Torito Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in San Antonio

There’s some heavy Twilight Zone vibes on good ol’ South Presa - as a matter of fact, I’ve always said that if a street could be haunted, it would be this three and a half mile stretch of S. Presa starting at Steves and ending at Old Corpus Christi Highway - drivin’ this road at night, preferably slightly chilly with a moonless starry sky (while listening to old surf instrumentals), it never fails to transport me to another time, it’s so quiet, so old, it could just as easily be 1962 as 2022 - maybe it’s the width of the road combined with the age of the buildings, lots and lots of still intact 1920s-1950s structures, hardly anything built after 1970, an absence of glowing billboard(s) and barely any streetlights at all - it’s what I would imagine a highway in 1942 (in Los Angeles) looking like - and for every dimly lit semi-occupied building there’s about three or four completely dark and seemingly abandoned ones - if you could turn an Edward Hopper painting into a real place, it would be this dark and dreamy strip of South Presa - if the plot of THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE happened in San Antonio, it would have happened here on this stretch of South Presa (and probably at the Motel 3 Johnson Court) - this is the old San Antonio, the original San Antonio - (and) then down there by the ghostly Hot Wells Ruins is one of my very favorite places for breakfast for dinner, the good ol’ time-warped Torito Mexican Restaurant, built out of cinder blocks and (also) looking like something straight out of an old 1940s film noir (and) which (also) in my very humble opinion has some of the best chee-lah-key-less in town - I have love in my heart and also in my stomach - this is...

Food 3/5: I'll be flat out honest that I didn't care for my food, but the chips and salsa were good enough to keep them above 2 stars.

Service 3/5: The server was fine and attentive but either the cook or the server messed up the order (mole enchiladas were missing the chicken and only had cheese).

Price 5/5: Reasonably priced.

Chips and Salsa 5/5: Some of the best salsa and chips around. Flavorful salsa that keeps you dipping.

Quesadilla 3.5/5: So the "quesadilla" was okay, but it was a little stretch from what I would consider a quesadilla. It was basically a taco with chicken and cheese. It was open faced and not what you would get at other places where either side is grilled and with melted cheeses holding the ingredients and two large tortillas together. Now forgive my ignorance if this is what a quesadilla is in other places, but was more or less a taco in my eyes

Enchiladas 3/5: The cheese enchiladas were decent, and may have been better if it weren't for the mole that I ordered. Probably would have been better with a different sauce.

Mole 2/5: I love mole. I get that it's hard to get it right. This was definitely one of the times it was wrong. Probably in the few worst mole sauces I've had and I've had a lot of them.

I probably would give them another chance for redemption but would stay away...

First time eating here, even though I've lived minutes away my whole life. The food was great, prices were cheap. Service was fast.

One of the first places Ive seen combination plates that contained no sides, and just entree items. Was great, ordered a 2 enchiladas, 2 puffy taco plate & a drink and it cost me $10. Food came out in just a few minutes. Complimentary chips and salsa, a wide variety of items on the menu.

I was so impressed I went back just a few days later and ordered another plate to go. Got the 3 enchilada, 3 puffy taco that time.

The enchilada sauce had good flavor, the cheese was a bit sharp, but fully cooked and liquified. The puffy tacos had good flavor, shells were crisp on the outside and still moist inside.

Nothing negative to say about this place. The exterior is probably what kept me from eating here sooner. Its easy to pass by, but has recently been repainted, and the parking area refinished.

Great neighborhood restaurant...