Verdes El Ranchero

Mark Engel

RELLENO, Chile Relleno that is! Been testing out Chile Relleno's for years all over the country and seriously, this might be the best one yet. This dish is so incredible labor intensive, many restaurants make a dozen each day then tell yo they are sold out when you go to order. It is like a loss leader to get you to come in. It was 7:30 pm when I ordered this and it was no problem. This dish had the perfect taste and texture and great flavors. You can also judge a Mexican restaurant by their tortilla chips and sales and these were excellent, all hand-made in house. The chips were a little thicker and the salsa chunky with fresh tomatoes and onions. We also had the flautas and the El Ranchero Special Cheese Crisp - a House Specialty. Everything was fresh and delicious. Make sure to have a Margarita as well. BTW, we walked in without a reservation at 8pm on a Saturday night - pretty awesome. Cannot wait to return.

David Spiewak

Great neighborhood authentic Mexican joint in north Birdrock. Great food and drinks and the kind of place the locals go to. Friendly, quick service and just a really great laid back vibe inside!

This is a nice little restaurant! The service was really great and the food was excellent- good portions, delicious and exactly what you hope it'll be. I couldn't finish my chimichanga only due to its enormous size! When we visit La Jolla again, we'll happily walk the mile or so again from all of the action to this little out of the way gem.

Delicious food, tastes homemade. Highly recommend it if you love authentic and high quality Mexican food. A local favorite spot for sure

Awesome food and service. You can really tell it was homemade. It was great to find Jicama as an appetizer! Congrats chefs!

I absolutley love the place. The vibe, the food, the people! Truly authentic Mexican foo.

Delicious. Always happy leaving. Never had a bad experience. Good vibes all around. Food is scrumptious.

Jacob Black

Delicious. Always happy leaving. Never had a bad experience. Good vibes all around. Food is scrumptious.

Ray S.

This is a nice little restaurant! The service was really great and the food was excellent- good portions, delicious and exactly what you hope it'll be. I couldn't finish my chimichanga only due to its enormous size! When we visit La Jolla again, we'll happily walk the mile or so again from all of the action to this little out of the way gem.

John Ermer

Very good Mexican restuarant with nice variety of combo dishes and great margaritas.

Roland Philipp

Great local Mexican restaurant with a good sized sit in bar. Asada was tastefully grilled.

Robin Dimiceli

Wonderful authentic Mexican food! We had the nachos and chile relleno. Margaritas are excellent! The staff was attentive and made us feel right at home!

Quinn Guiteras

Such a great place. Family run like business great food. Great drinks. Just be careful not to get bit by the dog across the street. ;)

Food was decent, service was friendly but could have been more professional. When we arrived, we were told to sit anywhere. Shortly thereafter they asked us to move because a large party was coming in, who ultimately sat elsewhere because they didn't know how many people were in their party. Entrees came out within 5 minutes of our appetizer which we hadn't finished. First world problems but these are restaurant 101 issues which could be easily avoided and lead to a better experience.

Very pleasant Mexican restaurant and bar that in La Jolla with a nice mix of patrons. The servers are friendly and really hustle. The food is your basic northern Mexico style. Good salsa and nicely flavored enchiladas. Decent margaritas .Classic Eagles, Mellencamp, and Van Morrison on the sound system gave the place a relaxing Southern California vibe. Just a really nice place to hang out.

Alright place. Waiter was a little strange but 🤷‍♀️. Nothing standout-ish from this place. Expensive food. And I finished a whole California burrito🌯, which I normally don’t. Which makes me think the sizes are smaller than normal? But maybe I was just being fat also. Lol. Tasted good though!

Nice little Mexican restaurant. Good portions, kids shared a quesadilla at the recommendation of the waitress and she was bang on, especially after they demolished the free tortilla chips! $70- Reasonable price for a family of 4 with 2 alcoholic drinks - margarita was lovely but a bit too much salt for me (read about this particular issue on previous reviews) Waitress very apologetic for being short staffed but we didn’t notice and issues and certainly didn’t affect our meal.

We were visiting from out of town and found this place. We really wanted some home style Mexican food. We tried the chicken taquitos as and appetizer and the enchiladas with the creamy cilantro sauce. Both were very delicious. My only complaint was that the chicken was dry and a little bland. Some seasoning would have been nice. Prices were a bit high (probably normal for the area) with most plates around $20. The service was friendly and helpful.

