El Torero Méxican Restaurant — Restaurant in California

After reading the mixed reviews and because I had a Gift Certificate, I tried El Torero with an open mind. I understand different people have differences of opinion of how Mexican food should taste. I also understand different regions in Mexico have differences in flavor and cooking, as varied as we have pizza in America. So... with that in mind, my Sister and I ate there. She was absolutely not impressed with the chicken enchiladas. Both the chicken and rice were very dry. Although I liked the flavor of the rice. Back up... we both liked the fresh chips and salsa. My Sister eats her food much spicier than me, but we both liked them and ate every last one. The salsa in my opinion, was great. Not too spicy, good flavor. I ordered the Chili Verde. Much more watery based than I have ever had. And it was more like Carnitas in broth than Chili Verde. However, the "broth" was very flavorful, and I mean would make a great soup stock!! The meat itself however, was very bland. I ended up mixing some broth into the leftover meat, beans and rice, hoping a couple days in the fridge will make it taste better. We shall see. The Black Beans were also very watery, and had NO flavor. Again, I don't mind a little heat in my food, its the flavors of Mexican food that bring me back. The black beans I make in a crockpot have more flavor, and I admit beans are NOT my specialty. I did ask for a Side Salad added to my entree for $2.50. Great price, the salad was almost the best item I ate. However, nobody remembered I ordered one, and I had to ask for it. Great, by the time I received it, I was halfway finished eating. Lastly, we split an order of the Cheesecake Chimichangas. They did not look like the picture, and I seriously doubt they were freshly made. Inside was still cool. Not cold, like it came from the freezer, but cool. And the sauce tasted more Strawberry than Raspberry. Raspberries are in the picture, which is misleading. Also, the syrup is just poured on top, and not inside. Again, as led to believe by the picture. All in all, the meal was okay. The next time I am craving Mexican food, chances are I will go elsewhere. If I'm shopping and just want a bite beforehand, I may stop in for some chips and salsa and an order of the Cheesecake Chimichangas. Gave 3 stars, because it wasn't terrible, certainly wasn't fantastic and the service left us feeling neglected. Could we get some silverware and napkins, please? As watery as the food is, extra napkins are advised. In fact, bring your own. My Sister will have to write her own review of the Margarita. Let me just say, it appeared to be bottled Lemonade mixed...

My family has enjoyed this place for many years. The food used to be so good. I went there with my family tonight and we had one of the rudest employees offer us drinks and snap at us when we asked for chips and salsa. Then she proceeded to spend the rest of our experience using a small vacuum up and down the aisle while we're eating right next to us. The food is horrendous. It was like they used slices of Kraft cheese and melted it on tortillas to try to pass it off as authentic Mexican food. Nothing on the menu was served as was described or pictured. None of my family finished their meal in fact I took three or four bites and could not really stomach to eat the rest of it. As the employee kept pushing a dust broom type vacuum cleaner up and down the aisle next to where we're eating I finally just got frustrated and said let's go. This place needs and overhaul. It's pretty sad when people leave two and three star reviews because "The chips were good". Starting with the " chef " and the menu, buying better ingredients and making better food then to training their employees to run a restaurant. The employee that was pushing the carpet room repeatedly up and down the aisle next to us had a bad attitude and kept looking at us in some weird ways.This isn't fast food, it's a sit down restaurant. I'm reading the reviews and realizing that the one star reviews go back almost two years. This means that they simply don't care about their business and have made no effort to improve anything. Most important the food. It was cold, tasteless, had a terrible presentation, made of really cheap ingredients and was overall unedible. I bit my tongue and paid the bill and the mandatory tip as we left ... never to return again. I really hope the owner or manager reads this and decides to improve...

Unfortunately I have to give them a star to be able to post a review, but I would give them 0 if I could. I can't believe this place is in business and I can't believe I bought from them after reading the reviews. Trust me, I am a chef, don't look at the good reviews on this they are lying. I just didn't have many options for delivery and thought how can anyone mess up Mexican food that bad. I ordered the chicken enchilada and chicken taco combo, the tortilla soup, and a side salad. Wow. I didn't think you could mess up Mexican food that bad. The soup tasted like water with a handful of rice and some stringy chicken. The enchilada sauce tasted like pencil shavings for some reason and the chicken inside was just plain stringy boiled chicken. No flavor, not even salt. The beans and rice both bland bland bland. The taco was literally a folded oily tortilla with the same boiled stringy chicken. Nothing had flavor not even salt. My shoe would have tasted better, think I'm joking go ahead and waste your money. The only saving grace was that I order chips and salsa and that was actually ok so hey at least I'll lose some weight from skipping a meal. Don't eat here unless you like gross food and wasting your money because I would have been better off taking my $40 bucks and flushing...