El Torito

Food is one step above taco bell or del taco. My date ordered jumbo bacon wrapped shrimp that were not so jumbo and the bacon was so fatty. Totally does not match the pic in the menu. So small and unflavorful. If I had to guess, I’d say they tasted frozen. Food was so overpriced. Two stars because service was good.

If you’re looking for a delicious Mexican restaurant, El Torrito is the place to go hands down. Not only is their food and mojitos to die for but the servers genuinely care about their customer’s experience and will do everything in their power to make sure their customer has the best service!
Our server was Angel. He was super sweet, willing to customize our order to fit our cravings, and was very attentive to our needs. I would definitely come back!

Very good attentive service.
I ordered the 1800 Fajitas; they were ok, nothing special. The dish is served on a gigantic troth that’s scalding hot and ridiculous to maneuver around. It looks like you’re getting a ton of food, but in reality, it’s enough for 1−½ if you’re eating the tortillas with it.

Decent food and sticky tables, but good service. The carnitas tamale was pretty good. The sizzling enchiladas were just OK — I wasn’t severely disappointed but I wouldn’t ever order them again.
Ruth was nice, she was honest about her recommendations and was happy to customize our order. She even offered to replace a drink we were reluctant to try if we weren’t satisfied with it.

Walked in for dinner, there was no host at the front. Host came out about a minute later and we were promptly seated. Once seated it took a moment for waiter to take our orders. When we told him we had a deal for 2 fajitas and signature margaritas for 30 he responded rudely and cut us off. When asked if we could order the 1800 fajitas with chipotle he said we couldn’t use it with the deal, but was wrong are deal said you could. I don’t think we got the right item, but regardless good was good, but service wasn’t so great.

I love taco tuesday. I look forward to it every week!

It’s a sad deal, when you’re a pretty regular customer at an establishment and the service goes out the window. I sat in the lounge area and normally we will have either Sonia or Ernesto (amazing service) as our server, but this time we had a different girl named, Aranza, and she was the worst server I’ve ever had in all my dining experience.
The service was so bad, I actually had to get up and ask Sonia for chips because Aranza wasn’t paying any attention to our table. Instead she was all over her friends in the booth next to us. She would sit in their booth chatting them up. She had enough time to get them their drinks, take their order, and talk to them, but couldn’t even get us chips. Smh It got so bad that I wasn’t sure if she was still on the clock. I looked up at one point and saw her caressing the ear of the girl in the other booth, I couldn’t believe my eyes, not professional at all. Very disappointed.
The sad part is; I work in the tipping industry and love taking care of the people who also work in the industry. At minimum I will tip 20−25%, needless to say, I did not tip her because I felt I would be promoting her terrible service, and behavior.

Love this place during happy hour, delicious food at discounted a price! Micheladas are delicious and staff is super friendly!

I’ve been here a couple of times in the last month for the lunch buffet, and it’s a deal at $ 12! There are stations for soup, desserts, salad, burritos, tacos, and other mains that includes cheese enchiladas, usually two kinds of sauteed meat/​veggies, the incredible sweet corn cake, and sometimes. mmmm. plantains.
Generally speaking, it’s best to avoid the standard lunch rush period. Even for a self-​service buffet, there are things you need the waitstaff for. Sometimes it can be a challenge to get a refill on your beverage or get your check taken care of. Not because the staff aren’t good, but because this place gets busy and they are hoppin!
I do wish they had a salsa bar with a bit more variety in that area. Tortilla chips aren’t as great as some places where they come out to you seemingly hot from the oven. All things considered, though. I can’t complain. This place will go in my regular rotation.

So you go to happy hour but they don’t have a happy hr menu. $ 5 margaritas are weak. Then hubby orders an all you can eat Friday mahi mahi tacos… And good luck with that. Once you’re served they never come back and if you ask hey it’s been like 25 mins — we’re ready to go — we’ll just take it to go — then they make you wait another 25 mins to get… Wait for it… 1 extra taco.
Hubby almost said hey I think you need this more than I do.
Never going back. Too bad was once a pretty good place but now I know why we stopped going there.
Server was fortunate to even get the 15% tip because we’re just that kind of people… Too damn generous for our own good.

