Super Mercado El Rancho

Tacos de tripa: 4.5 stars. They are soft yet cripy, good taste.
Tacos de Barbacoa: 2.75 stars. Meat was more on the dry end. Needed more flavor.
Tortillas de Maiz: 5 stars. Homemade, soft, great all around.
Esquites (cup of corn): can’t even rate it. The cup was full of water, the corn used is yellow sweet corn not white corn, mayo and corn ratio was not on point, hardly any chile at all. Biggest disappointment!

So I am a medical student at Brody SOM and someone at school recommended this super market to me. I walked in and had an okay shopping experience. I’ve had better but this was okay. When I tried to buy fresh tilapia at the meat counter, two women walked into the store and the meat cashiers immediately started talking and laughing about them in Spanish. I speak french and I understand a bit of Spanish here and there so I guess they assumed I wouldn’t know what they were talking about. They did this in front of the customers and loudly too. This did not necessarily color my judgement of the place (although I did think it was not professional) until it was time for me to pay for my groceries.
When it came time to check out, I experienced one of the most prejudiced encounters I have ever had in a grocery store. First, the woman at check-​out asked me quite rudely if I wanted to pay with a debit and credit card and cash. She assumed that I wanted to split my payments in all three forms. All these questions were not asked of the Hispanic customers ahead of me. (I am Nigerian-​American black). I answered no to her questions and she started bagging my groceries. When I gave her my card to pay, she proceeded to pull out a paper in front of her and held it quite high above her head where I could clearly see that she was checking my card and name against some sort of fraudulent card list. Once again, this was not done to her Hispanic or white patrons. After checking my name against this list of her’s, she then swiped my card and I walked out with my groceries. I never leave reviews on anything because I know all these reviews are subjective to who your server is and who the patron is but this encounter shook me to my core. I can’t stand prejudice at all.
I gave it two stars because I loved their meat selection and plantains but I will not be going back.

Visitin from Arizona I was super disappointed when my husband took us to one of his favorite childhood Mexican restaurants in Greenville, «Chicos». The food was so bland. The first thing I said was, this isn’t Mexican food! Thankfully I found this restaurant on Unilocal.It’s a restaurant at the back of a Mexican supermarket (fresh ingredients!) We came here for lunch and loved it! This is as authentic as it gets. The waitress told me the owners were from Jalisco, Mexico which is well known for excellent food. I loved loved loved this place. The tacos were amazing and so was their salsa bar. You can get any toppings you want on your tacos. My husband who is a NC native loved it too.

90% sanitary rating, food was terrible, coffee was old, and feces was on the wall in the bathroom

Ate at the little taqueria at the back of this place today and it was soooooo good! Now they don’t bring you chips and salsa (unless you order them), but the food is so authentic and amazing that you don’t wanna load up on that stuff anyway. Everything we got was great right down to the rice, beans, and the guacamole (which is the best I’ve ever had). The portions were generous and the staff was attentive. Highly recommend the green chicken tamales, fajitas, and the huevos con chorizo. Go now! You won’t regret it.

This place probably has the most authentic food in Greenville NC. When I come here I always get their tacos. Their tacos are very authentic mexican street tacos. They even have tripe and beef tongue tacos. The only downside is they do not serve the complementary chips and salsa but that isn’t authentic anyways. They also do not serve sweet tea. They do however serve Coca Cola that is made in Mexico. I believe that Coca Cola that is made in Mexico uses higher quality sugar… I’m not 100% sure though. There is also a Mexican market attached to the restaurant. When I come here I always walk into the market and buy some beef jerky and dried pork skins while I wait for my food.

If your idea of Mexican food is endless salsa, chip, and a mountain of sour cream this is not your deal. If you know what an authentic taqueria is… do not miss out! The food is authentic and consistently fantastic.

If your idea of Mexican food is bottomless bowls of chips and gigantic portions this isn’t the place for you. On the other hand, if you appreciate traditional food made with fresh ingredients you might be in the right place. This is Mexican food made for people from Mexico — you will be sharing the restaurant with happy bouncing babies whose parents speak Spanish as their first language as well as hard working migrants. The food is great, fast, fresh, and reasonably priced. I will be back again soon.

Never having had much authentic Mexican food but wanting to try it, I have to say it is fabulous. We love American Mexican and thought we would enjoy is. Boy did we ever!
First, don’t expect the traditional bottomless bowl of chips and salsa as an appetizer. They don’t do it. I got two kinds of tacos. The taco came plain but came with a trip to the «taco toppings» bar. Three different types of taco sales and one guacamole sauce. My son got the fajitas. It came with enough for two people! Husband got the chili releano. He said it was awesome.
The restaurant was clean and the food was hot. The rest rooms were a little dirty but I’m hoping I caught them on a bad day.
I can’t wait to go back.

Yuuummmmy! This is the best Mexican food you’ll find in Greenville. Everything I’ve tried is awesome! Menudo is only served on Sat and Sun, FYI, and their tacos come bare, but you can dress them up with toppings of your choice at the toppings/​salsa bar. I’m a wimp when it comes to hot food, so I love the avocado salsa, my friends who like hot stuff always go for the red salsas. My only wish is that they had a dessert menu.

