A sunny atmosphere prevailed at Mi Ranchito, despite the chill autumn evening fast cooling off outdoors after sunset. The brightly lit interior was busy and cheerful, with tinkling of glasses and cutlery and warm yellow walls. Just right for ordering the Wednesday night margarita special, on the rocks, accompanied by a bottomless bowl of warm, crispy tortilla chips and a flask of salsa, with small individual bowls to pour the salsa in. The four of us began to peruse the extensive 5 page menu. A few of the larger platos were in the $10 range, but most selections were between $6-8. I like to order items I’m not in the habit of making myself, and was pleased to find not one, but two kinds of mole dishes. My chicken mole poblano was spicier than the chicken mole ranchero. It came with Mexican rice and a generous lettuce and guacamole salad, and 3 hot flour burritos ($7). I’ve always loved the intriguing flavors of mole sauce, with its unlikely combinations of chiles, spices, pumpkin seeds and nuts, plantains, and chocolate! Mi Ranchito’s mole poblano was rich and satisfying. If you want to try your hand at creating this wonderful dish, or just want to view some mouth-watering recipes, take a peek at The Mole Page. Most theories of when and where mole originated put the time in the 1680’s, and the place in a convent in Puebla de los Ángeles. Some believe the dish was intentionally created to combine best ingredients of old and new worlds. A more fanciful theory holds that the wind blew spices left on a tray into a stew, resulting in the rich, flavorful unlike-anything-else taste. Bob’s burritos deluxe, one shredded beef, one chicken, sauced, and with a dollop of sour cream, came with a small lettuce salad ($7). The other 2 in our party ordered a chimichanga and chile relleno platter. We were all quite satisfied with taste and size of portions.
Efficient staff were kidding and joking around with each other as they quickly moved in and out of the kitchen and among the tables. "They’re all guys, " I commented. Bob’s sister-in-law informed us that there had been another Mexican restaurant in town some time ago that seemed to be run by all women, but they’d since gone out of business. I engaged our waiter in conversation en español. He told me there were only about 50 Mexicans in Oskaloosa, all single, all male, mostly young. He was from Hidalgo, but others were from different parts of Mexico. How did he like Oskaloosa? "Muy bonito" (very pretty). After Bob asked another server some questions about the different flavored margaritas, we were brought small samples of strawberry and mango-flavored margaritas, which came just as we were finishing our meals, providing us a pleasant dessert.