El Ranchito Del Agave
“As for the food here, the most popular dishes would have to be Mexicana tacos but the chicken Enchiladas poblano with mole sauce are to die for.”
“Also don't forget a side of their delicious guacamole and $5 happy hour margarita!”
“We had a kgb deal for two and they even had a menu for our specials, everything was delicious, great portions and the margaritas were tasty.”
El Ranchito Del Agave
Takes Reservations: Yes
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Every time I am in NYC I came to eat here at least once, since the first time I came I really liked it. The staff is always very friendly and atentative plus I usually go there late at night so there are not a whole lot of people.
I really enjoy Mexican cuisine and variety of foods, here you get both. I got the sampler plater the last time which comes with 2 of 6 items. I get a different type of meat with every selection just to keep it interesting.
I always enjoy myself while here and the food is always great! I expect to be back many more times.
Haters gonna hate. This place is awesome.
#1 It's in the depressing vortex that is east side 9th Avenue between 30th-42nd Street so it gets props for just being a decent restaurant given the locale.
#2 It's middle-America suburb-spacious.
#3 It's also middle-America suburb-cheap.
I've been here twice– each time the restaurant has been empty with enough room to fit in a dance floor between the 2 rows of tables. The decoration and general aesthetics skew on cheap, but that's how I want my Mexican joints to look. How many authentic places have the slick branding and reclaimed wood of an Otto's Tacos or Tres Carnes?
The food is good. Many of my friends are Texan and Mexican-American and we all enjoyed it. Most recently I went with my California-raised boyfriend who is also a Mexican food snob and we both thought it was good. Although, I wouldn't say it's mind-blowingly great. Also I had a very watery horchata which prevents me from going for 5 stars.
The prices are very fair. They have a great $30 dinner special for two people: one appetizer, two entrees and two alcoholic drinks! Can't beat that! Although chips and salsa count as an appetizer because unlike the suburbs, those still ain't free.
So this place is quite the little dive. I had no idea it even existed, but I have to say, it is surprisingly large once you go inside. They also have a full liquor bar, which I found to be strange for this type of a restaurant. The food and service were very good, and the prices very reasonable. If you are looking for a Cantina type location this is probably a good choice. It is not your typical fancy New York stylized place, so make sure that is not what you are looking for before you go here. It is more of a taste of Mexico in the middle of Manhattan. Definitely an experience. Thanks for reading and enjoy.
I'm in continual disbelief that there isn't good Mexican food in midtown west, and I keep trying different three star rated places expecting to get a different result. And you know what Einstein said.
So I ventured into Ranchito del Agave. It has an incredibly odd layout. You enter a small room (most NYC restaurants would cram six two tops in here). There's an unattended host stand and a door with a window into the kitchen. You hear a few voices from the back, and wonder vaguely if you're heading into someone's apartment for a party. Then you walk down a dark hallway, and the space is absolutely enormous, peppered with a few bodies and a few splashes of color from decorations. The well-stocked bar provides most of the light in the room. Definitely the sort of cavernous place where you could wander in for a good margarita and lose track of time.
I asked the waiter if the sopa Azteca is good, and she starred at me blankly and said, "it's popular." Not exactly an answer, but it was chilly and rainy, so I ordered it. They have a decent lunch special for less than ten bucks. I also ordered beef enchiladas.
The soup was a runny tomato base, not chicken stock. It had a hunk of chicken and a few pieces of zucchini. Skip it. The enchiladas were actually steak, which was grilled well, and the green sauce was surprisingly picante. They weren't bad, but they did seem to be missing something to pull it together, like cheese or sauteed onions. This was served with a green lettuce (not iceberg) and tomato salad, undressed.
All in all, it did the job but wasn't excellent. Worth trying again though.
This place rocks!!!!! A group of 6 of us came here on a Saturday around 4 pm, and there was only one other table finishing up in there. It was happy hour and the margaritas were all $5!!! And I believe Long Islands and Mojitos were on happy hour as well. The margaritas were the bomb and really big too. They had a lot of flavors, which was really cool. I started with a frozen coconut one with salt- SO good. Flavorful, had liquor in it, cheap, big, awesome. I moved on to a blue agave one next- also awesome. Everyone was pumped about getting cheap, delicious margaritas in NY.
