We came on a Fri night and it wasn't crowded at the time we came. The service was really good and the food was amazing. We will be back read more

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First time to try this restaurant. It was really delicious! Drinks were great also! Better than most Mexican restaurants! Great service! Churros were also great. read more

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Birria tacos were buns and tasted terrible, it was so bad I couldn't even eat one and neither could the other people I had with me when the tried it. read more

El Rancho Viejo - Birria tacos - Mexican Near Me - Trinity, Texas

Soooo... the boyfriend and I were out in Trinity for a party and was looking for a place to eat dinner before the party. I pulled up my trust Yelp app and saw that there isn't a lot to choose from in the sprawling metropolis of Trinity. But El Rancho Viejo caught my eye because they had chili relleno's, which just so happens to be one of my most favorite things. Upon entering, it was your typical Mexican restaurant. Bright colors. It was also decorated for Valentines Day, which is a cute touch. I ordered a combo meal that had a taco, enchilada, tamale, chili relleno, rice, and beans. Taco - nice and greasy like a good taco should be. The meat was flavorful, and there was plenty of it. They didn't skimp on the meat at all. There was also a good amount of lettuce, tamotoes, and cheese. As far as the cheese is concerned, they could have kept that. It was... no Bueno. It seemed to be some kind of processed cheese. Enchilada - it was good and had a good sauce on it. It was a good TexMex Enchilada. I'd eat it again. Tamale - NOPE! Wasn't good. I have no idea what they did to it. I thought the menu said homemade tamale, but if that was homemade, they need a new recipe. It's a hard pass from me, dawg. Chili Relleno - now for the reason why we choose this place. You can choose from a cheese or meat relleno. I opted for the meat filled one. It had the same meat as the taco. It was a good solid choice. It had the egg batter on it like any good chili relleno should. It was fried well and tasted good. Was this the best chili relleno that I've ever had? No, but for a little TexMex restaurant in Trinity... it was good. Bean and Rice - nothing remarkable. All in all, it was a good dining experience. read more

El Rancho Viejo - Chips and good salsa - Mexican Near Me - Trinity, Texas

The food was fantastic, as were the Michelada and Margarita. Service was A-1! Jose was a great waiter!

terrible food, terrible service. BBQ sauce does not belong on Mexican food!!! paid $15 for my plate alone and barely ate it because no where in the description did it say it had the disgusting bbq sauce they put on it. they brought my child the wrong food and tried to argue with us about it. when we brought up the bbq sauce on my food the server just shrugged said sorry and walked away. absolutely terrible. read more

El Rancho Viejo - a menu for a mexican restaurant - Mexican Near Me - Trinity, Texas

Our friends really like this place. To us it's kinda salty food. The service is pretty good. As far as ambiance goes, it's a Mexican restaurant. read more

We had an early lunch here a week ago Monday. We shared fajita's beef and chicken with veggies. Very good. Great corn and flour tortillas. Salsa and chips good and their queso was amazing. Had a Margarita and added some 1800 reposado and it was also good. Nice little place with great service. read more

Service was nice and friendly. The food was okay but there is it much around. Worth the stop for the service and ambiance.

Absolutely loved this place. Got the spinach enchiladas and it was more than enough food. But make sure you save room the sopapillas.

Great food & service & a very good value. Will return & refer others. This is a must if you are in or near Trinity, Tx. The best restaurant in Trinity. read more

El Rancho Viejo - Quesadida & chunky guacamole - Mexican Near Me - Trinity, Texas

Dont eat here! Shit food Shit service Disgusting restaurant disgusting bathrooms with trash on the floor Extremely poor service. Served stale hard as a rock chips, asked waiter for more and served more stale chips. We got served fajitas with no tortillas and had to wait over five minutes, then finally we had to get up and go ask for them. The fajita beef wasnt cooked all the way through and tasted gross. We got served a fajita plate FOR TWO that barely had any meat. Never again. There was a water or oil slick on the way to the restroom (which is right next to the kitchen and half the waiters slipped on it, no one cleaned it up. Nasty cobwebs on the ceilings too. What an absolute shithole. read more

Good Tex Mex food. We have been there 4-5 times. We are new to Trinity. It is later than a lot of places.Cheese Enchiladas are good, chips and salsa are real good as well. Staff is real nice. read more

Pleasantly surprised with this place. Everything tasted good, clean, nice interior, fast and courteous staff

I have been eating here for years and I've always loved their food. My favorite would probably be the Pollo Del Mar. It is delicious chicken breast topped with a creamy seafood sauce, crawfish tails, and baby shrimp served with tortillas. The enchiladas are also amazing as well and the chicken tortilla soup. It is filled with delicious shredded chicken in a yummy chicken brot and topped off with avocado, monterey jack cheese, and tortilla chips! read more

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This place is awesome again! Been coming here for years as we have a get-a-way place here. Adrian, one of the cooks, took time to talk to us. He even gave us spices to use on our salsa after he gave us his recipe. Best salsa in town. Food was great! Can't wait to see come here for the weekend. We love their karaoke on Fridays and Saturdays. read more

They have the best Anaheim enchiladas I've had, but because of that, it's what I always order!

