El Torito Mexican Grill — Restaurant in Paducah

This is our third time stopping at this restaurant on a road trip. Two years ago, it was so good, we decided to go there again for our stop over.

They were very busy, but sat us immediately. The chips are served warm and are very thin and crispy, but hold up to the salsa and the cheese dip.

The drinks were reasonably priced. My Husband ordered a Jack n Coke Tall, and I a glass of Chardonnay. The wine was probably a double pour. The Jack n Coke came in a Large frosted beer mug. My husband could only laugh at the enormous drink...and he said it was quite strong!

He ordered beef and chicken burritos. His good came almost 10 minutes before mine. There was no comment about my missing food, just dropped his and walked to another table to deliver another partial table of food. His beef burrito was very light on filling, almost 1/3 just tortilla covered in sauce and cheese. The taste was good. The shredded chicken burrito was filled better and also tasty. The beans were just average.

Then the table next to us got part of their food. Unfortunately, they brought good for the parents and not for the 2 children, who appeared to be about 4 and 7. The father asked the food runner where the children's food was, just a shrug.

Then my food finally came. I ordered Polo en la Playa. Rice covered with grilled chicken and smothered in white cheese sauce. What I got was some gummy rice with overcooked/dried out chicken and no white cheese sauce. I ended up using the rest of our cheese dip to moisten it a bit.

Meanwhile the 4 year old at the next table was in full melt down mode because she still did not have food. The parents tried to share theirs with her, but she wouldn't have it, as she only wanted "her own food".

There was no communication from servers. The fact that they would bring out food so far apart at the same table, especially making small children wait so long, is Really Poor Customer Service.

This is not the same level of food quality or customer service that we had experienced in the past. Hopefully they can work to get back to the great place...

My family and I are from out of town and ate here in August. We LOVED it. However it was a completely different story our second time visiting. We were quickly sat and given our drinks, but after that we stopped seeing the staff. At 40 minutes we asked staff about our food and were told everything was backed up because of an event they were hosting. After another 10 minutes we found another staff member and just asked to pay for our drinks so we could leave. Instead of bringing the check, our food was delivered. I had the carnitas, my father had a sampler plate, and my husband got the steak. I had to ask 3 different staff members for tortillas for the carnitas and the meat didnt taste amazing so I only ate a small portion. We were given two extra margaritas that were free after we asked for our first water fill up of the evening. I might have let the unpleasant experience go, but as we were eating two staff members cleaning the table next to us were calling us or someone in the building choice names while giving the stink eye. Additionally, within two hours of leaving the restaurant, 2/3 of us(those who ate the pork) were violently ill.

I understand being busy and running behind, but the event was a planned event and caused multiple tables to have issues with receiving their food. If the event was large enough to disrupt all of the business, I would think they would either close the restaurant to host the event or up staff to support both. My biggest concern is in the commotion that the food was contaminated and ruined the...

In from out of town and happened upon this little gem. Got into the restaurant abt 7pm on a Fri eve, the parking lot was completely packed, line out the door for a table. All good signs We were seated within 15min and promptly had the waitress (shout out to Chelsea) at our table inquiring abt drinks and starters. Got our chips/salsa just moments later and the Margueritas quickly followed. Warm, thin crispy chips and a slightly smokey salsa with plenty of cilantro. Excellent flavor on the salsa. Margueritas were well balanced and tasty

We inquired abt splitting an entree, to see if it was sufficient for two and Chelsea assured us it was large. Indeed when we got the California burrito it was served on a small platter cut in two for us. It was more than adequate for our appetite. Large tortilla STUFFED with chicken, ground beef, rice, beans, etc. Large pieces of chicken, tender and moist but completely cooked. The burrito, even split was enough that we couldn’t try any of the desserts....this visit.

We’ll be back again for certain. I really recommend El Torito to anyone looking for good...