Decent with a small town "Diner" feel inside. We went here on a Saturday evening around 6 and the place was pretty quiet with only 4 other tables besides ours. Had the all you can eat spaghetti which was decent but nothing to write home about. The AYCE special was $7.99 and included a salad and some garlic toast. The salad was decent, the garlic toast was OK but was basically toast with garlic. Salad came out with AYCE crackers - and fresh ones at that! My friends had the AYCE Fish and seemed to enjoy it. Friendly service from both the busser and the waitress. This place is pretty well hidden along Woodside. You'll think you are almost in Lakeside. It's in what looks like an old office strip across from the Mobile Home sales. Service - 5 (Very Friendly from All staff) Food - 3 (Decent but nothing very memorable) Ambiance - 3 (Think older paneling on the wall and one TV tuned to the Padres game) Total 11 / 3 = 3.6 (Luck of the Yelp it rounds up to 4). Overall a decent, if not memorable, experience. SD Co Health Says: 96 - A (as of 6/26/09 - improving from a 90 in Sept to the current 96. Still they stay in the A range.) See http://www2.sdcounty.ca.gov/ffis/DetailPage.aspx?Permit_id=431740 for the full details. read more

My wife and I came here for lunch - the place was not busy at all. I saw Buffalo Burgers on the menu and that hooked me. They may cost a little more, but they are always worth it. The wait for the food was a bit over 15 minutes - a little long I would say considering how unbusy the place was. My wife had a poached egg on English muffin and cottage cheese. I had the regular Buffalo Burger and fries. The burger was small in comparison to the size of the bun. It was hot and pretty tasty, but just adequate. The fries were okay. The place reminded me of Bagdad Cafe in Newberry Springs, off Route 66 - same kind of feel and food. My wife said her meal was fine, but again, adequate. This is worth coming back for something else, but nothing special - a decent meal and a pretty decent price. That seems to be along the lines of what's being said here by my fellow Yelpers. read more

Just went here this morning and I can't tell you how nice everyone was! By too many employees but everybody was working together very well. The food was also above par! Home fries were also very good if you don't like onions cause it's just the fried potatoes. (Which I prefer) but anyways pricing is meh more than ihop but similar to a cafe 67. Thank you so much! Good vibeZ good vibeZ read more

I really like the staff and the food is decent and decently priced but there is one thing I cannot get Past. They really need to invest in new cups/glasses. Visit the 99 cent store if necessary. read more

Ranch House Restaurant - Their cups have been like this for the last few years. Come on guys...some people will never return because of this. - American Near Me - Santee, California

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The food was delicious like home style cooking. Just like mom's cooking. The fish fry was so much to eat. And the clam chowder was amazing.

We love the Ranch House! Wait staff is extremely friendly and very attentive. Food is delicious, portion sizes are perfect. We try to go at least once a week. read more

This simple down home style restaurant has outstanding food at a great price. I had the lunch special Jalapeño Burger and fries and was very satisfied with the flavor, quantity, and price. Talk about a find, I hope I get back there before I move. read more

This is the best Fish Fry in town, all you can eatgreat tasting food. Came out of the restaurant stuffed. Great food, cannot day enough....

This is my new GO TO spot. To be honest I drive by this place for years and never gave it a shot because it was a little "hole in the wall". Well, let me tell you this is a hidden gem! The customer service is on point, the food is PHENOMENAL, reasonably priced, with large portions. It doesn't have the most updated decor but, I'm not there for the walls. Lol you should DEFINITELY give this place a shot. Don't always judge a book by its cover. Enjoy!! read more

The staff is super friendly the food is really good the price is a little high but the portions are good-sized I had the ranch house burger with fries as well as the biscuits and gravy with raspberry iced tea.... Definitely coming back for the biscuits and gravy... The lady's her are super nice and friendly.... Definitely recommend to others read more

This place is amazing! This is my first time here and I had the vegetarian omelette with cheese and a side of hash browns. The omelette was delicious, all the vegetables tasted freshly prepared, and the hash browns were good too. The portions here are large, and the iced tea is fresh brewed! I will definitely come back here and bring my friends. If you're looking for a tasty and filling omelette, you won't go wrong here! read more

