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| - On more than a few occasions, I refrained from writing a review because I didn't want to hurt a struggling new restaurant, even though I didn't have a good meal there. You get to know the owners a bit, see how hard they're working, and you just don't have the heart to write a bad Yelp review. Luckily for all parties involved, Ricardo's has been around for decades, which means that my little Yelp review won't make the slightest dent in their future. But hopefully it will make a few foodies out there think twice about going.
Want good Mexican? Don't go to Ricardo's. First came out a giant bowl of free chips & salsas - ranchero, tomato, and some green sauce. Red salsa was OK, green salsa was yucky, ranchero (what's in it?) was the best of the three, but that's not saying much. Also, I have a really low salt taste, and the chips were actually under-salted to me. I got the guacamole appetizer, which was pretty good, I guess (I haven't had guacamole in a really great Mex restaurant). I got the Chile Colorado, short ribs cooked in red chilies, onions & spices - OK, but too salty for my low-salt-taste palate. Unfortunately, I was burping this dish back up all the next day (sorry if that was TMI). For dessert, crazy bananas - hot bananas cooked in caramel syrup with vanilla ice cream and chocolate (although I nixed the chocolate). Too sweet, not great, like something you would get from TGIFriday's Mexican menu.
I have to commend Ricardo's on their service, which was absolutely first-rate. In fact, it was so good that I held off writing this downer of a review for a few days. I got to Ricardo's after 1 a.m., and pleasant, friendly, attentive service during graveyard shift is about as hard to find in Las Vegas as an un-augmented dancer at the Rhino. Ricardo's clearly believes in taking care of their customers, and gotta say, the portions were very large. Huge portions plus a great staff have kept Ricardo's going through thick & thin (and there's been plenty of thin) for over three decades. I wish them all the best.
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