I really don't know what to say. I mean, I've been to this place 4 times now hoping my menu choice was the problem. The service with one exception has been good enough but each time I have found the food to be "not quite right." It just doesn't have that fresh, homecooked and authentic taste. Four days ago, I thought I'd give it one last go and took my sister and daughter, both from out of town, there for an early dinner. I have to say, again service was good and the food even looked good...2 of us had tacos and the other enchiladas. How do you mess up tacos? All three of us took a bite and there it was...everything was cold. The enchilada plate was hot but the enchiladas were cold, the meat in the tacos was almost refrigerator cold, our beans and rice were cold. We sent everything back to be heated. That should have done the trick but that's when I asked my daughter to taste the cheese on her taco and tell me what she thought...she said what I thought...it tasted like shredded Velveta! Who puts Velveta on Mexican food? My sister showed me the chicken in her enchilada when she felt it had an odd texture and we all swear it had to be processed chicken - the grain was too straight and perfect looking, like frozen pre-cooked strips cut into pieces. I've also thought that same thing when I've had their chicken dishes before. And our Spanish rice had English peas in it??? Who does that in Mexico? Now, I'm all about giving a place a stand-up chance. So, I've even tried out the Chinese buffet once. Once. The lack of real Chinese food was sad. I make it at home and it's so simple to make, but I remember thinking they must have run to the frozen food department of the grocery store, bought packaged Chinese food and just heated it. No real Chinese dipping sauces either. Chow Mein was more like fat spaghetti. Chinese food is all about the easy noodle dishes and dumplings...but not here. Honestly, bagged P.F.Chang entrees from the grocery store would be a better choice. I don't want to run El Rancho Viejo down. It's ok for an area that has very few options for Mexican cuisine and the ambiance is good, the waitstaff is friendly, service is not unreasonable, but if they would just use fresh ingredients and prepare from scratch, it would be outstanding. Mexican food is not that time consuming and recipes are generally uncomplicated. What a dynamite place this could be. My one star is for good service, the excellent salsa and their choice of a good, bagged tortilla chip to dip in it. read more

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Always good food & good service! Husband loves the margaritas! Even if they are busy.. they have good service.

We randomly stopped here to eat lunch and I have to say they have one of the BEST salsas we've ever had!

I really used to be in love with this place. The food was good, the place is nice & big. There's always something goin on, they do Chinese food & have karaoke a couple nights. Always a good time. Lately the service has been on the not so great side. It's super irritating considering how much we go there, living only a few minutes away. The food hasn't been as good & they nitpick so badly on the pricing. It's a nice place when there's not really any other better options is about where I'm at now. Update: 6/2019- So we still come here a lot. They no longer do chinese buffet on Wednesday's or whenever it was. The service has improved, mostly bc Brittany works there. She's honestly the best waitress I've had, anywhere. I absolutely love Friday night karaoke. Go every single Friday. The food is pretty good now, everything always tastes pretty good & the margaritas are always great as usual. We go about once a week. If you pick an off time, service is slow, but Friday & Saturday nights are always pretty good! I think this is the place we go to most consistently. Overall, the atmosphere is really nice. I really enjoy when we eat here. read more

Just doesn't cut it,to loud ,food and service lacking.Have tried a few times in the last twelve years,just doesn't get any better.Over priced for what you get. Good food & service don't mind the price & tip! read more

Remodeled restaurant. Food also much improved. Booths need new upholstery, but over time, I feel that this will be addressed. Worth visiting read more

My favorite food and favorite people. I've never had a bad meal, and the service is top notch. Do yourself a favor and ask for Merabell. read more

We have always loved stopping here when we are up at the lake, but what happened to the bar? No alcohol.

I've been coming to this place for years, my parents swear by this place. The food is good, but the waitstaff really sucks. There is not a nicer way to put it. I understand they get busy, but if everyone knows this place is busy (not packed) plan ahead with additional wait staff. As a patron I expect to have my drink order either immediatly taken by the host or momentarily by my waiter. Not twenty minutes after I've had a seat. And then wait an additional hour for my food to arrive after taking my order. The restaurant is about half full of people eating. All the staff is serving the people drinking.... I mean, we'd like to drink too. Not just after we've finished our first drink after the long wait to place our order. I went to the manager three times trying to resolve the wait times. No help whatsoever. Not coming back ever, and it's a damn shame because the food is good. read more

We have been to this restaurant several times now and the food is OK. There's not much to choose from in Trinity and this place is OK if you're craving Mexican food. I had tacos today and they were good but my husband's fajitas were so salty I couldn't hardly eat them. Service was OK also. read more

