El Torito

If you want real Mexican food, run away from this place. It’s so disgusting, waste of money. The service is also horrible.

My girlfriend and I visited Tijuana for the first time yesterday. Our guide cut the group loose for a couple of hours to shop on the Avenida Revolucion, so off we went. Carnival barkers galore hassle you to go into their establishments. Well, the guy from El Torito said «2 Margaritas for $ 5,» and up we went. And he was true to his word: 4 Margaritas and one plate of Queso Fundito nachos for $ 15 (plus a $ 3 tip). The nachos took awhile to get there, but they were hot, fresh and yummy. Next time you’re in Tijuana, this establishment is highly recommended!
PS: Contrary to those who will tell you that Tijuana is a crime-​ridden scumhole, the touristy areas are safe. Think Canal Street in Manhattan, only with a lot more Spanish signs. Go with a tour group, and you’ll be fine.

This place was so/​so… Great balcony view, I’ll give it that! However, if I compare their fajitas with a street taco, street taco wins… Hands down. Plus, I’m from San Diego, and I payed nearly the same amount at this joint for lunch as I do at home.

Service is generally too slow in Tijuana, but El Torito definitely takes the cake for being so incredibly slow with receiving your food and even slower for paying your bill.
I enjoyed the food we tried, which wasn’t all that cheap, but the drinks were cheap — $ 1 Corona bottles and refreshing and creamy pina coladas for around $ 4. I was told the tacos here are just okay, and you’re better off getting it from a street cart, so my friends and I got a mixed molcajete and fajitas. Really loved the molcajete which had an amazing sauce and a huge piece of cactus stuck on the lip of the hot stone bowl.
There is live mariachi music here and a (full) outdoor balcony overlooking the main (tourist) street of TJ. During your meal you can expect random vendors to come up to you to sell cheap bracelets, watches, etc. There is only ONE vendor you should pay attention to. It’s an older gentleman who handmakes custom necklaces ($ 15) and bracelets ($ 8) out of metal wire. He can bend it to spell out your name and it is really amazing. You’ll find yourself buying multiples for friends back home (and mom. Don’t forget mom!)

So recently I took a trip south of the border with a few friends and we all decided to have «El Torito» as our starting point. This place has tourist written all over it, why would you ask? Well let me make it easy for you to understand.
$ 1 Coronas and has a great price on Mexican beers.
2 X 1 Margaritas.
Free mechanical Bull.
Tattoo shop near the bar area = Bad decisions.
Decent balcony area for people watching.
Staff speaks perfect English.
It’s on Avenida Revolucion @ 3^rd street.
You will find mariachi bands.
Taxi drop off location is across the street.
For all this I think it’s a solid 2.5 star place, but taking into consideration its cleanliness then I’ll give it a 2 star rating.

Meh was ever meh this is totally meh. I’m giving 2 stars instead of 1 due to having patio seating overlooking the Revolucion. So $ 5bucks for a vodka soda, which included 2 cubes of ice and a tablespoon of soda (It was 100 degrees out) in a small glass. Pass, I’ll just get a $ 1 corona instead.
Not one server came over to our table I saw the «Mexican Obama» running around but not really doing much. The Vodka drinkers in our group decided we were better off ordering a bottle instead (TJ Bottle Service) It was $ 35 for a bottle of Smirnoff with a 2ltr of Club Soda and some type of juice. We must have waited for the «Mexican Obama» to bring us ice … 20 minutes. Then he said he told someone else to do it and they must of forgotten… okay no accountability.
I didn’t order any food there because I was saving it for something amazing and not just some nachos that probably would have taken forever to receive. I did however use their restroom. So this is where the one star kicks in, NO RUNNING WATER! Are you serious, toilets filled with waste and you can’t even wash your hands. The doors to the stall are so close when you sit down your knees are touching the door and I have short legs. We left right after and thank god for that.
Protip: Just say no to this tourist trap with their myriad of vendors trying to sell you crap the whole time.
Con and this is a HUGE Con for me… no WIFI

This is a place for tourists and really the only redeeming thing is the balcony. Oh and they have a Obama doppelgänger here. No joke. He was identical and I was getting the chills. But I doubt the real Obama moonlights as a waiter at a bar in TJ.
They have $ 1.00 Coronas here and that’s a bargain for sure but the price on hard alcohol is on par with a bar in San Diego. I guess that’s how they get away with charging $ 1.00 for the beer because they get you on the other drinks.
I had a good time here but it was because of the company more than anything else. It was a good thing I was really dehydrated because I didn’t have to use the restroom which I heard was broken with no running water. Phew.

