Just ate here for the third time, and thoroughly enjoyed it! It's a simple Hispanic…read moretaqueria/grocery store with delicious tacos(restaurant reviewed only)
Number one best thing here is the food, which easily overcomes the dilapidated decor. I had the steak and pastor tacos. They were filling and very tasty(two corn tortillas, onions, cilantro, and the meat) and come with two salsas that make for a very modest price tag of 1.49 per taco that is much more nutritious than Tex-Mex. I now cry a little thinking about all the more expensive, fat-filled "steak" tacos I've had at Taco Bell. I also had some tasty fried tilapia(be warned, whole fish!) and my friend, the burrito. If you're used to fountain drinks, you won't find them here. But they do have a very wide variety of Jarritos(sp?) fruit drinks and Coke. I personally recommend the non-alcoholic Sangria.
Decor-wise, I read a blog that quoted an adage, the worse a place looks, the better the food. This is true here. The sit-down restaurant part is very small and both the inside and out look clean, but bare-bones; if you repainted your concrete basement 8 years ago and put a tv, some tables, and some chairs, it'd be identical. There are definitely nicer looking taquerias, but that said, the taste isn't as good. While one location had 20 cent cheaper tacos, they were smaller. These were much better prepared. Additionally, the kitchen looked very clean from what I saw.
With pricing, you're looking at paying 5.99-7.99+ for dinner meals. If you're looking for cheaper, you can buy 3 tacos for 4.50 total and be filled. 1.50 for most if not all drinks.
The exciting part, the service is good and quick. If you go during low-peak hours, you may be the only customer there briefly, they can take your order immediately. One note: I purposely spoke in rough conversational Spanish and they spoke Spanish back(instead of not letting me practice like some places do). That said, I don't know if all the servers speak English or not. Don't be worried though, the menus have both languages and your server will understand fine anything uncomplicated for sure.
All in all, Rancho Alegre, while looks aren't impressive, has the best authentic Mexican food I've had in town(I'm on a quest to try them all!), it's value-for-dollar is really good, and I'm very appreciative of the friendly staff and willingness to speak Spanish with my poor attempts.
If you're craving authentic Mexican food, give it a shot!
*it might be a little hard to locate. Basically it's right across the street from the Churches and Little Caesars off Tennessee Street.