Before starting the restaurant review portion of this column, I would like to highlight a local restaurant that is currently going through some hard times.<\/p>\n
Several months ago, I reviewed Purple Chopstix. At the time, I was unfamiliar with Purple Chopstix, despite it being relatively close to where I live.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m happy to say that since that cold January evening, Purple Chopstix has become a regular haunt of mine. While dining there, I\u2019ve even bumped into people who read and enjoy my columns.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, Purple Chopstix is currently closed until further notice. As a result of heavy rains on Wednesday night, the restaurant\u2019s dining room ended up flooding.<\/p>\n
As of Friday morning, there have been no further updates from Gabe and Aysha Fisher about the restaurant\u2019s condition on the restaurant\u2019s Facebook page.<\/p>\n
I have already seen comments from locals offering to pitch in and help the Fishers reopen their restaurant, such as a local dry cleaner that offered to wash their tablecloths free of charge.<\/p>\n
It is unclear whether the Fishers plan on setting up a GoFundMe, similar to what Jackie O\u2019s did after Jackie O\u2019s Public House Restaurant caught fire late last year.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, $25, $50, $75 and $100 gift cards to the restaurant are available at https:\/\/squareup.com\/gift\/MLWJ3JE5VBVFA\/order.<\/p>\n
I encourage everyone who regularly dines at Purple Chopstix to consider purchasing one or to contact the restaurant at 740-592-4798 and ask how they can help.<\/p>\n
For this week\u2019s restaurant review, I\u2019ve decided to go to a restaurant that \u2014 in hindsight \u2014 I should\u2019ve reviewed ages ago.<\/p>\n
While writing this column, I\u2019ve often gone to restaurants that I\u2019d gone to in the past with friends or family. These include Boathouse BBQ, Casa Nueva, Ray\u2019s Harvest House and Siam Thai, among others.<\/p>\n
However, there is one restaurant in Athens that my family has visited more than any other, yet hasn\u2019t been featured in this column up to this point.<\/p>\n
Located at 979 E. State St., several storefronts down from China Panda, Gran Ranchero is undoubtedly one of Athens\u2019 most popular sit-down restaurants.<\/p>\n
Nearly every day of the week, their dining room is filled with families who want to enjoy delicious meals together. For years, my family had dinners out on Friday nights and more often than not, those dinners were held at Gran Ranchero.<\/p>\n
Gran Ranchero is so popular that its owners have opened up another restaurant in Athens to cater to Ohio University students.<\/p>\n
El Tenampa, located at 21 S. Court St., is owned and operated by the same people behind Gran Ranchero and has a similar menu.<\/p>\n
However, the atmosphere of the two restaurants couldn\u2019t be more different. El Tenampa is a small, cozy eatery that caters to college students, while Gran Ranchero is a large and lively family-oriented restaurant.<\/p>\n
In terms of its decor and atmosphere, while there are some playful flourishes of Mexican art and culture on the walls, it is nowhere near as colorful as Los Mariachis or as avant-garde as Frida\u2019s Modern Mexican.<\/p>\n
As a result of this, Gran Ranchero is the perfect restaurant for those who might find the atmospheres of Los Mariachis and Frida\u2019s Modern Mexican to be a bit too flamboyant for their taste.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, because of the restaurant\u2019s popularity with families, people who want a calm and quiet dining experience may want to look elsewhere because of how lively Gran Ranchero can be at times.<\/p>\n
That being said, there is a \u201cquiet\u201d area outside the main dining area where couples and smaller groups can go to eat, located near the restaurant\u2019s ample bar.<\/p>\n
As Gran Ranchero is a Mexican restaurant, I felt as though it was only natural that I start out my meal with a frozen margarita and some guacamole dip.<\/p>\n
The complimentary salsa that came with my chips was very mild. It was slightly tangy from the tomato and a bit aromatic from the generous helping of cilantro and minced white onion.<\/p>\n
Much like the salsa at Los Mariachis, it is a simple salsa that is meant to be broadly appealing and good for sharing with friends who may not be especially adventurous when it comes to spicy food.<\/p>\n
I was very impressed by how much guacamole I received. Because avocados are relatively expensive, some Mexican restaurants can be a bit skimpy with how much guacamole they give you, but I\u2019m happy to say this was not the case at Gran Ranchero.<\/p>\n
The guacamole dip contained cilantro, chunks of white onion and tomato, along with a generous helping of lime juice. It was smooth, bright and citrusy, which is just how I like my guacamole.<\/p>\n
