El Torito — Restaurant in Torrance

I went to El Torito two weeks ago and had absolutely terrible service. It took 45 minutes to receive the ticket to go up and get our food. So we come back today hoping we would have a better experience, but we were wrong. This experience was even worse! No more than 30 seconds after being seated the waitress (Maria C) already asked if we were ready to order. We felt like we were already being rushed before being there even a minute. So after ordering we get our ticket to get food very fast but we don’t get our drinks, which were waters, until 25 minutes later. We then end up ordering another round of food and right after the waitress brings us the check without even asking if we were done. The worst part is she placed the check on an empty chair that was pushed all the way in and wasn’t near anyone in our party. After realizing that’s what she placed on the chair, I look at it and realize the prices have gone up since our last visit, yet we see 2 different employees walking around with the old advertisement with the regular price. I go to talk to a manager and state how it is false advertisement and she finds every excuse possible not to help us out. When I end up paying the bill, the waitress TOLD me to use a calculator to determine the change. She said she didn’t have time to do it and it would take a while for her to go do it herself. After telling her the change she still left the wrong amount. Overall, it was terrible customer service and another bad experience. I will not be...

El Torito, I believe, is overlooked very often. There are a few locations to the name, but each one has a different experience — if you would like the best experience of the group, this is the location to go.

It is inviting, with the big bull out front and the friendly staff inside of the lobby cove, and a good place to eat with your family or a gathering of friends on the restaurant side. The food is good for the price and it is definitely of quality for a semi-Texmex style. It is kid friendly on this side, but I really wouldn’t recommend ordering from the child menu, as the proportions and quality are both lacking compared to the main food menu items.

Where the restaurant really shines though, is in the “cantina” to the left. The bar and table area, although smaller than the restaurant side, provides the best service and the best deals… HAPPY HOUR! The margaritas are cheap during happy hour, which is way more than an hour, and they are made quite perfectly thanks to the amazing bartenders.

The star of the show is the server Daniel, who is attentive, hardworking, and can always do his best to fulfill your needs or answer any of your questions. If you go here and sit at the cantina, you need to be there when Daniel works; thats how you get the all time best experience.

Also, Taco Tuesday rocks, with cheap tacos that come with beans, corncake, and any topping you want that is available. Pair that with your cheap margaritas and you will never...

It was the middle of the afternoon and it took us 20 minutes to get seated but hardly anyone was even in there.. I guess they didn't have enough servers..

Once we got seated we waited another 15 minutes just for somebody to come over to our table to even bring water or chips and salsa.

It looked like the lady was consumed with the large group of people that were sitting next to us..

Anyway we placed the order & the food finally came out but it wasn't that good. I had a Mexican pizza which I would never order again, it was cold and flavourless.. My husband ordered some enchiladas which he also did not enjoy..

It's not authentic Mexican Food and I'm sure most of it is frozen some kind of way and just placed on a plate and warmed up but the food has always and still does lack flavor.

And this day they had Cadillac Margaritas on special for $5 but they really didn't give you a whole shot of Grand Marnier ( That is what makes it a cadillac) It was a shot glass that looked big but had more glass than alcohol.

Needless to say the drink tasted like Kool aid. And they weren't really giving you a real drink which is why it was only $5 dollars..

I wouldn't eat at El Torito again unless it was a special occasion of someone else and that's where they wanted to go but personally I would never choose to...