Taqueria El Ranchero - Wahiawā

We generally enjoy the food, although the consistency can be an issue at times. Despite that, I truly think this is one of the better Mexican restaurants we've got here in Hawaii.

When I dine here, I prefer to place my order online through their website. Just a tip—make sure you’re not accidentally selecting the Kapolei location! The online ordering option lets me fully customize my meals. My top two choices are both burritos. First, I like the vegetable burrito with black beans—no sour cream, but I definitely add avocado, cilantro, and grilled veggies. My second favorite is the seafood burrito filled with shrimp, with black beans and, again, no sour cream, but I add grilled veggies as well. If you prefer dining in, there are plenty of tables available. They also have a sauce bar featuring four different sauces: two red sauces (one spicy and one medium), a green sauce (which is my favorite), and a surprisingly spicy yellow sauce. The prices are very reasonable and the staff is outstanding. For a bit of free entertainment, you can watch the chefs prepare the food behind the glass. This restaurant has entrances on both sides—one near Longs and the other near Foodland—so you can make a quick exit if you need to escape when the paparazzi tries to snap a photo of you with your new friend from the old Cornet corner (just kidding!).

This restaurant serves the best traditional Mexican food on the island, no contest. They have everything covered, except for sesos (beef brain) — though I must say, brain is a bit like macaroni salad for me; I may not choose it every time, but I feel it's my right to have it on the menu! This place is a lifesaver after a long morning of surfing on Sundays. I can bring home some menudo, and my wife is thrilled, giving me a free pass. I love to relax with a michelada or enjoy some horchata alongside my tacos. It's such a great vibe here — perfect for a party, but you can also just kick back and enjoy!

How sad! This place use to be good. I gave it 2 stars because our server was good. However I was very disappointed at how terrible the food was. I use to love this place but it has gotten really bad! I use to make sure to stop in before or after I went to the north shore but this is the last time. So sad! I got the carne asada burrito and it was mostly rice. The little carne asada that was in there was very hard and flavorless. There was no guacamole as it indicated there would be. It was just a tasteless rice burrito.

It's hard trying to find good Mexican restaurants on the island. My husband and I got caught in the hype from our coworkers who recommended this place to us, so here we are trying it out. We didn't realize there were two sides of the restaurant and ended up on the Cantina side. Aside from the rowdy noise coming from the bar area by the other patrons, our host was ever so friendly and led us to be seated right away. From there, chips and extra spicy salsas were delivered and we were able to decide what we wanted right away. We ordered: Cali Fries Niño Burritos Lengua, Tripas, Carne Asada Tacos a Combo Plate of Carne Asada, Shrimp, and Fish In all honestly, after tasting our food, it was just okay. In my opinion, nothing rememberable came out of it to elevate a one noted flavor. On top of that, I was really looking forward to having a concha and unfortunately, they ran out.