Ranchero Cantina

Finally got a chance to go here. Drinks are great, atmosphere great, three amigos appetizer very good. But if you wanna get ribs where meat actually falls off the bone, drive a quarter mile down the street to the Emerson Hotel. Steak quesadillas light on steak, heavy on cheese, and served cold. I live in NYC and this place gives a bad name to suburban restaurants.

This place was great. Wings were awesome, guacamole was great and the pulled pork taco was out of this world! Can’t wait to try a dinner here!

Nothing special or unique here. Small menu. Chicken flauta Appetizer was good. Nachos had a lot of meat. Fries were big and good. But there was a stale old smell walking in, the menus were sticky and the cups were dirty. One of the new napkins had old dried rice stuck to it. All that put me off. Also the Waitress didn’t remember what anyone ordered when any of the food or drinks came out throughout the night … And it was slow. Not sure what to make of that. Maybe she didn’t care or pay attention. But first time that’s ever happened to me.

The pros: the people were really nice. I feel bad writing the rest.
The cons: the food has no flavor. The queso hardly tasted like cheese it was so bland. There were no other flavors in it. The fajitas we had included all of the meats on the menu. Again they were grilled with no seasoning and completely lacked flavor. Even the fresh jalapeños were mild. The fixings were very small
Lastly, if you like to lean on the back of your chair you can’t. There is a hole where your back goes. Huh? Not sure why you would design chairs like that and can’t believe anyone bought them.
I really liked the manager. She was sweet. However, she couldn’t make up for lack of flavor. She said that the flavor profile they served wasn’t what we were looking for and that the food was made properly. We returned things and they tried again and the new dish came the same way.
Mexican food is about flavor. It isn’t timid or bland

In the past I gave it a 3.5 for food. I have to update to a solid 4. They never disappoint the food is definitely tasty. They atmosphere is great. The bar is great. I love that it is a great family place early in the evening and a fun adult place at night. Again the management was great, they deserve a 5. Learned a valuable lesson tonight, if you really love a restaurant then do the owner a favor and skip the Groupon. I had no idea how much it costs the owner, especially if you used an expired Groupon for face value.

Came here on a Sat evening right before a band was setting up for the night. The host offered us a table which would have ended up in the dance floor so we decided to sit at the bar for dinner. It was definitely the better choice.
The bartender greeted us right away and told us his drink specials for the evening. My friend had the Bellini special and I had the fresh citrus margarita. He then brought us some chips and salsa to share.
We ordered our meals and had an idea that they would be a while seeing how busy they were and a few people were waiting on take out for a pretty long time next to us.
I started with a small spicy caesar salad. It was very different and very good but also very spicy.
Our food eventually came and everything was very good. My friend got the chicken tacos and I got the chicken enchilada. The enchilada sauce had a kick and wasn’t your typical red sauce. It had a slightly smoky aftertaste which was much better than what I was expecting. I also got a side of guac which was tasty.
Overall it was very good. The service was a little slow but understandable for a Sat night with live music.
I checked in on Unilocal and got one of my two drinks taken off the bill. It was $ 11! Bonus!

My husband and I found the restaurant on Groupon and decided to check it out. Went on a Friday evening, service was good, food was really good. The chicken wings with the RCQ sauce was amazing and cooked to perfection. I had the steak quesadillas which were so good and fresh I will definitely be back.

I live in the same town as Ranchero Cantina and I had never been here until my boyfriend wanted food and everywhere else was closed. We went and sat at the bar and ordered food to go.
The sangria was great. Strong but still super tasty. The tacos were perfect when we gt home and he said his burger was made perfectly. Their fries might be my favorite fries! The price was phenomenal. We paid $ 57 for a half pitcher of sangria, a blue moon, nachos, a burger and fries, 3 tacos, and an order of hot wings.
The inside of the restaurant was upscale and the atmosphere was great for a quiet date night on a week night or a fun band on the weekend. Can’t wait to come back here to dine in!

Awesome place if you want to go an chill with friends! Weekends at Night they have live music! The food is amazing… The drinks well… They have this margarita that is A GRAN SLAM!!! But you gotta ask for Cesar the bartender! He is the man! And he will make sure you you have such a good time that you will want to come back!

Anyone from the Bergen County area knows that Emerson is a bit lacking when it comes to restaurant selection. That’s not to say that the locations there are bad, but rather few and far between; especially compared to Westwood or Ridgewood, boasting dozens of restaurants and of many varieties.
It delights me to say that Emerson has another good restaurant to visit. Ranchero brings an otherwise uncommon mixture of cuisine to the area and does so quite effectively.
Their barbecue, if you enjoy the smoked variety, is excellent.
Their Mexican inspired dishes, in my opinion, are equally good.
All other dishes on the menu have, again in my opinion, proven worthwhile.
I have yet to receive a poorly sized portion, nor have I found their prices to be unreasonable. This is stressed further by the seemingly-​near-​constant availability of a Groupon deal, good *any* (as far as I know) day of the week.
Lastly, the service has always been friendly, attentive and expeditious. The management and owner have always been courteous and kind, too.
Specific Recommendations: Wings, Ribs, Chicken Mole, any of the Fajitas, Brisket, and when in season, their Brunch is an insanely well-​rounded experience for the price.

Great atmosphere, great service and really good food. I had three tacos (BBQ pork, Mahi Mahi and chicken bacon) all of which were delicious. My only complaint (cuz there has to be something in every review) was that my refried beans were a little watery but didn’t impact the taste at all. I cleaned my plate!
My 5 year old had Mac and cheese (it’s not the stuff from the blue box) and she ate more than half which was a feat by itself.
The wait staff was very attentive and friendly. I’m actually looking forward to going back sooner than later, great neighborhood restaurant.

