Why oh why didn't I listen to the reviews! This place is just yuck. The salsa taste like store bought and the chips are not even made fresh, probably store bought too. My husband ended up getting BBQ because he was scared after the salsa and nasty, nasty cheese dip, which he said was meh. I had quesadillas that were two slices of crispy tortilla one on top and bottom not holding it together at all which was super hard to eat as it falls apart as you pick it up. The guacamole is not fresh at all, just a waste. I will not waste my money on this again. read more

Sorry - awful. For anyone who has ever had decent mexican food, this place is low on the totem pole and pricey to boot. $16 for fajitas in Purcellville? I used to pay $12 for fajitas in NW DC in a place where the tortillas were made in the restaurant fresh daily, the chicken was in amazing tender chunks, and all served with foam butter. read more

I've eaten here for years and love almost everything on the menu. The service from this great family-owned and operated eatery has always been top notch and I would definitely count it as one of my top five places to eat. Mamma puts her TLC into each dish and serves everything with the pride that she would serve to guests in her own home! read more

Great restaurant. Staff is great, food is amazing and you don't have to wait long for your food. I can always tell if a restaurant is good if they keep my drink full. My drink never goes empty. Great job guys. read more

This Mexican is far superior to the new "kid" in town. They are efficient, accommodating and the service is superb. The decor badly needs updating (screaming even....). The queso is delicious and fajitas are EXCELLENT. I think they may be a little pricey given the area but all & all its worth it. We eat there at least once a month. It has never disappointed in food quality, portions OR taste. Don't let a new fancy exterior fool you ~ patronize this family and longtime waitstaff. One of the ladies was even voted ** "best wait/server" ** in the area by a local paper a few years go and she's still there... offering the same reputable service! read more

Love this place. It's like Mexican food that your non-Mexican mom used to make but it's super consistent, the staff remembers you and is responsive and the margaritas are strong. read more

My husband and I love this place. Not sure if they have changed their portion size since we moved to the area but we always leave stuffed! And the food is delicious. I usually get the California Burrito and I love it. They have great chips and salsa too and tasty margartias. We've gotten both take-out and dine in and have never been unsatisfied. We will continue to go back here. read more

When I am back visiting friends and family in my beloved Northern Virginia, and I want fresh, delicious Mexican food, I go to El Rancho in Purcellville. I especially enjoy the Sopa de Tortilla and the Fajita Salad. My husband loves their Chicken Fajitas for the fresh ingredients and flavorful spices. The staff makes you feel like one of the family and provides you with just the right amount of attention without being intrusive. The recent facelift gives El Rancho a bright, festive and welcoming atmosphere. read more

So good! Ive eaten at a TON of mexican resturaunts, and this was in the top 5. Service was very polite. I ordered the veracruz combo and a peach daqurie. The drink was very tastey and strong. The combo was a HUGE amount of food. Although the presentation of the dish could have been more appealing, it was so delicious! And definitely enough for 2 or 3 meals. The chips were also very warm and fresh. Highly reccommended! read more

Great service, food is average. Nothing special. Wife & I had tacos. Not the best, certainly had worse. I'll try it again at another time. Found it better than the White Palace down the street. I'll try a burrito next time. Queso was pretty good as was the guacamole. read more

Good food and consistent service. Tacos are a good inexpensive meal. Nice family fun restaurant. Decor needs a makeover:)

We've lived in terms area for 15+ years and had never had the occasion to try this place. We wish we had come here many years ago as the food was great and the people are very kind. Fajitas are awesome. Three enchiladas are awesome. Burrito supremo also awesome. We will come again. read more

Great place for some Mexican food in Pville! The dining area is pretty intimate and nice for what it is, and I've never been disappointed by the food. The chips and salsa are great (the salsa is the nice not too watery but not too chunky type) and my favorite thing to get here are the chicken taquitos, even though they are a little overpriced. The servers are nice and fast. read more

