El Torito

The old El Torito in Beverly Hills renamed itself «El Torito Grill.» According to the guy who answered the phone, it’s a different corp. and the food is «pretty much different.» (I’m guessing the menu and prices are quite different, given the location.) The El Torito website no longer shows a restaurant in Beverly Hills.
BUT: they are still part of the «El Torito» family, in the same way that Acapulco is.

THIS LOCATION IS NOT CLOSED! I just talked to them on the phone and I’m going here for Happy Hour tonight.
This place has great food, good service, a nice atmosphere and easy Public Parking on Brighton Way.

Why is it that having a waiter make the guacamole tableside merits it costing double its worth? A tiny bowl of guac and approximately 9 chips for 9 dollars? Seriously, Siniqual? What the hell? But the rest of the food is well-​priced and tasty, so I guesssss I’ll only dock ½ a star. The other ½ is because the service is only eh. But if you’re in Beverly Hills, this is really your best bet for Mexican, unless you have a particular affinity for chain restaurants. I know it’s a little boring, but I loved the Grilled Veggie Plate of grilled squash, zucchini, peppers, tomato with a great Mexican vinagrette and goat cheese. Amaaaazing. But the tacos and burritos and your whatnot are good too. Come around 1pm on a weekday and watch the 3-​margarita power lunches among the agents who aren’t in the mood for The Grill!

what the name has changed to siniqual– which means without equal… Which would be a cool name, if it weren’t a big lie. So let us begin. 1^st of all the name has changed from el torito grill to siniqual– but the food id the same, the people are the same, the location is the same, the service is the same or worse and the price is the same. So not a great change IMO.
FOOD– the food was good. It is always good, the same as el torito grill food
COST– moderate to cheap. It is a good value
SERVICE_​not very good at all. I got a moderately spicy guacamole which was bland. Our food order got messed up. But everyone was friendly.
.ATMOSPHERE– is a little sexier… but does it make up for the service? In my opinion no.

Let me start out this review by admitting that I don’t usually like chain restaurants to begin with. My fiancé thinks of them as comfort food, but I kind of feel like they serve shitty food for more money because they have a «brand» name.
Relationships are about compromises, so I agreed to go to El Torito last night. I’d dined at the Marina del Rey location and enjoyed the view of the marina and the guacamole, so I figured I could handle the BH location.
Eating at a chain restaurant in Beverly Hills makes me feel like either a tourist or a loser, because there are way better values on way better food really nearby. I guess some people want the allure of having eaten in Beverly Hills rather than Mid-​City West or West Hollywood.
When we valeted the car, I was impressed by the really cool cacti adorning the outside of the restaurant. This is Beverly Hills after all, and it definitely had a nicer feel than the MdR El Torito.
We were promptly seated and that’s when the trouble began.
Our server was SO PUSHY. It was awful. As soon as we sat down he asked if we wanted margaritas and we both seemed pretty uninterested but he was like, «Come on! You’re at El Torito! We make great Margaritas! You want a margarita?» (Almost more of a statement than a question.) So I said, «Uhhh. Sure.» Then of course he brought out two of the cadillac margaritas which are fairly expensive. The margaritas were terrible. It felt like they just took some of that cuervo brand bottled margarita mix and called it good. It was way too sweet and syrupy. YUCK.
Everything on the menu looked really really rich and I know that they have enormous portions, so I was having a hard time deciding what to get, and this server was SO ANNOYING.
He was totally pressuring me to get the shrimp enchilada special that my fiancé was getting, and when I told him I wasn’t ready to order, he just hovered at the table telling me how great the shrimp enchiladas are. I didn’t want a 3000 calorie entrée that i would only end up eating a little bit of! So I figured I’d be safe with grilled veggies.
He brought out the food and let me know that he had put the cheese on the side instead of melting it on top. Normally, that would have annoyed me, but these veggies were SO GREASY that I was actually grateful. All of the chips and salsa and tortillas that they serve are super salty, and I’m almost positive that the tortilla chips have trans fat which is horrible.
My fiancé’s shrimp enchiladas actually tasted pretty good, but I was right to think they’d be super rich, they were just slathered in cheese and cream and salt. It seems like El Torito just uses salt indiscriminately on everything.
My veggies had grease pooled on them, and had this totally flavorless salty drizzle sauce on them. I should have known better than to try to eat anything healthy at a chain. I’m not even a health freak or an «I’ll have a salad» kind of girl, I’m just trying not to make my ass HUGE. This is obviously not possible at El Torito.
Then of course when it was time for the check, service was not quite so prompt, but finally we got out of there.
Bottomline: horribly pushy service, pretty yummy shrimp enchilada, cloying margarita, unctuous veggies.
But I did like the cacti, and there are really cool paper lanterns in the dining room.
/​end rant