Betty Jones

Alright place. Waiter was a little strange but 🤷‍♀️. Nothing standout-ish from this place. Expensive food. And I finished a whole California burrito🌯, which I normally don’t. Which makes me think the sizes are smaller than normal? But maybe I was just being fat also. Lol. Tasted good though!

Jane Broomfield

Nice little Mexican restaurant. Good portions, kids shared a quesadilla at the recommendation of the waitress and she was bang on, especially after they demolished the free tortilla chips! $70- Reasonable price for a family of 4 with 2 alcoholic drinks - margarita was lovely but a bit too much salt for me (read about this particular issue on previous reviews) Waitress very apologetic for being short staffed but we didn’t notice and issues and certainly didn’t affect our meal.

Zac Richins

We were visiting from out of town and found this place. We really wanted some home style Mexican food. We tried the chicken taquitos as and appetizer and the enchiladas with the creamy cilantro sauce. Both were very delicious. My only complaint was that the chicken was dry and a little bland. Some seasoning would have been nice. Prices were a bit high (probably normal for the area) with most plates around $20. The service was friendly and helpful.

Allen Ingling

Food was decent, service was friendly but could have been more professional. When we arrived, we were told to sit anywhere. Shortly thereafter they asked us to move because a large party was coming in, who ultimately sat elsewhere because they didn't know how many people were in their party. Entrees came out within 5 minutes of our appetizer which we hadn't finished. First world problems but these are restaurant 101 issues which could be easily avoided and lead to a better experience.

Mary Brown

Very pleasant Mexican restaurant and bar that in La Jolla with a nice mix of patrons. The servers are friendly and really hustle. The food is your basic northern Mexico style. Good salsa and nicely flavored enchiladas. Decent margaritas .Classic Eagles, Mellencamp, and Van Morrison on the sound system gave the place a relaxing Southern California vibe. Just a really nice place to hang out.

I had battered fish burrito. Ratio of cabbage to fish was not to my taste. The burrito had good flavor. not enough fish or white sauce. Service was good. atmosphere was great.

Amazing food! The service was a bit slow - can be a challenge with a kid. It was very loud in the restaurant.

Barbara Raimbault

Amazing food! The service was a bit slow - can be a challenge with a kid. It was very loud in the restaurant.

The restaurant had a nice vibe inside. I would say the Mexican food is not authentic and has zero fire/heat, so if you prefer American style Mexican food that is not hot/spicy this place is for you. Most of the staff are college age. Pro: I am vegetarian and this restaurant had actual plant based meat options which are hard to find. Overall having plant based products increased my vote as that is harder to find with Mexican food. I prefer spicy when I was eating Chile but this was decent overall. Con: The drinks were much smaller compared to the price of them which was disappointing. My little one was $14 and not worth the price honestly. I went to the bathroom before I left and they took away my to go box which was half my order! I even asked where bathroom was before I went and the place is tiny. I’m going to stick with three stars.

Deserted Rose

The restaurant had a nice vibe inside. I would say the Mexican food is not authentic and has zero fire/heat, so if you prefer American style Mexican food that is not hot/spicy this place is for you. Most of the staff are college age. Pro: I am vegetarian and this restaurant had actual plant based meat options which are hard to find. Overall having plant based products increased my vote as that is harder to find with Mexican food. I prefer spicy when I was eating Chile but this was decent overall. Con: The drinks were much smaller compared to the price of them which was disappointing. My little one was $14 and not worth the price honestly. I went to the bathroom before I left and they took away my to go box which was half my order! I even asked where bathroom was before I went and the place is tiny. I’m going to stick with three stars.

I was excited I found a place close to work that had abondigas since I have a cold. Unfortunately this place was a huge let down. The abondigas tastes very very bland. The meatballs lack flavor and the broth just taste like beef water. Even the cabbage was wrong. Authentic Mexican restaurants would never use red cabbage as a topping.. fortunately the chips and guac were good and a coworker shared some quesadilla with me. - I still recommend trying the place out. I would just stay away from the abondigas.

kym s

I was excited I found a place close to work that had abondigas since I have a cold. Unfortunately this place was a huge let down. The abondigas tastes very very bland. The meatballs lack flavor and the broth just taste like beef water. Even the cabbage was wrong. Authentic Mexican restaurants would never use red cabbage as a topping.. fortunately the chips and guac were good and a coworker shared some quesadilla with me. - I still recommend trying the place out. I would just stay away from the abondigas.