Lots of options but they're not very good. Good service but there's something about the food that I don't like. Nice staff, strange quality food. read more

A little known winner for perhaps the best Mexican food in the area! Hidden in a small strip mall, this seems to be a family -run place with authentic Tex-Mex food. Having lived out west, I find almost no good Mexican in NOVA. This is an exception. Low prices, good service, clean and friendly. Closed Sundays, I think. read more

Love the service and love the food. We've been regulars here for years and have always had a great time. I'm a big fan of the Taco Salad and the Chicken Fajita Salad, and my family loves the enchiladas, tacos and burritos. Any bad reviews are just dead wrong. read more

Carry out service is disappointing. Food is good but the Manager/owner, older gentleman, got my order wrong after I repeated it back 3x. He was rude, unprofessional, and verbally confrontational. Simply bc he had to remake my order. Will never go back and I don't recommend takeout. My daughter picks up from there routinely so he has lost more than one customer. read more

My family and I love this place! We have been eating here for over 10 years. The same lovely, awesome staff is here! My kids beg to eat there every time we offer the choice to eat out. read more

Good Mexican food good change of pace I will be back. Need to try the flan...the chimichanga was huge and not shredded chicken but chunks of chicken it was delicious though I love Mexican heart burn is kicking in life is good! read more

There was nothing special about the food. I could make the same quality in my own home. The service was nice but slow. This was the only Mexican restaurant I have ever been to that did not serve chips and salsa. read more

My husband and I stopped here when we were craving a little Mexican when we first moved into the area. Disappointed is an understatement! Everything was overpriced and undersized...not to mention not good. We have never returned. read more

I was not impressed. I recently moved here and decided to try the place. The name "El Rancho" led me to think it was going to be Latin fare. I might as well have gone to Giant and picked up a couple of frozen burritos and bottled salsa. That is what the meal was eqivalent to. Going to Giant would also have been less expensive. Needless to say I won't be going back. read more

Worst mexican place I've ever been to. Disgusting! Chips are store bought, the salsa was nasty. I don't know how they stay in business.

This restaurant (if you can call it that) is getting 2 stars only because the lady who served us was very sweet. First off the chips they serve before your meal are bagged chips.. My husband and I were shocked because we'd never been to a Mexican restaurant that didn't make or at least (refry) their chips.. But okay. Then the salsa was pace salsa.. Not homemade, which was even more weird we thought. But it's not like the chips and salsa were bad. I like pace and I've never said no to a bag of chips. But then our food came out and the beans were straight from a can, I've made Del Monte rehired beans enough times to know how it tastes...and this was it! I'm not going to lie... At this point I was angry. This restaurant is very expensive for a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant and to be served canned beans was ridiculous. I'm a vegetarian so that was basically my meal. The rice was okay since it was actually homemade. Overall this place was really just bad and disappointing and we walked away paying $53 for 4 people and pretty upset. read more

Lowsy food for a premium price. Went to this place as I heard about it from a neighbor. I don't think my neighbor goes out much... The food was not very good. Even there chips and salsa were no good. How do you screw that up? They were stale and seemed like from bag. read more

An excellent mexican restaurant. The fajitas and enchiladas are our family favorites. They make an excellent fresh salsa every day.

When I was a kid growing up on Western Loudoun, El Rancho was my favorite Mexican place in the County. I can say that's not true anymore now that Anita's is in Leesburg (and if you're into Salvadoran food, check out La Chosita as well). But El Rancho still has its moments, and if you're looking for an inexpensive and unadventurous tex-mex meal then you won't be disappointed by this restaurant. read more

Nice people ok food. Guacamole way too salty and not fresh. Like store bought with filler. Same with salsa. But if you are looking for a Mexican fix it will do. read more

Good Authentic Mexican food. We are return customers.