You wonder why I gave this 3 as opposed to my friends who were there at the same time only gave it 2. Well here is the main reason, it’s my first stop on my first visit to TJ and I can’t compare it to others yet. We were in the balcony but considering I only had 1 beer and shared nacho chips and guacamole, there was no rushing us out of there.
The beer was okay. I didn’t almost get cheated because I asked how much and gave the smaller bill and got the right change. Lesson 1, carry small bills if you don’t want to wait for change. Lesson 2, ignore the vendors selling everything and anything no matter how cheap.
My experience as the ratings say is A-​ok.
Oh to make myself feel better in days like these, I gave a kid who was selling trinkets or gum (I didn’t really ask) a dollar. I tip that much on a dollar drink why not make the kid happy and give him a dollar.
For a first place in TJ, it could have been worse. The view and the company was great (I mean the fellow Unilocalers!).

I’m baffled as to why anyone would choose to hang out at this bar. I had a nasty dirty feeling from the moment I walked in to the moment I got out of there.
A bunch of us rolled in on Saturday afternoon and settled on the upstairs patio, which, admittedly, does have a beautiful view overlooking Ave. Revolucion. The rest of the place gave me the creeps, from the sad-​looking mechanical bull (which looked damp and moldy) to the terrifying piercing studio/​tattoo parlor in the back to the obnoxious mariachi bands blaring out-​of-​tune trumpets right into your ears.
The place was mostly filled with tourists, but the staff didn’t seem remotely interested in helping us. After failing to get anyone’s attention, I headed over to the inside bar, where I tried to order a paloma. After getting a *half-​empty* glass of mostly grapefruit soda, the bartender tried to cheat me out of a $ 20 bill by refusing to give me any change on a $ 5 drink. It wasn’t until I flagged down another server and explained the situation that I got my money back. It was a giant waste of time and energy. (The $ 1 Coronas were a much safer bet.)
The food was pretty mediocre. I nibbled on stale chips and brownish guacamole. They weren’t worth the money either. The nachos being served to the other tables looked more appealing, but I didn’t get a chance to try them.
All in all, the best part of El Torito was leaving.

Give me a break with the 2.5 star overall rating! Not in my book, but who’s reading? Well, just in case you have subscribed, let me take a few minutes of your time to explain how reviewing a bar in Mexico works, amigos.
We start at a star rating of 2.5…
+1 star for location = 3.5
–1 for pushy street sales tactics = 2.5
+2 for a mechanical bull inside the bar. Yeah, a mechanical bull = 4.5
–1 for too many tableside sales people = 3.5
+1 for a killer patio with a view of the action = 4.5
–1 for watered down tequila = 3.5
-.5 for the bathroom quality = 3
+2 for a tattoo/​piercing parlor inside the bar (ask for Hector) = 5
+1 for a $ 55 dollar bottle of Absolut = 6?!
Alright, I can’t give El Torito 6 stars and feel good about it. S#!t, it’s not even possible anyway. The truth is that the place kind of sucks but is awesome all rolled up in one — makes no sense I know. What I do know is that I have been coming here for years and made a bunch of friends that take care of us when we walk in off the street. It really is nothing special, is actually a bit of a tourist trap, but I really do love the patio overlooking the street with a cold cocktail in my hand. You see, beer gets old in TJ and this place does me right with a bottle that lasts for hours split a few ways.
We’ll call it 4.5 stars. Fair enough?

Para cuando quieras hacer una fiesta y dejar la piñata repleta de dulces, o hacer una mesa de éstos en algún evento, El Torito te puede ayudar muchísimo.
Tienen una enorme variedad de dulces y caramelos, lo que me encanta es que la mayoría son dulces típicos. Hay tamarindos con chile o azúcar, cocadas, paletas, muéganos, camote, calabazas, cajetas, obléas, chiclosos, gomitas, alegrías y todo tipo de chocolates.
¡Ya se me antojaron! La última vez llené una bolsa con varias cosas que quise llevarme para una reunión. Con $ 135 pude surtirme de pulpas de tamarindo, pica fresas, paletas ácidas, sobresitos de chamoy líquido y chilito en polvo, chocoretas, cacahuates garapiñados, y cocadas. Creo que más tardé en poner todo sobre la mesa que en que todo volara casi de un jalón.
Pero bueno, si vas alguna vez y te surtes de muchos dulces, vas a necesitar dónde guardarlos. Pues aquí mismo en El Torito vas a encontrar muchas piñatas de diferentes personajes. Están las clásicas que son muy grandes, pero también hay otras muy bonitas y pequeñas como para darlas individuales y en forma de bolo.