Our server/bartender was great too. She changed the music for us, and catered to our silly requests. And she made some bomb drinks. Really great gal.
Chips and salsa were scrum. The salsa was super spicy in my opinion but did not lack flavor. One complimentary basket per table. My only complaint about this place is having to pay for another basket. I really feel every Mexican/Latin restaurant should have complimentary baskets of chips and salsa. Oh well, we bought another and got over it. We don't care too much.
Both my friends and I got the veggie tostadas. The meal came with 3 loaded with veggies, beans, cheese, sour cream, and big sides of rice. I'm not sure if my pals ordered the rice or it came with. Either way, scrum. The tostadas were delicious and came on lightly fried corn tortillas. I have silly dietary restrictions and the server succeeded with my requests. My other pals got a shrimp burrito and a combination plate. Everyone was very satisfied and full by the time we were done.
Excellent food, drinks, service, and atmosphere! Would definitely recommend coming here if you're in the area and need some inexpensive, yummy mexican food and drink!
I had today's lunch special of the bistec encebollado (steak and onions). I always enjoy the very friendly and easy-going spirits of the staff, even for a brief take-out like I do, the staff's friendliness is a big part of why I've returned here for 5+ years. Also of notice is the fun interior whose bar and restaurant setup screams party time. Frequent visitors and observant patrons will notice the party equipment such as the sound system, dj booth, lighting equipment overhead and lighting controls around the eating area. The quick order is a delight as it comes in a very sturdy box as my photo shows, not your generic styro container. It carefully, sturdily, and thoughtfully separates the 3 items: rice, beans, and main entree. This thoughtfulness keeps all the different tastes from mixing. Careful thought also in the take-out attachment of 4 fajitas (corn flour rolls) with 2 separate containers for the 2 salsa types, green (cooler, more color and herbs) and red (the hotter, greater emphasis on spice). The yellow rice is delicious, steamed well with a hint of seasoning. The beans are very well done, too, with no salt so that the bean itself can speak. Now the entree is the best part, with the generous heap of onions which are seasoned and cooked well so they've no after-taste and tomato chunks which are spice-infused, awesome touch. The bistec (steak) itself is delicious with the garlic bits atop soaking in its own sauces, it's all a great lunch for just $8.95!
I came here a few weeks ago for dinner with a girl friend. I had walked by this place a few times and thought it seemed like a divey, hole in the wall kind of place worth checking out. It's definitely worth more than just a hole in the wall. The back dining space you can't quite see from the street is pretty spacious. I came here around 7pm on a weeknight and the place was empty. I don't know when this place fills up but it certainly wasn't when we were there. Lots of yummy drink options on happy hour. Can't beat a $5 mojito! My favorite cocktail which I never order because it's crazy expensive in the city. My friend and I did the dinner combo. So worthwhile, so reasonable and so tasty.
We came here for an early dinner on a Saturday evening in January and it was satisfactory. When we walked into the restaurant, the hostess stand was empty, and there was one waiter on the phone (probably taking a Seamless order). After standing around the (HUGE) empty restaurant awkwardly for a few minutes, we helped ourselves to one of the 2 dozen empty tables.
SERVICE: The service was OK. The waiter, bless his heart, apparently was called in at the last minute to cover because the two usual Saturday night waiters called in sick. He was completely overwhelmed and slow, but it was endearing and we could overlook the terrible service.
DRINKS: The margarita and mojito menu is extensive and amazing! Definitely go for one of their crazy concoctions like a coconut margarita – mm'mm!
FOOD: I'll admit that I'm very biased about Mexican food in New York City. The food here at El Ranchito del Agave was OKAY, but not too spectacular. The guacamole could definitely use more lime and cilantro, and, although the tortilla chips were good, they definitely were not homemade. Seriously, though, for $9, I could have used about 3 times as much guacamole.
Both my husband and I got the combination platters (3 different items) so we could each try multiple things. The tacos were the best, and I definitely recommend the chicken taco. The beef flautas were alright, but they use a pretty fatty piece of rib steak rather than high quality shredded beef. The enchiladas are pretty good, and you get to choose from several different sauces (traditional red and green, but also some specialty sauces like one that has chocolate and pumpkin).
Overall, this is not a bad place for fairly inexpensive Mexican food. It's more authentic than a lot of the "Mexican places" in Manhattan, but still not that fantastic.