El Torito

Horrible service, and rotten meat.
Okay we arrived here yesterday (06/​20/​2016 –Monday night) it was practically dead inside, yet there were 6 people ahead of us waiting to be seated. The hostess told us the wait would be 10 minutes which I thought was odd considering how there were hardly any customers here. So after 15 minutes go by the other people waiting told us they were leaving because they had already been waiting for 30 minutes, so now it’s just our party. The hostess seated two people ahead of us without them having to wait, because the female customer immediately came in and said she would not be waiting to be seated, and the hostess obliged and seated her and her partner. So my mother in law asked to speak with a manager, he came out and he sat us in the practically empty dinning room. It took almost an hour to get our food, we all ordered the carne asada burritos (3 of them), and (2) kids meals. OMG the food looked awesome and I was hungry, having waited well over an hour and half to finally get our food. As soon as I bit into my burrito I thought the meat in it was raw, because of the texture it had, sort of like sushi, but then I had a foul taste in my mouth of rotten meat I immediately spit out my food into my napkin. I looked up at my mother-​in-​law and husband who were also taking their first bites and then I seen them both look at each other and spit their food out. It was disgusting the smell coming out of our burritos was a really strong rotten meat smell, when we told our waiter he said he did not smell anything yet the only two people sitting next to us said that they could smell it at their table. The manager came over and took our plates and asked if we wanted something else. Why would I want something else if your kitchen staff has no problem serving rotten meat, why would I want to eat anything else from this restaurant? The kids meals seemed ok considering there was no meat in them, they had macaroni and cheese and a cheese quesadilla but everything was cold when they got it and when I say cold I mean cold not like lukewarm or anything I mean cold like it was sitting in the refrigerator. So we decided to leave, it took 10 minutes to flag down someone to try to pay for the kids meals and then they just told us to go ahead and leave because of the rotten food. When we walked out of the restaurant my husband threw up twice in the parking lot because he did swallow some of the food and immediately got sick. Disgusting. I will never be returning to this place. This place is ran horribly and I can’t believe the quality of the meat, I especially can’t believe that the cooks thought it was somehow justifiable to cook up rotten smelly meat to sell to customers. This is ridiculous.

Poor. Only one men bathroom for a big place :(long line for everything. Waiting time two hours

Worst of the Worst…
Been here 25 years and there was a time they had a rockin’ Taco Tuesday, a good valued Sunday Brunch and fair Mexi/​Cali food.
Dirty carpets, broken furniture and really poor service. Had to go to the waitress station to ask for a small cup to put salsa in. The hostess and a young server (beginner?) were there playing with their phones and the server says, «no». The hostess, (giggling), goes off to get a cup while the snide little server watches the hostess station playing with her phone. Flagged a server to get a paper receipt so you can stand in line to get a taco. That took 18 minutes in a half full dining room. Got in line for a taco and they had run out of tortillas an hour before closing. Finally got three tacos, fish, steak and carnitas. Stringhy hard carnitas, greasy smelly beef, and fish sticks cold and stiff. Would have ordered an ear of corn (elote) but they were out of those too… Bad service, worse food, dirty environment and $ 16 for 3 bad tacos, an ear of corn (never received it) and a $ 4 Diet Coke. Pass this one and go anywhere else.

Horrible service but the food made up for it. Had to get up and look for a manager, she was very nice and apologize of course, but at first we Waited for 10 min to get waters and didn’t even know who our server was! As well the server brought another round of drinks when we asked for water. They just need more sense of urgency and better management! I’m in the hospitality industry and I would allow such thing and if it was to happen I would do my best to make up for it!

Great food and service. Best El T I’ve visted in a long time.
Group next to us had a lady bent on getting anything free food wise so complained about service, food, wait, etc.
We felt bad for waitress so asked for Mgr. We told Mgr. the server wasn’t at fault and we saw they got their food just as timely as ours.
They gave us a free dessert even though we said not needed — I can’t stand flan, but man this was the best tasting dessert I’ve had ;)
Get their flan!

Happy Hour was awesome, bartender Mario was friendly. Waitress Brenda is very nice and helpful friendly.

Let’s face it its El Torito but I was hoping for something more than what we got. The waitress was fine no complaints there but the first thing I shouldn’t have done was to order a happy hour margarita. It tastes horrible. I then decided to order s super Cadillac margarita and at least I could taste the alcohol but still not very tasty. We had ordered the sampler platter and I almost barfed when I ate one of the buffalo/​chicken wings or whatever it was… Gross!!!
Hard to mess up fried ice cream but it came out stale tasting. I won’t be back…

Dined here last night with my coworkers and all of our spouses. I have to say: the food was delicious and the servers were nice. The service itself was a bit slow, but to be fair, we were a large party.
I previously disliked El Torito food. However, after my dinner here last night, I have a new found appreciation. I got the steak fajitas and they were super tender and delicious. Prior to that, we snacked on the chips, salsa and guacamole and that was delicious. I also had two strawberry margaritas and they were delicious. All in all the food and service was great, other than the fact that the service was a bit slow. I would totally come back to this location.

