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Rio Ranch Restaurant

MY REVIEW: Got to the restraunt and the wait was not long at all maybe about 5 to 10 minutes. Love the decorations and really shows the customer what Texas is all about. Service was not that good waited ten minutes for water in another 15 minutes mife finally got her beer and ten minutes after that I received my wine all from different waiters. They kept telling us we are sorry the bar is busy because lights are out around Houston and we are getting extra business. Fine I can understand that, but wouldn't a business have a way to compensate for extra business because the dining room was not busy at all. When we finally ordered and received our food my chicken enchiladas were actually really good, but my wifes chicken fried steak was horrible all batter no meat. Will not be back way overpriced would rather go to c*hilis for fried steak much better.

NAME: stddww16
SUBMITTED: 8/25/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 8/23/10
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: We really tried to like this restaurant. We would frequent it pretty often with our restaurant website gift certificate. However, this will probably be out last trip. It's gotten very expensive, even with a coupon. Maybe they are geared to westchase oil executives or their hotel guests.

Restaurant was almost empty. Our waitress was awful. She tried to compensate for poor service with a fake sense of humor. I will say, their onion rings are the BEST in town. Salads were fair. I even think their biscuits and cornbread have been downgraded. My fried chicken was very good but the gravy was tasteless. My wife's fish was pretty good.

They do have some great chocolate mints on the way out. Sorry, Rio Ranch, you are too expensive, menu too boring and your service has gone down hill.

NAME: RandS_dine_alot
SUBMITTED: 8/6/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 8/2010
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: First time evening visit after a long ago business lunch. Doubt we ever return!

We were suspicious when we were seated at 6:15 on a Saturday and there was one (1) other couple in the entire restuarant - 6:15 on a Saturday and no business?? But we pressed on anyway (memories from a long ago lunch). We ordered two entrees: Ancho Chile & Honey-Rubbed Roasted Half Chicken and the Slow Roasted Baby-Back Ribs (both from the Texas Ranch House Classics Menu). A few minutes after ordering our waiter returned saying that the Baby-Back Ribs were a house favorite and they were already gone and the next batch wouldn't be ready for another hour! I had to call BS on that one - how could they be sold out at 6:15 with two patrons in the place??? Should have left, but pressed on anyway (was the old lunch really that good?). Ordered The Ranchero Ribeye instead (also from the Texas Ranch House Classics Menu).

Side Note: Based on the prices of the Wood Grilled Steaks & Chops Menu and the fact that no one was eating there we avoided these very high priced items. After eating what we did order (more later), we doubt the steaks & chops are worth the prices charged.

Up front let me state that our service was superb (but remember how many folks were there eating!). The Dinner Salad that accompanied our dinners were very good. The Roasted Chicken Dinner was OK; however after removing the skin there was really no acho chile or honey flavor in the chicken meat. The Grilled Vegetable Skewer side was very good. Can't really say anything good about the Ranchero Ribeye at all - it was pretty bad! The menu described it as being smothered in Grilled Anaheim Chiles (which is why it was ordered); but a single strip of green chile does NOT smother anything! Wish I could have had their Baby Back Ribs.

In fairness I want to point out that as we were eating a few more people came in, so that when we left a little after seven it was perhaps half full. The restuarant is really a part of the hotel next door; in essence being the "official" hotel restuarant (as was evident by the conversation of a few guests). I also suspect that it was their intention all along to have the Baby Back Ribs ready at 7:00; just don't lie to me about it!

NAME: msu79gt82
SUBMITTED: 7/26/2010   LAST VISIT WAS: 7/10
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: This is still a good place for a meal. That's a disappointing thing to say, though, about a restaurant that used to be a great place. It was one of my favorite places of all in Houston back when it was run by Robert del Grande of Cafe A*nnie fame.

Whatever happened to the adventure in the menu? I'm all for conservatism in management, but not when it means the menu tones down to the point it becomes like everyone else's. Get some cajones, folks! Be daring, take some chances and show a little creative imagination in the dishes, and you just might see a return to the packed house you used to enjoy.

When this restaurant first opened the menu included items like venison, bison and unusual fowl. Why else call it a "Ranch"? These main courses were accompanied by similarly uncommon side dishes. All of it was exquisitely prepared, as on the range. Now the farthest out the menu goes is to smoked chicken and spicy ketchup. Your choices include such exotic items as Ceasar salad, chicken fried steak, and fried shrimp. Gee, where else in town could we go for that?

