El Rancho Grande

When I first moved to Tulsa 4 years ago from Arizona I was very skeptical of the mexican food joints in town. I soon discovered some really good places and this has always been one that I truly enjoy. Their queso and street steak tacos are always very good and fresh. the service is very good and they always seem to be happy when they see us. My daughter has been coming here since she was 6 months old (she is now 3) and the waitresses and waiters are always so happy to see here and bring her her favorite… guacamole! There are more authentic places like Cancun and Calevares. However, this place is pretty good.

Who knew this restaurant has been in it’s current location since the 1950s? If you want to visit a cute Tex-​Mex restaurant on good olé Route 66, this is the place.
Complimentary chips and salsa were served immediately when I sat down. Chips were deliciously warm and crunchy. The salsa was a bit spicier than I expected/​liked though. I ordered the steak Wet Burrito, which was a burrito stuffed with steak, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions and «topped» with chile con carne sauce. Topped actually = drowned, but I love cheese, so that’s okay. I think this was my first time having a wet burrito that didn’t have rice and had fresh veggies instead. The cold, fresh tomatoes and lettuce were a nice contrast from the warm burrito, but I missed the rice!

Service was awesome.

I can eat Mexican food for breakfast, lunch and dinner! A lot of places are now Tex mex, which is ok, but this place was not and its just great Mexican food. Salsa was a good medium heat, chips were warm as crispy and the food was piping hot! My taco had so much meat it was like eating two. The cheese enchiladas were fantastic and something that was a rolled taco covered in cheese and more cheese. The chili sauce used to cover the enchiladas was not just sauce, it was full of meat like real chili. I will be back soon!

I have lived in Tulsa my entire life and tonight was my first visit to this legendary Tulsa tex-​mex restaurant. I regret doing so. As I sit here I can’t help being mystified by all the good reviews of this place. It is a favorite among many locals, and I am wondering why.
Upon arriving my buddy and myself were promptly seated and our waiter Jesus came to the table and took our drink orders. My friend ordered a tea and I ordered a Dos Equis Amber. Jesus brought us chips and salsa and our drinks arrived immediately after. The salsa was really flavorful with a nice amount of heat. I mentioned to my friend that some if not most Tex-​mex restaurants have a hotter salsa if you ask for it and I usually like to try it out. At this point I excuse myself to use the restroom and while in the facilities my friend asks Jesus if they have a hotter salsa and Jesus informs him that they do not. So my friend asks for a second bowl of the salsa so we can both have one to dip from. Keep in mind we asked for the hotter salsa because we just wanted to try it if they had it, not because the house salsa wasn’t to our liking. Jesus then brings out a second bowl of salsa and my buddy starts to dip from that one and I start to dip from the first bowl. My buddy tells me that his is really hot so I take a big scoop from his bowl and I can immediately tell that it tastes quite different. Someone had taken some type of really hot sauce and spiked the salsa with it. This resulted in making the salsa inedible because the unbearable heat. When Jesus arrives back at the table with our food my friend informs him that the salsa is too hot and could he bring us another of the original salsa. When Jesus arrives back at the table he sets down the third bowl of salsa and it clearly is a different color and texture than the other two salsas. With raised eyebrows I decided to try this third version of salsa and it basically was tomato sauce from a can poured into a bowl. So in short the salsa was really good, then too hot, then canned tomato sauce in a bowl.
Moving on to our entrees, my buddy ordered the Acapulco combo which is a beef taco and a cheese and onion enchilada covered in chili con carne with rice and refried beans. I ordered the chicken enchiladas with sour cream sauce. I ordered rice and charro beans which are my preference when I dine at this type of place. My friend’s plate looked good and he ate it all except for the rice and beans. My plate looked good as well but it unfortunately didn’t taste good at all. The enchiladas had really dry and bland chicken and were covered with sour cream sauce which looks like queso but tastes like spoiled sour cream. My charro beans were some of the worst I have tried and the Mexican rice was an absolute abomination. The rice was dry and had a weird smoky flavor unlike any Mexican rice I have ever tried. My friend described it as a weird chinese food flavor.
After suffering through this meal, it was time for Jesus to bring our checks. Upon reviewing my ticket I noticed I had been charged $ 2.00 for an iced tea that I didn’t order. Maybe an honest mistake but after the salsa fiasco I can’t help but to be left wondering. Jesus fixed my ticket and we paid and left. Overall I would describe my dining experience at El Rancho Grande as degrading. I will never go back.

Above average tex-​mex. Great service. Limited aesthetics. This post is on the short side because the restaurant is too!

This is my all time favorite, hole in the wall, authentic Mexican restaurant in Tulsa. The food never disappoints. I recommend the pancho nachos and the vera cruz. If you like spicy salsa you will love theirs. Salvador is one of the servers that has been there forever. He is a fabulous waiter and a staple to many locals in town. Don’t let the neon sign and bars on the window fool you. You don’t want to miss out on this food.