We started out our 7 yr anniversary goin to sunsets bc awesome reviews 0mg horrible service
We dined along harbor great server tonight
But hostess
And the amazing girl working bar area tonight made my anniversary i highly recommend this place not bc the name but the service omg

We were greeted by hostesses and the manager, Michael Flores. Really a nice entrance and they talked us into just a short wait for a window table looking out at the many beautiful boats.
It was a gorgeous view of the Harbor at sunset. Margaritas were excellent served with warm chips and spicy salsa. Steak and chicken fajitas were juicy and tasty. Totally enjoyed our dinner, drinks, ambiance, and cost was reasonable. YEA!!!

The hostess at the front is rude! They had a long wait for Sunday brunch and as people came to check on their names, she would say things like «Oh there are sooooo many people ahead of you!» «You are at the bottom of the list» «there are 13 parties ahead of you» if you are going to tell people this, you could at least say it in a nicer tone. That just kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Despite the rude front staff, they have a great Sunday brunch Buffett with a great view of the Dana point harbor! We had a booth right at the window. Our server kept our mimosa glasses full throughout the meal. They have a good selection of food and a wide variety. But what really makes this place great is the view! For 18.99 a person, you can’t find a better brunch in a better location! Plan to wait at least 45 minutes on a Sunday but you can stroll the harbor and people watch while you wait!

Probably my favorite place to get a fajita combo. I get their fajita combo with a cheese enchilada. It’s a great place for families and friends to chill.

Location is nice w/​sunset views. Delicious drinks and fajitas. Endless enchiladas were pretty salty. Service is ok, restaurant is really loud; lots of children (possibly party). Would try again.

El Torito is an awesome place. The lunch and dinner there is just so good. However for taco Tuesday, it is my personal opinion that the tacos there suck. I am sorry El Torito. The chicken is so salty and chewy, it just does not taste good. There is something weird about the chicken. On top of that, you guys don’t even use Mexican cheese on the tacos, its like Parmesan cheese or something!!! I barely put some on and ITS SO SALTY it made me want to throw up. I am not exaggerating here, the salt made me sick.
Other than that, the food there is AWESOME. Just don’t go there for Taco Tuesday.
Sorry El Torito :/

What a shame I had the fajita and the onions wee half inch rings of uncooked onions ugg what a waist of time
See pic attached

2 hrs later … I am still waiting for my sour cream ! Waiter seems to not like me so much. Maybe he needs a stiff drink!

Slow service, food tasted reheated and was not fresh
Margarita was worth every calorie considering I sent my chicken avocado salad back
The OC is not the place for Mexican food
Still might come back for the fried ice cream tho lol and the hot host :-p

Impressed! I came here for the first time on Christmas Day. 1 hour before I visited, I signed up on their e club. I instantly received a free appetizer. (I ordered the stuffed shrimp at $ 12.99! Score)
For dinner we had the ignited 1800 fajitas
& we had the 1 item combo with chile relleno, double beans. Sharon, my server was just amazing! So accommodating. Jose, the manager was very friendly & made sure that his customers are taken care of. I recommended this spot! Cheers!

A standard El Torito except beautiful harbor view.
service was extremely slow but the waitress was very cheerful and did her best.
She apologized for their under-​staff and especially there was a large group gathering taking place.
Chips and salsa: best of the night, fresh chips, mild salsa. Perfect when you are hungry.
Tortilla soup: $ 5.99 for a bowl, the portion is huge to share and more like a meal size. Flavor is on the heavy side w lot of melted jack cheese (high in sodium for sure!!!). I really couldn’t say I like it. I think Café Rio’s version is more hearty.
Mexican burger: $ 9.99
½ lb. ground chuck, guacamole, bacon, pasilla chile, lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions and chipotle aioli. Served with jalapeño-​garlic fries.
Asked for medium but the patties was super dry and tough. the patties did look lean and thick. It was too tough to even cut with the knife. Overall I like the flavor. Fries sucked, I can’t tell they are jalapeño-​garlic fries, its just some salty soggy pale looking fries and I only had few bites and gave up.
Avocado grilled chicken salad: $ 10.99
Romaine, cotija cheese, sliced radishes, red bell peppers, onions, frijoles de la olla, mango-​mint relish and serrano-​grape vinaigrette.
Big portion. Flavor was bland, it’s kind of like tossing little of everything together that gives normal romaine salad a fancy look but it doesn’t mean better taste. Almost feel like no dressing, healthy option for sure.
Beef taco $ 4.59 I think it’s kind a rip off for single order but that’s not my order.
Another reason South Orange County is not a food paradise,

OH. MY. GOD. I came here for Taco Tuesday with my dad after telling him their tacos were pretty good. Long story short. WORST SERVICE EVER. We got lucky and found a table.
It took 20 minutes for someone to clean it.
Another 20 to get water.
Another 20 to get a server to order tacos.
And another 20 to get our check.
RIDICULOUS
I had to go to the station where the manager & all the other servers were several times to REQUEST service! I saw other tables get services & leave before us. NEVER sit in the booths against the wall! Your table will get no service…

Sowohl das Essen als sich der Service sind sehr zu empfehlen ! Das Preis-​/​Leistungs-​Verhältnis IST wirklich OK !