El Toro Bravo

Stake taco are amazing. I just hate when I order my food over the phone and when I come get it nobody is at the desk. I’m always waiting 5+ mins. Other then that great

What can I say, I love me some El Toro!
Food is typical Mexican fare, prices are good, and they’re really fun to take someone on their birthday. (Think sombrero + tequila shot… or fried ice cream if it’s a weekday lunch).

Seems like always packed when I drive by here but I am not a fan. Maybe will give another try sometime but not even as good as Dos Reales and that is not a high bar to jump over.

This place was really hyped up by a lot of my friends and I’m just not seeing it. The food seemed very «Americanized» and overall it was mostly very flavorless. Nothing about this restaurant was particularly appealing.

We have eaten at El Toro’s several times and always been very satisfied with the food and service. They are slower getting the orders out but they are usually pretty busy The order has rarely been anything but very satisfactory and on the rare occasion there was a problem it was taken care of immediately. It is our favorite Mexican food restaurant. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the Danville, Illinois restaurant but that’s another review.

I don’t think this place gets enough credit. We come about 4 times a month. Service is always fast and friendly in the bar. We found that the specialty dishs are far better then standard combo plates. Salsas good most if the time, when it’s busy sometimes it’s watered down. I don’t necessarily think it’s a five star but I think it’s more of a 3.5 than a 2.5.

Every time I come here I am disappointed. Today, I placed an order at noon for 430 pick up. I got here at 430 and waited for 20minutes, because they didn’t have my order ready. This is the second time I’ve placed a to go order and had to wait over 15 minutes. Poor service and sub par food has cost them a costumer! I’ll never be back!

The Chips and salsa are good, not great. And the place is always crowded so i’m left wondering, What am i missing?
Its decidedly Average, nothing outstanding here.

The food here is decent, considering it’s not a primarily Mexican or Hispanic town. The margaritas tasted watered down… hardly alcoholic at all. Customer service was good and we didn’t have to wait long, even though it was the lunch rush. Seafood enchiladas are probably something I’d get, but I think their tamales could have been a lot better.

Typically this place is fine… not tonight! We ordered take out. Enchiladas and two Pollos with white cheese dip. The cheese dip was maybe ¼ of a cup and one tiny thing of salsa. We had asked for some extra salsa… I guess a thimble full is all you need for 3 meals. When my husband arrived to pick up our food, our order was sitting there. And he waited for close to 30 minutes! We have ordered take out several times in the past… this may be our last! I chose this as my birthday meal today… I am so disappointed!

Amazing food and prices. Some of the waiters are better than others. Only bad experience I had was when I picked up my nachos and there was no cheese. Luckily I ordered some on the side. This was only once out of a dozen or so times though.

Avoid this place. Is the service slow? Well, the water in my glass evaporated before they even took our drinks order. Then it was an equally long wait before they took our food order. Each time we asked a server for something, they disappeared never to be seen again. Ridiculous. The food was okay — standard pseudo-​Mexican fare — and the Margarita was tasty, but neither worth another evening of waiting and waiting and waiting.

The food is cheap and service is super fast, always friendly. The place seems busy all of the time too. I think the food is decent at best however. If it wasn’t for the prices and fast friendly service my review would be in the one to two star range based solely on the food.

I’ve had several good experiences at El Toro Bravo. Service is quick and the wait staff is always friendly My go to dish is the chimichangas! Also give the fajita
quesadillas a try. Chips and salsa are always fresh! They also have great lunch specials. Definitely in the top tier of Mexican food places in Champaign.

here’s my theory behind Mexican restaurants: «Its all about the tacos» If you cannot execute a proper taco nothing else really matters. The tacos are served on flour tortillas with lettuce and cheese and tomatoes. I’m a corn tortilla onions and cilantro kinda girl myself– but even past that the tacos are poorly done. They use a lot of fatty low quality ground beef and even their enchiladas are sloppy and disgusting and the Chile Rellano is literally sitting in an ocean of grease. I assume this is the kind of place people go to drink with large crowds knowing the food is gross. Overall: Not authentic and the quality is terrible. If you are craving Tacos go to Maize. If you want to sit down and skip the crowds Mas Amigos is so much better. This place is basically a taco bell with a wait staff! Eek Me thinks not!

The first time I ever experienced what is now El Toro Bravo was in 2000! They were at the old location (El Torero). The food was incredible then — spicy and full of flavor. It was really something special to eat there. Since they moved to their new location, their quality has gotten worse and worse with each visit. I always ordered chicken fajitas, coctel de camarones (salsa aparte) or chiles poblanos. Every last one now is a greasy, sloppy, flavorless dish. This chain started from one tiny restaurant and expanded into a Mexican McDonalds. Cheap food, low quality, nothing special.

Overall, this place was solid, but it didn’t wow me. The chips were quite good and the salsa pretty good. The guacamole was great. I’m told this place has great margaritas, but can’t say personally. My meal, a combo platter including chile relleno, enchildas, and rice and beans, was all okay. The service was equally fine without being particularly good or bad. I’d definitely go back.

The waitress kept our glasses full, chips on the table, and the food was hot. The manager/​owner was also walking around to each table asking how everything was, fantastic!

A very nice, new building with an ambient, comfortable atmosphere. The servers are very prompt and polite.
The food is just kind of mediocre and blah. It’s the typical Americanized Mexican food that you’ll get at any other El Toro or at Dos Reales. Lots of ground beef, ranchero sauce, and salt.

They moved a couple blocks down the street from their original Springfield site (which is now a Thai place) a little over a year ago, into a brand new, much bigger building. But the waitstaff and food remains the same = great.
We do lunch here because it is so close to the plant. In and out in way less than an hour, for under $ 10. Deal!
Tons of combination plates, with choices to please everyone (lunch combos average $ 5, with larger combos at $ 7 – 8). Nice seafood and veg options. Hot chips and mild, flavorful salsa. And white cheese dip — hello!