This place deserves more stars. This is the real TexMex from the 50’s. None like it in Tulsa. Fairly recent new owners acquired the original Rodriguez family recipes and added modern Mexico items to the menu. El Rancho is full nightly and at noon. Can be a wait on Saturday night. If you like TexMerx like it was in your parents day and when you grew up, El Rancho is for you.

Can’t get better Cheese & Onion Enchiladas in town. Crispy Taco was excellent, too. I had the Vaquero Special that added a Tamale with the above items. It was good, but not needed to make a complete meal. ‘Rita’s were good. This was our third trip here and most likely will not be the last. PLUS, this is the only Mexican joint you can get Pralines. Oh how we Texans love our pralines.
Waiter has been here for 38 years. He knows his job and is very quick to serve you.

This place is coined to have the best margaritas, & I might have to agree. I tried it frozen & on ice, both were good! Not as sour as most margaritas & not too sweet as well. The frozen one can creep up on you because you really can’t taste the liquor compared to having it in ice.
My dish, Fire Grilled Shrimp Tacos. They were ok. Nothing over the top. The cabbage went well with the shrimp & I liked their chipotle cream as well. Their rice & beans are good. Also, for the chips & salsa, their salsa is HOT!!! You might want to switch flavors if you can’t handle heat.

The BEST place to get Tex Mex in Tulsa. We come here at least once or twice a month and it is always a great experience. Wonderful food, warm and inviting atmosphere, friendly and consistent staff. El Rancho is not a chain; it’s family owned and that definitely shows. This is a great place to come on a date, with your family, or a group of friends. The wait is always short if there is any at all.
The chips, salsa, and queso are top notch and can be enough to fill you up before the meal arrives. Our favorite menu items include the street tacos and wet burritos. I have never seen anyone not like what they ordered here! Everything on the menu is a great choice. And don’t forget about Margarita Mondays — they have a two for one deal!

1^st visit. Friendly staff. Live the local feel — not a chain. Very apparent that staff and customers know each other so it must have a great cast of regulars. Menu looked great.

Pretty good food, this place is a Route 66 landmark. Their food is more like old school style. Reminds me s lot of what you used to see in the 70s.

Not bad this food was okay the sauce was pretty good I would go again if I’m in the area

Oh my gosh!!! This was awesome!!! Absolutely stuffed!!! Service was fast and great very busy no complaints! Food was more than what I expected and very flavorful, the house salsa had a kick and I didn’t have to ask for hot. The margaritas are awesome, they have a unique taste. Deep fried ice cream. Reasonably priced for everything. J.R. our waiter was wonderful. We will absolutely be going back!!!

I have never been treated so poorly in a restaurant, and left feeling chastised and humiliated. Two girlfriends and I ate here on a Saturday afternoon. There were very few patrons in the restaurant and there was no music playing, so the room itself was abnormally quiet. As girls tend to do, we were discussing our evening before, trading gossip and talking about our love lives (or lack thereof), and, as girls also tend to do, the excitement in our voices and trying to talk over one another caused us to be louder than we needed to be, but not loud enough that it was disruptive.
Although there were many empty tables, a couple in their mid-​to-​late 40s were seated at the table immediately next to us, and I noticed throughout our meal that they would stop talking to each other and listen in to our conversation during key points — when we’re discussing the boys we’ve seen or are seeing. We are young, career-​focused women. We are not married, engaged or in relationships. So we have stories, yes, but they were neither offensive, nor would they have been heard if the couple wasn’t intent on actually hearing them. Eventually, the couple started mocking us. I heard them «mock-​yelling» at each other about scenarios which we had just described. So I told my friends, «We’re being too loud. This couple is mocking us.» The woman then decided to scream curse words at me about how WE were cursing and being loud. She then got up and walked away, and her husband proceeded to refer to us as «The Real Housewives,» and said we were «b*%&hes.»
Immediately after he referred to us as such, the manager/​owner showed up. Instead of diffusing the situation (politely asking us to keep our voices down, moving the table next to us to a different table), he joined the argument with the couple and said that he’d been hearing us «throwing F-​bombs for over an hour» and that there were «children in the area.» I apologized for being loud but told him that I didn’t believe we’d used that word neither loudly, nor often. I honestly only believe the woman next to us told him we were cursing after she left her table after screaming at me. I asked him why, when we were getting loud, he didn’t come over and politely ask us to keep our voices down. If we had actually been screaming the F-​word at the top or our lungs for an hour, why hadn’t he said something earlier if it was that bad? The situation was already escalated, his adding to it was not helping. He began talking to us like we were children, telling us he’d been in this business a long time and knew what he was doing. He also said he didn’t ask us to quiet down when we got loud because he was «tending to people on the other side of the restaurant.» This restaurant is not large, and I told him it must not have been that bothersome if it wasn’t worth walking across the room for. He then gave us a manipulative non-​apology and said, «I’m sorry that I didn’t respond the way you wanted me to.»
After he walked off, the only other table in our area (the one with the child), looked at us and said, «What happened? You guys weren’t bothering us at all.»
Once we left, I looked at the Google reviews for this restaurant, and every single negative review had a mention of the manager and how rude, unpleasant and derogatory he was. We then went to R-​Bar, which has always given us wonderful service, and told our story to a woman at the table next to us. She told us that she’d once been in there and needed to change her baby, but the restroom has no changing table. She said the manager scoffed at her and sarcastically told her she could change the baby on his desk.
As a 20-​something professional woman, I have never felt more singled-​out for being young and female. I honestly do not believe that we would have been spoken to or treated that way had we been male.
If anyone reading this has any ounce of pride for herself as a strong woman, I highly suggest you do not support a business that is operated by a chauvinistic jerk.

