El Torito

I came here with my friend and had the waitress names Susan in the bar. Sat down she came over took our drink orders then left for 10 min. Finally came back then she said «I’ll be right back» sat for another 10 – 15 min had to ask a bus boy for menu she comes back ask if we want to order finally order she comes back with my ripped in half tortillas 10 min before my food so now hose are cold… Just horrible service never want her as my waitress again

We had a baby shower today with a large crowd. The food and service was beyond our expectations. All of the employees there were very helpful and friendly. A great place to give a party!!!

My husband and I always come for taco Tuesday. Tacos are 1.50 each they’re small but good! The service just always sucks. I always see the servers just standing at the bar. Only reason we keep coming back is cuz there aren’t better tacos around!

Very poor… Had a reservation at 11:30 and got seated at 12:30. What’s the point of having a reservation if you still have to wait 1 hour?

The brunch is so delicious, so fresh and authentic! I am very impressed with the food. I will definitely be back. Great service too!

Came here for Sunday brunch and was amazed of how good the food was. They have a good selection of different items and the customer service is top notch. Will definitely be back.

A little slow with service but I still had a good experience. I only wish they would’ve asked me how I wanted my steak cooked (for my fajita) bc it was a little tough & I would’ve preferred it medium rare. But overall, still a good experience.

It was hard to find because it’s up on a hill. The waitress with green hair seemed nice. I don’t know here name maybe you could tell me. The service was good. she was attentive and kept giving us drinks.

The food here is pretty good, and the margaritas are amazing. The Sunday brunch is a great deal, especially if you like champagne, though the value you get is largely dependent on how attentive your server is. I would definitely recommend their fajitas and spinach enchiladas in particular. El Torito also has a small but somewhat useful and free to use points program. It doesn’t save you much money at all, but you get small things like free guac every once in a while.
However, I don’t think we’ll be coming back to this restaurant anymore due to the extremely poor service. We’ve been going to this restaurant pretty regularly for the past ~year (about 5 or 6 times a month), but I can count on one hand the number of times our server hasn’t been completely horrible. I’ve said on numerous occasions, «They’ve got about 5 minutes before we get up and leave.» Yesterday was the first day we actually did that.
Our last visit here was on Labor Day. As we sat down, we even joked about hoping we don’t get one of the servers we already knew to be very slow (which shows you how regularly this happens). Sure enough, our service was terrible once again. One person came by after 17 minutes and said, «Has anyone helped you yet?» to which we said no and ordered our margaritas. After about minute 25, I got up and went to the hostess and told her we weren’t getting service and would like someone to come to our table. We never saw another person again until we all got up and left the restaurant after 34 minutes. Our drinks were never delivered to our table either.
Perhaps the worst part about this, though, was that the restaurant wasn’t even busy at all, and there were no less than 5 staff members, including servers and a manager, standing around about 5 feet from our table doing nothing for several minutes at a time, despite us looking visibly frustrated with the complete lack of attention being paid to our table. When we got up and left, they were still right next to us, yet not a single one of them, including either the manager or the hostess, even bothered to say something to us or try to stop us as we walked right out the front door. You would think the manager would at the very least try to apologize, if not actually try to rectify the situation and convince us to stay.
Goodbye, Yorba Linda El Torito. My advice to management would be: retrain your staff to be MUCH more attentive, or fire them and get new servers who actually want your business to succeed. This is not a well run restaurant right now.

I really enjoy this place… most of the time. The food is good and the atmosphere is cool.
This review is for the management. Please fix the issues with the service here. There is very little teamwork between the waiters. I’ve seen waiters huddling in the corner talking and counting tips while our waiter is juggling multiple issues. Why wouldn’t they help each other out?
We’ve been in here and had great service. I’ve been here and had to wait 12 minutes before a waiter greeted us. One time we waited about 16 minutes for the waiter to drop the check once the meal ended. He also never cleared plates. Nothing major but it shouldn’t take that long.
Anyway, please examine the service procedures here. Sub par.
Otherwise, not bad.

I wasn’t originally going to write this review, but after I read Matthew W.‘s, I had to chime in.
I also ate here last night and became very ill after we returned to our hotel.
I had a Diet Coke, chips, salsa, and shrimp mac and cheese enchiladas. I felt like the salsa had an odd taste, but my dad (the iron stomach) disagreed… so I thought maybe it was just a spice or herb that didn’t sit right with me. He did not get sick, but did have a bit of stomach discomfort during the night.
I understand that things like this happen to every restaurant, but I felt a one star review was the best way to bring the restaurant’s attention to the issue.

My family and I ate dinner here last night. My 10 year old and I became violently ill a couple hours later. My wife and other son were fine. The common denominator between my son and I was the tortilla soup. We spent the entire night from about 8pm with chills, vomiting, and diarrhea. I am writing this almost 24 hours later and I am barely feeling better. We contacted the restaurant and they apologized. We also opened up a case with OC Health Agency to investigate. This restaurant has never been consistent with the quality of food. After what I experienced we will never return.
******* I have attached the results from the health departments investigation to the review*******

Service was five stars here! We were greeted and served by Suzi. She and the busboy (taller young man) were amazing. We never ran out or had to ask for anything. They were super friendly and helpful. Our Amiga margarita was delicious. Food was also pretty good.
There was confusion about the happy
Hour times which was not available when we came so that’s why I’m giving it four stars.