Went here yesterday for lunch, I had the sirloin steak, clam chowder, mashed potatoes, and veggies. My friend had a veggie omelet with toast. It was by far the best tasting food I've had in a VERY long time. I was so surprised, it's kind of a hole in the wall restaurant and looks family owned. Our server was so sweet and helpful and it was actually INSANELY CHEAP. I usually like to find random new places to try off of yelp, this was definitely a win. I've never had to actually take my food home before because I either finish it, or don't want to try reheat it, but I was so full and ate the rest for dinner haha. Thanks guys! read more

Ranch House Restaurant - American Near Me - Santee, California

We've eaten here a few times over the years, first time was probably 10 years ago and really like it. We returned a couple of times since, the latest time was 2 weeks ago. It was great! The same as we remembered from a couple of years ago with the very reasonable prices and huge portions (4 egg omelet with meat $11.00 or just veggie $7.99 , potatoes, toast or pancake) We would eat here every week for breakfast but our work schedules won't allow us to. read more

Really good homestyle American food. Had the liver and onions and it tasted great. I can see how it's a special there. Very good place to take a family. Love how they serve breakfast all day too. read more

I am sad that I have to write this review been going to this place for 20+ years on Friday night for the fish fry because they serve Icelandic cod they're the only ones in the county that iPhone last night was a bad experience we placed our order and waited 40 minutes to get our food I took my grandson there last night because he loves that fish fry just the two of us cost us $43 and some change which is up from used to be in a $30 range for two people so not only did the fish fry price go up everything else went up also the clam chowder the sodas and so forth so we re-ordered four pieces of fish because the fish were kind of small this time took 15 minutes to receive those meanwhile my grandson he filled up on his french fries the rest of my french fries and his piece of cornbread so when the fish got there he said papa I'm full I can't eat it so I asked for a small box to take the two pieces of fish home with him he could eat it later because it was on his plate they couldn't serve it to nobody else legally the girl disappeared and then the manager came over and said we have a no box policy on all you can eat fish fry and I said I understand that I didn't order 12 pieces to take home I want to take home the two pieces that was on his plate that you're gonna have to throw away anyway and he wouldn't eat it if he didn't have to wait so long for the order to show up he told me that he would have to charge me $1.25 which I declined we already paid for the fish fry he gave me some story that they don't throw it away that they donated to charity which in my mind won't happen but probably would happen as they get reheated in the microwave and goes out with the next customer which is illegal don't get me wrong I can't say that he does that just say it so I have to give them a two star and told him that I probably would never come back and probably the 12 people that I've sent there in the last three months probably won't go back either when I told him the story read more

I have never been on yelp before so for me to take the time out of my day to say something about it must really tell you what I think about this place... I HATED IT! When you walk in you are taken back in time to the 70's or earlier with old style table and carpet. There is so much stuff on the wall that, I believe they were trying to hide the fact that it has wooden panel wall covering. The carpet looked like it belonged in a car garage with all the oil like stains in it. I ordered my drink and it comes in this massive cup that has so many scratch marks on it that the cup looked frosted. I order the Mushroom Burger... (easy meal), so I thought. Let me tell you about this. This burger was $8.25 and it came with fries. To me that's a lot for a burger but I wanted to give it a try. This "burger" came out and it had an odor to it that I just couldn't place. Then I take it apart and smelled it. I'm not sure what they put on it but it was not suppose to smell like that. The onions (I asked for grilled onion) were still hard and the mushrooms looked and tasted like they were out of a can. They didn't try to season it before adding it to the burger. The patty was bigger than the cheese so you couldn't see it unless you took the "burger" apart. I realized that the patty came from 1 of those super market you get 20 of them for $8 bucks. Keep in mind that this was $8.25. Even so, they didn't think of putting anything on it to make it better. The patty was dry and had a taste to it that made me take 1 bite and I was done. I finally placed the smell they it was liquid smoke smell and taste. The fries were cooked in old grease. It was 1:30 in the afternoon and the grease was already old meaning they didn't change it in over 24hrs at least. This is for those we won't believe...check out the bathrooms. OMG, I wanted to clean my shoes off before leaving that bathroom. I felt like my souls also got soiled, just being in there. Holes in the wall, at least a half inch of dust everywhere. The paint was like a 3 year old did it and fell asleep before they could finish it. It was a complete mess. As I walked back to my table I started to take note of a few other things. I guess we were sitting in the old non smoking section of this place. They had old air vents there were about 1 or 2 feet from the ceiling that were covered with dust and dirt. All I could think about was that stuff falling into my food. I was so disgusted. I find it disappointing when restaurants over charge you for low quality of food. Think what they are really saying about you and your hard earned money. They should take pride in what they are doing and what they are serving to people in their neighborhood because we are the ones that can make or break them. I feel like this place has really let us down as a community. The only good thing I can say about this "Restaurant" was the server Ray, she was GREAT!!! I commended her for being able to work there and keep a smile on her face. She deserved a nice tip! read more