Gran Ranchero offers three sizes for its margaritas: a 12 ounce regular, a 20 ounce \u201cjumbo\u201d and a 32 ounce \u201cmonster.\u201d As I am rather sensitive to tequila, I made the conscious choice to stick to the 12 ounce margarita.<\/p>\n
My frozen margarita came with a lime wedge and a light dusting of salt around the rim. It had a strong tequila flavor, but one that was balanced out by an equally strong citrus kick. After a long, hot day, it was the perfect way to cool off.<\/p>\n
For my entr\u00e9e, I ordered the enchiladas bandera. This dish comes with one cheese enchilada topped with cheese sauce, one chicken enchilada topped with red sauce and one beef enchilada topped with a spinach cream sauce.<\/p>\n
The enchiladas bandera come with either a side of Mexican rice or refried beans. I ordered Mexican rice with mine, but also an extra side of refried beans so I could get a feel for both.<\/p>\n
Along with the three different enchilada sauces, the enchiladas bandera were drizzled with a lovely zigzag pattern of sour cream to make them aesthetically pleasing.<\/p>\n
The refried beans had a slightly smoky, peppery flavor from the red pepper flakes that were mixed throughout. I quite enjoyed the contrast between the creaminess of the cheese and the spiciness of the beans.<\/p>\n
The Mexican rice I received was soft and fluffy, but not overcooked to the point where it all sticks together and becomes a gluey paste. There were chunks of pepper, green peas, white onion and green beans mixed in with the rice for added flavor.<\/p>\n
The beef enchilada was very good, though between the spiciness of the beef and the sour cream drizzled on top, I hardly noticed any spinach flavor. The chicken enchilada featured tender shredded chicken, seasoned using tomato and tomatillo chunks.<\/p>\n
With the sour cream, the cheese sauce and the creamy, tangy cheese inside, the cheese enchiladas were absolutely delicious, albeit a bit overwhelming at times. While I enjoy dairy, I found myself having to pace each bite.<\/p>\n
Having treated myself to flan at Los Mariachis and Frida\u2019s Modern Mexican and tres leches cake at Lulu\u2019s Casa El Camino, I thought it was about time I ordered another classic Mexican dessert.<\/p>\n
The dessert in question was the humble churro, a stick of fried dough seasoned with cinnamon sugar and filled with cream.<\/p>\n
The churros I received at Gran Ranchero featured a delicate drizzle of chocolate and strawberry syrup, along with lines of whipped cream. They also came with a scoop of fried vanilla ice cream, which was buried under a mountain of whipped cream.<\/p>\n
Unsurprisingly, they were absolutely delicious. The dough was warm, delicate and crisp on the outside, with a luscious vanilla custard filling inside.<\/p>\n
In total, I spent $29.69 without tip. A veritable bargain by the standards of this column, especially as of late.<\/p>\n
One thing that impressed me about my meal given the number of times I\u2019ve dined at Gran Ranchero was its consistency.<\/p>\n
Some restaurants are very hit and miss, with the quality of the food varying wildly depending on the day or who\u2019s in the kitchen. Other times, the quality of the food can decline over the years as staff leaves and ownership changes.<\/p>\n
Despite the turnover that\u2019s doubtless taken place since I moved to Athens in 2015, Gran Ranchero\u2019s food was every bit as good as it was the first time I had it, which is something that definitely should be commended.<\/p>\n
Gran Ranchero is open Monday-Thursday from 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday-Saturday from 11 a.m.-10:30 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. To contact the restaurant or place a reservation, call 740-566-1004 or fax 740-592-1331.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Before starting the restaurant review portion of this column, I would like to highlight a local restaurant that is currently going through some hard times. Several months ago, I reviewed Purple Chopstix. At the time, I was unfamiliar with Purple Chopstix, despite it being relatively close to where I live. I\u2019m happy to say that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5727,3206,1522,6881,242,3233,5889,3205,13352,9280,2340,6879,2833,2831,2829,2832,2830,160,13099,9273,3210],"class_list":["post-30609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ohio","tag-athens","tag-cooking","tag-cuisine","tag-cuisine-of-the-americas","tag-food-and-drink","tag-food-and-drink-preparation","tag-food-industry","tag-foods","tag-guacamole","tag-margarita","tag-mexican-cuisine","tag-north-american-cuisine","tag-ohio","tag-ohio-dining","tag-ohio-food","tag-ohio-grocery-stores","tag-ohio-restaurants","tag-restaurant","tag-salsa-food","tag-tequila","tag-western-cuisine"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dc\/117330920343394254","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}