That's not to say it isn't all excellent in its own right, expertly prepared in what is still one of Houston's more enjoyable, mesquite-laden atmospheres. It is, and the restaurant's longevity says something. But why settle for a better quality wine glass when you could be sipping from finer crystal?

NAME: John Frum
SUBMITTED: 11/25/2009   LAST VISIT WAS: 11/2009
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: Took husband for birthday dinner. Lovely atmosphere on a cold night with roaring fire -- in fireplace of course. Food was good including excellent salad. Husband had steak which he said was very good and I ordered fried shrimp which were huge but did not really care for the bread crumbed version. Waitress was exceptionally attentive and overall we were quite pleased with the visit.

NAME: Old and Picky
SUBMITTED: 12/15/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 12-09-08
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: Too bad this place is attached to the Westchase Hilton as I think people around here (myself included) tend to ignore restaurants that are associated with a hotel. This place taught me a lesson - don't ignore a restaurant just because it's part of a hotel. This place is excellent!

We could smell the mesquite smoke as soon as we stepped out of the car. When we walked in, we noticed the fun and pleasant atmosphere: rustic with lots of brick and stone, but not overdone. All our food came out hot and cooked just right. We were not rushed from the salad to the entree like some places. It wasn't slow either.

I had the 10oz filet mignon and my wife had the Coho salmon. Both were excellent: moist, tender, cooked just right with that good smoked mesquite flavor. My steak was huge - probably 1.5 inches thick - yet it was not overdone on the outside or undercooked on the inside. I added a slab of blue cheese butter too. My oh my, that was a good steak! The baked potato was hot and all the fixin's were on the side (note to self: ask for the scallions to be left off next time). My wife's salmon was the best I've ever had. It was cooked with the skin on and the meat pulled right off the skin no problem. It was very rich in flavor. The mixed veggies were steamed, but since I'm not a steamed veggie fan, these didn't excite me much. The meal included salad, rolls, and cornbread. The salad was fine, but the rolls and cornbread were homemade. Be careful as you might be tempted to fill up on them.

Overall, we were very pleased and will return. Save a little money and buy their coupon at restaurant.com.

NAME: ghvz1
SUBMITTED: 8/26/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 08/2008
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: This is a great place to dine is SW Houston. Good service most of the time, depending on which hostess is working, as some of the wait staff likes to flirt with certain hostess leaving their table high and dry....

The seafood here can’t be beat...always fresh and tasty. The Mahi Mahi and Salmon are outstanding.

For some reason this place has few customers. It had it heyday in the past, but still continues to put out quality food and a pleasant place to dine.

Very little noise, so if you’re looking for a quiet place to dine with good food, look no further, Rio Ranch will do just fine. I have never been disappointed in 5 visits.

NAME: goldendeal
SUBMITTED: 7/14/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 06/08
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: Just ate there. Waitress Cecilia was outstanding...ambience was charming...

Food....well:

1) Salad lettuce and plate was WARM

2) Chicken Fried steak was breaded nicely but the actual steak was only 60-70% of the presentation....meat had NO flavor...C*hili's is better

3) Fried Chicken was moist but again NO taste.. C*hurch's is better

so all in all, would give this a 2 star out of 5

NAME: SM
SUBMITTED: 6/26/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 06/08
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: Armed with our restaurants.com gift certificate, we headed to this restaurant on the west side of town. We had driven past many times before but never ventured in. To say the least, we were VERY pleasantly surprised.

It was a Saturday night at 7:00pm. No need for reservations. The restaurant was barely half full. The dining room itself was very rustic. We had a small table by the fireplace which was very nice.

Our waiter seemed young and inexperienced. This was the only downside of the meal. He warmed up a bit during the meal. We had to ask for more water, bread, more water, etc. However, the other waiters working the room seemed more attentive.

We started with the onion rings for an appetizers based on edndeb's recommendation. WOW! They are homemade and come with homemade ketchup. They are awesome. My meal also came with a house salad. The basket of carbohydrates included fresh cornbread and biscuits. There is honey on the table. They were fantastic...fresh and hot!

S ordered the salmon and I had the buttermilk fried chicken breast (boneless). The chicken breast was huge, not greasy, and served over mashed potatoes. The gravy was very tasty with a splash of tobasco sauce. Both portions were very generous and prepared perfectly. She's having leftovers for lunch today! We could not stomach the thought of dessert(too many onion rings) although they had some great options.

