Ranazul

My husband and I had a wonderful date night at Ranazul and had exceptional service provided by JR (bartender). He was very attentive and checked on us several times to ensure everything was to our liking. The ceviche and salmon avocado sashimi and mussels were excellent. Kudos to the chef for the food. Thank you for a good night.

Nice restaurant with very good food and service in a bit of a restaurant desert when it comes to fine dining. Good choice for a date or a celebration.

We had a wonderful experience at Ranazul, but I think it's important to understand this is not a typical high end restaurant. There are limited choices with entrees, although all the food is well prepared and delicious. if you are looking for selection and signature dishes this is probably not your place. But if you are looking for amazing tapas (there must be 40 of them) to be enjoyed with family and friends, in a relaxed atmosphere with extensive wine list and attentive service staff then this is your place. Our dinner had a party atmosphere, versus the typical app, entrée, desert, please come back again.

The server spilled the liquid from the steamed mussels on my husband’s lap, and the baked pear dessert had some spicy cheese from one of the other deserts that had dripped on the serving dish during baking. Altogether, not terribly impressive, we probably won’t dine there again.

We dined at Ranazul on a Saturday evening in March. Upon arriving at the restaurant, the hostess greeted us immediately and took us to our seat. Since we have not been to Ranazul since 2017 (primarily because the menu rarely changes), we were immediately struck by how run down the dining room appears, with dirty, worn carpets, bare tabletops scratched and in need of refinishing and chairs in a similar state of disrepair. Our waiter came to the table fairly quickly to introduce himself and take our drink order. Once the wine arrived, we ordered six tapas, including the salmon avocado sashimi (best of the night), the camaron al tequila (always excellent), crispy chicken (very good), and the arepas (the usual presentation but the arepa was soggy and there was too much of either nutmeg or allspice overpowering the seafood). The last two tapas were major disappointments. First, the fried oysters were tiny and sparse (more breading than oyster, four on the plate) and are now served on pedestrian creamed spinach instead of the excellent corn salsa of the past. And last, the lamb chops, ordered medium, arrived well done and were tough and chewy. While the accompaniments were good, the lamb was a major disaster and most certainly not worth $20. Given that the core menu has not changed in many years , the execution of three of the six tapas was not up to past standards, and the ambiance was ruined by the shabby dining room appearance, we will more than likely take Ranazul out of our dining rotation. It's just not worth the price when there are so many better options within 10 miles of this restaurant.

Ranazul is our favorite place to dine.

We love the small plates and we brought some friends for their first time too

Good, solid tapas place, with nice decor in a convenient location.

This was our second visit. Our server, Mariano, was friendly and helpful, making cocktail and food selection recommendations. Our companions, however, also having dined there once before, said the service on their first visit was not nearly as good. The food was excellent . Every dish we tried ranged from very good to excellent. Made for an outstanding experience.

We were dining for brunch. It was very slow, but for some reason our server was MIA a lot of the time, missed parts of our order, forgot to bring drinks. Maybe he was newer. It took a while for our meals to come out. When it did finally come, there was a hair on a waffle, but once we got a new waffle everything tasted pretty good. Overall, a good place for good food at a low price. Gives the feel of being in the city without having to drive that far. They just need to work on service a bit. I’ll try them again before completely writing them off.

Great food and ambience. Everything was delicious Attentive service.

New favorite restaurant

Food was delicious and came out quickly. They had a great musician named Bruce playing the guitar which was a nice touch. The wait staff were very friendly. The owner is so friendly and always makes one feel welcome. I would recommend everyone come here if you have not done so before, or if you have come before, then come again you will not regret it.

I’ve been to this place several times and it NEVER disappoints!!! The best food in Howard County!!

Everything we ordered was cooked perfectly and the flavor combinations were to die for. Great place to try a lot of different dishes or order your own thing. Didn’t try any drinks, but they looked delicious as well. Definitely going back!

Food was outstanding. Server lacked enthusiasm and complete knowledge. Ambiance was not exciting.

Great food. I was super surprised by the portion size. A good surprised! I ate more than anticipated :)

Always a treat that fails to please! The service and ambience are Ranazul's main attractions. Mario, our waiter was attentive, efficient, and timely (we never felt rushed). The food (tapas/Prix fixe)was served beautifully and aesthetically... and the taste was as expected, i.e. no surprises. It was strange that the scallops and pork tenderloin would arrive with what was, essentially, the same sauce! Maybe a little more inventiveness with the menu... or at least, coordination!

We enjoyed it immensely. The ambience was just wonderful it was quite yet good music . Delicious meal as well. I would have thought the cheese plate would have been just a little bit larger but it was very good

My wife and I enjoyed a nice evening out recently and decided to have dinner here. The ambiance was one of quiet sofistication. The food was very good and the service excellent. The wine list was good, though a bit overpriced. The tapas portions were good with prices in line with what you would expect for the area. Would recommend to anyone and we will be back.

Overall a very nice restaurant with a great ambience and decor. The food was good but not spectacular. Carrot cake was a little dry, Peruvian Chicken was kind of tasteless. Pear salad to start was excellent and the Salmon was quite tasty albeit a little light.

