In addition to the wide array of meat, seafood and provisions available in its butcher shop, Ranch 45 in Solana Beach offers breakfast and lunch every day and dinner Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
In front of Ranch 45 is a spacious dog-friendly patio that’s ideal to enjoy a meal with friends, family or a date. Plus, heaters are available to keep you warm and comfortable during chilly California summer nights. Steak always tastes better with a beautiful glass of red wine or an ice-cold beer, and Ranch 45 has both available to accompany your meal.
Prosciutto and melon was a featured appetizer special at Ranch 45 during our recent visit and instantly brought us back to the summer we spent in Italy. Both the cantaloupe and prosciutto are served in delicate, thin slices and topped with mint and olive oil. Although cantaloupe is infamously fickle, our appetizer was full of sweet flavor. Secondly, we ordered the crispy potato skins, which are thick potato wedges covered in small bites of Kagoshima A5 Wagyu and truffle creme fraiche. Need we say more?
Ranch 45 exclusively sells Brandt Beef products, which has made a farm-to-fork promise to raise its animals humanely and naturally without hormones and antibiotics. Ranch 45 boasts a menu of Brandt Beef ribeye, New York strip, filet mignon and dry-aged steak grown in Imperial Valley. We opted for the 8-oz. filet mignon, and it was cooked to medium-rare perfection. The phrase “melts in your mouth” simply isn’t strong enough. With every steak, you have the choice of adding chimichurri, red wine sauce and béarnaise; we ordered all three and we suggest you at least try the incredible chimichurri and béarnaise. For our sides, we chose the mashed potatoes, which are buttery and creamy, and the asparagus and spinach are cooked in a way that makes you actually enjoy eating vegetables. We savored every single bite of our main course and were sad when all we had left was an empty plate.
Lucky for us, we weren’t sad for long because immediately afterward the server arrived to tell us the nightly dessert selections. We chose a warmed chocolate chip cookie topped with vanilla ice cream; the gooey classic is the ideal way to end a meal at Ranch 45.
As we sat reflecting on all the delicious food we had enjoyed, we couldn’t help but wonder which fresh cuts of meat were in the butcher shop. After the server told us about chimichurri-marinated tri-tip and burger patties that were available, we couldn’t resist taking them both back home with us. A few weeks later, we spent a Saturday outside grilling the tri-tip and burgers, and they were just as extremely fresh, flavorful and mouthwatering as we anticipated. We suggest making the most of your visit by having your beef and eating it too!
For more information about Ranch 45, visit www.ranch45.com.
Featured photo credit: Kambria Fischer