I don't understand these reviews! We have eaten here for 25 years, and the food is good! Tacos are great, and the salsa and chips ARE fresh and very good. The meat is shredded, not ground beef. I'm totally confused by these poor reviews. Please check the filtered reviews for numerous more 4 star ratings. Anyone know why they are excluded? read more

I have been eating here for 15 years and I really love this place! The staff is what really wins me over although the food is great too. The owner is so great and every single time I ask for something not on the menu he finds a way to make it work! read more

this place is awesome. i have been going here for about 20 years. the staff and owners are like family and treat every one like that. the food is great Mama makes the best chili. there salsa and guacamole are the best in the area and always fresh read more

I think El Rancho is a great place to get real Mexican food in this corner of Loudoun County. We frequently get carryout here, and the quality is always excellent. It's far superior to a Taco Bell! read more

We live nearby since several years and we have been at El Rancho several times. We have also ordered take-away many times. We like the service and the food is good and we always have leftovers as - for us - the size of the servings are pretty huge. We also like their fries that are the best in town. Their fajitas are excellent and for those not found of Tex-Mex, the Pork BBQ dinner is also very good. El Rancho is for us the Cantina in town: good, easy, unpretentious and affordable. read more

Not a bad place. We had plans to go to Subway but stopped here instead for our first time. We had food and drinks. Their quesadillas and guacomole sauce were not bad at all. Our experience was very good. I can't believe how bad some yelpers talk, they should be ashamed. read more

My son and I went in for lunch today and it was terrible, what were we thinking! The salsa was very watery and had no flavor and the food all tasted the same. We both left hungry and unsatisfied. We will not be going back. read more

Because Tortilla Factory is gone this place has become my favorite Mexican place. I can't believe anyone would give a bad review. The prices are decent, the food is awesome, and the service is fast. I'm going there for my birthday Sat. read more

Do you like Velveeta cheese melted over a flour tortilla stuffed with canned beans or flavorless meat? If so, this is the place for you! This is an insult to Mexican food to say the least! It would not even rate as a sit down taco bell (thank goodness we now have a taco bell in Purcellville...that is closer to traditional Mexican food than this place! Wish we could get a real Mexican restaurant here in Purcellville but as long as this place is here we will have to drive to get some good food. read more

Wow. What's with the "I know Mexican food, I'm an expert" review? Well, guy, half my family is from San Diego, and the other half is from West Texas. There is nothing wrong with the food at El Rancho. We've been coming here for years and years. I'm pretty sure the staff from El Salvador knows a bit about South of the Border, too. It seems to me that is as silly as saying, "I know French food" or "I know Italian food"... or even "I know American food (whatever that is)". There are many styles, just as there are with cooking anything. My mother-in-law's turkey dressing is not like mine, for example. The margaritas do seem to be a bit stronger when the owner is mixing them. We can usually tell, and we think it's cute. The servers have gotten to where they know, "on the rocks, no salt" or "iced tea, with lemon". It's good to be home. The taco salads are large, the burritos are pretty good. The California Burrito Supreme is large; seriously, it's a meal. I freely admit I'm not a Pastelitos De Carne fan... no reflection on El Rancho. Some of our favorites... taquitos, the Fiesta, Acapulco, and Puebla. The Vera Cruz and Rellenos are really too much food for us. I do wish there was more substance to the salsa (then again, it's just to tide us over until the meals arrive). If you don't want South of the Border, yet others do, you have other choices at El Rancho. I've ordered the ribs, for example. Will your, "I don't do South of the Border" person eat hushpuppies or chicken fingers, or a hamburger? A salad? You're good to go. There are usually lunch specials. When they are available, I like the spinach enchiladas (nice to have some that have fresh spinach inside, as one restaurant in Leesburg does not use fresh spinach -- canned or frozen spinach in a restaurant is just wrong). We almost never have room for dessert... but on a very rare occasion we've had the sopapillas. When this family retires, they will be missed. read more

by far the worst mexican food i've ever had. very limited, overpriced menu. plus, after 1 refill on your drink they start charging you (who does that?!) the food is simply just not any good. no sauce, seasoning. i gave this place 2 tries and will never go back again. read more