Rancho La Sandia

Great food, great service, at a decent price, I have only been to this place once but the salsa was probably the best I’ve ever had, definitely house made! But the most impressive part was that the owner is also a server and he never writes anything down but our order came out exactly as we asked! Props! I plan on returning soon!

Yummy food and sweet people that work there too! If you are looking for good authentic Mexican food, this is the place! Great prices too!

It’s been a while, so it’s probably time for an update…
This place has been a model of consistency for the 4 years I’ve been coming here. Their salsa is some of the best around — not very hot, but very flavorful. Everything I’ve had has been solid — tacos, enchiladas, fajitas, gorditas, salads, you name it. They have a slew of excellent lunch specials, and their Wednesday cheese enchilada special can’t be beat ($ 5.25 including iced tea).
I went back today to get my mole fix — that’s my personal favorite there. As usual, service was quick and friendly. Chips and salsa and tea hit the table within moments, and my chicken mole enchiladas landed within 5 minutes. My tea never went empty, and the overall experience was just as great as it ever was. Part of that has to be the staff. I don’t think there has been any turnover since I started eating here. See what I mean about consistency?
Consistency. This place has it. I know it’s tucked away in a crappy little corner of Garland, but I would definitely recommend this place. Go ahead, try the chicken mole enchiladas…

Stopped here in the outskirts of Dallas for fuel and a meal on our way home after a long day of driving back from the Gulf. Our daughter spotted this place out of the corner of her eye. We were a little leery — there was no one there eating but we tried it anyway. The service was friendly and fast. The food was delicious and came out within five minutes. If we ever come back through and need to stop on this area we’ll come back here. I had the Rancho Nachos, daughter had Cheese Enchiladas, and hubby had the Cowboy Enchiladas. All were good. The red and green salsas brought out before our meal were delicious too!

GREAT FOOD! GREAT SERVICE! What more do you want? My wife and I have eaten at Rancho La Sandia at least once or twice a month for the past 10 years and have never been disappointed. Our favorite is the #6 on the menu which is a beef taco, one enchilada, rice and beans. The refried beans are the best I have ever had, and I don’t usually like refried beans. They are great on the chips they bring to your table. They also bring 2 kinds of salsa, one red and one green. If you like guacamole, be sure and order some. They give you twice what most restaurants will give you. It is great mixed in with their rice. Also, be sure and order the white corn tortillas with your meal. The are sweet and delicious. Save room for dessert and try their sopapillas. If they were in a better location, you would have to wait in line to get in this place. If you hate crowds on Friday night, be sure and go here then. It is a nice, quite place to dine at the end of a busy week, which is hard to find these days.

Worst Mexican food of my entire life. They couldn’t even make a simple cheese enchilada, only a flappy greasy rolled up tortilla. The beans looked and tasted like a soup of brown lard. Following the meal I felt miserable. I should have vomited out the filth I ate right there at the table instead of letting it sit and ruin my bowels.

A coworker of mine works here so I decided to give it a try since I was craving Mexican food. All in all it was pretty good, this review will not be biased but I will say they have the best salsa and would go there just for that. I get my usual plate which is the tamales and they are nice and thick. My only complaint would be the queso is bland and the tortillas aren’t homemade but still good.

Good food. Fast, courteous service.

Ah man, this place is great. Like every other Mexican restaurant in America they give you chips and salsa, but this place has two kinds of salsa!!! Red and green!!! They’re both seriously amazing. The service has always been great, and RLS has the quickest take out I’ve ever seen. If I had to recommend just one item on the menu it would have to be their chimichanga; that thing is insanely awesome, and the rice and beans compliment it so well. One would be nuts if they passed this place up!!! Seriously!!!

I have eaten at RLS many times over the past few years from when I first discovered it. I have taken clients, employees, friends and family there often and have been more than satisfied 100% of the time.
One of the most important factors as to why I go back so often is their consistancy. The service and flavorful food is always consistantly great.
I’ve had just about everything on the menu and have no complaints. I am always blown away by the homemade flavors and style of the food. I’m not sure if the kitchen has a freezer, but I doubt it. Everything seems to be made fresh and by hand.
It is located in an older strip mall and the décor is a bit on the «do it yourself» or «limited budget» side, but the food and service more than make up for it. Besides, there is a certain charm in a huge cut out of the Virgin Mary lined with red and green blinking Christmas lights. I often think to myself that if RLS was in a better, newer location it would be a million dollar business.
Try the carne asada. You can cut it with a fork and it has the best marinade I’ve ever tasted in a fajita steak.
Authentic, delicious and affordable.

This is my restaurant. Not literally, but I practically grew up there. The waiter and owner have watched me grow up. I went there the first time in a baby carriage.
Since then, I have ordered the exact same thing every single time. (And we go there a lot) Chicken enchiladas, rice, and beans. No sauce. Why? because I put the epically amazing green salsa on it!
It is THE best green salsa I have ever had and even after looking around for better I can’t find any.
The cups for your drink are very big and rightfully so because if you love the green salsa like I do you will need the liquid to wash down the heat! The spicy will vary from day to day though.
My parents are more adventurous and get other things. Dad gets the nachos or the cowboy enchiladas or a number of other different things. Mom likes the Gorditas (and so do I) I normally steal one from her.
The beans are the best I’ve ever had.
There is one waiter in particular who is extremely outgoing and will remember you when you come back. He hasn’t asked me what I want for years. He just jokes that I want shrimp fajitas or something silly like that.
I take all of my friends here and none of them have ever said they didn’t like it.
They handle big groups very well and get the food out.
They are also very fast. On a regular basis I’ve been able to get out of there in about 40 minutes.
Please go try it! You won’t regret it!

