Toreros Famosos — Restaurant in Crescent City

I lived in Crescent City about 20 years ago and Torero's had just opened up. It was THE place to eat! Sometimes my group had to stand for 20 minutes waiting for a table. They were actually located next door to where they are now in a little box of a building that had no room for a waiting area but people stood there, squashed into a small area, awkwardly waiting for a table because the food was worth it!

My girl and I recently went to Crescent City for our 6 year anniversary to play on the beach and we were driving through town looking for a good place to eat when I saw Torero's and remembered how awesome the food was. Well, I'm sorry to say, it's not awesome anymore! It was horrible! The type of horrible that would make a good Kitchen Nightmare episode where chef Ramsey rips the owner a new one for allowing a once prospering business to sink into neglect.

The same owner as 20 years ago seated us and gave us our menus but it wasn't the same food. The food was old, bland and reminiscent of a T.V. dinner. The bad food is a forgivable offense, lots of places go downhill because of good cooks leaving, the economy, whatever. What is unforgivable is my girl is gluten free, not the trendy diet type but the debilitating get sick if gluten is ingested type! That's why we don't do the touristy thing and eat fish while we're at the coast because most fish is fried and she can't eat it. We eat a lot of Mexican because there is no wheat in 70% of Mexican dishes...at least there's not supposed to be! Well, there WAS wheat in something at Torero's! My girl got fajita's with corn tortillas. There is NO wheat in that dish. I think the wheat was from the re-fried beans. A big batch was probably made up and then got old so water was added to thin it but maybe too much water was used so what is a cheap thickener? Wheat flour is! Or they just watered down the beans and added flour on purpose to stretch the beans and make more servings in order to save money for a failing business.

At any rate, my girl spent our anniversary in rolling pain thanks to the sub standard cooking practices at Torero's. Not only was the ambiance drab and depressing, the food terrible but it was also dangerous and it basically ruined our anniversary!

It's sad to write a bad review for an eatery that used to be great but I will never take the chance of eating there again and hope they go out of business!

If you are visiting Crescent City there are plenty of other good mexican restaurant's there....

Shockingly the worst Mexican restaurant I've ever visited. The "mild" salsa had no flavor but was very spicy. We got there shortly after opening and the chips tasted like old oil. The food was barely warm, except one burrito was scalding (maybe microwaved?). Arroz Con Pollo had canned peas and carrots on top, which was quite confusing, and the entite meal had surprisingly little flavor. One person ordered a chicken taco and a ground beef enchilada and both were shredded beef. The burrito had one little piece of pork and then was mostly watery refried beans. Everything tasted like bland leftover vegetable soup.

As far as atmosphere, the restaurant booths and carpet is clearly dated, which could be charming without the disgusting thick layer of dust on the light fixture and constant smell of weed. Also, a male employee walked into the women's restroom and seemed quite confused that someone was in there during business hours.

Service: the host was pleasant and seated us immediately. It took a while to get our drinks. By the time our food arrived, my glass was empty and the waitress left before I could ask for a refill. She returned with tortillas and still didn't give me a refill.

I don't typically leave restaurant reviews, but after seeing a shockingly high 4.2 review felt obligated to save someone the trouble. Go anywhere else in this town and you'll surely have...

My wife and I recently moved here from Illinois. We have tried every so called Mexican restaurant from Crescent City to Brookings. This place is by far the best food you can find around here. For those who say they had bad service. You should of told the boss man as he is amazing and takes great pride in his food and service. If he would of known he would of handled it right away. This is the first place I have been to where every time we go I try a different dish. I have been pleasantly surprised with everything. Food is hot, fresh and never seems to disappoint. This has now become a weekly stop in for my wife and I and everytime we are there the owner comes by and talks to us. He always gives us great meal ideas and like I said ive never been disappointed. Some times service is slow but I have no problem waiting for the food. Great guacamole to by the way. All in all this is a great little gem with roots within the community. Thank you for making my stomach happy everytime. BORILLA WAS...