Ranch 616

I was refered here by a friend, my goodness what a treat. The lunch specials were not well priced for a downtowm lunch but I forgot all about it once I bit into the loose meat quesadillas and side of tobacco onion rings. This food has flavor!!! As does the atmosphere. 4 out of 5 stars for State Employee downtown lunch. Pros: fast, friendly lunch service Cons: lunch pricing more

I've gone here since the week it opened (11 years?). consistently delicious and outstanding dishes, the Service IS GREAT, my favorite, Lupita's Salad, Ranch Slice, Sopa, Divorced Dish, and key lime pie. Pros: the Food and People Cons: only when they are booked more

I had lunch here on a Tuesday after driving by it and seeing the big crowd on the patio. Seeing so many people on a Tuesday, I figured it had to be good. And it was! It was busy, so we ate at the bar. I had the enchiladas, and they were very good. I was impressed with the variety of items on the menu-- from a chicken stew to quail to fish. They also had a lot of margaritas that I didn't get to enjoy, but others dining around me seemed to be loving them. I'll have to come back here for dinner soon and have a marg or two. The ambiance is rather.. bizarre. But that's a good thing, especially in Austin. There are old pictures on the wall, next to stuffed deer, but there's still a sense of classiness. Everyone inside was in a upbeat mood-- that said, it was a bit loud. But all in all, I had a great time and will visit again. Pros: Good Food, Inexpensive for Ambiance Cons: A bit loud more

Ranch 616 has a wonderful eclectic staff that took great care of my husband and I. The food was excellent. Our waiter Josh was very attentive and the manager Miguel Vidal made sure our experience was beyond what we expected. And to the writer of the review below this one, if you are too scared to send back food don't expect to get your money back weeks later after the fact. How can you give the restaurant or management a chance to fix a problem if you don't say something at the time. Overall , the Ranch is a fun environment that also happens to have exquisite food and service. We will definitely be back on a regular basis. more

This is the 4th letter that I sent to the management at Ranch 616. Still, four months later...no response. It's just sad to think that this restaurant and this manager, think so poorly of its customers. Dear Mr. Vidal: Let me begin by saying to you how disappointed I am with the fact that I have had to write four letters to try and get resolve of this issue. I sent two letters attention ?manager.? I went to your website and sent an email asking for a refund and now I am writing the fourth and final letter. I will follow up with the bad reviews that Ranch 616 has been getting on City Search. I have enclosed the reviews with one from yourself stating that you ?will ensure that you get a wonderful meal and dining experience.? Let me begin by complementing your waiter, whom I believe is named, Luis. He was extremely polite and very accommodating. My Wife and I recently moved to the Austin area from Los Angeles and have been searching out restaurants to try and one of our friends highly recommended Ranch 616. Well, needless to say, we were excited to try your restaurant and unfortunately had a very bad experience. We started out by ordering the fried clams and calamari appetizer, which were both barley fried and very soggy. We mentioned it to our waiter and he was very apologetic and ultimately took it off the bill. For our entrees, I ordered the special, which was Filet Mignon and Quail combo. I never realized that someone could mess Filet Mignon up. It was barley edible. The flavor was non-existent and it was wrapped in bacon that was raw. The Quail was average at best. I couldn?t eat either the filet or the Quail. My Wife ordered the Trout, which she could not eat because it was under cooked and cold. We felt so bad for telling our waiter that our appetizer was bad, that we couldn?t mention that the rest of our meal was not even edible. Pros: Can't think of any Cons: Manager is beyond bad... more

Went with some locals who were all disappointed with the decline and fall of 616. It was hypothermic at our table and we asked if they could turn down the AC. It will warm up later when more people pack in, we were told. Thanks for the physics lesson. We asked about a particular special on the menu and the waiter said he?d wait till the rest of our party arrived; ?I don?t want to repeat the specials more than 20 times in a night.? Is there a Parisian waiters? union here? When the acclaimed quail dish arrived, it was raw. Not undercooked, but beet-red raw. Naturally, the manager never bothered to come over. Raunch 616. more

These reviews are hilarious! ""Bring a flashlight cause it's too dark!"" or ""I had to WAIT even though I have a large party and it's dinner time on a Friday night - WAH WAH"" - go to Chile's or somewhere generic. More room for me at Ranch! Pros: reservations! decor! margaritas! oysters! Cons: like anywhere else downtown, parking can be a little tough to find. more

I THINK RANCH 616 DESERVES MORE PRAISE THEN IT'S GETTING FROM THESE REVIEWS! more

I went there with a group of three friends. We were told the wait would be about an hour or so, which was fine so we ordered some drinks and waited outside. We slowly started to realize that the hostess was sitting people that arrived well after us first, even though they did not have a reservation. After an hour and a half of waiting, i talked to the hostess and she realized that she crossed our name off the list, or basically gave our table to somebody else. She didn't apologize or anything, just said that we would get the next table for four. We were cool, it happens. Then, and by this time we were one of only three groups waiting, she sat the two other groups BEFORE US AGAIN. I couldn't believe it happened, and prepared to leave, I asked for the manager and we were sat (the last group waiting). We sat down and waited 10 minutes and still no waiter came over to help us. We finally left, without ever getting served and after being there over three hours. Pros: Location Cons: Cramped, Awful service, small waiting area, loud more