During my college days at UCLA, this was the place to go for birthday parties. Located in BH and the seating is plenty. Not the biggest fan of mexican food but everything on the menu is tasty.
Get the combo meals for the biggest bang for the buck.

This place is in a prime location in Beverly Hills. The prices, however, are NOT BH prices. Very affordable good food. Although perhaps not authentically Mexican, it’s good American/​Mexican food. I’ve had and been to birthday dinners here as well as been here in much smaller groups (as well as getting take-​out). The warm tortillas with butter are so good as is the guacamole (they make it right in front of you!). I like their combo plates (you get to try a few different things). Their enchiladas are pretty good (again not authentic, but good nonetheless), as well as their taquitos, and the corn cakes are to die for! Also, portions are huge. If you’re in BH and want to save a little dough, but still enjoy your meal, try this place.

Wow… some great reviews so I thought I’d give El Torito Beverly Hills a try after a sub-​par experience at the Marina del Rey location.
Let me sum it up quickly:
Marina del Rey
Looks like crap
Smells like diapers
Food decent… drinks are excellent
Beverly Hills
Looks Excellent
Smells Great
Food tastes like diapers (with an exception for the Tortilla Soup)
The service was poor as well. Please, let me finish the soup before you bring the dinner… really, I don’t take that long to eat soup. Also, please let me see the ice before you scoop the margarita off the table in anticipation of a new one.
Maybe tonight was official Crap Restaurant night here in LA and El Tort is normally pretty hot, but I kinda doubt it

I really enjoy El Torito Grill. I frequent the one in Torrance mostly, but one vacation day, I decided to try this location. I like the interior — really nice, and the leather seats in the booths are a nice touch.
Actually, I ate here twice, now that I think about it. Once in the bar, and once inside. I could eat those tortillas forever. I think my faves are:
For starters, the Lobster Quesadilla — YUM and the Shrimp Taquitos. I also love the Fire Roasted Tomato Soup — SO FLAVORFUL and the Chicken Taco Salad. I love the mixture of flavors there. Very tasty. For the entrees, I like their take on Chicken Enchiladas. Spicy and delish. I also get the Mango Smoothie, which is basically a mango margarita sans tequila (^_​^)

— 1 Star for the waiter’s musty/​stinky/​sweaty armpits and sucky parking. The food was awesome. I love that they make the Guacamole at the table! I always get the chicken burrito and I love those little corn cakes! Yum! The location is okay but the parking SUCKS. I also LOVE the little tortilla things with that sweet butter… yummmmmmmm. I haven’t tried any other locations, but hopefully soon…

OK I know this is a chain restaurant, but since it’s in BH it’s pretty nice. I always get the carnitas soft tacos which are excellent if you get extra lime and cilantro. I love the tortillas they give you, and the taquitos appetizer is good. The last time I was here it was lunchtime, and we ate outside on the patio that faces Wilshire. It was a beautiful day and it felt good to enjoy lunch outside. Ooh, and you can watch the paparazzi stalk celebrities outside of Barneys! Exciting.