El Torito Pub, lo visite recién cumplí la mayoría de edad, hace algunos ayeres y dada mi nula experiencia en vida nocturna para mi era el olimpo de los antros, pues mas equivocado no puede estar, si bien el ambiente es bastante divertido y con unas cervezas de mas se vuelve casi irreverente este en si no es mi estilo.
Aquí en su mayoría van turistas americanos que acaban ahogados en el ambiento y en las cervezas también y uno que otro locatario perdido en la calle de la revolución. cerveza barata, música, un toro mecánico que si estas con altos niveles de alcohol no es lo recomendable que lo uses pero por otra parte esa misma razón sea la que te animé a subirte y meseros con buen gusto por el humor.
Pues bien conocer cada bar de la Revolución tiene su ciencia y as si vas con amigos si no conoces aun este lugar visítalo y ve de lo que se trata.

No. Definitivamente este lugar no es para mi. Y no es que sea un esnob refinado o un fresa quisquilloso, (me he metido en cada cueva…), pero entre la música, el lugar y yo simplemente no hubo química.
Empezando por el lugar. Una pista con rejillas para que no te salgas del área, iluminada por un juego de luces y láser digna de una fiesta de XV. El toro mecánico y un giroscópio (un armatoste circular en el que te enganchas y… giras), junto con la decoración de globos van muy ad hoc con una feria o kermesse.
Entre sus DJ’s de remix, su go go dancers y las mesas de billar, el entretenimiento se arma en grande en la pista, donde cualquier amigo entrado en ambiente se luce con sus pasos de baile como sacados del video de Chuntaro Style.
La comida es buena, y el servicio es muy amable. y tienen el «Fantasy Room»… Tranquilos, yo también imaginé cosas, pero es una sala para fiestas privadas.
Supongo que el lugar está padre para quien guste del relajo y la fiesta escandalosa. Yo paso. O quién sabe, con unas cervezas encima…

Quien viene a disfrutar Tijuana tiene que conocer este lugar. El Torito Pub forma parte de los bares legendarios de esta ciudad. Se encuentra ubicado en la Av. Revolución motivo por el cual muchos turistas americanos en su mayoría lo visitan.
Es un lugar decorado de manera rústica, es el espacio ideal para compartir anécdotas con los amigos y disfrutar de unas cervezas heladas.
En una ocasión que fui, ya entrada la noche llegó a la mesa un joven con una botella y un silbato porque es parte también de algunos bares de la ciudad, mientras el joven toca el silbato te dan a tomar tequila y después te cobran.
En el Torito Pub siempre el personal es muy servicial y atento. Cuentan con una hora feliz y dos por uno y el ambiente está muy bueno los fines de semana, principalmente los viernes.
Si estás en Tj deberías visitar este lugar ¡no te arrepentirás!

El Torito es a mi punto de vista, uno de los lugares más divertidos de Tijuana para ir a «agarrar cura» con tus amigos. En ese lugar encontrarás mucho turista norteamericano disfrutando de la música y cerveza a un muy bajo precio. Tienen la Happy Hour en donde la cerveza te cuesta a dólar. Llegué a este lugar por un amigo que quiso celebrar su cumpleaños aquí y fue un día bastante chistoso. El torito cuenta con un espacio privado en la parte de atrás del lugar. Otro atractivo de este lugar es que hay un toro mecánico que rara vez se prende pero cuando está en funcionamiento es todo un espectáculo.
La primera vez que fui al Torito fue por el cumpleaños de un amigo que lo celebró en el espacio de atrás y resulta que es buen amigo del dueño del lugar, el buen Alex que con el tiempo también le fui agarrando confianza. Es un buen sujeto preocupado por que cada cliente esté satisfecho con el servicio ofrecido por el personal del Torito.

Alguna vez hace muchos ayeres fui al Torito Pub, recuerdo que para los amantes de la cerveza barata es un buen lugar. El bar se pone muy divertido después de las 9pm, y es que el ambiente era muy atractivo. Personalmente no fui fan de sus bebidas, tienen un promo de 2×1 por ahí que no se si es buena promoción en realidad. Yo soy una mujer hambrienta y me gusta no esperar mucho por tener mi comida, pero aprecio mucho un buen servicio. Hay que considerar en el presupuesto que lleves que te cobraran el porcentaje de IVA sobre la comida, escuche por ahí que ya te incluyen el servicio también, esto es justo pero creo que aun nos estamos acostumbrando a la idea por lo que es bueno ir consciente de esto, no vaya ser que te pongan a lavar platos! Tengo un primo que es fan de este lugar, dice que es muy divertido al estilo pocho.