le pineapple water (qui est un jus d’ananas rafraîchissant donc vraiment bien après une longue route)
Les tortillas Corn (farine de mais) sont meilleurs que celles dites «flour» (farine de blés).

Staff very friendly and quick. Multiple people checking on us. Food was great. Had the chilaquiles-​awesome!
Super frosted beer mugs and extra limes without asking — little things that matter!

Service was below average… Took long to get to table each time (not busy). Not very friendly. Salsa is runny and little flavor. The steak fajitas are the worst I have ever had. Stack is like leather straps!!! Only good thing is the margarita, and out door seating area. Good luck!

I went there this afternoon, guacamole extremely salty they remade it for us which was nice and the food i ordered was good until i asked for a spicier salsa. The salsa was alive omg it was bubbling and it had a nasty after taste. the server was a sweetheart though she took my plate back and the lava they called salsa. I was asked if i wanted anything else, but i was afraid to try

Great margaritas and tasty food! Service was excellent and the salsa was bomb diggity. I’ll be back fo sho.

Not great. It is ok only ok and in the immediate area there is a lot of very very good options. The asada for the tacos was bland. The Acapulco was dry and disappointing. In a restaurant that boasts of the seafood the ceviche was disappointing. Nothing was wrong just not to the level of even good. Service was friendly but slow.

Great food and service. We had their menudo, pollo ranchero (chicken was bone in), margaritas, shrimp cocktail, camarones a limon, and a burrito. We all loved what we ordered. Would def return.

I came here alot as a kid with my parents & years later i come here with my own family as well, Its always clean, great service, & the food speaks for itself. Owners are really friendly too, they always greet me walking in and are very attentive while we are visiting. The hand made tortillas are my weakness but then again so is the tortilla soup. Im not sure why anyone would go anywhere else.

I am going to agree with the positive reviews on here, and I found nothing objectionable during my experience with this restaurant. I am guessing that the reason why the restaurant is somewhat empty is that Waukegan has a crowded field when it comes to Mexican restaurants, and I am sure it is a cut throat business trying to stand out among many options in this town.
The food here was really good, and I had very generous helpings. I will agree with the person who put the less than stellar review of this place about the chips and salsa because I will admit that the salsa was a bit watery. However, the actual entrée was totally fine, and everything tasted great with the portion size being very generous. One will not be disappointed with the food at this restaurant.
The décor and atmosphere of the restaurant was wonderful, and I really liked how the interior was decorated. The place is really clean, and the place is pretty quiet for those who want to have an intimate meal. Some Mexican restaurants can be quite loud especially if they have their televisions blaring Unison or Telemundo, but this place is very low key with this place being the perfect one for a night out with the family or group.
The service here was quite good, and I liked how attentive the staff was. I just had to look over at the server for her to come over without even having to wait.
Overall, this is a great option for dine in Mexican food, and this restaurant is worth the trip even for those outside of Waukegan.

I find the bad reviews on here befuddling. The food, the atmosphere, and the service are fantastic. The ceviche has been perfect every time we order it (my wife an I usually order a large to split between us, which is way more ceviche than anyone should ever eat at once, but…) One of my favorite dishes is the Enchiladas Oaxaquena, which is a pork enchilada with mole. Absolutely to die for. You can also go with the traditional mexican fare and you will be pleased with your food.

I decided to take my parents here for their anniversary. Mistake.
Margaritas were mediocre. I could have done the same with Smirnoff and pre made mix. We had the ceviche and there was a TON of salt in it. I’m Mexican and I know we like our lime and salt but oh my word, it was high blood pressure waiting to happen.
I had the shrimp and octopus cocktail, I was really craving some good seafood, plain nasty. The seafood tasted like thawed meat, no flavor or lime, salt, spice, nothing. My husband had the enchiladas, just as gross. Dad had sopes, flavorless and mom had the chilaquiles, which were un spicy and unflavored.
The food was MEDIOCRE to say the least. More like nasty thawed water. And our waiter was waaaayy dumb. Every question we asked he didn’t know the answer of neither did he offered to find out.
DONT GO HERE FOR AUTHENTIC FOOD!!!

I wanted to give them 2.5 stars, but since that isn’t possible, they were more diserving of a 2 than a 3.
Let’s start with the service, and the environment. These were both good. The staff was extremely friendly, and the environment was nice, and pretty quiet. A friend and I went on a Saturday for lunch.
The food, on the other hand, was a huge let down.
The h’orchata was good, although it had a bit of a strange after taste. Not nearly the best I’ve had, but not the worst, either.
They provided free chips and salsa. Only one type of salsa, and it was very watery. It wasn’t at all spicy, nor was it satisfying or tasty.
We ordered one Tostada de Ceviche, and it was very very salty. You couldn’t taste any fish – the only flavor you really tasted was sodium.
For the main course, we ordered the 2-​person seafood dinner. The menu said it included octopus, but there was none to be found. All of the food was very bland and dry. It included flavorless fried Kalamari, flavorless fried bass, green mussels and rice (which was the only thing that had some semblance of a flavor, and wasn’t terribly bad), fried vegetables to make fajitas with, and shrimp that was still shelled, split, and fried. You had to spend a lot of time picking apart the shrimp.
Overall, despite the friendly staff, the food was some of the worst I’ve ever had at any restaurant. I would not go back, nor would I recommend it to a friend.
The prices were reasonable, but not anything spectacular for Mexican cuisine. $$