El Toro — Restaurant in Springfield

We always go to the location in Huber Heights and are accustomed to the level of service and quality there. That said, the North Bechtle location was relatively terrible. The hostess took us to our booth, threw down the menus and walked away without saying anything before we'd even sat down. Then we waited 15 minutes before the waiter (who I think was the only one working the entire restaurant) came to take our drink order. Chips and salsa came 5 minutes AFTER that. After we finally got to order, the food came quickly and was pretty good, so at least there's that. The thing that was really irritating was a couple of workers vacuuming our section from the time our food was delivered to the time I finally told them to just stop. As a matter of fact, I asked the kid vacuuming if he was getting ready to do our booth and he said "yes, but you can stay"... lol! I understand heavy cleaning going on when you go to a restaurant within a half hour or so of close, but we got there at 8:30 and its open until 10:30. There was also a worker shaking out a floor mat right behind our both. Anyway, not going back to this...

My husband and I finally decided to try this place yesterday. We had only heard good things about this place. I was sadly disappointed from the very beginning. The chips and salsa were bland. I had to add quite a bit of salt just to taste it. We ordered the sampler as an appetizer and it was bland. I ordered the El Toro Molcajete. The portion was huge. I will say that but again it was bland. I had to add quite a bit of salt to it as well. I had a bite of chicken and the texture seemed a little off as if it wasn't quite done. I had my husband take a bite of my food just to make sure it wasn't just me because if it was, I wouldn't have written this review. We both woke up in the middle of the night with upset stomachs. He was also shocked at how bland it was especially compared to his meal. The flour tortillas were chewy which was also a little off-putting. I only had a few bites of my meal so we decided to go for dessert. We got the churros with ice cream. The churros were so tough and a bit difficult to chew.

I will say our server was nice and the atmosphere was decent. But sadly we...

This place is my jam. The margaritas are excellent, especially their Cadillac margaritas, which require some "skill" when consuming more than a couple. The food is tasty, if fairly standard U.S.-ified Mexican cuisine. The fajita quesadillas (with steak) are one of my favorites. The atmosphere of their new N Bechtle location is outstanding, and if you haven't been near that El Toro location since their move, I highly recommend stopping by and taking in the scenery. El Toro is easily one of my favorite restaurants in the Dayton/Springfield area, and this particular location's decor sets it apart from other locations.

1/13/22 update - They're still doing a great job. I've been ordering more takeout and everything is accurate and travels well. The carry-out cocktails are also a huge benefit. Still recommend El Toro over any other Mexican restaurant in the area. My 7-year-old got food poisoning at Cinco de Mayo, which I originally found to be a decent contender to El Toro, but I'm not going back there anymore. It's just another reason to keep going...