After leaving El-Ranchero I am still undecided on my experience there. A few friends of mine suggested we stop by their $1 taco night. Moments before walking inside my friend leans over and says ""We brought our own hot sauce because you definitely need to put something on the tacos to make them go down"". I am not sure if that should have been my first indicator that these were probably $1 for a reason. The restaurant itself feels more like a shack tucked away in a less traveled area of Ballston. To my surprise the place was packed with people. I am not sure if it was the $1 tacos that led everyone there or if there is some secret item on the menu that everyone craves but that was not what I expected.
A slight catch on the $1 tacos is that they are hardshell only. Not being the biggest fan of hardshell tacos, I already had a chip on my shoulder for the evening. The frozen margaritas for $4 were definitely worth the cost and were quite tasty...even if they did come from a frozen ICEE machine. My group decided to order some guacamole to help with the taste of the tacos....big mistake. The guacamole not only needed salt but tasted as if it was frozen and dethawed. After smothering our tacos in hot sauce (our own of course because there is only one bottle to share between the whole restaurant otherwise), guacamole, and salsa they weren't tooo bad...however, I probably could have gotten a slightly better taco at taco bell for the same price.
I am not completely giving up on this place. I would even like to go back and try one of their other dishes, however, after leaving El Ranchero for my first visit I most likely will not be recommending it to anyone else.
Pros: Cheap
Cons: shack style restaurant, $1 not even worth their price
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