I met four of my former coworkers here last night. Four out of the five of us passed by it the first time we drove by and had to maneuver our ways back (it’s sort of hidden, laying back away from Wilshire on Camden).
The three of us who got there first decided to have a drink in the bar while we waiting for the other two to arrive (I secretly wanted to watch a little of the baseball game). The waitress was super nice, but a little slow. We ordered margaritas and an appetizer. When she brought us the drinks, she asked if we wanted an appetizer, and then it suddenly dawned on her that –oh yeah– we did.
When the other two people in our party arrived, they were very accommodating when we asked if we could move to the dining room where it was quieter and we would have more room. We ordered another round and another appetizer while looking at the menus. When one of my friends realized that she didn’t like the blended margarita, they brought her a new drink with no problem.
When our food arrived, I realized that this place was really trying to class it up. The dishes were rectangular, the rice was green, and the tortillas were red and blue. But it’s still an El Torito.
I give an extra star just for the valet. Two from our party had already gotten their cars and gone. The other three of us stood outside wondering whose car would be next. Then we heard an alarm going off in the garage. And then it hit me that it was probably my car. The alarm stopped and then it started again. I forgot to tell them not to use the automatic locks because my clicker doesn’t work. The alarm went off and then started again. It stopped and then the valet came out. «Who has the Infiniti?» I checked the keys and they were mine. I thought it was very nice of him for thinking that my Nissan Sentra was an Infiniti. I apologized for my ghetto car and told him to hold down the button under the steering wheel before turning the ignition. He went back into the garage and the alarm started again. As I was heading into the garage to give him a hand, the alarm stopped and out came my car. Woo hoo! I gave him an extra tip for having to deal with my stupid car and for keeping a smile on his face the whole time.

I LOVE EL TORITO GRILL! I am totally a harsh critic when it comes to mexican food. I hate el cholo and El coyote, but el torito is the bomb! Salsa is consistently good. They have 2 different kinds, regular and chipotle. I always ask for fresh diced, sliced and whole jalapenos to spice things up. I’m kind of crazy when it comes to spicy.
I think I have tried everything on the menu from enchiladas to grilled fish and it is always fresh and they don’t smother everything is mounds of greasy cheese.
Go for happy hour and get the sampler platter. It is really huge but everything is good.

The Taquito Sampler and the Soft Tortillas are the, wait there is no adjective to describe it. The Enchiladas are really good and authentic. They have also remodeled the bar to look like a Mexico City Cantina with rich red leather seats and two massive Plasma T.V.s. I usually sit at the bar and order the Carne Asada Platter and the Soft Tortillas. Its a great place to hang out after work.

Overall, most of the food was good. This place reminded me a lot of Border Café in Harvard Square, Cambridge but not as good. Considering that the west coast is supposed to have much better food than the East coast this is a little disappointing.
I liked the gratis warm tortillas, butter and salsa selection. Tasty, soft, warm and salsalicious with a smoky complex salsa or a simpler spicy salsa on the side.
Let‘s see, my wife ordered the lobster quesadillas. They were blah. Almost no lobster taste. Mostly cheese and corn meal filling. I would much prefer this place to raise the price by a few bucks on this dish if they would actually put a couple more chunks of lobster meat we could taste. This dish was the main disappointment of the night. We plan to go back and not order it and I might update my rating to 4 stars.
I got the carne asada. Excellent, tasty marinated, easy-​to-​cut steak. The other sides were nice too: salsa, grilled onions, black bean soup, corn meal and a small blue corn cheese enchilada. My wife thought this dish was too spicy, but it was just right for me. On the other hand, she loved the sweet corn meal side which was too sweet for me.
The unsweetened ice tea was excellent.
The couple next to us got the guac made at the table. That looked really good, we‘ll have to order that next time.
Value for the money ok not great, but it is in an expensive area.

