There's one bad thing about Mi Rancho, which I'll share towards the end of this review. I visited on a late Tuesday afternoon/early evening for the first time. Mi Rancho is a walk in-take out type of place, tucked into a small strip mall in Manchester, PA. It's so welcome in a sea of pizza/sub shops! It offers a variety of Tex-Mex-ish food, the primary being BBQ beef ribs and chicken. For this visit, I went with the three piece BBQ ribs, the coleslaw and the Caribbean beans.
The ribs are cooked in the oven, then finished off in the smoker "out back" and they had a beautiful smoky aroma and flavor, with the meat having a peel-off-the-bone texture. A mild sweet and savory tomato-based sauce came on the side in a small container. Very good all around.
The caribbean beans were in a rich savory broth with melt-in-your-mouth tender beans. The perfect side dish to the ribs--absolutely delicious and a recommendation for any bean lover. I wish there had been more of them and will absolutely get them next visit.
The coleslaw, while plentiful and crunchy, was bland, lacking either a mayo taste, or a vinegar taste. It wasn't sweet, nor tart, and honestly was a bit disappointing. Pass on the coleslaw.
I also got a chicken empanada, which was a perfect hand-size piece of savory deliciousness. The shredded chicken inside was tender and divine, the crust flaky and just the right texture. I should have gotten more of these and will 100% try the beef and cheese empanadas next visit, and probably won't be able to resist the temptation of the chicken empanada, too.
This brings me to the bad thing about Mi Rancho. As mentioned, it is carry out only (no onsite dining), so you will have to take away whatever you order. The aroma of the food is out of this world, and will torture you the entire drive to wherever you're going. However, there is a solution to this bad thing--order a couple of empanadas to munch on during the drive and you'll be set.
Overall, I'd highly recommend Mi Rancho. I spent under $15 for my meal (no drink included), which is comparable to most takeaway places. The portion sizes were adequate and the selection was varied. I'm already planning on what to order for my next visit. read more