El Toro Negro

I work across the street from this place and it has a poor reputation. Most dry, unseasoned cardboard salad I’ve ever had from a mexican restaurant.

We ate here often because of the vicinity, but also because it is awesome. They have a nice little karaōke stage that I have never seen used. Food is awesome. Salsa bar available. The portions are huge we usually share a plate between me, my wife, and my son. I really feel homeless doing stuff like that, but we don’t eat much and their usual customers do.

The place is always dead. I just ordered to go from this place because I live across the street. I saw cock roaches in the bar– after she charged me 9.50 for a 6.99 order. The place is gross and dirty. Please don’t eat there. I walked right out.

The food was fantastic and authentic and fresh. I started with the homemade chips and salsa with guacamole. Followed that up with the gordita entrée. Everything was fresh and delicious. The gorditas were handmade and fresh out of the fryer. The carne asada was perfectly cooked and seasoned. The guacamole on point.
I was at Red Mesa the other weekend and the guacamole was terrible. Sure the atmosphere is measurably better than El Toro Negro, but I prefer an authentic dish over a fancy atmosphere any day.

I think we were the only ones there on a Friday night for about an hour. Pretty sad, because it was authentic Mexican food and the service was good too. If you are looking for good Mexican food for a good price try this place. You will not have to deal with the crowds that’s for sure.

Simply put Delicious.. from San Diego this place is on point. Their flavors and service were Great !! I feel like I’m in Mexico which to me is a good thing not sure what the other guy is talking about… but I had great portions which made me feel right at home they are authentic! Service was Amazing! Thank you to the cook who came out from Venezuela cooking now for 22 years! Go and try it! I will come again for sure!!!

I went there on evening craving a burrito. Well when I walked in I should have turned around and walked out. The place is huge, but only 2 couples in the place. Shiny Orange walls, sticky table… not feeling good about this place and felt as if I was back in Mexico. My waitress was polite but spoke very little English. I ordered a pork burrito which was Huge. I decided not to try to pick it up, so I cut in in half. Out came enough grease to cover the plate, and lettuce that was old and wilted. Took one greasy bite and knew I should have turned around at the door. I tried to tell the waitress about the grease, but I don’t think she understood. So I left the burrito surrounded by an ocean of grease, paid my bill and left, never to return.

I came here on a Sunday afternoon. Their door says open 7 days a week until 9pm. No one acknowledged me when I walked in. I walked up the bar, asked if I could dine in, the woman told me they were closed. There was a party or something, I don’t know. I will not be back. Ridiculous.

We love the food here. My husband always orders steak fajitas, which are well flavored. I usually get chicken soft tacos. The chicken is moist and nicely spiced. The toppings were super fresh. We also enjoy the chip and salsa bar. It’s nice to be able to refill your chip basket without waiting for the waitress. The staff are very friendly and attentive. The prices are very reasonable for the portion sizes provided.

I moved to St. Pete via San Diego and have been searching for an authentic taco shop like there are in San Diego. Well I finally found one! I spotted it while driving by on 54^th and noticed they actually had «carne asada» on the sign. I HAD to stop and check it out. The food was really good and authentic! You wont find another taco shop like this around and they were fast and nice. I will most definitely come back. So worth it. (:

I order tamales by the dozen with Pico de gallo. The tamales are excellent. I buy them frozen and steam them at home. The chips and salsa are made fresh. This restaurant reminds me of the old family restaurants that I ate at as a kid growing up in California. Their nopales are also good. The lady has issues with English but does try to please. So far I have no complaints. The tamales are always a hit at dinners.

Poor service, poor food, poor location. I don’t think I’ve had Mexican food this bland and dry and just plain bad before, and I was stationed in BFE NC. Besides the fact that the tamales could only be made with pork, no chicken or beef, the waitress was very inattentive, which was unbelievable since I was eating solo and there were only 3 other customers at a table. I never had a refill of my water, she never asked how my food was, or if I needed anything like hot sauce to go with my lunch. Completely unremarkable in every way, including the limited beer stock, bland food, self service chips and salsa, bedraggled location, and crap service. I guess FIFA was on, so an employee’s family was there with children going in and out of the kitchen. They got the good self service.

