matt's el rancho

must try the brisket tacos. seriously one the most delicious entrees i have ever had. i really cant comment in anythings else because the brisket is all i get now. i know my wife likes the chicken enchiladas and guacamole salad. love heading to matt's when we r in austin.

i ate here quite a few months ago, and i've forgotten what i ordered, but i felt so strongly about the restaurant that i'm gonna do a tiny review. not good at all! the place is all glitz and hype and no soul. it's quite obviously all about volume. in other words, serve the greatest number of people the lowest quality they can get away with. if you're in austin, there is a lot much better than this in the tex-mex genre. i don't know how they were in the past, but they are existing now solely on an old and obsolete reputation, maybe some nostalgia of long-time austinites, and a great view of the skyline. let it go people; make way for someone who cares about quality, not only the dollars. i lived in san antonio for 20 years, have travelled in mexico, and i love good mexican food; this ain't it.

just plain awful. an awful attempt at bad mexican/ tex mex food. horrible. bring on the cole slaw! terrible!

horrible service and just average food.. four of us went there last night (5-6-15) for a special dinner. the drinks were extremely sour. when the food came two of the orders were completely wrong. none of the dinners included guacamole salads as they were supposed to have had. the waiter took the two incorrect dinners away and said he would be back with the correct plates. by the time the correct plates were served the two friends with the correct dinners (minus the guacamole salads) had almost finished eating. none of us had our guacamole salads. we asked a manager about the salads and he simply sent us four small scoops of guacamole, no salads. the food was over priced and tasted average at best. by the way, matt's did not comp us anything. our special dinner was a disaster. neither the kitchen,waiter or manager knew the menu. they didn't seem to care. i strongly recommend not dining at matt's, they are living on past glory!

good food, great drinks, awful service.. had a wedding rehearsal dinner here and once we were seated, things were ok. we had a party of 40, i know it seems huge but we did everything we could to make sure there were no issues, we called months in advanced, offered to pay in advanced for the meals, offered to pay a per seat charge to hold the tables, and nothing. they are completely against any form of reservation. well this was the grooms favorite restaurant so we went, thinking that once we filled their lobby with 40 angry people they would do whatever it took to take care of us... wrong. they didn't care at all, it took over 2 hours to get our tables and even then they couldn't seat everyone at the same time. we ended up on 2 long tables in the same section after waiting over 2 hours. they do not care what you think or how many people they upset.

i've eaten there other times and had better experiences; the food is great, and the drinks are really strong so they have that going for them. all in all, small parties won't have a problem because this place is huge, and the food is great, but nothing you can't get at other texmex places.

margaritas. the wait is usually pretty long on weekends, but the margaritas make a nice reason to wait.

matt's el rancho is a great outlet in south lamar, austin.

best picks :: texmex, enchilada

verdict ::

food :: 4.5/5
ambience :: 3.5/5
service :: 4/5
value for money :: 3.5/5
overall :: 3.5/5

went here as part of company lunch.. loved the decor and the ambience. i hear their margaritas are excellent. we ended ordering pretty much everything from the lunch specials and it was delicious. their portion size is decent. and the service is quick and friendly. o would definitely go here again !

want the best texmex in tejas? come to matt's. this place is great. outstanding texmex with fantastic service.
enchilada dinner with a mexican martini is my go-to. add a bob if you are really hungry.
if you want a place that serves "authentic" mexican food go somewhere else. if you want true authentic texmex, go to matt's.

meh... always wanted to try this place. finally did. it's a cool atmosphere, but over priced for what it is, which is basically any other tex-mex place, and not any better than any of them. our service was really good. probably won't go back.

it seems lately that when describing a mexican restaurant, the phrase "it's just tex mex" gets thrown around. as if tex mex is an insult. not every place is going for "authentic" mexican dishes, and believe it or not....many people like tex mex. and, a lot of them are in .........texas! matt's is good basic tex mex, and apparently they're pretty good at it.

matt's el rancho is a great place to go with a big group of people. big rooms with a lot of space, so it's a good place to go with a big party. i usually just have appetizers and drinks at matt's, so i don't know much about the food from first hand experience. i've never heard anything extremely outstanding about the food, but nothing bad. the house margarita is good! frozen with salt, and you're golden.

matts el rancho is a huge restaurant. you never have to wait and there is plenty of friendly, tentative staff. i would sit outside near the fountain on a cool day. the food is typical tex-mex and nothing to write home about. i did like the fajitas and they are big enough to share. this place is great for large groups.

i was able to enjoy a good tex mex dinner at matt's famous el rancho on what just happened to be the restaurant's 62 birthday...

another great patio, and one of the oldest restaurants in austin is matt’s el ranch on south lamar. the restaurant has been family owned and operated for over 50 years, with some of the best mexican food the city has to offer. definitely try the skinny margarita made with freshly squeezed lime juice along with niman ranch beef & chicken combo fajitas.