El Torito

Ummmm the food was a let down. We were in for a work lunch and when I walked it the place was huge, but also quite empty. Now I know why. I ordered the dos tacos (chicken and pork) and the street tacos from the food trucks taste much better. The meat just tasted dry and bland and had no taste to it at all.
However the waitstaff were nice, so that’s alright.

Super place to bring a large group. Great food served properly — hot plates, hot tortillas, abundant salsa. Group of 12, everyone left super happy. Thank you El Torito!

This is a much better El Torito than the Burlingame one so if you are in the area, skip the view at the Burlingame one and head down to the Foster City El Torito. I enjoy the Tortilla Soup & salad every time. I love the cilantro dressing. We’ve never had to wait very long at this El Torito and there is a pretty good happy hour. The service isn’t amazing but this is a pretty reliable El Torito. I love their thin, salty chips, and salsa.
One nice thing about El Torito is that they can easily serve large groups. I’ve brought family here at the last minute when the wait for other places was overwhelming and they were able to take us right away!

This is one of few Mexican restaurants in San Mateo that isn’t located in downtown. Being Saturday night, we wanted to steer clear of downtown SM so my parents and I decided to revisit El Torito. I haven’t been since I was a kid and all I remember was that kids eat free certain days and if you ordered in Spanish they gave you $ 1 off (not sure if they do that anymore?).
Anywho, we came in and the restaurant is pretty empty looking. But oddly enough they said there was a 10 minute wait. The restaurant is strangely very large and with multiple dining areas, but there weren’t many waiters. Probably explains why there was a wait. We got seated and our server was very friendly at first, urging us to get margaritas. We said no but he was persistent. It was hard to say no to someone who was being friendly and cracking jokes so we ordered one. Afterwards, he became gradually apathetic and inattentive. So strange! It took him 5 minutes to bring us the margarita but 15 – 20 to get us water. And he only became friendly again when he gave us the check. Maybe he was having an off day, but it was very spotty customer service.
The food was alright. We got the family fajitas because the photo on the menu made it look massive, saying it feeds up to 4 people. Lo and behold, when it’s brought out it’s an average size platter that’s more fitting for 2/2.5 people. Maybe they’re referring to 4 small children? Pretty disappointing since it comes with a hefty price tag. Don’t get me wrong, the food wasn’t bad! It was decent but just seems unjustified for the price/​portion.
The one thing I really enjoyed was the free chips and salsa. Also margarita had almost no alcohol welp.

Came here on a Sunday with the family. We were seated down and served with chips and salsa immediately, but it took almost 45 minutes for the food to come. At the time, there were not many people at the restaurant either. By the time food was served, I was already half full from the chips.
The food was probably a ⁷⁄₁₀ overall. Steak was great, and I would definitely come back for that. However, everything else was mediocre. The taco salad wasn’t anything special, and the quesadilla was a little dry. Serving portions were also a bit small, and price a little on the expensive side. Despite eating so many chips already, I was able to finish a main course too.
In summary, service was bad, food pretty good, serving size a little small, and price a little high.
I would come back, but only for certain foods.

Great lunch spot. 8 of us came for a quick work lunch and were impressed. I don’t know why there are bad reviews. We didn’t have drinks. So maybe the bar needs some work? I had the sizzling enchilada and they were awesome.

If I could give this place one star I would, horrible horrible service for mediocre food! Ordered the Ignited 1800 Fajitas which wasn’t «Ignited» when it arrived, (there is an extra charge for the tequila shot) which wasn’t given. The beef was tough as leather and impossible to chew. We asked for extra napkins which never arrived, then we asked for extra salad dressing in the side twice, which was also ignored then we asked for a refill of one drink, this was also ignored. So we called the manager to let him know which was almost worse. His only response was «today’s his last day» and then he just walked away never dealing with any of the issues. The server came back and said he was too busy to wait on us and that nothing was his fault, although that had anything to do with any customer! Save your money, eat somewhere else. There’s nothing but incompetence and indifference here.

What a shame that the very pleasant people can’t make up for the dreadful food. The whole chain has been going downhill for years.

A+ on service today. I arrived to find 3 massive tables full of people like a Christmas lunch outing just ordering. First thought was a party of one would be low priority. But they did not forget me. Got my order in and out super fast. And the food was spot on just like lunch any other time I’ve been here. Great job!