Had their famous brunch buffet… Not a fan of mexican food but enjoyed their selection although it was minimal and I would have liked them to have quesedillas and some other stuff besides burritos and taco’s however their food is fresh and the service is top notch. The server and host were lovely and took care of us and consistently cleaned our table. Try their corn dish, and their pork taco (wow the meat is delicious, soft and juicy)

I came here knowing that Thai would be standard Americanized chain Mexican. Back in the day Chi Chis wasn’t 100% bad.
I cannot say the same about this establishment. It’s simply terrible, bordering on inedible. Chips and salsa were grease laden and stale. The salsa tasted as if it had been commingled with fish.
I ordered something that is hard to mess up: sour cream and chicken enchiladas. Simply terrible.
I seldom come to these types of places and I now know why.
There are decent Mexican places (though I have yet to find an outstanding one nearby) around that are cheaper and far better. Paquito Mas is just blocks away and it is a far better option.

What the heck happened to the food here???
Maybe they changed chefs from when it was Acapulco?!?
I ordered the all-​you-​can-​eat Mahi Mahi Tacos… goodness me; extremely dry and tasteless. I mean, they nuked those small pieces of fish! I was hoping the next batch would be better, but no, so incredibly dry and tasted old. What is up!!!
My hubby got the Macho Combo and can you say grease ball of fire? So greasy he couldn’t even finish most of his plate.
At least the host and waiters were super nice.
I really don’t want to come back here; I miss Acapulco!

The food was decent for Americanized Mexican food. They actually have a burrito or enchilada with Mac and Cheese. The restaurant is very spacious and there is outdoor and indoor seating. The service was really bad. The waiter never came by to check on us. It seems like the guy didn’t enjoy his job very much. I would not come here unless I have too.

Amazing service. We got chip refills without even asking. The manager came around to make sure everything always ok. Great staff. Our waiter, Pablo, was fantastic. He mixed our guacamole and made sure it was perfect.
Excellent food and amazing service. Will be back and highly recommend!

Had a bad experience at another El Torito and was asked to give it another shot. This experience was like night and day. Great and quick service. The restaurant was clean and it was busy due to Taco Tuesday. The food was good and definitely won me back as a customer. Looking forward to coming back and doing a proper Taco Tuesday.

Great happy hour specials.
$ 1.50 tacos, I had a chicken, steak and pork taco. The pork was definitely the best but the chicken and steak were good as well. The frozen margaritas were pretty awesome too!

The Service: Very attentive. Huge restaurant. Lots of seating. Never have to wait. Good bar area, separated from main dining area.
The Food: Happy Hour from 3−8pm! Discounted drinks and appetizers.
The Parking: Private lot (free) and street parking (free)

Good happy hour, and taco Tuesday. Other than that I see no reason to venture to this restaurant. There are WAY too many good places in SoCal to eat phenomenal Mexican. I only went to meet a friend who was meeting friends. I was not impressed both with quality of food, and décor. It was almost like a sarcastic version of a Mexican.
I’m glad I went so I don’t have to go back.

Love El Torito

Service, service, and service. Reduced a star for each.
The tables are sticky and dirty. The waitress hardly shows up. Water refills aren’t provided without a conscious attempt to flag down the waitress. Dirty dishes are never removed from the table. This was one of the worst service experiences so far in 2014. What a shame.
The food was actually good. I ordered the Burrito Especial and it was cooked and prepared well. We also ordered chicken tenders, and Macho combo. All of their food was great.
The problem is certainly not in the kitchen, but rather with the floor service. I had a $ 25 gift card here and without such gift card I’m highly unlikely to return.
Too bad.