Salsa and margaritas are yummy!!!! Food and service were great! read more

El Rancho Viejo - Spinach enchiladas - Mexican Near Me - Trinity, Texas

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Came to this place to have some dinner because it was recommended by our host. Service was deplorable!! We waited over 40 mins for an appetizer and well over and hour for dinner. Had to chase another server down to see if we could possibly get out drinks refilled. We could see our server getting other dinners their food and they had some in after we did. They did nothing to make us feel welcomed. Well, the young lady at the front was extremely nice and welcoming, but that was it. The food was good, but since our server didn't listen to what we were ordering he brought us what ever he thought was correct, when I said something, he just looked at me like how could I complain. So overall, food, ok...service....Horrible!!! read more

El Rancho Viejo - Special tacos and what was supposed to be Juan's Special Fajitas, but got no shrimp :-( - Mexican Near Me - Trinity, Texas

I came here because a few of my co workers suggested it. I won't come here again. The menu says "served with tortilla soup, salad & rice" for $13.99 when my food came I only received the soup and then when I requested for the salad this is what the kitchen sent out. OH YEA! and they took the soup back in replace of the salad. (: #neveragain read more

El Rancho Viejo - Polio Del Mar - Mexican Near Me - Trinity, Texas

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The food quality has continued to decline since moving to Trinity in 2016. The only safe thing IMHO is the cheese enchiladas. You can't really mess that up, right? Word of advice. Avoid the rubbery shrimp. read more

First of all the service was so SLOW. At first we were understanding because they were busy but it got to the point where we had to go find the water pitcher to fill up our own drinks. We waited for our food for two hours. One of us got the fajitas that was supposed to come with beef, chicken, shrimp, and vegetables. They forgot to add the shrimp to the plate and the beef was super chewy. One of us order chicken enchiladas and asked if they could add spinach in with the chicken. They brought her spinach enchiladas instead. When she told the waiter he looked at her like "what do you want me to do about it?", so she asked for the manager. The manager did end up fixing the problems. Also dirty dishes remained on the table throughout the wait and throughout the meal. I only gave this place three stars because the food was pretty good but if you decide to eat here be prepared to wait. read more

Hey normal small town Mexican food place. Had enchiladas and they were good. Cops and salsa were ok. Nothing special about this place other than it might be best place to eat in Trinity. read more

We had moldy chips served to us and when we told the manager she didn't care. She could care less. Her words were "I don't know what to tell you" we will never come back. read more

Good food. Good prices. They handled the order for our group of 15 well. That's not an easy thing to do. There was another large group in there which made the place really noisy. There isn't much the management can do about that but the construction of the building does nothing to dampen noise. Will eat there again. Will take large groups there again. read more

Terrible service, food quality was on the level of Taco Bell. We have tried it twice and will not return. Franks Taco in Riverside is ten times better. read more

This is usually my favorite Mexican restaurant. Today there was a new cook. My husband really enjoyed his meal, but mine wasn't what I usually order. I get the shrimp enchiladas with a white cream sauce. YUMMY!! This time while there were plenty of shrimp in the enchiladas they were dry and had only a sprinkle of white gummy cheese on top. I'll try again since this is a great place to eat, give the new guy a chance to learn right. read more

We have enjoyed this restaurant for 7 years. It was never fancy, but the service and the food was always exceptional as were the drinks. Recently they upgraded their building, their parking lot and their menu. Today we went to celebrate fathers day and were SO DISAPOINTED that we will likely NEVER go back !! They only had one waiter and one chips and salsa and drink server. We ordered my wife a coconut margarita ($13.95) and when the y brought it to the table it was not frozen but on the rocks. She had just gotten one last week and it was frozen as requested. when she asked to get it frozen the young man said "it comes on the rocks and that is the only way you can have it. This was a new employee so we let it go and continued waiting for about 15 minutes to place our order and finally decided since she couldn't get the drink she wanted and we couldn't get a waiter to take our order we would just pay the check and leave and the young man came up to the register and proceeded to tell us that his dad and his uncle were the owners and that they were short staffed but that was no reason for us to be dissatisfied and we were just being UNREASONABLE. They couldn't even refill our chips after waiting patiently even after he told us we couldn't have the drink we wanted!! The young man who's father and uncle owned the place DESPARATELY need to train their child how to speak to and treat the people that are making it possible for him to have a job and his dad to make a living ! After the RUDE way we were treated sadly we will likely NEVER go back. So sad that the owner didn't train his son/employee on how to treat his customers. read more

I use to love this place but the food sucks these days... hit or miss. Tonight I ordered to go and the beef fajita was not good. They forgot my tortillas, sour cream , and shrimp... so I think next time I'd rather drive to Huntsville then go here. read more

You would not expect to find a great Tex-Mex restaurant in a small East Texas town like Trinity, but El Rancho Viejo, aside from its sister restaurant in Madisonville, is simply the best Mexican restaurant in the area. It is better than anything in nearby Huntsville. Cheese enchiladas are always my acid test for the quality of a Mexican restaurant, and those at El Rancho Viejo are excellent. It is the cheese that makes good cheese enchiladas, and theirs is very flavorful. The rice is very fluffy. The only disappointment was the salsa, which is very blah. I ordered a bowl of their hot salsa and mixed the two, which helped considerably. This is about as good as you will find in small town East Texas. read more