Authentic Mexican food down right. Also a Mexican grocery with nice selection of meats and pastries. I liked the fish tacos the most, but the pastor tacos were delicious, too.
Will be back soon!

Don’t let the 5 star voters trick you. This may be the only taqueria they have ever been to. This is not a 5 star taqueria. The food is mildly above average and it is better than the Mexican restaurants that are not called El Azador or Mario’s Tacos. But it is third in the Mexican taqueria race for best in Greenville.

Hands down THE BEST authentic Mexican around. I’ve only slightly explored the full menu, but the carne asada tacos are killer! top them with cilantro, lime and onion and you will fall outta your chair! The atmosphere is authentic as well. No pottery barn bull here. White walls with taxidermy as décor. Basically feels like a scene from a Tarantino film. When you’ve finished your food be sure and take a stroll around the attached Mexican supermarket. Lots of obscure items not to mention a ton of fresh meats and vegetables.
To sum things up, just go here for lunch with an empty stomach and an open mind and you will not be disappointed.

The atmosphere is nothing to speak of. There are deer heads on the walls, and a tiny tv blaring Univision in a corner. But this little hole in the wall hosts the best authentic Mexican food in Pitt County. Super Mercado El Rancho is attached to a Mexican grocery on Charles Blvd. At lunchtime, the place is packed with the construction-​worker set, plus a significant minority of gringos who have discovered that the food here is simply awesome. Most people will be eating the traditional tacos on corn tortillas with Mexican Coke to wash it down. There’s a salsa and condiments bar where you can dress up your tacos, lots of different hot sauces on the tables, and a staff that is friendly and patient with non-​spanish speakers.
If you are willing to look past the awesome tacos, there is a wide variety of platters of traditional Mexican fare, served in huge portions. The Fajitas Mixtas is incredible here — they spice the meat with a spice mix I’ve yet to see anywhere else, pile it high and bring it out to you sizzling on an enormous skillet of peppers and onions. Bring a friend and you’ll both leave satisfied, or try to eat the whole smash yourself — I consider myself a glutton, and I’ve never been able to do it. You’ve probably driven past this place a million times — stop in and enjoy!

Having grown up in Southern CA, I know Mexican food. I lived in the Northern CA Bay area for 7 yrs and couldn’t find anything genuine & impressive to save my life the entire time. I know some good places, but I’ll stick my neck out and say this is the best I’ve had since I was IN Mexico about 15 yrs ago — better than SoCal. I’m hooked after one visit. I even tried the relleno taco after reading a review that mentioned it. It’s actually very good. I’ve had bad rellenos and it’s a peeve of mine (wrong type of pepper, undercooked, you name it), and they nailed it. YUM! Everything I had was great. They also have my favorite salsa on the bar — tomatillo/​avocado.
Don’t be in a hurry. They may take a little bit to prepare your food, but it’s not a Taco Bell. If you want speedy slop, go to Taco Bell. This is authentic, quality food — and don’t be fooled by the casual setting. The taqueria is in the back of the market and very basic. If they’re putting the energy into the food, I’m fine with that. Sit down, relax, and appreciate. It’s fantastic!
The prices are beyond reasonable. You won’t find better for less anywhere. Use the tip jar by the register — they deserve it!
TRY THE HORCHATA — it’s awesome!!!

Why can’t I give it 3.5?
If I’m in a fix and don’t feel like going to El Azador, or I really want some enchiladas I’ll go here. The supermarket part sometimes draws me in.
But in comparision to El Azador this is the deputy place, the meats and sauces just aren’t as quality or as tasty. Nor are the corn patties and tortillas. I do love that they have a complementary taco bar filled with sauces and side items like onion/​cilantro, pickled jalapenos etc. They sometimes have non-​english speakers so customizing your order can be a real pain. Otherwise the service is pretty nice. If they stepped up the meat and tortilla quality I would definetely split between this place and El Azador and the random times I go the american industrialized mexican chains. For now its too expensive for what I get.

Update: We went back to El Rancho yesterday with my in-​laws. Everyone was hugely impressed by the food, and this is a family that spends a lot of their free time thinking about, making, or eating food.
New stuff we tried: the shrimp quesadilla, which is excellent. The quesadilla itself is large and stuffed with shrimp. It had a wonderful flavor. It comes with beans and rice, both good. My husband had tripe tacos which he really enjoyed. My mother-​in-​law had this amazing 7 Mare (7 Seafood) soup, which she ordered after seeing it at another table. The soup had mussels, clams, shrimp, crab, squid, scallops, and langostinos. The shrimp and langostinos were whole, so come prepared to do some shellfish dissection! The broth was complex and fishy «in the best possible sense», as MIL kept saying.
The prices were are unbelievably low. My quesadilla came with rice and beans and was 7 $. The 7 Mare soup was 12 $ — it came in an enormous bowl and would easily have been 20 $+ in a nice restaurant with all that seafood in it.