I agree that the restaurant Looks wore down And old. But, hey, the food is delicious And authentic mexican. I have been in this restaurant for about 6 times now. The only thing we love here is the food. Don’t expect fancy furniture or decorations. The Corona was super cold. The chicken milanesa full of flavor, refried beans, carnitas enchiladas in salsa verde do die for. The mocajeta with beef and pork. OMG! These guys use authentic Mexican ingredients. Home made chips with salsa free. I am happy supporting a small restaurant trying to survive in this economy.
No Tex-​Mex!

I’m giving the restaurant a 5-​star rating for the food.
We started with guacamole and chips and then had the burrito which was HUGE — literally a foot long and filled generously — and the chicken gorditas for dinner. The guacamole was some of the best I’ve ever had (and I’ve had a ton… it’s one of my favorite things). It was super fresh with big chunks of avocado and lots of super fresh cilantro. The chips that came with it were right out of the fryer — you can tell that they’re made there and cooked fresh. Both dinner entrees were big portions, especially for the price (the burrito was $ 6.50 and I ate it for 3 meals). The food is authentic and tasted delicious and fresh.
Our server was very nice and pleasant and even though she was a little hard to understand, she went out of her way to make sure that I knew what she was saying and she was helpful with the menu and efficient.
Facts: This isn’t a fancy or particularly attractive restaurant inside and it’s not in a particularly swanky part of town. It looks better from the outside than on the inside so it’s a little sketchy when you go in there for the first time. There’s no mood lighting, there’s no style, there’s no décor (well, other than some randomly hung beer flags). The booth we sat in had duct tape on the seat and all of the furnishings looked second hand. So what, though? It’s a locally owned restaurant that I’m sure is doing the best they can with what they have and they’re serving delicious food. I’m happy to support a restaurant where they seem to put their money into what they’re putting on the table, rather than the table itself.
The environment wasn’t why I went to the restaurant — I was looking for great Mexican food and somewhere that would be low-​key on a Friday night.
I look forward to going back — it was exactly what I was looking for last night and I’m glad we didn’t judge the book by it’s cover.

My son and I went here hoping we’d discover a hole-​in-​the-​wall Mexican gem. Not so much. The place was empty and was very low rent, which can be a sign of amazing food, but again not so much. My iced tea had a funny taste. I get tea everywhere and I know it can taste many different ways but never quite like this. We ordered the Queso dip (cheese dip) and this is exactly what it was just melted cheese that had a bit of mexican flavor but no chili’s, tomatoes, or anything else. Tasted OK, but seemed canned.
I had the chicken chimi (the waitress recommended the verde) and it was full of chicken that clearly tasted like it had just been taken on the bone, so that was a plus. But the sauce and beans were OK. The rice was hard and dry. The chimi itself was decent.
My son had the steak quesadillas and said the meat was almost like a steak ‘em in texture and was chewy. He opted not to take his leftovers home.
It seems family owned as it seemed the husband did the cooking, the wife took the orders and a small boy was trying to keep occupied. I really wish I could recommend it and look forward to going back, but I can’t.

Always delicious, always authentic! Tonight, for Cinco de Mayo, they are having a mariachi singer. It’s the kind of place where the local Mexicans go. If you want the real deal, cooked like they cook it back home, this is the place!
Try the chimichanga, and while you’re waiting, get some of their home-​made thick, fresh corn chips at the chip bar!

I’ve recently moved to a new part of St. Pete and noticed this place while driving back and forth from my old house. There was a BBQ pit outside which was like the Star of Bethlehem for foodies. I HAD to go there and try it.
The outside had all the signs of an awesome local spot, and even the inside, with its outdated décor and tables… this was gonna be good. This was the new hole-​in-​the-​wall place I’ve been looking for.
During lunch, you get your own chips and salsa from a small buffet-​style table. All you can eat. The waitress spoke little English (awesome…the check marks are going off in my head). She was very nice and took our order. They have a combo plate that deceivingly looks like you get 6 items: chile rellena, mini burrito, tamale, tostada, taco, and enchilada… however of those, you can only pick 3. Done deal, between my buddy and I, we ordered all 6 things to split ($ 9.25/each). My other friend ordered the chicken enchiladas. Both come with rice and beans.
All the stars were aligned and we were ready to be taken on a magical journey where if we closed our eyes, we’d be in Mexico at a little place along the street. Sadly however, when our food came and we opened our eyes, there was little to be excited about.
The rice and beans… these were standard Mexican fare, nothing special but also looked like they’d been under a heat-​lamp for awhile. Not bad by any means, just average. What you would expect really from any run-​of-​the-​mill Mexican establishment.
The combo plates that we split did have a few standouts: the tostada was AMAZING and the beef taco was tasty, well seasoned. and fell apart. The chicken in the chicken enchilada looked like it was freshly cut from a larger piece of chicken and tasted fresh and juicy. That my friends, was about it that was noteworthy. Everything else was on or sub-​par with any other Mexican restaurant.
(Pics of everything added)
With Señor Taco (
) and Mexico Lindo (
) pretty much equidistant to me, I don’t see any reason for me to go back. Again, not saying it was bad, just… average.
Asi es la Vida.

