Mi Ranchito recently replaced El Acapulco in a west Little Rock shopping center. But you'd have to look close to know it.
   Mi Ranchito, like El Acapulco, is part of an Arkansasbased minichain -- though not the same Arkansas-based minichain. This one also has outlets in Searcy, Batesville, Bryant and Kennett, Mo. (Apparently there used to be one in Choctaw, but it's not there anymore.)
   There have been a few minor changes in the decor. There's a terra-cotta fountain in the middle of the dining room now, and a big-screen TV on which the employees watch World Cup soccer and other television shows en Espanol when the place isn't busy, which so far it hasn't been, at least during our three visits.
   The vivid color scheme on the walls, the hand-crafted Mexican chairs at colorful tables, the booths that line the exterior walls are all still there. Mi Ranchito has added some blown-up pictures of specialty dishes to the walls. (Some of the pictures don't make the dishes look very appetizing. That's the main reason we passed up the Fajitas Mi Pueblito.)
   Sitting down at a table or booth gets you a complimentary small cauldron of red salsa with a slight kick and a creditable amount of garlic with a basket of firm, triangular, saltfree corn tortilla chips.
   Beyond that, try the smoothtextured, nicely lively white cheese dip ($2.50 regular, $4.50 large). The guacamole ($2.50, $4.50) is pretty ordinary and kind of bland, with no distinctive avocado, garlic or even citrus flavors.
   If you're feeling adventurous, go for the tasty Queso Fundido ($4.25), served sizzling and bubbling on a flat fajitas skillet (instead of in a shallow pan we've gotten with this dish elsewhere). It consists of white queso with a touch of flour added and a flat chunk of pleasantly spicy chorizo sausage (mushrooms are also an option), all of which you roll into flour tortillas. Normally the chorizo is chopped into the fondue, which makes it more accessible but also infuses the mixture with more vivid, orange-colored oil.
   Where the cheese-andflour mixture met the skillet it formed a sort of thin, cheesy crepe -- something we discovered while wondering just how the kitchen was going to get the skillet clean. Intrepid Companion thought it looked rather gross, but it didn't taste too bad.
   We got a similar chunk of chorizo sausage on our Fajitas Mi Ranchito ($8.50), spiced chicken with green peppers and onions with "special sauce" on a sizzling skillet and flour tortillas in which to roll it all, plus sour cream, guacamole, pico de gallo, refried beans and Mexican rice on the side. Shredding the sausage added an extra bit of work to the dish, but we enjoyed the taste and took home leftovers.
   The Carnitas ($7.75), chunks of marinated and roasted pork, were very tender and delicious. We also enjoyed our Shrimp Quesadilla Rellena ($5.25), one of the "Especialidades de la Casa" (the Fajitas Mi Ranchito and the Carnitas were merely "especialidades," while the Fajitas Mi Pueblito is among the "Nuevas Especialidades," or "new specials" ), a crisp-fried flour tortilla folded over plentiful shrimp and melted cheese, served with guacamole salad, sour cream and pico de gallo.
   The cornmeal batter on our Chile Relleno ($6.25 for the two-chile dinner, $3.75 for one at lunch, $4.50 for the "Special Lunch No. 1" with a beef taco) was slightly mealy and the Monterey Jack stuffing was kind of runny, but we enjoyed that as well. The beef taco that came with the lunch special was large, in a crisp corn shell that had a slight pastry like character (not unlike the shells you get for taco salads at most places), with well-spiced and not-too-greasy beef topped with lettuce and shredded cheese.
   Speaking of shredded cheese, a little bowl as a side item -- if, say, you want to add some to your fajitas or your taco -- costs 60 cents.
   The somewhat fluid refried beans varied in taste in three visits -- at one dinner and at lunch, they were reasonably flavorful and fresh-tasting, but on the other dinner they were very runny and slightly stale. The rice has a moderately pleasant tang -- so often Mexican rice is inedibly bland -- but isn't worth getting excited about.
   Service varied, too. Everything was in order on our second dinner visit; on our first dinner visit we had trouble attracting the attention of a waiter. On our lunch visit, our waiter never brought us our chips and salsa, although the food came out of the kitchen so fast they would have gone to waste anyway.
   

MI RANCHITO
   RESTAURANTE MEXICANO Address:
1520 Market St., Little Rock

Hours:
11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily

Cuisine:
Mexican

Credit cards:
V, MC

Alcoholic beverages:
Full bar

Reservations:
No

Nonsmoking section: Smoke-free Wheelchair accessible:
Yes

Carryout:
Yes

(501) 223-5414

This story was published Friday, July 07, 2006