Al Chile (Al Toro) Mexican Bar Restaurant — Restaurant in Wood-Ridge

Came to Al Chile (formerly known as El Toro) on 03/29/2025 and was one of the WORST restaurant experiences I’ve EVER had! First off, they charge 35 dollars for a so called “pitcher” of passion fruit Sangria, that doesn’t qualify as such in most restaurant establishments; would be considered half a pitcher. Gave us dirty wine glasses which we had to send back to be properly cleaned! They knowingly gave us passion fruit juice mix, thinking we wouldn’t notice, and didn’t bother to mix in the alcohol that constitutes the drink; i.e., white wine, triple sec, and brandy! Overheard the wait staff telling another staff member, they gave us the mix thinking it was already pre made! They tried to rectify the situation by remaking the sangria, but even then she just added a splash of white wine and what looked like triple sec and nothing else (we were sitting by the bar and could see her making it)! We basically paid 35 dollars for a half pitcher of passion fruit juice mix, with a splash of white wine and maybe triple sec! Third, we were shorted on some items in the appetizer! We ordered “El Rodeo del Toro”, as advertised included 3 mini tacos, 4 mini flautas, 4 mini quesadillas, fried calamari, buffalo wings, and some pico de gallo, which we only received 1 flauta cut in half, a mini corn fritter that wasn’t even part of the appetizer, and no pico de gallo; everything was completely covered in crumbled cotija cheese so we wouldn’t notice the missing items! Very DECEPTIVE!!! The mini quesadillas, calamari, buffalo wings, and mini tacos were as advertised, I’ll give them that, but the rest of the order was very misleading and seemed like they purposely tried to skim on items for more profit! For 22 dollars, you should be adding more items to the appetizer platter! Fourth, our entree order, “The Parrillada”, took FOREVER to be served, we waited approximately 45 minutes plus for a grilled meat platter that could’ve easily taken half the time or less to make! When this restaurant was named El Toro, this order could’ve easily fed 3 or 4 people, and came with a large portion of rice and black beans for 40 dollars. Now, they charge 60 dollars and you get half the meats, a ton of peppers and onions on the bottom to add height and bulk (makes it seem like you’re getting more), a cup of rice and a small condiment sized container of black beans! By the end, we were completely in over our heads with not only the deceptive restaurant practices, lack of food, and wait time, but also the TERRIBLE service from the waitstaff! At this point, we just wanted to pack up our order and leave, so we asked for a to go container and the check! Adding insult to injury, an 18 % gratuity was already included, which made sense why the overall restaurant experience was SUBPAR! Why would you provide excellent customer service when you don’t have to earn your tip! I remember when this restaurant was begging customers for good reviews on google to up their star review and clientele! Also, serving alcohol (Margaritas) when they were waiting on their liquor license (not BYOB, bought from them) in NJ which is illegal! Now it seems like greed has taken over to satisfy their business needs! This is coming from someone who’s worked in high end restaurants and bars, so I might know a thing or two! In all honesty, I don’t recommend this restaurant to ANYONE! I surely won’t...

If you are hungry for Mexican food… This is the place!

I write Google map reviews and have written quite a few different restaurants.

As I've mentioned, before, I am a corporate, Pilot and I find myself and all kinds of different areas of the country with different restaurants.

So Al Toro Restaurant, had 4 1/2 stars and I thought to myself this is the place I want to try. I've never heard anything of it before and it's very close to the Teterboro airport and our hotel for this evening.

Wow! It was delicious. I'm sorry I didn't take any photographs of my actual dish because I was hungry lol and we more or less dove in!!!

From the pictures, you can see already posted. I will vouch for them because that's exactly how the food looks. My dinner was no different.

I went ahead with the chicken and shrimp fajitas, and they don't taste like the fajitas he would get say from the big restaurants like On The Border etc.

These fajitas really had a unique taste.

And that's how we found out that it's Peruvian food because our server/house manager had let us in on the secret that they have a Peruvian flare.

I did take some pictures and I will post them here later.

But hurry on over to this place, because it's very good. You will not be disappointed I promise!

We also had their queso dip with hand, made guacamole dip, which was out of this world. It's everything you will hope it will be.

On the queso dip, they put sausage in hours per my request it was offered on the menu. And hit really had a unique taste. It was good I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Saw after having way too much to eat. I had enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow, which are happily tucked away in my fridge raider at my hotel!!

So if you're hungry for Mexican food with a Peruvian twist to it, this is your place get on over there and...

Good, but I wish I knew a few things before coming here. Some family and I needed a place to go for some drinks and a nice meal and decided to come here for a new experience. The ambiance was great! Plenty of space and very clean. However, when we ordered wanted to order drinks after being seated, they told us their liquor license wouldn't be around for another month. Why couldn't they have had a sign up that told customers of this beforehand? However, when I ordered the horchata instead, it was very pleasant and flavorful. So they get a pass there.

We later ordered some guacamole to start of and that had its own issue. It was straight from a package and dressed up with tomatoes, onions, and cilantro. Most packaged kinds will have a shine that comes from added egg whites, which was extremely obvious with this one. I saw from other photo references that a server would make it right in front of you at your table. Another disappointment, but we still had our entrees.

The main course saved the meal. We ordered a fajita platter, a chicken quesadilla, and a beef Chimichanga. The platter and the quesadilla were well made and presented nicely. Though I noticed my chimichanga was a bit on the small side. I'm not sure if that might have been from frying it or not, but I feel like I should have gotten my money's worth with something a little bigger. I was far more disappointed with the beans, which I thought were on the blander side.

Overall, I would want to try this place again. Maybe see how the rest of the menu turns out and see if they're able to improve further. Next time, I hope to give a much more...