Angelo Carosio’s Portfolio

Rancho Bravo Tacos has opened in the old KFC building. Photo by Angelo Carosio

Since the unfortunate demise of Taco Bell, it’s been hard to find a good burrito on the hill under $5. Taco Del Mar never tastes quite as good as you want it to, Tacos Guaymas is way too expensive and also not that good, and Bimbos is pretty excellent but doesn’t allow minors in, even during the day. Last week a new contender opened for business in the old KFC building across from Cal Anderson park on Pine, and Rancho Bravo Tacos seems to understand what people want in a burrito: cheap, big, and delicious.

Although it is pretty much a taco truck in the space of a restaurant and it shows, the place still provides fast service and pretty good eats. The menu is fairly small, composed of several burritos and taco choices as well as some bowls, tortas, and tamales. I had the “Rancho Burrito”, which came with meat, beans, cheese, rice, onions, and cilantro for only $4.25. You can also opt for the $4.75 “Bravo Burrito” which adds tomatoes, grilled onion, and sour cream to the mix. Tacos with your choice of meat are $2.

The menu. Photo by Angelo Carosio

It seems like with the recession going on cheap food is going to thrive since people obviously want to eat out, but want to avoid spending tons of money. Rancho Bravo is pretty much the only burrito place on Capitol Hill with most of its food under $5, so here’s to hoping it stays around for quite a while.

As for my burrito, it was pretty good. While definitely better than Tacos Guaymas or Taco Del Mar, there were a few things that could have made it better. The chicken used was breaded, which was a bit of a surprise since that’s not very common for a burrito, and they didn’t heat the burrito together so the cheese wasn’t melted at all and actually kind of cold. These are small concessions, however, given the price of the place.

Next time a nice Carne Asada taco sounds really good.