Colombian (food) connection in Jacksonville?!

[Ocklawaha]

Hey y'all, for good old Southern cooking, nothing like South of the border, Colombian style! Good wife and myself, have covered about 1/2 of the globe, and even though we have some Colombian roots, I still think it is right at the top of the Latin food list. Nice thing is, it is almost never hot, rarely spicy, and completely un-Mexican. We have family interests in the food industry, and were directed to try:

El Ranchito
14333 - 22 Beach Blvd, Jacksonville, 32250
Telephone 904-992-4607

El Ranchito offers up Cuban - Colombian - and Mexican cuisine. They are the REAL DEAL, nothing fake here.
In Colombia, the restaurants tend to range from the size of this tiny place, to many which rival the grand facility's in our largest cities. This one is tucked away in a shopping center, anchored by Big Lots.
If your uncertain what to order, here's a couple of suggestions:


Bandeja Paisa (ban-day-huh  pie-za)
This is the typical Colombian country sampler, and though it does vary from location to location in a few items, it is almost always served with...
thin Sirloin Steak
white rice
arepa (hominy cake)
sausage link
red beans (slow cooked with pork)
pork fat-back
egg
avocado

Better come hungry, because this is a huge meal and could be shared by two, cost about $12.00.


For light lunch or sample snack, try the:
Empanada Colombiana (em-pan-odda)
a small Colombian meat pie, stuffed with beef, (sometimes rice, potato, onion, bell peppers etc..)
They will be served with a watery looking garnish that if it were anything BUT Colombian, it might set you on fire from the looks of it... HAVE NO FEAR, sometimes, it can be ordered hot, but usually the sauce is a very mild seasoning, more like olive oil, then fire and onion.
Eating an Empanada is a participation sport:
The proper way is to bite off the end
then spoon in a little sauce and eat... repeat.
A common request is for lemon (Lee-mon), when it is delivered, be ready, because it will be LIME.
Squeeze a liberal amount of lime juice into your empanada and eat... repeat.
(I have yet to meet ANYONE that didn't love these things)

Just forget all the stupid jokes about drug lords and guerilla wars (remember your server could well be the victim of the same) and extend the hand of friendship to a little country on the grow. Go ahead and try it, you will really enjoy yourself, my wife and I sure did. That picture on the wall with the little farm house and the barb wire fence is so real you can almost step into the cloud forests. I just kept telling myself, "There is no place like home" or you may have lost me. Lest you yeild to the temptation to bring up unbridled crime in conversation, just remember, Colombia's violent crime rate is now about 1/2 that of Jacksonville! Viva La Republica Colombia!  

Ocklawaha