I only wish I had stopped here for lunch sooner. I have never really given this place much notice-​even though I drive past it daily. It was a very pleasant experience– from start to finish!
First the space itself is nothing fancy but is very clean and has a neat little bar area (very little-​but still nice). The host and waitstaff were all very nice and attentive. The music was at the perfect level-​loud enough to hear but wouldn’t drown out any conversation.
Now-​on to the food. The chips and both sauces were very good. They were not hot enough to turn anybody off but had enough flavor to keep everyone happy.
I ordered the chili relleno (number 12, I think) and it was great! The beef was seasoned perfectly and the breading was just right. The rice that came with was adequate and the bean soup was very tasty. I also got to eat my small appetited companions tostado-​very simple but delicious. The enchiladas looked good as well– maybe next time!
My total w/​o drink (trying to drink more water!) was just over $ 7.00-not bad for a great sit down meal!
This place really is a «hidden jewel» and I hope that anyone in the Garland/​Mesquite area stop by and give it a try-​just not between 12 and 1 on weekdays-​unless you save me a seat.

I was taken here by a friend, who swears by their menudo, and indeed it looked good. I myself haven’t tried it and doubt I ever would unless it was made with a different ingredient than tripe.
This is a cozy little hole-​in-​the-​wall restaurant located in a strip mall. After you are greeted and seated, you get a nice bowl of chips and two bowls of salsa which are tasty – there’s green and there’s red.
I ordered their green enchiladas, which were served with red Mexican rice and black beans.
The presentation was good. The taste of the beans and rice was nothing special, actually less than average.
My friend was very enthusiastic about the menudo so I chose not to alarm him or «raise a stink» about my discoveries that follow. As I dipped my chip in the green salsa I saw something that looked like a fiber of some sort. Upon close examination I discovered it to be a gray hair, about 4 inches long. I guess the cook is elderly.
Then, I noticed the inside of my two enchiladas was basically comprised of mush – chicken meal. As I further ate them I experienced rubbery textures like cartilage, nerves, tendons, and connective tissue. Again in order to not ruin my friend’s experience I swallowed these instead of spitting them out onto napkins (which btw I only had 1 small paper napkin). The chewables were so plentiful that if I chose to extract them from my mouthful, I would probably make enough to stuff one of my two enchiladas.
Getting a refill of my diet soda was a chore. Usually when one makes eye contact with the waitress, it is universal language for «please come to the table.» Instead, she would move her eyes away after making eye contact. Repeatedly. Almost as if she thought she was being checked! This was a most ridiculous attitude, because there was nothing to write home about. This happened a few times until I finally decided to say «excuse me!»
At that point I noticed the waitress was using the informal «tu» vs the more polite and proper «usted» way of addressing patrons of a restaurant. This is definitely improper attitude in the service industry.
Overall I left the place with a feeling of being grossed-​out due to the texture of the chicken and that long gray hair in the salsa. The poor service was icing on the cake.
To their credit, the other waitress was really pleasant and nice. Either way I’m not going back.

Had to go try this place after reading Lance H’s review. Got hubby and away we went. Glad we did.
There has been a Mexican food restaurant in this spot for years. Is this the same owner or have many come and gone?
My squeeze ordered Tamales. Very good choice and usually mine. I had Enchiladas De Sau’l with a side of guacamole. All made from scratch and tasty. Not greasy. Sauces were good. I have to like the sauces after all that’s where Mexican food begins.
Server/​Owner? wasn’t out going but neither were we. We went to eat and we were the only ones there at 4pm.
I’ll go back and bet they are busy in the evening and on the weekends. Breakfast Sat and Sun only. Price Lunch $ 6 – 8, Dinner$ 7-​$ 12 Bar looks to be full bar though not on the menu

Well, i completely understand why i am the first to review this little joint. It’s tucked away, back in a little strip mall, where most everything else in there has gone down the tube. But i think Rancho has a chance to make, just on their grub alone. Hope this spreads the word a little bit.
Rancho is not really your tex mex style, it is less flashy and dressed up, and a little bit smoother, rather than spicy and flavored to death. First off, they bring you hot sauce and what looked like a creamy tomatillo sauce for chip diving, both very good. The lunch specials are listed like this 1. UNO (almost got it, just cause i felt obligated) 2. Dos 3. Insert funny… Anyway, i got the 14. And i could prounounce it in Spanish (thanks Bono). Two cheese soft tacos, topped with chili con queso. The tortillas were orange, soft, and had the best flavor of just a tortilla that i have ever had. The creamy sauce on top was perfect, and it wasn’t as greasy as most others of it’s kind. The refried beans had a good flavor and the rice was soft, not much to it, but i liked that.
Great quick service and a neat little place too. Im just sayin, with a better spot… move over El Fenix