All in all, this was a VERY enjoyable meal in a restaurant that just seems below the radar. Don't let the fact that it is attached to a hotel deter you. You'd never know it. Even without our gift certificate, this meal would have been just over $50 (we don't drink).

NAME: RandS_dine_alot
SUBMITTED: 3/30/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: March 2008
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: We hadn't been here in quite some time since we gave up huge Sunday brunch buffets in favor of some more modest fare, but decided to give it a try for dinner. The restaurant was not overly crowded on a Saturday night, but the bar seemed quite busy. Had to try their famous onion rings with the house made ketchup - they were great. Our two dinners were the fried shrimp and the pan seared red snapper - both were excellent. For sides, we each had asparagus - one order of fried and one order grilled. They were very different, but both were tasty. The lump crabmeat on the snapper was quite large and very good. Dinner salads had a good variety and the house made rolls and biscuits were served warm. The only minor complaint was that the Gran Gold Margaritas needed more Gran and Gold.

NAME: edndeb
SUBMITTED: 2/5/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 2/2008
FREQUENCY: Visited 2-3 times

MY REVIEW: I always read "B4-U" before going out. We had a friend who won a "Wild Game" dinner for 10 at this restaurant. As my norm, I read the reviews. I have to tell you we were all pleasantly surprised. Chef Sans handled the dinner for our party and what fabulous job he did. The soup, appetizers, main entree, and dessert were fabulous. We had a great time and food was superb. We also ate at the buffet the next morning. Not sure I would pay the high price for the buffet but, the selection was good and hot.

NAME: Bon Bon
SUBMITTED: 1/17/2008   LAST VISIT WAS: 01/2008
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: 2 words - Liquid Smoke!!!! I don't know how they actually cook their steaks, but they certainly give you your moneys worth in artificial smoke flavoring. I paid $150 for 3 people, including drinks, wine and dinner. It was pretty dissappointing. There were about 7 other people in the restaurant, on a saturday night. Salads were good, but the main course was really a dissappointment - nothing there but fake smoke flavoring.

NAME: Tim
SUBMITTED: 11/24/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: 11/24/07
FREQUENCY: Visited once

MY REVIEW: It was very disappointing to all the food ordered by three people to be cold. Hot tea, soup, and three complete meals were all cold. When we told the manager he said he would tell the cook to turn on the light over the food. We expected more from the restaurant and the manager.

NAME: Retired teacher
SUBMITTED: 3/5/2007   LAST VISIT WAS: March 2007
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

MY REVIEW: Well, this is my second review. While there is a variety of good food on the brunch buffet, I now feel that it is overpriced. My boyfriend and I went for brunch today and discovered they had gone up in price-- from $13.95 (or so) to $16.95 (and no, there are no mimosas or any other alcholic beverage included-just soda or tea...).

It had been a while since we had been so I am unsure how long ago this change was made, however, not wanting to stuff ourselves early in the day really did not warrant a $17 per person breakfast.

NAME: Patricia
SUBMITTED: 10/8/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 10/2006
FREQUENCY: Everybody here knows my name...

MY REVIEW: We had our quarterly business breakfast meeting this morning and hopefully this will be the LAST time we meet at Rio Ranch! We usually have 12-15 people in our party and our check is a minimum of $250-$275 each visit. When I call to make a reservation - under our company name - at 7:30am on a business day, a GOOD hostess would assume the meeting is a business breakfast and not set up your tables next to the buffet line. The manager told me that I should request one of their private rooms in the future. I informed him that I no longer do that because in the past my request is only met with "I'm sorry we can not do that due to the size of your party," or "I can't promise you that we can provide this room for your use," regardless my request was always met with an "I CAN'T ACCOMMODATE YOU, MR. CUSTOMER BUT WE'RE HAPPY TO CONTINUE TO TAKE YOUR MONEY!" This visit not only provided poor reservation taking skills, but the wait staff never refilled our coffee, juice or other beverages and we had to find a wait person to clear our dishes so that we could proceed with our meeting. But one thing they were quick about taking care of....bringing our check.

NAME: NRSmith
SUBMITTED: 9/8/2006   LAST VISIT WAS: 09/2006
FREQUENCY: Visited 4-6 times

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