Three of my co-workers and I went to Ranch 616 for lunch. We told the host that there were 4 of us and he assured us the wait would be 5-10 minutes. We waited about 15 minutes, which wasn't too bad, but it was odd that he didn't write a name down. He tried to remember the order of seating by memory...so it was no surprise that he seated another party further down the ""list"" before us. Pros: Onion rings Cons: Burgers, atmosphere more

We live in the neighborhood and have been wanting to try Ranch 616 for a while. We got together with friends on a Friday night and got there around 6:45pm. We were turned away because we didn't have a reservation. The place looked really cool, so needless to say we were very disappointed. This was a first for us in Austin... most restaurants won't even take a reservation for a party of four, especially on a weekend night. Bottom line: if you want to check this place out, call ahead and make a reservation. more

We tried 616 last night for dinner. We will not be going back. Pros: Decent Food Cons: Ambience, wait time, service more

I am the manager at Ranch 616 and I am sorry to hear the problems that a few of you had at the Ranch. I would like to personally apologize for the mistakes and ask you to please return and give me a chance to make up for your experience. When you visit please ask for me, Miguel Vidal, and I will ensure that you get a wonderful meal and dining experience. Again, we apologize for your dissappointment and would love to have another chance. more

If you are looking for a hip, fun place with awesome food and great music Ranch 616 is the place to be! The food and the margaritas are to die for. The Ranch is a exciting restaurant to hang out with your friends while listening to hip music and chowing down on some fried aspargus or homemade biscuits with honey. My favorite item on the menu is the onion rings with jalepanos and the fish tacos. The wait staff and the bartenders are attentive and the cooks know how to cook up some yummy viddles. more

Ranch 616 is the one of the best things about Austin. The atmosphere is funky and fabulous! You are always treated like family. The food is delicious and worth every penny. If your looking for some sleak, polished restaurant, the Ranch is not your place. The comfortable, laid-back, Austin atmosphere is more of what you'll get. For starters we had the fried calamari which we were told were""voted the best in South"" by Southern Living magazine were divine! Along with the shrimp wrapped in bacon and stuffed with jalapenos and cheese. For our entrees we ordered the sugar cured quail and the ribeye. The quail were succulent and tender. The ribeye was huge and perfectly prepared with blue cheese on the top. The sides were awesome mashed potatoes and green beans. We also had the biscuits smothered with sweet butter! You will not leave hungry. If you go on there website they are described as a ""South Texas Ice house"" which is exactly what you get. I think the other reviewers were looking for something different. They are dead wrong. more

We had dinner there last night. To begin they had lost our reservation. We were told we could sit at the bar and they would get us a drink, implying an apology for the lost reservation, but no we paid after waiting over thirty minutes. The bar service was poor bringing one drink at a time at 5-10 min. intervals. When seated the waiter said he would bring us three appetizer which he named but we stopped him ordering only one. I understand he is trying to increase the total bill so his tip will be larger but we were not ordering inexpensive meals. We also ordered a bottle of wine which was not brought to the table until long after our meal arrived also not at the same time for each of the four. Three ordered the steak and shrimp which was tasty but the potatoes and asparagus were only slightly warm The other meal arrived at the table significantly earlier making that person feel obliged to share his meal. We had not been served the biscuits that come with the meal, so we inquired about them. We were told they were not available when we were seated. To me that does not mean they are never brought to the table, there should have been an apology for the lack of biscuits at that time with the assurance they would be delivered to the table when ready. The recorded music playing through overhead speakers was so loud we found it very difficult to hear each other. We asked could it be turned down slightly and the result was the music got louder. The waiter was rude and unpleasant. We will never go again. There are too many resturants nearby with better food, service and ambience. I am curious if there has been and owner or management change recently with there being several negative reviews lately. more

Recently visited the Ranch and was not impressed. The food is expensive the portions are small and your practically sitting on top of the people eating next to you. The wait stuff is rude and easily annoyed, getting water, bringing you an extra napkin, taking the food back because it was cold, bringing you your check, you know the usual. Eat at Chilli's after a few margaritas the food all tastes the same. Pros: Cute Waiter more

When you spend over $300.00 dollars on a dinner for 9, you expect the waitstaff to be somewhat poliet. We were rushed to place order and the waitress appeared very put out to have to bring any additional condiments, beverages, silverware, etc.. The food was unimpressive and over-priced. If you plan to have a conversation, don't go on Tues or Thurs. The band played too loud. Why would you have a 5 piece band in a restaurant that tiny? Don't plan to return. Austin so many other nice places. more

The chocolate dessert was good, but the steak was unimpressive and the quail's nest was weird. It was too dark at our teensy little table to see what I was doing, so I couldn't properly disassemble the quail and ended up eating a couple of bones. And our waitress was obviously tweaked out. Too expensive for the experience. Pros: easy to park, lots of tequila Cons: overpriced, unimpressive entrees, unpleasant waitstaff more

I've been here for lunch a few times & it's a must-try for anyone who wants to experience what Austin is all about. The food is always inventive & delicious, polite waitstaff, & I love the atmosphere. I would describe the atmosphere as old-school country with a rockabilly twist. Love the frog leg appetizer!! Pros: great food, great atmosphere Cons: limited parking more