According to the marquis out front, Matt's El Rancho has been around for 61 years. I'm sure there have been a lot of changes along the way, but based on our experience there, I would guess that delicious, fun, made from scratch food has been the constant over the years.
First off these chips are massive. Seriously, look at that. It's like half a tortilla. Paul's hand is huge, so it's a bit hard to tell just how big it is. I wouldn't say they were the freshest chips I've ever had, but they were crispy, flavorful, and again, ginormous!
Next, we ordered a Mexican Martini. It was limey, refreshing, and served with a couple delicious green olives.
Dinner for me was the quacamole enchiladas. I've never seen those anywhere else before, so I had to order them. The enchiladas are stuffed with tasty shredded chicken and topped with a verde sauce, cheese, and an ice cream scoop of guacamole.You also get some scrumptious rice and beans and a pool of queso. I'm not sure what I was supposed to do with the queso other than swirl rice and forkfuls of enchiladas in it, but that's just fine with me! These enchiladas sit right on the boundary between cheesy (no pun intended) Tex-Mex and foodie Tex-Mex. Everything seems to be handmade but then it's slathered in velveeta. Definitely a bit of a tasty paradox.
To take it a step further, Paul got brisket tacos. The brisket was just mediocre, but Paul was fully satisfied by the idea of scarfing down BBQ in tortillas and topped with pico de gallo.
And to top things off we had a dessert of sopapillas made in house. Sopapillas are fluffy, doughy, hollow-inside, fried pastry pockets. These were drizzled with honey and sprinkled with cinnamon. As soon as our knives dug in, the pocket released some steam and deflated. Then we could cut off bits of pastry and use it to soak up even more honey. Yes please!
Matt's El Rancho is massive, definitely caters to families, and churns out an obscene quantity of food each day, but they still manage to keep the quality up. Matt's is an example of why there isn't any need to cut corners in order appeal to the masses. Good Tex-Mex is always a win.
Matt's El Rancho - 2613 S Lamar
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