There is nothing bad to say about Tulsa’s longest running restaurant (in a single location). Clean. Great service. Quick, even during a very busy lunch hour. Just about perfect tex-​mex (with a few truly traditional Mexican touches sprinkled in here and there). Today I had the shrimp enchiladas. They were very good. Not all tex-​mex joints include shrimp enchiladas or burritos and I’m always pleased when they do.
Please try this restaurant and let’s see if we can keep it running another 50 years; long enough for your grandchildren to bring their children to eat one of Tulsa’s truly great traditions.

The vintage sign keeps drawing me back. All the employees are all very nice. I love the neon sign and the interior. I love the mosaic table tops. Unobtrusive Ranchero music in the background. I asked the server to recommend something that would make me say I have to come back to this place, no fish ingredients. He recommended street tacos. They were delicious, light and fresh tasting. The meat was tender and tasty, generous portion with three tacos. Very fresh pico de gallo and everything covered in fresh cilantro. Some lettuce and lime wedges too. He asked if I wanted 1, 2, or 3. I chose three and would have been happier with two, they are filling. Chips were warm and okay, salsa was hot and okay, but I didn’t like them much. Great service! I am glad I went back and had them recommend for me. :-)

El Rancho Grande has been around since well before I was a kid growing up in the Tulsa ‘burbs. I’ve seen its distinctive storefront a million times, but had never got around to actually eating there until yesterday. It’s on old Route 66, it looks like a charmer from the road, and it seems to do good business. That’s plenty of appeal right there.
The food though? Eh, it’s decent. I had the Vaquero Special, which is a combo with an enchilada, tamale, and hard taco. My wife ordered the guacamole salad, which really is nothing more than a bed of lettuce with some diced tomatoes and a couple balls of guacamole. All perfectly acceptable, but not especially memorable. Actually, I take that back. Their food reminded me of the kind of Mexican food that you’d typically find in Tulsa back in the 80s and early 90s, so I guess it did prompt/​evoke a memory of sorts. A step up from Taco Bueno, but I wouldn’t call it all that authentic. Their chips are good though, and the standard salsa they bring out has a pleasant zing to it. («Spice wimps» might want to ask for mild.)
The service was good on the whole, even if they were pretty caught up in the lunch rush and didn’t always keep up with refilling waters. Our orders certainly came out quickly — almost suspiciously so on my part — and they were fairly prompt about clearing the table and bringing our check. Clearly the restaurant has a lot of local fans (a fair few among the Hillcrest staff across the street, from appearances). They’re good at what they do, even if what they do doesn’t make them really stand out among the myriad Mexican restaurants in Tulsa. And so, on that point, it probably isn’t a place I’ll be in a rush to get back to, but I’ll give it a shot again if the urge arises.

This little gem across from the hospital has some the best Mexican food in town.
Good for parties or a first date, the margaritas got voted best in Tulsa and I agree the prices are really good, the staff are fast and friendly.
They close at 9pm so if you show up at 830 your good, they have no bar which is a bummer but they do server drinks

When I first came to Tulsa, I would see El Rancho as I was driving downtown but I never gave it a second thought until my best friend introduced me to it.
First of all, what excellent service! Every time I have been in here the servers are totally accommodating and helpful. The managers are always present, and you can tell that they are invested in the success of their restaurant.
Secondly, queso. I mean, queso is always amazing… BUT here at El Rancho Grande you have not one, but TWO options for queso. Both white and yellow are equally delicious and non-​velveeta-​ish.
The food comes out super fast, and splitting is definitely doable.
The frozen margaritas, though an alien lime green color, are strong and delicious. The metal glasses are super fun, but they do make your hands a bit cold…
El Rancho Grande may not look like a lot from the outside, but it is spacious and inviting inside. This Mexican gem is definitely worth a trip!