Rancho Alegre
At Rancho Alegre, recommended by gemini10, are looks deceiving? 52 Flavors of New York City writes, "We'd walked past this upstairs place on 7th Ave many times and shrugged; looked kinda cheesey-tacky Mexican... We ordered a half-pitcher of frozen margaritas for $18, which filled our small margarita glasses multiple times. At first I was skeptical (which was a bit of a theme for this restaurant experience) because I'd never seen margaritas quite that color of green before, sort Nickelodeon slime-green or something, but they were actually very tasty, no complaints there."
Cauldar on IgoUgo writes, "Friendly, rotund Mexican servers in bright green shirts serve food when they aren't standing in the back talking to the cooks. The music is primarily of the Mexican/German polka variety, and the decor is simple and mercifully free of memorabilia nailed to the walls." And Jenny Feldman for New York magazine writes, "There’s a fairly generic though not un-authentic assortment of college student grub like quesadillas and a mediocre selection of tequila. The extensive line-up of cheap combination platters, with greasy but tasty enchiladas, crisp tacos, and decently overstuffed burritos, is a good way to sample a little of everything." How would you rate this place?
Reviews (25)
gemini10 wrote a review on April 17, 2009 12:09 PM
KARA!!! - MY New BFF!
love that!
My Review:
This place has solid Mexican food - the super burritos are delish. Their specials can be really good too. The people that work there are super friendly and helpful
Really dig this place!
InsertSnappyNameHere wrote a review on April 17, 2009 12:10 PM
Flat out yummy and cheap! Waitstaff is also extremely nice. I rarely get treated that well anywhere.
East New York wrote a review on April 17, 2009 12:16 PM
Agree...good food of its kind and friendly staff.
toadie wrote a review on April 17, 2009 12:20 PM
Nothing here is spectacular, but everything is nice. I like it for a relaxed, casual meal. I particularly like the view of 7th Ave, and the fact that it's seldom as crowded as most of the other local Mexican places.
mopar wrote a review on April 17, 2009 12:25 PM
This place has truly outstanding, homemade mole sauce. (I normally do not care for mole.) Everything else I've had there has been mediocre, including the margaritas. It is absolutely worth a special trip for the mole sauce. Everything else you just kind of have to suffer.
bktycoon wrote a review on April 17, 2009 12:29 PM
This atmosphere is pretty cool but the food is average at best. Sure, its cheap but you get what you pay for. For mexican on 7th avenue, La Tacqueria is definitely the spot to hit up.
Kris wrote a review on April 17, 2009 12:32 PM
I respectfully disagree with the other reviewers. Actually, I am genuinely baffled that this place has fans. But I guess that's why it is still in business.
I only went there once, so maybe it was a horribly off night, but my opinion is that this place stinks on ice. Mexican food is perhaps my favorite cuisine of all time. I generally like all incarnations of it, including grungy Tex-Mex places like this one. However, the food here is spectacularly bad. Everything tasted like rancid vegetable oil. The watery strawberry margarita I had tasted like a combination of faux-strawberry syrup and bleach -- no joke. Now I am not one to leave an alcoholic beverage sitting on the table, but I just couldn't finish it. Yuck.
Prior to dining here, I thought it was impossible to really mess up Mexican food. But I was wrong. So very wrong.
For the dubious honor of worst restaurants I've ever dined in, in my entire life, it's a tie between this place and Lemongrass Grill right up the Avenue.
Park Place wrote a review on April 17, 2009 12:32 PM
Yummy and cheap- as people have noted.
What's really stands out about this place is it has that 'old park slope/old downtown ny' vibe in that it's not overly polished and that it's on the second floor of a brownstone. There are very few second floor avenue business left- brooklyn and the east and west village used to be filled with them. The home grown vibe is also really nice-
SJ wrote a review on April 17, 2009 12:39 PM
I have to agree with Kris. In my opinion, this place used to be good prior to a change in management about 2 years ago. Under the new management, the place has seriously gone down hill. I'd love to be able to support it because it's been there forever and supporting local businesses is what I'm all about, but it's simply not possible.
denton wrote a review on April 17, 2009 12:50 PM
My kid claimed this is the best place in the slope to get served booze underage.
zeebee_in_bklyn wrote a review on April 17, 2009 12:52 PM
Love the low-key Park Slope vibe, friendly service and food here. The mole is exceptional, everything else is pretty good and the free Kahlua shot at the end of the meal is an added bonus.
