El Ranchito De Pepe

Best steak tacos I have ever had in Florida. The steak is nicely grilled, topped with cilantro and all placed on a delicious homemade tortilla. The staff are friendly and fast. They speak English and Spanish too. I felt very welcome and at home here.

Great little place, tucked out of the way on Cleveland. Has one of my favorite lunch spots hidden away in the back. My favorite taco stop.

Love this authentic Mexican market. Not many people know you can actually order food here too! Their carnitas tacos are delicious! When you order 1 it is like you’re getting 2. They put so much meat in the taco and give you a second shell to catch what falls out, making a second taco. If you like a big burrito for a good price, this is your place! They are huge! I’d say bigger than Chipotle, and full of tasty meat and toppings.

Ordered their «chicken breast plate special». Meat was excessively greasy, no cheese, no lettuce, no tomato, beans were very old and disgusting. Top it off I got food poisoning. I like small taquerias, but this one is to be avoided! You’ll have much better luck at Mexico Lindo taqueria just 1 mile down the road.

My experience here is hit or miss. I’ve eaten here thrice. The first time was great. Excellent carnitas, very good refried beans, a tasty soup and outstanding chiles rellenos.
The second time, the pork enchiladas seemed like leftovers. The mole sauce was good, but room temperature and the enchiladas were soggy in places and dry in others. I guess it depends on who’s preparing the food.
Third time — back to being pretty good.
Maybe if you get there when they’re busy, the food will be fresher. When it’s good, it’s very good and very reasonable.

I made a quick stop at El Ranchito de Pepe on my search for the best taquerias in Pinellas. While few of the local places match the outstanding flavors I’ve consistently found in the southwest, my goal has been just to find the best we have and enjoy.
El Ranchito de Pepe (ERdP) is a nice little Mexican grocery store, and the taqueria occupies an area at the back of the building seating probably 30 people or so. Note this is just an area in the grocery store, so the décor is just simple tables and chairs with grocery store aisles around it. So for atmosphere, it’s limited and the attraction here is simply the food. The dining area was clean and neat during my visit.
The menu is basic Mexican taqueria favorites, but enough variety to make you want to check out a few things on a return visit. Ordering at the counter was quick and easy, and the kind woman working was was helpful in offering up info about a few things on the menu. I ordered up just two beef tacos for a taste test, and they arrived just a few minutes later with stuffed with good cilantro, along with red salsa and limes on the side. The tacos has good flavor, but again I’ll give a big nod to a good salsa’s ability to redeem even an average taco. And this salsa enhanced the meat very well. These tacos didn’t rock my world, but I wouldn’t hesitate to grab a few of them if I’m driving through the neighborhood. Prices were good, and in the range of most every other taqueria within a few miles.
My scores on the Pinellas taqueria 5-​point scale are below. I would score the overall food at ERdP a 3.5 if I could. But the grocery section gets huge props and a bump to 4 just for carrying my favorite Mexican beer, Bohemia, which combines the qualities of light, smooth and flavor like few other beers I’ve every tried… it’s a perfect match for the spice of Mexican food. From Wikipedia:
«Bohemia takes its name from the Czech region that is one of the most recognized brewing areas in the World. It was launched at the turn of the 20^th century as Cervecería Cuauhtémoc Moctezuma’s finest beer. Over the years, it has become the most awarded of Mexican beers. It’s a pale pilsner although recently a new dark Vienna beer has been launched as ‘Bohemia Obscura’. «
Atmosphere: 2
Service: 4
Food: 3.5 just for the food and 1 additional for carrying Bohemia!
Value: 3