There is a new location in the Sherman Oaks Galleria on Ventura and Woodman. This is not your fathers’ El Torito. This the level up, in the El Torito chain, (however not to say that the regular restaurant isnt good too) «Torito Grill» offers a little more refined menu of favs, that have more exotic combinations. If you order guacomole, it is made fresh at your table. The Carne Asada is to die for — served together with fresh tortilla’s with butter, instead of chips… mmmm!

Did someone in here say guilty pleasure? I am not surprised… because El Torito Grill is exactly that.
The free tortillas are delicious… and freshly made by hand + machine.
I usually get something simple, like enchiladas or a combo plate.
My favorite item here is the sweet corn cake thing, and I always make sure to get some extra.
I seem to recall one time I had the carne asada entrée, and it was really nice. Very flavorful.
It may not be authentic mexican food, but who the hell cares. It’s tasty. I’ve never had a bad meal here. I love coming to El Torito.
Decent margaritas, albeit overpriced… hell, probably everything at el torito is overpriced. But that doesn’t change how I feel about the place.
If someone else is paying, definitely come here!

A guilty pleasure.
Beware the endless tortillas, butter, and salsa as they’ll leave very little room in your stomach for the subsequent courses if you’re not careful.
The appetizers kind of rock my cock.
Entrees are very tasty — seems like they’ve actually tasted their food and modulated the recipe before putting it on the menu. Always a plus.
Desserts come loaded with sin, thankfully.
Surprising amount of attention to presentation is paid by their chefs.
Décor will make you wonder if this place snuck in as a location for Body Double (1984). Personally I enjoy the neon kitsch. Pretty big place considering the location. Service has been quietly excellent.

Short Version: Well-​priced food in an expensive neighborhood.
Long Version: If you’re in this neighborhood, you’re either spending bags of cash or window shopping, dreaming about it. If you’re in the latter group, then this would be a great place to eat and not blow out your wallet. Good food that is Mexican in style but Anglo in flavor. The drinks are well-​loaded with alcohol, and the guacamole is made fresh at your table. Valet parking, but what do you expect from Beverly Hills?

The Beverly Hills location has a hysterical sky-​painted motif and desert décor that will make you think of the 80’s, when the Santa Fe thing was popular, but it’s all good.
This was my home away from home when I worked for 7 years across the street at Urnottatalent (if you can decypher that congrats). The freshly made tortillas and sweet butter will make you both happy and fatter all at once.
They have a great steak chimichanga, all wrapped up like a present and fried the way God intended everything to be. When this place first opened back in the early 90’s it had a rocky start with it’s funky «Beverly Pills» eclectic menu. When you ordered Nachoes they would bring you 10 individual chips each built up with it’s own Nacho-Makin’s, meaning that each chip had a dollop of beans, a chicken breast cube, some onion and sprinkled with cheese, then cooked until melted. 10 of these on a plate would be set in front of you and you would sit there and go «what the fcuk is this all about?», it was as if your stay-​at-​home mom made you a little after-​school snack. Nachoes should be piled high and a mess to deal with. If you ordered a salad they would bring you a WEDGE of iceberg lettuce and pour some salad dressing on it and serve it to you with a fork and a knife. If you wanted it cut up like a salad SHOULD be you had to ask for it. I was served a wedge once and they never heard the end of it. No one serves me a wedge of iceberg lettuce, charges me $ 10.00 and gets away with it.
They finally got the point and their chef put together a good menu, you will like this place if you give it a chance.
Parking is under the building unless you can get street parking and you usually can after 7pm. I think they validate, if not it’s just a couple bucks, don’t be so cheap.
They have a decent happy hour if you don’t mind spending it with the Meryll-​Lynch/​William Morris/​UTA/​Endeavor/​Barneys crowd. These people go and throw as much attitude as their parents credit cards will allow, so don’t go looking for new friends or to peddle your latest script, they don’t wanna hear it.