Top Louth restaurant bags excellence award for the third year running

Owner Oliver Crossland with head chef Craig Collins, manager Abigal Rance, and the rest of team at The Ranch Steakhouse & Grill.

The success of the American-style steakhouse, in Queen Street, is all the more remarkable after battling the odds to survive following a devastating fire in June 2014 - which left the owner facing a huge bill,  and the closure of his beloved restaurant for almost a year while the extensive repair work took place.

But, as Oliver Crossland predicted at the time, his business has risen from the ashes and come back bigger and better than ever before - with customers travelling from miles around to see  what all the fuss is about.

The Certificate of Excellence is awarded to restaurants and venues that consistently achieve outstanding reviews on the TripAdvisor.

The website currently lists The Ranch as the top ranked restaurant in the Louth area with a score of 4.5 stars out of five, based on a total  of 424 customer reviews.

Of these reviews, 375 rank The Ranch as being ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ overall.

Owner Oliver Crossland told the Leader: “It’s a fantastic achievement to get our third TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence.

“I’ve got to give it all to the staff. The team have, for the past three to four years, worked tremendously hard to try and get here.

“It feels deserved, but at the same time we are proud of the achievement that we’ve got, and like I said, I’ve really got to thank everyone here for making it happen.

“I’ve got to thank Craig, the head chef, who has been with us since pretty much  the beginning. He’s a fantastic chef, and without him we wouldn’t be anywhere near where we are now.

“I’ve also got to thank Abigail, the manager, because she gives 100 per cent all the time, and obviously I’ve also got to thank my mum and dad, Lisa and Neil, for giving me the opportunity to take on the restaurant in the first place, and the opportunity to  start The Ranch and go  forward with it.”

Reflecting on the fire that caused so much devastation at the restaurant two years ago, Oliver added: “It was absolutely gutting at the time, but I knew we’d come straight back to where we were.

“I said we’d come back bigger and better than ever, and we’ve proved that we have. I’m really happy about it.

“The custom is getting better and better every week, including customers from Grimsby and Lincoln, and even Boston and Skegness.

“If you want a fun night in the Wild West with good food, good company, and good times, come to The Ranch!”