SnarkSlope wrote a review on April 17, 2009 12:54 PM
I'm with Kris on this place. I went once, and it was bad enough not to merit a second chance.
gemini10 wrote a review on April 17, 2009 12:54 PM
Denton - that's hilarious!
does he then go and hang out in front of Pinos and PS 321 on Friday nights ;)
doreen delpurgatorio wrote a review on April 17, 2009 1:00 PM
"Rancho Mediocre" is more like it. I agree with the comment above that it all went to crap a couple of years ago. Nice people, but the food is substandard.
Kara wrote a review on April 17, 2009 1:38 PM
gemini10 - I've been writing for Brownstoner and the Brooklyn Record for years and that's the nicest comment I've ever gotten. Awww. Thanks for the reviews, guys, and happy Friday!
blackstoner wrote a review on April 17, 2009 1:52 PM
good food, casual vibe, quick & friendly service
i really like 2nd floor restaurants, they're a dying breed
Brownstones Half Off wrote a review on April 17, 2009 3:55 PM
Recommended. Been there twice in the span of 10 years and they're still standing. That speaks if not for frequency. Decent spot. Last time, the waiter made me laugh so service gets 4. Give it a go.
***Bid half off peak comps***
Sparafucile wrote a review on April 17, 2009 5:39 PM
I'm pretty sure this is the first Park Slope restaurant I ever ate in, in 1986. I don't remember the food being particularly good, but maybe there's something to be said for a place that has been around at least since the height of the neighborhood's second wave of yuppification.
History of Brownstone Brooklyn gentrification:
First Wave : 'Brownstone Revival' of late 1960s -early 1970s
Second Wave: Gordan Gecko Wall Street era
Third Wave: It's Giuliani Time!
Fourth Wave: Early 2000s housing bubble
nycdelisauce wrote a review on April 17, 2009 6:08 PM
Can't really remember the food but Rancho was definitely the place to go for booze when I was in high school.
BrooklynLove wrote a review on April 17, 2009 7:49 PM
what was the name of the old tex mex joint on 7th ave and 3rd street back in the day (late 80s/early 90s)? alamo maybe? that place was way better than this joint.
can you put up the old time snookys for review? back when it had the salad bar and video games. that place was the shiznit back then but now it's W-H-A-C-K.
Brownstones Half Off wrote a review on April 17, 2009 7:49 PM
Fifth Wave: WWIII (ten years from now)
***Bid half off peak comps***
Brenda from Flatbush wrote a review on April 17, 2009 10:54 PM
Wow. We used to go to Rancho Alegre as newlyweds in Park Slope in 1984! It was unexceptional then, too--friendly spot with lots of cheese-drowned combo platters. Haven't been in decades, but I'm fond of seeing it there just because so much else has changed.
prezst wrote a review on April 19, 2009 6:27 PM
more "raunch-o" than "rancho." horrible food.. and when you see drunken high schoolers on 7th ave, it's a pretty good guess where they've been.
Nobrokersplease wrote a review on April 20, 2009 10:44 AM
I wish there was a "zero star" rating. I would use it for this restaurant. Can't even call this Mexican food. I'm amazed it's still open. Can someone please take over this place and put a real Mexican restaurant in there? The only thing edible in the place is a margarita. The one and only time I ate there, we sat by the window and there was a dead baby bird on the awning right under the window. Had to stare at that throughout the meal. How could you not notice that and get someone outside to clean it off asap?! Awful!!
mimi wrote a review on April 24, 2009 5:51 PM
Back in the day when my kids were at BCS there was an enthusiastic review for this place in the student newspaper. Then a few weeks later the scandal broke about underage kids being served.
Seems like somethings never change.
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