El Vaquero please forgive us for our indiscretion...

Instead of resuming a healthy diet of cooking at home -- Monday (April 1st) found us spontaneously trying Rancho Alegre. The relatively new restaurant that opened up down 33 from our favorite restaurant El Vaquero. It is located in the building that used to be Tee Jays. It seemed sacrilegious at first to go there considering El Vaquero is the truth -- but we got over it. The place is a more family friendly version of El Vaquero like if Bob Evans opened up a Mexican restaurant. There is plenty of natural light and booths by the windows and spacious tables and chairs in the middle. The bar area has a flat panel tv for those who want to hang there. When we pulled into the parking lot the place was empty which was slightly alarming but it was right after work. They had a pretty extensive menu and we were surprised to see that they had a meal with the same name as our all time favorite from El Vaquero -- The Pollo Ranchero. Betty ordered the Pollo Ranchero and I ordered the Nachos. Betty and I then began our food commentary. It was hard not to compare this restaurant to El Vaquero but here goes:

The chips and salsa were delicious. A smooth and sweeter salsa with cilantro...Can't complain. The chips were warm and tasted freshly made w/o too much grease on them. A good start.


Margaritas were lime on the rocks with salt of course. These were very tasty. I rated them higher then El Vaqueros. I asked for a hot salsa and it wasn't bad. Similar to El Vaquero's with a vinegary taste but not as many green chilis or cilantro in it.

The food.



Well my chicken nachos were okay except that i ordered the Super Nachos which were supposed to come with beef, chicken, and beans. I think they mistakenly gave me the grilled chicken nachos which had only chicken and onions and peppers. It was difficult to tell whether i had the right order until i had eaten quite a bit of nachos and at that point I didn't want to fuss. The nachos were not bad -- just not what i ordered.


Betty's Pollo Ranchero was a tangier version of our favorite El Vaquero Pollo Ranchero aka the 141. The usual description for such an offering is "chicken with our special red sauce". The sauce was not so special for me. The Ranchero sauce was lighter but almost tasted like chef boyardee. I didn't care for the rice and was disappointed that beans did not accompany the meal especially for $10.50. Refried beans are essential for me when we eat mexican. I was tempted to order them on the side but Betty and i were already getting stuffed.

Overall Betty and I thought Rancho Alegre was an "a'ight" place with average food. Though we might go back there for margaritas and chips we found our palettes craving the bold flavors of our timeless favorite El Vaquero just a jaunt down the road.