I wanted to love this restaurant but this was a big disappointment. In general the service was chaotic; food arrived at different times, and some dishes were very poorly prepared. Our server was new, and he was polite and tried hard but was poorly trained. We don't blame him for the overall bad experience - he made up for his part in politeness and effort. We spent the first 15 minutes under the impression there were no wines available by the glass, and regrouping as a party of four on a bottle of wine. This led to an unpleasant beginning. This was a miscommunication between the server and the bartender. Our first course was fine although we could not get the flow of who delivered the food since it was two different people and not our server. Course two arrived but one of our party's order was not correct; this took a few minutes to correct as we watched a server (not ours) try to figure out where the dish he was holding actually belonged. We were barely into course two when asked if we were ready for our main entree. I politely asked if we we could finish this course first. The server (not ours) said of course. When done with that course, we waited and waited. Finally our server came over and told us the kitchen was backed up. This amazed us since the restaurant really was not that busy, and others who arrived after us were getting food. When our food finally arrived one meal was a second course, not the entree meal that was ordered. Again we watched a server (not ours) trying to figure out where the dish really belonged. Finally the entree arrived - a rib eye over cooked and fatty. Immediately I told the server that it was well done not medium rare as I had ordered, but I would eat it because we weren't waiting any longer. Every entree was poorly prepared. Dessert was another long wait. Again we were told the kitchen was backed up. Really? This restaurant needs better management and quality control. We will never go back.

I don’t usually write reviews but this is an exception. I made a reservation for two for 7:45pm during Restaurant Week. After arriving we were told it would be a 30 min wait. 30 min later we were told by the manager that only the bar area was available at the front of the restaurant but it would be full service, so we sat there. Loud music. Service was VERY slow, about 20 minutes just to get salad. Service for the rest of the meal also was very slow. Our orders were messed up and dressings we asked to be on the side and sauces to be left out were not done. Dessert never came after a 15 minute wait, and we had to ask the receptionist to tell the kitchen. Our waiter was not to be seen. By then it was around 10pm, and the restaurant was half empty. The check even arrived at our table before the dessert did! I complained to the waiter who admitted miscommunication and to his credit tried to make amends with a 10% discount. Altogether about 2.5 hours spent at the restaurant. Overall the food was excellent but don’t have dinner in the bar area.

We dined during Restaurant week and ordered from the pre fixed menu consisting of 4 courses. We both started with Caesar Salad, then had the Salmon tapas, after which came a 6 ounce rib eye, finished off with pear crisp. Everything was enjoyable, food, service, ambiance.

We like to visit Ranazul,, Howe er we find it to be a bit pricey considering the portions served. Additionally, bread if wanted incurs an added charge.

We recommend this pace for special occasions. It is also a nice place to enjoy after work cocktails (at the bar) which we do occasionally.

Our Friday night friends group chose Ranazul during restaurant week. For $35 we chose 4 courses - all were excellent. Everyone had the sopa Azteca, an incredible house speciality. The Mahi mahi was beautifully prepared in a light, lovely sauce. We could hardly eat the main course so took it home along with dessert. Excellent wine pairings were available.
Our server was great although he got extremely busy later. All of the staff are friendly and aim to please. We will be back soon!

It was really loud! Could barely hear the person I was sitting beside.

My favorite restaurant. I could eat there every day.

Birthday celebration!

This was our first time at this restaurant. We really enjoyed the food and the environment in general. The service was excellent. Will definitely return in the future.

We went New Years Night. Excellent, it is close to home, they had excellent small plates, the service was first class, the environment was fun and energetic for the New years. I highly recommend this place for business or pleasure.

First time dinning at this place...probably one of the worst service experiences of all time...delivered wrong bottle of wine, but said it was the correct one...after talking with the server he confirmed that it recently changed and menu was incorrect...martinis arrived without olives...extremely slow service all night...it was a nightmare...food was actually very good, all dishes, when it did arrive...20 - 30 minute wait per tapas is unacceptable...this place needs to hire new wait staff immediately...

Very very average. Wait staff is trained to Olive Garden standards. Food tastes processed. New Years Eve is a tough service but what we had was not worth $75/ person.

The food was tasty. Our server had a large party and we were often ignored because of this. Also, the restaurant was closing early for a private event and chose not to notify us (or any customers) until they asked us to leave well before we were ready.

We've been here for dinner several times and it was always good. We had previously been on Christmas Eve and went again this year. Unfortunately this time the full menu was not available and the lack of choices was a disappointment. Most of our favorites were not on the menu, so we settled for meals we wouldn't have usually ordered. Some of the food was good and some not. One of us had the pear salad and the pear was hard. One of us ordered the Peruvian chicken, which was dry. Also, the service was slow and it wasn't that busy while we were there. We ordered a glass of wine before the meal and were never offered a 2nd glass anytime during the first 2 courses. The waiter didn't come back before the dessert arrived and when he did, I asked for another glass of wine - he didn't ask. Meanwhile, we watched as the waiter hung out near the bar.

We enjoy Ranazul and frequently go for a glass or two of wine and a light dinner. The food is good and the service is excellent. Friendly staff.

The food was very creative and delicious. The food was displayed well and the portion size was perfect. I would certainly go back for happy hour.

Great place. Been there a few times already even though it is quite a drive for us. Contemporary setting, great food, great service. They play good music.

Met friends for lunch due to government being closed. Service and food was great! The lunch menu is a great value.

Fabulous food... Duck salad is amazing! Good service.

Excellent service, delicious food, and great atmosphere.