Exceptional experience at this place, especially the service. Ashley was awesome, friendly &accurate with our order. We liked the feel of the place and the other people being served. We live in San Diego, so we don't get to experience many home style restaurants. Santee appreciate this wonderful spot. We will be visiting again! read more

Disgusting... burnt hash browns and eggs, dirty glasses and the place looks like it did 20 years ago but all the cheap paintings have new updated price tags all over.. used to be a good deal but last several times very disappointing .. read more

I came here with my boyfriend one early afternoon since I had just picked up some prescription medication and like most medicine, requires you to eat a meal prior to taking it. When we first stepped in it was absolutely empty. It reminded me of a aery feeling you would get walking into a diner from a Quentin Tarantino movie. Or at least one of those diners that no one really eats at but the neighborhood gang/ mob squad comes to for meetings which barely helps afford the place to continue to stay open. I thought to myself, "Hell I'm feeling adventurous today why not?" I regret thinking that very thought. The waitress who was watching the news told me I could sit anywhere I wanted. Now I don't know how long this woman has been a waitress for but she should know by now that whenever you allow a customer to pick their own seat, 75% of the time they are going to dwell on it and take forever to pick a spot. I of course, unfortunately for my waitress, am part of that 75%. Eventually I decided to act like most children on the first day of school and sit in the very back of the classroom. In this case the back of the classroom is in the back of the restaurant ..just making sure my readers are catching on, don't want to leave anyone behind! When I looked at the menu prices my jaw almost dropped. The prices were ridiculous..at least when it came to the sides. Now as I'm trying to narrow down my choices the waitress has come back and fourth, four times already. And I don't blame her. It was boring as hell in there. No air conditioning and if there was it was set to 'cool day in the Sahara desert'... This woman had absolutely nothing to do in this joint. I wanted to buy her an iPad to keep at her work to have something to do...with my own money! This is how bad her job guilt tripped me. Finally I decided to pay, $5 for 2 pancakes, $4 for 4 slices of bacon ($1 each..) and $4 for home fries potatoes and a small cup of coffee. During the wait time I decided to go to the bathroom. I also noticed on my way to there that the ENTIRE place is filled with mirrors! All over the walls, on every wall you walked past. Which I than noticed my body and realized I need to get in shape so if anything these mirrors are a reminder to run on the treadmill after I got home (which I did, thank you Ranch house). Once I entered the restroom, HOLY COW , well I'll be! More mirrors! Sat in the stall to see a chair in the corner of it. Pretty sure it's a chair for breast feeding mothers, so kudos to you guys for helping moms out there! Once I got back to my seat I noticed my food had arrived with my boyfriend eyeballing it funny. I look to see what I've never seen before in my life. Pale white pancakes... These white pancakes were so pale I wanted to give them CPR in hopes in bringing them back to life. I look over to see the driest looking bacon in history. I pick one up and it shattered in half instantly that my bacon started turning into crumbs of bacon bits. The potatoes didn't even look cooked or seasoned. I took a bite of my potato and like an infant who was disgusted with her food, spit it right back out onto her plate. I told the waitress that I would not eat the potatoes and to take it off my bill. I tolerated the rest of the food but not those potatoes. They had absolutely no flavor and had a nice mold smell to them. As I tried scooping up pieces of bacon and sprinkling them into my mouth I noticed our waitress dash out the door with her purse. The Forest Gump quote, "Run Forest run!" Ran through my head as I watched the door close behind her. I wondered who our new waitress was until I saw an older woman, probably mid 40's to early 50's walk by to help the elderly people who had came in a few minutes after we arrived. I noticed my coffee was empty, which ended up being the only thing I could have there that didn't make me gag. I noticed she had the coffee pot in her hands and waved her over. She waved her finger at me and walked away, dropped off the coffee pot and walked back. I was disappointed she dropped it off because that was the whole reason I called her over. I made a joke telling her that as well and she gave me the sassy attitude replying with, "Well that was decaf, I'm assuming you wanted regular right?" Well yeah but don't assume things. For all you know I can't have regular and need decaf because my heart is weak. We could also get rid of the attitude. This woman's attitude reminded me of the women that are super sassy and fun but when you piss them off, their husbands fear for their lives and take the kids out for ice cream to avoid coming home to them. Finally after getting half way into my pancake I crunch on something. Egg shell...dear onion rings lord, there is a egg shell in my pancake... Over all, this place is not somewhere to come. Food is terrible, prices are ridiculous and the place is so bad it's starting to effect the workers and driving them to sad bitterness. read more