Stopped in here with my parents for the first time early on a Friday night. My dad passed this place earlier on in the day and decided he wanted to have dinner there the same night. When we walked in, we were seated right away at a high top table. Brian, our waiter, came over shortly after to take our drink order. Once we got our drinks, he took our appetizer and entrée orders.
We got the garlic shrimp appetizer which was pretty good. Next time I’ll try the queso dip or guacamole. Perfectly timed, the entrees came out a few minutes after we were finished with the appetizer. My parents shared a burger and ribs. And I ordered camarones y chorizo. The French fries that came with the ribs were excellent. The burger was also very flavorful and juicy. I didn’t try the ribs, I was so full after my shrimp and chorizo.
Since my mother and I both checked in on Unilocal we had the choice of a free cocktail or free desert. I ordered the gold margarita which was very strong! And my mother ordered the deep fried Hershey bar as a dessert which was excellent!
Very pleasant night out, great atmosphere, and Brian was an amazing waiter! Highly recommend this spot!

I’ve lived in the Emerson area for most of my life, and I think I might have been waiting for a place like this for almost all of it. I’ve been a sucker for good Mexican food since I was a kid, and I’ve always been a fan of a bar with a nice variety of beers on tap since I was an adult. The enchiladas are what you would expect from a place like this, but are certainly tasty and satisfying. The complimentary chips are always welcome, and the salsa is more flavorful than I expected.
While I haven’t tried any of their BBQ options yet, a conversation with the very kind owner showed me very quickly that both she and their staff know what it takes to make good BBQ. If they nail the BBQ portion of the menu, and some of their live music makes for a fun little date night, they will have more than earned an upgrade to a 5-​star rating in my book. Welcome to Emerson.

Came here for the first time last night with a friend. Very nice atmosphere and interior. Our bartender was a sweetheart, and she made sure to always check up on us. There was a live band playing, which I thought was great. We started off with the guacamole, which wasn’t bad. I ordered the Texas caviar chop chop salad, which I wouldn’t recommend. I loved all the ingredients in it, but I did not enjoy the strange tasting dressing, which you can’t ask for on the side, as the salad is prepped beforehand. My friend had a burger with fries. The burger itself lacked flavor, but the fries were delicious. There was also no love that went into making the cole slaw that it came with.
I would love to give this place 4 stars because of the attentive staff and positive atmosphere, but I can’t say that the food was over all worth it. Even so, I would definitely come back.

Went there for the second time. The steak appetizer remains a must. Tried the ribs this time. If anyone remembers and misses the old «The Food and Drink of Texas» in Pearl River, you know, the red barn looking place that looked like a dump but had amazing BBQ. Well miss it no more. Yes they are a little fatty, yes you will need a bunch of wet-​naps, yes they are amazing. The brisket was even better.
I was also impressed by how friendly and attentive the staff is. Have a question? Just ask! Lori and her crew are constantly on patrol. Save Applebee’s or Chili’s for when you are out of town and looking to play it safe. If you’re in Emerson and want something truly special, Ranchero Cantina is my top pick.

I was not impressed with this place. The drinks are pretty good but I don’t think the food is worth a second visit. Also, I called ahead and they told me there was about 40 minute wait but once I got there I ended up waiting 2 hours. I understand being off by a little bit but that was pretty ridiculous and the hostess didn’t even seem to care or ever check in with the people waiting and seemed to be annoyed whenever I asked for an update on the time. I gave 2 stars only bc the place itself is pretty nice and they have live music which I’m always a fan off… even though they didn’t play any Spanish music.

Took one of my employees here after she won a scholarship. I want to love this place and rave about it, but the food (while plentiful) left me underwhelmed. However, the service was beyond excellent the afternoon that we were there.
We both ordered enchiladas for lunch. She had beef, I had chicken, and it was rather bland, a bit too tomato-​ey. I have some favorites for pretty good Tex Mex, like Señorita’s in Bloomfield, and this didn’t come close.
The place was empty. We’d just left a very large meeting and I was thinking «wow, they could have accommodated all of us» because the place is large.
I checked in but didn’t claim the free cocktail because I was driving. Nice enough place, very large, could accommodate a group easily, but I’d have to try something else to update my food review.

This review is based on my bar experience only, not dining in. I’d like to come back and try their food so I can update my review.
If you check in, you get a free cocktail. I got a strawberry/​mango margarita and it was excellent.
This place is pretty spacious. Large bar with seating around it and an open area for a band with a dance floor. People were dancing and having a good time. The atmosphere was really fun. The bathrooms were clean. The bartender was really sweet.
This place has piqued my interest because I’ve never even heard of it before and it’s very close to my home. I definitely need to come back for the dining in experience. As a bar though, it’s fun, reasonably priced and has good drinks. I’ll be back for sure.

We went on a Saturday night as a family of five, with three kids. Laurie the owner, squeezed us in without a reservation ahead of some of her friends so we could have dinner before the evenings live entertainment. We are so grateful for the accommodation.
The entire experience was very good overall. If I could do four and half stars I would.
The service was Fantastic & friendly .
Food was very good and portions were plentiful.
Traditional Tex-​Mex taco was outstanding. Taco salad was very good, & the kids portions are gigantic!!! Kids mac & cheese was homemade, creamy, and delicious.
Both the manager and the owner stopped by at our table to see how we were doing, and both were very affable and engaging. Much appreciated to see people who are so interested in their product.
We will certainly be back.

Just got an email notification that my picture of my terrible meal was removed. Sucks that the owners have to stoop so low as to remove bad PR on here as opposed to try to make their dishes better. Welp.