El Torito

It was incredibly slow. Walked in, person working (maybe the hostess) looked at me and did not greet me right away. She finally said, how many? I told her and she said they were in a transition period and she’d have to ask where I could sit. She came back and pointed me to a room of tables and said, those are clean, you can sit anywhere in there. So, I picked a table and sat with my 1 year old. I waited. The «hostess» was working on other tables and I asked if I could please have menus to look at. She asked if I would also like a highchair, I said yes. I waited… and waited… and waited some more… Finally, I saw the manager at the bar doing inventory and approached her. I asked her if I could please order. She said sure. I told her what appetizer I wanted, she looked around the corner and yelled at someone saying that their table wanted the appetizer I ordered. At this point, I was done and walked out.
No service is provided at this location. You have to get up and make it all happen for you.

Unfathomable ! I do not understand why this place gets some of these lousy reviews I have been reading. Never had anything but outstanding meals in this place — service as well. Our family has our Christmas dinner here every year !
I Gush :
The Mexican Burger — by a margin of 2 – 1 better than any burger in town. Smoky bacon, perfect avocado, subtly spicy pasilla chili pepper, Roma toms, romaine, crisped up ciabatta, sublime beef from some very venerated ranch in NoCal I think they said, perfectly carmelized onions and chipotle aioli. And man can that pirate ship in the kitchen execute — to be able to get a grind, with this crucially copious amount of fat, broiled to the requested doneness without setting the thing on fire requires real hardcore skill. Also — above I said by a margin of 2−1… well 2 – 1 is also the burgers weight — a half pound. One more thing — no cheese to be found on it — demonstrating an acute sense of gastronomic restraint, confident that these luscious elements harmonize so well without it. And it is 9.99 ! How many neohipster gastropubs now serve, what they each claim to be the end all /​be all interpretation of the hamburger, at that price? The fries are top notch as well (a little jalapeño dust maybe ?) and of course you get chips and salsa.
Carne Asada Steak — it’s all about marinade and high temp broiling — this is my favorite way to eat beef in Eugene. Not that I would kick an Electric Station ribeye out of bed for leaving grill marks… but this skirt cut piece of WHAT FOR has this deep and familiar splash of upscale Latin backyard goodness. Only at the late El Vaquero (may god rest) could one have found a steak with more interior flavor going on. Then the crushed avocados, a small, thin and fetching «enchilada «on top, a juicy tangle of fresh nopalitos pico and a what I can only call a «plate sauce «of liquified sweet ripe toms and jalapeños that acts as a medium for the absorption of the meats’ fire kissed liquids that are released as it rests. Advantage pirates ! Or Corporate Executive Chef /​Test Kitchen perhaps. And of course — the corncake garnish — more on that later.
Any Seafood Special, I repeat, Any Seafood Special
Salmon, True Cod, Prawns, Mahi Mahi — I have had it all over the years. Whether as a plate or in a soft taco — the seasonal seafood special menus have never failed to thrill me. Imaginative Nuevo Latino treatments, combined with that powerful surge of future optimism I get when eating anything from the ocean, has given me confidence to make the incredulous sounding proclamation that El Torito is actually THE PLACE for creative and delicious fish ! So many won’t believe me — just gotta try it out for yourself. But keep an eye on your Sunday paper — they usually launch these seasonal offerings with an insert (a study in vibrant and engaging graphic design to boot) — it seems like they do so 2 or 3 times a year. Seriously though, I had a salmon dish there that is in my top 3 ever, and Seattle, Portland and San Francisco have seen more than their fare share of my attempts at finding my Pacific Wild Salmon Epiphany.
Mexican Caesar /​Corncakes and Other Standards
Love that Caesar interpretation — roasted pumpkin seeds and the championship level big cilantro dressing, cool romaine and cotija. The Corncakes (more like a honey spiked spoon bread) are the dope. Tread lightly though — at about 9000 calories per bite you must make every attempt not to succumb to the very common impulse to order extra for the table. Just savor your portion judiciously between bites of fajitas — or perhaps as a way to cool down an overheated palate (some dishes do bring the fire). Speaking of fajitas, or any other menu item that is needlessly offered because of the «you — have — to — have — this — on — a — Mexican — restaurant — menu «rule, for their part they are all executed well and served in generous quantities on boogie board sized plates. I know this because with a family of about 15 people dining at Christmas — about half our group orders these «gotta have «classics — and I am always looking for test bites from my patient relatives. Also — the Mexican pizza got my then very anti Mexican food son through his toddlerhood — he didn’t part with very many bites — save the first one I took to convince him how good it was. This kid was also a degenerate virgin margarita drinker — very thoughtfully offered by intuitive servers.
The Service
Maybe we are just lucky — but I think it unlikely. Been there so many times, and every time we get such warmth, capability and speed. I know Eugene can be hit and miss everywhere in terms of service — it just hasn’t ever been the case for me at El Torito. And the remarkable patience in assisting me with the «Grandpa Don’s Balls «prank (not as lurid as it sounds — sort of) at Christmas a few years back — this is just another reason, along with all the aforementioned, that we will be El Torito lifers.

