Casa Toro 88 — Restaurant in Kitchener

First timer here. Staff was pretty attentive at the start. Seated right away. Drinks ordered fairly quickly, but took a long while to be brought to the table. There were 5 of us and only 2 other people in the restaurant. Pictures would be helpful with every food order. The names of the dishes blend easily together and we weren't sure what we were getting. Food took a while to get. The nachos and cheese appetizer was delicious, probably my favourite thing we ate. The peach sunrise drink w tequila was decent, $13. The kitchen is directly below the upstairs eating area. The vents do not do much to prevent the smoke, which was constant from making our area extreme smoky, in general and on the eyes. My clothes were thrown into the washing machine as soon as I got home and my eyes needed fresh air for a while afterward. I ordered the Asada. 4 tiny little tacos with steak and onion and cilantro. For $18.99 I expected warm or hot tacos, they were not. The proper flavours were there, but I had 1 huge piece of grissle and a few small ones. They charged me $3 for cheese. At $18.99 for 4 extremely small tacos I'd expect the cheese to be free. Over all I had a good time because of company. The food was okay. The restaurant was extremely smoky and something needs to be done about this, but likely won't. The music was very loud and the waiter could not hear us and vice versa. I ordered a cocktail, tacos, and a Coke and my bill without tip was $44. With tip $51. The food ratio and quality to price ratio is a bit ambitious. Restaurants are jacking their prices nowadays, but keep in mind this will keep many away.

Had I not ordered a cocktail, had the tacos been hot and without grissle, had the cheese been included, and had the smoke filled room been not so smoky and had the prices been a bit more reasonable I'd want to return here with my family.

$50 for a very small meal and a Coke and small cocktail w tip, is ambitious at best.

I am looking for an alternative, more cost effective restaurant with delicious fare and I likely will not return here any time soon.

I hope this review helps the owner and staff here make some changes to have them fill the seats and keep the orders rolling for takeout.

It was an...

UPDATE: November 2024

Updating from a 4 to a 1, because I had one of the worst restaurant experiences of all time today. With today being Dia De Los Muertos, we decided to stop in for tacos. We ordered 3 drinks, and 3 orders of tacos.

We had an idea there would be a bit of a wait with it being busy, but this was absolutely ridiculous. We waited 20 minutes for our margaritas, the one was made wrong, so it took another 25 minutes to bring me the same drink that was made incorrectly again. The young guy working came up with the wrong drink, and double checked what our order was and that it would be coming.

First of all, their order tracking system is non existent. Especially when it's that busy, how do you not take order names or hand out order numbers? We noticed people that ordered after us were now getting their food. The table beside us, that ordered ahead of us, stormed out and left because they'd been waiting an hour for food and 3 shots.

After literally a full hour, we were fed up and asked for a refund. In a case like this, usually a manager, let alone the business owner would be apologetic and try to make things right. They didn't apologize or offer something like a coupon to try to keep us a customers. The service was terrible, the cleanliness of the place was below par, as no one was wearing gloves or hair nets while preparing food, and more importantly the staff or owner doesn't have a clue about customer service.

Will never be returning. You're better off going around the corner to Mi Tienda Latina for better food, service and prices.

Original Review 8 months prior: The owner and staff are very friendly, the tacos are phenomenal, but the menu seems to be quite a bit overpriced for what you get. The nachos were okay but should be half the price, they’re from a bag and not made fresh or anything. It looks much better in the photos. The bread pudding was great, but not worth $8 for what you get. I will probably go back so my girlfriend can try it but with the cost I doubt I would get anything besides the tacos, and wouldn’t get it as often as I’d like because of it. I think the business would thrive with...

Went in a group of approximately twelve bodies. The downstairs is a little cramped with that many people standing. There are counters and chairs, allowing lunch facing the street (glass frontage). The kitchen is the focal point of the downstairs. The place was reasonably clean. Staff (and food) are protected by plastic sheets.

Menu is somewhat limited, probably because of a shortage of refrigeration and cooking area. There are a few canned drinks including beer, and three fresh juices. I had a hibiscus reduction that was excellent, reminding me of cranberry or pomegranate (but different). Really tasty.

Once you order at the downstairs counter, you ascend the stairs to the dining area - five or six tables with chairs. This is over the kitchen, and a large open area provides a spacious feeling. It also allows smoke from the kitchen to waft up, which can get annoying depending upon what is cooking.

When the food is ready, staff bring it up. There were three staff the night we went. To serve twelve people took approximately 30 minutes from first order to last dish served. Staff is polite and friendly. Owner asked us about dessert - i had a lime pie thing in a cup - tart and really tasty.

The food was among the best tacos in the area, all soft-shell. Owner saw my hot sauce and we traded sauces - very cool fella. Everybody enjoyed what they ordered, which is rare for our group.

I would love to see this restaurant grow a little, but i can appreciate their focus and dedication to a few items executed well. I will...