El Toro Bravo Downtown — Restaurant in Indianapolis

Completely unprofessional. Last night was our very first time visiting. We are new to Indianapolis and a friend that works with my husband suggested El Toro. When we walked into the establishment we were not greeted for almost 10 minutes. The hostess walked by us several times without even acknowledging our presence. Finally we asked a waiter what we should do. The waiter went and spoke to the hostess and he looked directly at us and waived us off and told the waiter he was busy.

When he finally made his way to us his first words were there will be a wait for a table. I told him this was fine we don't mind waiting for a table we just wanted to get our name on the list and we didn't know what to do since we were waiting for a greeting. He offered no apology for ignoring us. So we agreed to wait 25 minutes for a table. He wrote our name on the back of a small slip of paper. We went over to the bar to have a drink while we waited. There was no waiting area for us to be seated. There were no signs that we could not sit at the bar while we wait. The bartender came over right away and took our order. We paid for our drinks instead of a tab because we knew we would be seated at a table soon. The bartender asked us where we were sitting so he could bring our drinks to our table and we told him we were not sure yet because we were waiting and we would have our drinks there at the bar.

As we waited, we watched as a family was preparing to leave. We were the only ones waiting at the time, so we knew that was our table. After that family left we waited an additional 10 minutes for someone to finally clean the table. The hostess never came over to us to let us know the table was being prepared. Nothing. We watched as another gentleman walked into the restaurant. The hostess proceeded to walk the man over to the now empty table. I turned to my husband and asked "did he just give our table away?".

My husband got up to ask the hostess this question. The hostess said "You guys were at the bar, how do I know you still wanted a table? " My husband asked him why he did not come over to the bar and let us know the table was ready. This was bad customer service. The hostess stated: "If your sitting at the bar and someone comes in I have to just give them the table. I can't make them wait." My husband asked if he could speak to the manager or owner. The hostess said: "No one is available. The owner does not live in Indianapolis."

The hostess offered no apologies and had a smirk on his face during the entire exchange. As I saw that things were become heated I went to my spouse and said let's just leave. We left our drinks at the bar without even drinking them.

I felt very uncomfortable with the situation. It was obvious to me that the hostess did not want to assist us. I guess we were supposed to wait in the middle of the doorway to be sure we were seated at a table.

We will never visit again and we will not refer the restaurant to anyone. I was horribly uncomfortable and offended. We are a black couple and hope to not experience these issues. Such a disappointing experience. If he would've said "I'm so sorry I completely forgot about you but the next table cleared will be yours." We would've understood. That did not happen. Instead he chose to make us feel like it was our fault he gave our table away. When I reached out to the owner (Israel) on Facebook to tell him of the experience he seemed rushed. So I offered to email him instead. The email the owner provided did not work. I'm not sure if this was accidental or on purpose but it was not a happy coincidence. If I could give zero stars I would. The bartender was great. I only wish I could taste my drink and tried some...

Went on a Saturday night around 7pm in a party of 6. Called before earlier in the day to make a reservation. Nice place to go and have a fun night. Here is a list of pros and cons based just on our experience.

The atmosphere. There is latin music playing all night. They have a DJ who knows his music and interacts with everyone. He even was passing his personal phone for you to put down and song requests. There is karaoke and the DJ puts all types of good music. Our waitress was nice even in a busy environment. She made sure to ask us multiple times if everything was okay. All the waiters and bartenders were happy and would even dance. There is a tiny spot for dancing if you are looking for dancing. Parking. This restaurant is located downtown where parking is hard to find. Our group of 6 was able to find parking for 2 cars very easily. The restaurant is connected to a parking garage and there is street parking found right after the restaurant as you pass. We parked for 3 1/2 and paid $12. Drinks. The drinks at this place are very unique which is very good. They try their best to entertain you while they are serving your drinks. Perfect for all the people who want to share on social media. Drinks were delicious and sweet but tasted 0% of the alcohol.

Now for my cons these are just what we as a group decided.

Food. The menu had a widerange of items which is good but the serving sizes are way to small for what you pay for. I ordered carne asada and there was so little food on the plate that there was more plate than food. The tiniest amounts of rice, beans, and a small piece of steak. I have been to plenty other restaurants who serve you much better portions for a much better taste and price. The restaurant is not 100% authentic in my opinion and you can tell who they are trying to have as their interest group. No authentic hot sauces just the average bottles you can buy from the store. The wait time for the food is long. We waited for an hour and the food was cold by the time it was brought out. I was just hoping for better food. My party and I had a great time but left unsatisfied with our food. If you want a to go box they give you the absolute tiniest box. If you need to grab your waiters attention it is almost impossible. Drinks. Our group had a bad experience with drinks. Our drinks were not strong at all. At one point we even questioned ourselves if there was actual liquor in them. This is not good because each drink costs at least $10-15. Our table was right next to the bartender station and we could overhear an employee telling the bartender to not add a lot of alcohol. If you want to feel a buz you have to buy more than one drink. Cost. Expensive for the quality and taste of food and drinks. In our party of 6 each person paid from a range of at least $55 per person up to $75 per person. Go prepared with money as each food option is at least $15 and up the same as drinks.

Overall we had a wonderful time at El Toro. Good music, enjoyable experience and service. Would I go again yes. Why? For the music and hospitality. Tastewise there are multiple other restaurants in Indy with much better food/drinks, free parking and for a way...

Was very excited to visit this restaurant as I’ve heard great things about this restaurant brand but my experience was very lackluster. Food was alright, but I’ve had better at different restaurants. The service was by far the worst of that whole experience. My friend and I arrived at 5:45 and didn’t get greeted and water until 6:15, and mind you, the restaurant wasn’t even half full. After eating our meals we kept trying to call someone over to hand us to go boxes and it took almost another 30 mins to even get to go boxes. My friend legit drank all of his water and i had water (I didn’t drink all of it) and a chardonnay and since I didn’t drink all of my water, he asked if I could pour him some of my water in his cup since no one checked on us. And as a person who worked in this industry, I would never try to tarnish an establishment. It was really upsetting when people who arrived after us got prompt service and welcoming, friendly service yet with us it missed the mark. I hate to make reviews like this but I never felt so dismissed. If you want to visit an El Toro restaurant, I would suggest going to a different location rather than this one as after expressing my concerns to my peers, they all had a...