Country Hearth Inn and Suites has held several different restaurants, but the new El Ranchero Mexican Restaurant feels like the perfect fit.

“We’re an authentic Mexican, Tex-Mex style restaurant,” says general manager Bal Kishan Soni. “There is a demand for this kind of food in this area.”

Opened in June, Soni says the restaurant is already becoming a favorite with both guest of the hotel, who can order dishes for room service, as well as with the surrounding community. During lunch breaks, it is convenient for workers to stop in and order a few of the restaurant’s 69-cent tacos. The special price for chicken or beef tacos is only available Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Each table is served an order of El Ranchero’s house-made salsa and chips that are fried daily.

EL RANCHERO MEXICAN RESTAURANT

LOCATION: 6700 Ringgold Road. PHONE: 826-2950. HOURS: Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Soni says the salsa is prepared fresh by chef James Meneses, who can make it as hot or mild as the customer desires.

“Everything is made from scratch,” Soni says. “We have 30 different dinner combinations on the menu.”

Everything from traditional Mexican-style enchiladas to fajitas is available on the restaurant’s large menu, but a few specialty items are quickly becoming popular staples.

Meneses prepares a pineapple fajita dish that is a serving of chicken, beef and shrimp seasoned and then grilled with fresh chunks of pineapple. The grilled meats with a variety of vegetables are served inside half of a cored-out pineapple.

Also popular is the Molcajete, a serving of chicken, steak, shrimp and pork grilled with Chef Meneses’ special sauce. The Molcajete is served in stone bowls that help keep the food warm throughout the meal. Not only are all the dishes prepared from scratch, Soni says there is no MSG in any of the restaurant’s recipes.

The restaurant is also family friendly with a kid’s menu with smaller portions of the Mexican recipes as well as a few American-style dishes available.

“There is also a variety of vegetarian dishes,” says Soni, who is a vegetarian himself. “Meneses can prepare it the way you want it.”

For adults, entrees can be accompanied by a refreshing beverage from the restaurant’s beer bar. Happy Hour is every Monday through Friday from 4 to 9 p.m., featuring longnecks for $2 and drafts for $1.50.