El Torito — Restaurant in San Leandro

El Torito at the Marina is a great place.

On this trip we had about 15 people in our party and they made room for all of us. I applaud the patience of the staff and our server in particular.

We were a very loud and confusing group of crazy individuals and she kept her composure and even took part in our laughter.

I had the Seafood Taco Trio (did not take a picture, sorry) this was my second time trying Fish Taco's.

I don't know what kind of fish was in the Taco's but they were delicious none the less!

Notably the rice and corn served with it stole the show for me. Sooooo good. Oh my God I don't know if its been to long since I've had decent rice (a former love interest made rice best imo) but my God this rice... I was asking my fellow attendees if they were going to eat there's!

I also had drinks, of course that's where I remember (mostly) to take pictures so let's just get to it!

First up!

The Mango Rum Rita;

I mean I haven't found a single place that has ruined anything Mango for me yet and El Torito kept up the streak. Deliciously sweet! I only regret forgetting to ask what type of rum they used.

The Strawberry Rum Rita;

This one I must note was also very sweet and delicious but the reason I note it is because unlike Mango centered drinks I have had Strawberry drinks ruined before but not here ladies and gentlemen, El Torito knocked this one out of the park!

Skinny Rosé Magarita;

I think I've had this drink elsewhere but by a different name. It was probaly the most refreshing of my drink ordered. It was served with the Rosé on the side but man yes, great GREAT drink.

Watermelon Magarita; (No picture)

Watermelon anything is hit or miss with me for some reason. I order them just to try them. Luckily El Torito nailed this drink and it wasn't watered down like my last few attempts else where, thank you El Torito!

Classic Paloma; (No picture)

This is the same situation as the Watermelon anything, I've had delicious Palomas and then.... unnecessarily strong Palomas. Again, El Torito hit it out of the park! This was also the first drink of the evening so great way to start the event for me!

We had a couple of tequila shots through out the time spent here and I again applaud our waitress who had to deal with our confusing and loud screaming numbers at her for how many shots we wanted at a time!

All in all the service was great, they separated bills for the people unwilling to jump in the pot with us.

My only detractor is that we set a reservation for this event in advance and it was known what time but they were not ready for us until an hour after we arrived.

They herded us early birds to the bar lounge as they set up for us otherwise once we were seated...

Love the daily Happy Hour HH bites, its 3-9pm now. ▪︎ Love the flautas with tamarind sauce, birria tacos, carne asada fries are real good & filling, mahi tacos are nice but I like the salmon tacos more, complimentary chips&salsa always fresh & delish but appearance & spiciness varies, ▪︎ TACOS VAMIPROS: like an enchilada as a taco, great flavor, love the skirt steak so soft, they didn't give me the salsa picante stated on the menu & it did need it I went witbout as it was too busy. Delish cheesy flavor but the cheese didn't seem grilled-goldenized inside as I expected after having 'tacos vampiros' elsewhere like Chevys. Grilling the cheese on the comal til golden then wiping it up with the sauced-up corn tortilla before assembling taco, that's what I thought tacos vampiros meant when I started seeing it at restaurants before Covid. That step really enhances the cheese flavor but these were still really good with a melty cheesy flavor. Needed limes & green salsa. ▪︎ SOPES: 3chicken sopes, great grilled chicken flavor atop some beans w/pico de gallo, cabbage+lettuce, cotija cheese, if in the mood for a fresh light tostada try these Sopes on HH $6. Classic fresh healthier feeling light soft crunch? I couldn't tell if they're fried but aren't greasy. He really liked them & theyre a quality dish. Other HH items like flauta & birria tacos have way more flavors going on, I love those. I'd like the meat on Sope to be sauced up or marinated, or serve a smooth salsa on the side something other than the table chipsNsalsa, and limes would kick it up ▪︎ Overall we keep coming back, and can't beleive I havent tried the brunch yet it looks great. ▪︎ I do wish entrees & some apps came with at least lime wedges, and a small smooth salsa like green "salsa verde" or blended orange/ red hot salsa picante. When I ask it often takespirate. to get until im almost done, or doesn't come, or I just do without if I forgot to ask quickly. I most always enjoy limes with my latin food & definitely my Mexican cuisine. I suggest ask for limes or they should include with entrees a complex smooth salsa diff than the table-salsa you've already had your fill of. ▪︎ AMBIANCE: Thurs night NFLseason opener was kind of too loud with the mariachi band which plays in bar area every TH NIGHT. Families can dine in the main banquet room with booths & tables but can't take advantage of the 3-9p HH menu unless you order in the bar room area. Would love to see the DJ brought back some nights or TH as it was years ago. Jessica is a wonderful server here, and the views of the Bay and landing airplanes at Oakland Airport make this a...

First restaurant I’ve tried in Oakland. First place I visited after getting off the plane. My friend who lives here actually didn’t know about it either so it was his first time also. Very friendly staff, we came in kinda late. It was dark and raining a lot so we couldn’t see the water view very well but it was still very nice. I ordered a carne guisada that comes with a cheese enchilada, guacamole, and grounded yellow corn. The yellow corn side is something I hadn’t had in a long time but was a nice touch. My friend who is vegetarian ordered the vegan fajitas that included a poblano pepper stuffed with cheese. We also go a side of Queso as an appetizer, the queso was delicious it’s yellow cheese with white queso fresco on top. I ordered their house frozen margarita, but I had to exchange for a top shelf margarita because the house one was very plane, was not strong and did not have any flavor. Other cons about the restaurant is that they don’t have good tortillas. They are definitely not hand made. We ordered the flower and they were pretty dry and not tasty. We had a very nice waitress but she didn’t check on us often enough, my friend had to stand up and find napkins at one point. Would I go back, maybe yes. But I have to much too explore, would I recommend? Yes, for the views and the food was very good except for the tortillas...