We've been coming here for a couple years, good food and good service. We came yesterday on Father's day, it was packed! We sat in the back dining room which was just fine, nice booth, tv on the morning news. Our waitress attended to every table but ours and when she finally came over to ask us if we were ready to order, it had been 10 minutes. This was understandable given the crowded holiday. She asked my husband if he was ready to order and he said "10 minutes ago" and our waitress became VERY surly! TWENTY FIVE minutes after we ordered, we got our food. Another 10 minutes went by before she came back to check on us, I had to ask her for my toast. She brought it out quickly, one piece toasted, one piece burnt badly. I had to ask for another piece which came back as warmed bread, not toast. Booooo, I love toast!! She never, ever cracked a smile, but was nice and friendly to the other tables. I did not tip her at all, but I found the drink lady and the busboy and tipped them both. Great food, casual atmosphere, and I hope we don't have that waitress again. read more

I love this place. It's not fancy by any means. It has great food. Large portions and very attentive employees. I'm always happy with my food and they take care to make it pretty much any way you like. Omelets are great....plus side they serve Pepsi products.....if your looking for the same old thing. Smaller portions and bigger prices.... Sure go to Dennys. If you want great home made breakfast, lunch and dinner at a great price.....then The Ranch House is your place.... read more

It's a typical diner. The food is good. Menu options are what you'd expect. If you're nearby, go here!

I didn't really like it but my husband did.the food to me tasted like something I could have made at myself.the decor really needs to be updated. My husband wants to go next weekend again maybe the second chance will get another star. read more

They always accommodate our large group by getting us drinks and serve food quickly. Very good honestly like food. I had biscuits and gravy. One of the best B&Gs I've had. Why only 4 star? Only because the building is showing its age. read more

The food is very bland, they seem to not use any seasonings at all, not even salt and pepper. I've never had such boring home-fries until this I went to this place. My toast was burnt, which you would think that if you accidentally burn toast, maybe you should try again instead of allowing that to go to the customer. I wouldn't recommend this place. read more

My family has been coming here for over 20 years, I was a kid when i started coming here and now i bring my kids. The owner is very nice and very friendly as is all the waitstaff. The food is what you would expect from a family owned diner, not bad...not terrific, but satisfying. They have a big banquet room in the back which can be used to hold meetings and such. Great place read more

Great place to eat breakfast when you are in a hurry. Never experience long wait for service or food but on weekends it get kinda busy. Most dishes are under 10.00 if you want a simple breakfast before you hit the road this is the place to be conveniently located off the freeway for easy access.... read more