Worst service I’ve had in a while. No drinks for 10 minutes. No refills the entire time we were eating. No tortillas when one of my colleagues ordered fajitas. Argued with another person at the table about salad dressing. All in all, horrible experience. I didn’t even know when we pulled into the parking lot that it was open, the building looks condemned. I never need to go here ever again. And I never will.

The food is great! Service is also awesome! Would definitely recommend this place to any Mexican food enthusiasts!

love this place. I come here almost every Tuesday with my coworkers. we come at 9 pm and sometimes its noticeable they want to go home… understandable. taco Tuesday is great. the lady is so sweet, comes over to make sure we don’t want anymore because she is closing. we have the same waitress every time who emphasizes «VIRGIN margaritas», we know we don’t look 21. staff is nice and food is good! the V margaritas tend to be a little sour but still good.
we love it.

Tried this place for the first time and it wasn’t too bad despite the other reviews I have read.
The hostess was really sweet and sat us right away. Our server came over within a few minutes and took our drink orders. She was shy, but a real sweetheart.
We ordered chips and guac which I felt took awhile to come out since there wasn’t too much prep involved and the restaurant was not busy at all. I loved that it is made right at the table. It was delicious!
Shortly after our entrees came out. I ordered the grilled chicken taco salad. I have to say, it is one of the best meal sized salads I have had in a long time. I could only eat about half. Love the house dressing. It really made the salad.
I wouldn’t say it is my most favourite Mexican restaurant. There’s nothing authentic about it, but it is good food for a decent price. I will definitely go back.

avoid this place, it blows. They messed up order and didn’t even offer to take it off the bill. The food is garbage and service is not much better.

I was there for lunch and ordered their special, two tacos with rice and beans. The lunch was good but I got very little for the price I paid. Also I ended up getting a big pile of rice, more than anything else on the plate. I was not too happy! :(I think I deserve a free meal!

Food ok. Chips stale. Stopped to watch Giants and Dodgers. Should have the game turned up and not the music. I think they burned the beans.

I have a very picky family but this is one meal that we like to go and eat out for. The service was awful rarely saw our waitress. Our food took forever. They were out of half of everything that we asked for. It was so HOT!!! It was the worst experience ever.

El Torito; where unlimited tacos means you’ll be served once and then abandoned & left for dead like a frat brother being rolled out of a speeding Volkswagen Jetta after an overdose. If you’ve a crippling phobia of waiters this is the perfect place to eat.

PAY HEED TO THIS WARNING*****
Personally, I love El Torito and have been in their restaurants more times then I can count. With that being said the Foster City branch is by far the worst run of all. Outside of a really nice hostess that desperately tried to help our table of 8, the rest of the staff seems to be clueless on customer service or even how to properly track tables.
We should have been concerned, when on Cinco de Mayo, the restaurant was half empty but we took our chances anyway. 41 minutes after we sat down, we complained to the hostess that despite asking the server twice, she never stopped to take a drink order at our table. The hostess hustled over and took our drinks and food order. 20 minutes after that here comes the sever to RETAKE our entire order because she couldn’t understand what the hostess wrote.
Oh and did I mention we refilled our own chips and salsa the whole night at the bar, on the opposite side of the restaurant.
At this point we complained to the on duty manager who did apologize but kept saying as an excuse the server is just bad. Never offered to help, take our order, stop by our table, nothing.
Drinks came out shortly after that, with 2 of them completely wrong… and 91 minutes after sitting down in a half empty restaurant our food finally arrived and was actually accurate.
Manager never came to our table or made any effort at following up.
Take your hard earned money and go somewhere else. We wish we had.

Those who haven’t tried Mexican food as Brunch should definitely try it out. And if you believe you are a foodie; you owe it to yourself to try Mexican Brunch. It’ll open your senses.
I’ve come here over two dozen times over the years, and that’s an extremely conservative number. Double that almost; actually.
The hostess knows me by name and treats me; Like. A. Boss! The manager knows me as well. He is always there on each of my visits during their Sunday Brunch. The waiters know me as well. As soon as I arrive, they already know to bring out two Mimosas for me at my table. The rest is pretty self explanatory if you look at the insane amount of pics I’ve uploaded for this location of El Torito.
Nelly, Ana, and Roberto are awesome! For a «chain» restaurant, this location is managed quite differently than their other locations in the Bay Area. If you have a bad experience at their other locations, come to this location in Foster City. You won’t be disappointed.
Plus their $ 5 Margaritas during Happy Hour are one of the BEST Margarita deals around and their Margaritas will actually make you say, «Marrrrrrr-​GAA-​RITA!