Evidently at one time (at least 2005 according to a very favorable Tampa Bay Times review that year), El Toro Negro was a restaurant and bodega (Hispanic grocery) serving up excellent, authentic Mexican food. Now ETN has migrated to a large restaurant, still offering Mexican fare.
This place is big with lots of booths, but there were only 4 tables (including mine) occupied during lunch hour.
I ordered the chicken enchilada good, 2 carnitas tacos and an icy cold Bohemia Mexican beer. The enchilada was good, and the carnitas tacos was ok but very fatty (a big turn off for me). The tacos were also a bit too wet (lots of juice pouring out), and manufactured tortillas delivered up too much tortilla flavor, overwhelming the meat taste. Authentic tacos require site/​home-​made tortillas cooked fresh before serving. Packaged tortillas just don’t cut it.
The saving grace was the icy cold Bohemia, which can salvage even the most average lunch… and in this case, El Toro Negra was just average.
Atmosphere: 3
Service: 4
Food: 3
Value: 3

Im going four stars on this one. simply bc its what I hoped it would be…
My waitress spoke just enough English to get my order. If she spoke more than that, she wasnt letting me know it.
I ordered the enchilada, tamale and rice lunch combo. Under $ 6. And there were at least ten other choices under $ 6 on the lunch specials menu.
While I waited for my lunch, I checked out their self-​serve chips and salsa area. Not bad. They were out of the medium salsa so I just mixed salsa verde with mild red. The chips were really good. They were different than tortilla chips Ive had in the past, probably bc they make them in house. Im not sure, but I liked them.
My lunch came and I was immediately happy. Theres just something about a tamale wrapped in a corn husk that stikes a chord with me. Its natural. How it was meant to be. Only a plantain wrap could be better. I got the pork enchilada. So good. The rice was light and fluffy. Not dry like some places serve it. At this moment, all was good in the world.
I highly recommend this place if youre into a hole in the wall, authentic experience. If youre looking for shiny and commercial, go elsewhere.

If you are not comfortable with «rustic» dining, you may want to give this place a pass. This is not a premium dining experience where hot 20-​year old college students serve raspberry-​chipotle duck enchiladas and 10 dollar mojitos. It’s an extremely basic Mexican kitchen.
I really liked the ‘self-​serve’ chips & salsa bar, with 3 salsa options of varying heat levels. The salsas were pretty good, though odd in some undefinable way. I found the green (medium) to be the best. The bar itself was very stark and third-​worldy — which I find a plus. The chips were AWESOME, and obviously house-​made.
We got what can only be described as a «bathtub» of yellow queso for dipping. Probably the largest 2.99 side of queso I have ever seen. It was a tad velveeta-​esque though — but mixing in green salsa with it made it quite decent. I ate it somewhat shamefully.
The «burrito grande» (at 6.25) is simply a damn killer deal, with your choice of meat. It comes stuffed with rice and beans as well (see photo I uploaded) and is the size of a small football or newborn baby. The chicken was GOOD. Beans and rice were plain, but hearty — and also good. BEWARE THE CILANTRO! They toss in a swart handful. You can have it smothered in green or red salsa, I got the green and it was ok.
The tables are a bit sticky, and you may be nearly alone in the cavernous dining room (except for the staff and their family) — but the service was friendly and the food was cheap and satisfying. A-​OK. I had visions of getting a plain (non smothered) burrito grande to go, then taking it home and using some special mango habanero salsa on it, as well as some shredded pepper jack. You could feed two people for 6.25.