SLOW service and cold food…
what else to say?

Tuesday Taco Night was a bust. The service was lousy — had to wait a long time for a server to even show up. Another long wait after we paid to get our change. The $ 1.50 tacos tasted like $ 1.50 tacos. Tough meat in the steak ones. The only thing halfway decent was the margarita. Hadn’t been here in years and won’t be returning anytime soon!

I was so excited to see ElTorito! We don’t have them anymore on the east coast. We were good for 2 – 3 times a week growing up. I’ve also had absolutely amazing west coast mex, so is it THE best? No– but it’s solid and great for anyone and everyone. Great value. Lunch specials and happy hour deals. We also signed up for the app and received free table side guacamole. Good stuff. REALLY good. We did ours at a medium heat. We have gluten free and no spice guests, and everyone was able to alter and suit their needs. Everyone asked for double and triples of the salsa.
Highly recommend the carne Asada with garlic lime shrimp. The 1800 fajitas were beautiful. As were the vegetable fajitas. Love their corn soft tortillas. We cannot eat enough of the sweet corn cake! So good! Kids had quesadillas and tacos– utter silence during their meals and left happy plates.
Thank you for the memories, a great dinner and service!

The food is always excellent! Way above and beyond expectations. The carne asada is one of the best steaks in Eugene. They also serve a Mexican burger, that is amazing. Everything is prepared with fresh ingredients, We continue to love our experiences here and highly recommend it

Went here for cinco de mayo for the drink specials and tacos. Drink specials? Wtf? Small margarita was 7 $. A dos xx 16oz was 5.49! I’d hate to have to pay their regular prices! Won’t be back!

Well… this place is on my way home from work and a good place to meet for drinks.
Happy hour in the cantina 4 to close.
Sat on the patio for 15 minutes… ignored. Went into the cantina and a smiley youngish girl was happy to help us.
Ordered tortilla soup and a melon margarita. 4 bucks for the drink as per happy prices.
Soup was bland, but edible. Drink didn’t taste melony but was pretty good just the same.
Nice waitress in the cantina saved this place from getting a 1 star for ignoring the customer while seated in the patio section.

What used to be great here — The atmosphere, happy employees, great food, the décor, everything used to be clean, tableside guac could NOT BE BEAT, the chicken tortilla soup was REALLY good, and the fajitas kicked butt. I wish it was the same as when I was a kid! I miss it!

My family came to El Torito’s for a family Birthday dinner and we were sorely disappointed in the service and overall cleanliness of the restaurant. It was 7 pm, we walked in and the first thing I noticed was that the carpet was in need of a good shampooing. There appeared to be two large parties dining already and not many other patrons. We were seated at several tables that were put together. These tables felt sticky and we asked the manager to wash them down and his comment was that finish on the tables was worn off and that is why it felt sticky. Unacceptable!
There appeared to be only one waitress, 1 busboy and 1 manager. The waitress was busy with the other parties and the manager had to take our order while making excuses for the waitress. I question the management’s decision making skills when it comes to the scheduling of the staff. Don’t get me wrong, the manager really tried to make us happy, but c’mon.
The food was good, but I wonder how long this place has been struggling. I have been to the El Torito’s in Sacramento a while ago and it was really nice, but it seems that this one has been neglected for a while.
I hope the Corporate offices of El Torito see’s this and takes a good hard look at this location closely and gives it a make over.

Good lord, that’s some salty salsa. I wasn’t aware that salsa would contain salt and totally wasn’t expecting it, especially since it was saltier than the actual tortilla chips it was served with. It was so overwhelmingly salty that a good portion of my rating is based on it– that’s just something you expect to not get messed up at any Mexican restaurant, even the chain ones.
The food was otherwise pretty good for a chain Mexican restaurant. I had one of the combo platters– it came with a chile relleno and a cheese enchilada, refried beans, tomalito (corn cake) and some pan-​fried veggies.
Overall, though, service was decent. It was pretty dead the day we went and our server was reasonably attentive and super polite.