I've eaten at many of the restaurants in the area; Jimmy's, Lakeside Cafe, Hiway 67 Cafe, Janet's, Denny's, etc. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, my preference is the Ranch House. I get a quality meal at a good price. The service is usually pretty quick, but expect to wait a few more minutes for your food when it's busy. Boy do I love their all you can eat fish and chips on Friday and Saturday nights! We make it a family gathering usually once a month for the fish and chips. Food is priced a little less than surrounding establishments, but they do not compromise the quality. Good meal at a good price. read more

Good food for great price! Husband and I both ordered from the breakfast special menu and were pleasantly surprised with all the food we received. Service was friendly. Friday morning was nice and quiet. We have been looking for a quaint breakfast place since moving back from Washington State and I think we found our place. read more

Yummy food at reasonable prices. Specials. Very good pancakes. YES! Busy but not a long wait. Food was hot and fresh and coffee refills frequent. Definitely recommend this place. read more

A little hole in the wall, cheap breakfast, good coffee. I will be back but it's not my first choice

Friendly Friendly Friendly neighborhood restaurant! The nicest people, Pierre & Linda own this place. There is a back room that they make available for meetings and such. The beer is always cold, they custom cook your orders. Go check it out! (and they serve Hilliker Eggs!) read more

Not long on decor, but the food is very good. The ranch dressing is awesome, I don't know why, but it is! The New York steak is excellent, as is the chicken breast dinner with Teriyaki sauce. The staff is friendly and efficient. The work of local artists is available for sale right off the wall! read more

Went here last weekend for breakfast. The food server was very polite, friendly and professional, she definitely made us feel welcome. We both ordered our breakfast items and had an order of pancakes with mine. We both noticed the potatoes that came with the breakfast were chunks and had a very red color to them, as if some spice had been used on them. The pancakes were just "ok," nothing great at all. I've had better tasting pancakes at many other places. The one thing that really surprised me is they don't serve butter, they serve Margarine....Good Grief.....Margarine and it tasted like some cheap barnd too.....yuck. I should have known with the way it spread and didn't melt...that should have been my first clue. This was disappointing! Needless to say, I didn't eat much of them. The potatoes has a rather strange taste to them. We both commented about the funny flavor. Neither of us could eat many of them. The omelet was ok, but the vegetables used on the inside of it should have been chopped a bit smaller. That would have been nice. My friend order extra crispy bacon, and loved the way it was cooked....was the best part of the meal. Funny, nearly burnt bacon was the best part of the meal.... Had a sandwich here a couple weeks before, was pretty good. So, decided to come for breakfast. Must say, I was disappointed with the food. Again, the service staff were very good, they offered coffee often, etc., no issues with them at all. Hopefully we just got substandard prepared foods. We will consider giving them another try sometime. Thanks. read more

All I'm going to say is patty melt with slaw. If you in the area for lunch. Don't worry about leaving still hungry with this place

Quaint and comfy. Good comfort food at great prices. Drinks are frequently refilled. Good staff. Only have done breakfast and lunch. I'll try dinner sometime soon. read more

Not bad, don't come on Sunday, they close early and you can tell they don't put effort into the food. Better at dinner than lunch.

I had gone here regularly when I lived in San Diego. Now that I live in Green Bay and visit San Diego occasionally, I make it a point to meet my friends there every visit. The fish fry is always hot and tasty and the service friendly and fast. They always have sports or news on the TV. read more

They ask people to change their reviews. So I would take these reviews with a grain of salt.

We have been going to the ranch house for awhile. It was nice and the servers were nice and friendly. We then encountered a problem almost a month ago. The owner had taken our order due to the fact they were busy. There are very few restaurants in San Diego County that keeps it cooking staff hidden. Anyway when our food was delivered it had a hair in it. We had mentioned it to the owner. The owner corrected the problem by sending it back. The problem we had with this, is that he still charged us for the meal. That is a very poor business practice. That breakfast should have been free. Not for both, but only the one meal. I guess we will have to think twice about returning as regular customers. The owner failed to do the right thing. read more