My mom and I threw my sis-​in-​law a baby shower here on ⁷⁄₂₆ and it turned out perfect! We held the baby shower on the back patio which was large enough size for our party of about 25 people. We had the patio entirely to ourselves. Even though it was the end of July, there was a nice breeze that came through and its completely covered so we had a lot of shade to keep us cool.
The managers, especially Michael, were so helpful and hospitable. They let us come early and set up and decorate everything the way we wanted. Our servers, Evelyn and Carlos, even helped us put up the decorations! Evelyn waited on the party throughout the day, and she was so sweet and patient with our loud rowdy group of women. I can’t say enough great things about the staff, they truly made it a special day for us.
Sunday brunch was of course delicious and bottomless mimosas was the cherry on top! It was so easy for the guests to get up and go through the brunch buffet themselves. The brunch at El Torito has something for everyone there, even the picky kids and health conscious adults!
Overall A+ and a huge thanks to the staff!

Great lunch specials here!
Parking: Large parking lot with plenty of spaces!
Ordered the Enchilada and Beef Taco which was only $ 7.99! The portions were just right. Not too filling so that when you go back to work you don’t food coma.
Free Chips and Salsa while you wait for your food. I couldn’t stop eating it because they were so good!
Came here with about 20 people and the restaurant was very accommodating. Staff was very attentive, especially with the amount of people we had. My Iced Tea did not go empty!

Came here on Cinco de Mayo around 9pm. The wait for a table was only 15 minutes but my friend and I sat at the bar. We ordered 8 tacos at $ 1.50 each and also got some Cadillac margs at $ 10. The tacos were small (as expected) but they were ‘eh.’ I’ve had better at a hole in the wall.
I give the food 3 stars but the service 5 stars! Everyone I talked to was very nice and helpful. I asked one waitress for a menu. She was just going on break but still helped us.

Big group– big problems
I came here with a pretty large group– about 30 people. We gave the restaurant warning. Nothing went right.
So many crucial things went poorly, it’ll be better to just recap with a list rather than write out the whole story:
— Only one server assigned to the entire group– and he had a bad attitude. It wasn’t a rambunctious group– most were older– he could have made the situation better with a different attitude
— Took different meal orders at different times. So people finished eating before other people’s drinks had even arrived
— Forget soda and water refills
— Hope you didn’t want more chips
— Alcohol orders took precedence over food– despite the table eating before others even ordered, if someone ordered a drink, that was taken care of first before others could order food
— Screwed up the bill. Royally. Some of us stayed an extra 45mins to correct all the mistakes the guy made, refund his incorrect charges, and then charge the correct amount
As I said, nothing went right. I blame the restaurant overall– with only one server assigned to a big group, he was not set up for success. However, the server threw in the towel before the fight even started. It seemed to me that he didn’t even try to make this a good experience. He came in defeated in with a bad attitude. Part of me felt bad for the guy for having to deal with all of us on his own, but he could’ve made it better for himself.
I won’t be coming back here — not with a group of 30 and not with just two.

I used to come to El Torito all the time and the service and food were never a disappointment. They have great specials, especially during times that football is on.
My nieces love it here cause the atmosphere is just loud enough where we don’t have to keep asking them to be quiet or calm down haha. And they have coloring books and crayons for kids. Also they have cute little hats shaped like a bull.
Service is fast. I love the table side guacamole. And their corn bread is very good. The salsa I think is home made because it tastes fresh every time.
They also have seating outdoors, which is nice when the weather allows it. When you walk in you can see the cooks making food. I like this concept because it’s open for everyone and allows you to see what happens behind the kitchen.

Delicious guac, great food, prices and service I love Mexican food!
The burrito was so big and delicious I recommend it «especial»
My girlfriend got 2 sizzling enchaladas, they were on fleek!
I will be coming back again definitely!

I’ve been to El Torito several times but never tried the brunch. After hearing a lot about it and not having any plans for Easter, I decided to invite a friend out to finally try it.
We picked this location because it’s equal distance for both us and I’m so glad we did. It’s gorgeous and the view is fabulous. There was a long line for the Easter brunch but the wait for two people went fast — 10 minutes max. Woohoo!
After our name got called, the hostess seated us with a brunch ticket but didn’t really say much else. We were a little confused because it was our first time here for brunch. Do we now go up and start eating, wait for our waiter (Ernesto) to stop by first???
After sitting there for 10 minutes and watching other people being seated and served, we were a bit peeved. Hey, what about us? We finally flagged down our guy and the first thing he did was try and up sell us on some margaritas when all we really wanted was the bottomless champagne that came with the brunch. After insisting, we only wanting that, he finally explained the process and brought over the drinks. *sigh*
The brunch itself is fabulous and worth every bit of the hype. We didn’t want the usual Easter ham so it was good that the brunch buffet had a little bit of everything to appease everyone — a taco bar, made to order omelettes, a fajita station, dessert, hot chocolate, different juices, standard breakfast fare, and other Mexican entrees. We left pretty full and happy and tried our best to try everything.