The sizzling fajita salad made table side is unbelievable! I cannot wait until we ago again! I been searching for a good salad for a while and so happy i found one!

It was a monday nite 6 for denner the chicken was dry and over cooked in every ones food. Why is it u pay good money to eat out and the only thing that good is the water and its free

Server was patient and great, food was ok, not excellent but not bad either. I had the sizzling enchiladas with chicken, maybe more bell pepper inside than I would like but there are worse things to put in an enchilada. Much worse. Price was reasonable for the food and setting. Chips and salsa maybe the best thing I had.

Food was good but we were in the restaurant for 3 hours before getting our food. Then the bills were messed up after trying to give us a 20% off discount. Slower than milasis and had no clue what the correct orders were.

Service is bad. Ambience is good. Food is completely hit and miss. Yesterday I ordered a simple burrito and they got it wrong twice… The second time not only was it not what I ordered but there were chicken bones in it. Instead of the server dealing with it right away she made me wait while she took six orders. That made it so I couldn’t eat at all due to running out of time. The drinks were never topped off either… Pet peve of mine. They didn’t make me pay for mine but not even an apology from anyone. I left 10% tip to cover taxes. I left hungry and annoyed.

Hate this place.
Not impressed with their taco Tuesday, although the little lady making your tacos is adorable
Their mango margaritas may be delicious, but also don’t contain a bit of alcohol (I drank two giant strawberry margaritas and felt more sober after I drank them)
I ordered fajitas on a separate occasion from taco Tuesday thinking i’d give them another chance, but was very disappointed. First off, the plate was way more expensive then other places (Chapalas which I love), I wasn’t given a plate to make my fajitas on, which was alright but an annoyance to have to ask for something that should come with it, and upon that we had to pay extra for sour cream… fajitas should always come with sour cream! The beans were pinto as well, and I don’t know about you but I’ve always had refried beans at Mexican restaurants.
Needless to say I’ll never go back

Some of the best mexican food in Oregon! You can sign up for their rewards and get complimentary fresh table side guacamole. They serve coke products and everything on the plate is delicious! Homemade chips and delicious salsa complementary also. Even the rice and beans are so good. Definitely coming back!

This was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve ever had. I usually don’t complain to staff or management, but this time it was different.
So my father and I were out to have lunch while in Eugene. We have eaten here a lot over the years with no problem. Standard tex-​mex. I would say going in that it should have been a warning sign when they put us in a booth with a wobbly table and no light on. After 10 minutes our server took our order. When the place was essentially empty. We ordered.
And waited.
And waited.
More waiting.
Finally 35 minutes later, our food arrived. When it did, disgusting is not a strong enough word to describe how bad my food was. Tamale had so little meat filling and the mole was INCREDIBLY salty. Enchilada filling was cheese and undercooked chicken. The chile relleno still had its stem. Not a big deal normally but it made up at least ¾ of the size.
Overall, I’ve had better mexican food at Taco Bell. Never again will they get any of my money.

Ok saw all the reviews but stayed optimistic. This was our very first time. There were a bunch of tables that looked open but guess they didn’t have enough staff to cover (on a Saturday night at 630) however took us like 30 min to get seated. Then we ended up seating ourselves since they said they had a section at the bar that was full service and all ages. Not sure why or why they wouldn’t seat anyone there but that is how they do it I guess. So we ended up seating ourselves.
Then we placed our order. It took over 45 min, after that time they had brought our margarita that we ordered on the rocks. And got blended. Didn’t say anything just took it. Tasted like they forgot the alcohol even. Then 45 minutes down, multiple baskets of chips and then them trying to give us a free salad for the wait. We were full and still hadn’t even received our food yet.
Our final straw was the fact that we saw a party of three (just like us) seated after us, received their food, and then pay and leave AND WE STILL DIDNT GET OUR ORDER.
I get it there was one guy for our section but I feel like there was «one chef» couldn’t see why it was taking so long. We didn’t order anything crazy or epic.
This was the first time I remember in a long long time of me walking out on something. Paid cash to our table for our drinks. And with no waiter in sight, grabbed our stuff and left. So disappointing since the food sounded so good.
Maybe the masa for the tamale was pounded fresh. I just don’t understand why it was taking so long. Waiting an hour and still no food insight and people after us coming and going… sorry we tried to wait as long as we could. We were open minded. But I’m sure we may never try it again