Taqueria el Ranchito

I've been tempted to try this place given their vast menu, especially the goat and rabbit.
However, walking past it one day it was totally empty at the dinner hour and a little scary looking.

There is very little mention of it on other sites and only passing reference on this board. Has anyone been there, especially the Milwaukee Ave, Logan Square location? Have you had the goat and/or rabbit?

Taqueria El Ranchito
2829 N Milwaukee Ave
Chicago, IL 60618
773-227-1688

They have a huge delivery area and deliver up until 5am or something ridiculous like that. I've only had their standard fare and it's always been serviceable if uninspiring. Delivery can oftentimes take a very long time.

Of course, I haven't had the intestinal fortitude to call back after getting home from a club one night and drunkenly ordering a burrito at 3am - and passing out before it arrived. I woke up rather sheepishly to 12 missed calls on my phone.

This is a mini-chain. they've got quite a few locations and more seem to be sprouting up like mushrooms. I think I've seen at least 5 - 6 just driving around. The one or two that I have been to were nothing special, but many are open 24/7.

stevez wrote:This is a mini-chain. they've got quite a few locations and more seem to be sprouting up like mushrooms. I think I've seen at least 5 - 6 just driving around. The one or two that I have been to were nothing special, but many are open 24/7.

Although I think it is family operated, I believe that the (relatively new) El Rey del Taco in Rogers Park is somehow associated with El Ranchito. Except for the name and phone number, the takeout menus are exactly the same (including the graphics and fonts used). I think El Rey may actually handle Ranchito's far north delivery area. I have no proof of this other than they have nearly identical menus and both do a huge delivery business. Also, we stopped getting (almost daily) El Ranchito menus since El Rey opened. The few times I have tried El Ranchito, I was not that impressed. El Rey is better, but definitely has its down points. However, I did try the Barbacoa de Chivo at El Rey, and liked it very much.

When I lived in North Center, I was a devotee of tacos al pastor from Taqueria El Ranchito at Lawrence and Damen. I had some really amazing orders, although they were mildly inconsistent. Never awful, but only sometimes transcendent. I thought their homemade salsas, both green and red, were really great, and would sometimes buy some from them to take to a party instead of getting something from the store.

Alas, this location was bulldozed for condos.

I've never tried any of the other spots.

The Lawrence and Damen location was moved to Clark and Leland, a few doors down from Carol's Pub.

I had the tacos al pastor for lunch here yesterday at the aforementioned Clark Street location. Quite good. 3 tacos, rice, refired beans, can of coke: $4.99.

mark wrote:The Lawrence and Damen location was moved to Clark and Leland, a few doors down from Carol's Pub.

Actually, that one was in operation simultaneously -- but you're right, there is an El Ranchito outpost there.

Oddly, some time after living in North Center, I lived about a block from the Leland/Clark T.E.R., but I kept patronizing the other one which I knew first.

As mentioned before, the Carol's Pub location seems to be delivery central for all the Ranchitos. After much late-night-delivery trial and error, I can safely relate that most of the grilled taco meats are less than stellar (this is late night, mind you, not lunch), while many long-cooked items (chicken in mole verde, pozole, guisados) and, conversely, things that must be cooked a la minute (chilaquiles, esp.) can be surprisingly good. Under no circumstances should one order the thing described as a "salad." The bizarre mix of iceburg, green peppers, hard boiled eggs and orange slices is, I fear, authentic somewhere, but it's awful anywhere. Among antojitos, huaraches are not bad at all. I've never had the gumption to try the rabbit, for fear that I might be the only such order in the span of many months; however, I have had the serviceable vuelve a la vida with no ill effect. A bonus is that they'll deliver a massive, strong, and not horrible 'rita on the cheap.

Not sure if this is news or not, but I just got a flier today and El Ranchito is also now a pizzeria (have they always been?). Anyways, a picture is worth a thousand words.





Apparently a Champagne brunch is coming soon....

El Ranchito's pizza is a complete disaster. Crust like gypsum board, sauce like a 50/50 mixture of Prego and cheap clover honey, toppings like they come from the same supplier as a typical street vendor in Alameda Park, D.F. Do not engage them.

Well, the next time I need cold peach soup delivered at 4am, I'll know where to call. The "Devil's Polenta" does hold some intrigue.

With the exception of an excellent wood-fired pizza I once had in D.F., my experience with Mexican pizza has been universally pretty bad. It has always been as JiLS describes it, with sweet Boyardiesque sauce and a (premade?)cardboard crust. The cheese often seems to be Chihuahua instead of Mozzarella. There is such a place just up the street from me that seems to do pretty good business, so there must be a market for that type of pizza.