El Torito

My babe just adores Mexican food and after a long day of exploring Redondo Beach we stopped here for dinner and drinks. Loved it. Service was excellent and waiter was on top of it all. Food and drinks were great. I highly recommend the white house sangria. Delish!

First time at El Torito and the food wasn’t good at all, very bad Mexican food imitation and the alcohol drinks weren’t great either. The service was really good and very friendly but that’s were it all ends. I will not be going to any El Torito locations ever again.

I went this afternoon to order ‘to go’…I waited and waited (10mins) in the lobby area; nobody came, so I left. Bad business.

I have never liked El Torito’s but my friend insists on going here every time we go to lunch. We tried this one as she thought it might be better. She was wrong. The hostess and manager were very nice. The server was nice but I could hardly understand him. My friend chose the buffet. It was a joke. They had at least 10 empty bowls on it. The server said they leave it like that because it’s set up for the Sunday brunch. The table only had about ¼ filled with food and that food was steam table and dried out. I ordered off the menu. I had a chili relleno and an enchiladas. It was fine. I know that I’m not going to like a place when I can’t find anything on the menu I like. I am putting my foot down and refusing to go with my friend to this restaurant ever again. They should be ashamed of the buffet.

Took my parents for Sunday brunch, it was early and there weren’t many people there yet. We were all pleasantly surprised by the buffet brunch offerings, seems to have improved/​gotten a larger selection (although, I hadn’t been there in over 4 years). They had an omelette bar, taco bar, salad bar, breakfast staples, ceviche, and dessert area. We had a great time and I enjoyed the food. Our server was friendly and attentive.

I always enjoy this El Torito. I usually sit in the bar area because it’s never crowded and I can choose my own seat. The servers in the bar aren’t as attentive as I would like but they are always friendly. They are usually spread a little thin so I do give them the benefit of the doubt. The margaritas are great and the food is tasty. And this is the only place that I know of in the South Bay Area that has an all night happy hour, Mon-​Fri, 2pm-​close. Happy Hour is my favorite hour.

The wife and I just came from this restaurant and the Sunday brunch. Having been avid connoisseurs of the Acapulco buffet, and although they are under the same corporate banner, this was the best Mexican buffet that was actually worth the $ 46.00!
The fare is flavorful and filling. The pozole was almost as good as my own recipe.
Try it, you’ll like it!
Also, bottomless mimosas! Can’t ask for more!

We were in the neighborhood and had a gift card from Christmas, so we popped in for a late lunch/​early dinner.
My husband and I were seated fairly quickly. It took a bit of time for someone to stop by the table, but once our server arrived, we had great service.
Our waitress was friendly and efficient. We were surprised by how quickly our food came out. The food was typical El Torito food, it’s chain Mexican, but it’s tasty. The water refills came quickly, my husband always appreciates that.
We were there around 3:45 PM on a Sunday and parking didn’t seem to be much of an issue finding a spot. In fact, the restaurant was on the quiet side at that time.

Went on Christmas Day for the buffet. Won’t go again. Maybe we went on the wrong day or maybe this is how the buffet is!
Service people were all great and courteous. I’d give them 5 stars.
The food was a BIG disappointment, and we were more disappointed when we had to pay the bill…$ 25.00 per person because it was a Holiday!
Wished we had gone for fast food burgers!
Chicken was very hard, could not chew it! Tasted like rubber. Very old, overcooked or heated several times!
Roasted beef was very red in the center. The well cooked parts tasted awful.
Despite the fact we were very hungry, yet we could not eat nor enjoy anything!
We filled ourselves with tortilla soup and salad!
Hope the management will look into this and make necessary changes.

This place used to serve at least «okay» Mexican food. Last night’s visit was officially my last. I don’t know what happen, but the food was really awful.
The once sizzling steak fajitas turned into semi-​warm tiny portioned amount of strange tasting meat… was it meat? I don’t really know, maybe it was the so-​called «garlic butter» they drizzled over it. It was definitely not appealing. The portions of rice and beans were so tiny, it was like baby food jar size. My mom and I used to split the fajitas and have left overs. Now, the price has gone up considerably, ($ 17) with baby size portions. We went in for her birthday because they offered a free entrée and it didn’t even cover the entire cost of it, they are so cheap. It was up to a $ 12.99 entrée. The chicken tortilla chip was also a decreased portion for the cup size and it was more like over load on the «tortilla» soup. My water even tasted odd, like cleaning solution.

I didn’t starve, or throw up yet. The Donald would say some hateful words if he ate here. The waiter was kind. He tried hard. But the chips were greasy, the Salsa bland… And there wasnt much memorable about the food. Well, the beans were good and the tortillas too. The flan… Some of it looked good. What other people had, that is. Mine was so over cooked that it tasted nasty. I ate only one lick of a spoon and pushed it away. Now I’m craving flan. Sure wish mine was edible.

The food here was horrible, the quality, the taste, the food was cold, the meats were dry and old and the service was horrible. I deeply regret bringing my family here and paying $ 20 per person for the breakfast buffet

This El Torrito was horrible.
Let’s start with the workers: h-​o-​r-​r-​i-​b-​l-​e. They ignored us when we walked in which was instantly insulting. When they asked us where we wanted to sit, they said no to everywhere we suggested until finally another worker came over and suggested a place we could finally sit. The obvious thing to do would be to explain to the customers the area in which they could sit and why but I guess that just didn’t cross her mind. They didn’t check on us until my friend had to get up and find someone for the bill. They paid so little attention we could have just walk out. We were sitting by the door, after all.
And now the food. The salsa tasted like peppered water with some tomatoes thrown in. The salad I ordered was so horrible, but I don’t like to give people a hard time so I ate it anyways. But after eating half I begged my friend not to make me eat anymore since he was paying. It was gross. My friend didn’t want to talk to me after because he was so disgusted.
If you want to go to El Torrito go to the Torrance one, though that one isn’t so great either. Still, at least the food will be better there.

Service here is typically slow.
Usually the place is not crowded at all but we always have to wait for a host/​hostess to seat us because there isn’t anyone around. Once we get someone’s attention they seat us.
The manager pushes people to sign up for the Iphone App for this restaurant to get a discount. I would strongly advise not signing up because you are then bombarded with SPAM emails from El Torito that you can’t get out of. It’s not worth it.
The food is average at best.
The all you can eat bar at lunch is just okay. The food is sometimes old and dry and you need to tell the staff when something runs out or they won’t check.
Finally, it takes a long time to get your check at the end. At least 15 minutes not counting the time it takes to find anyone to tell them you want the check.
Not good.

We were there on Sunday. The food was good. Nice assortment for brunch. The service was below average. It took us over 15 minutes just to get our check.
$ 17.99 for adults.
$ 6.99 for kids.

Excellent experience with Jorge our waiter. So much nicer than the el torito we visited recently in Hawthorne. Jorge divided the salad before he brought to the table as we wanted to share. Fajitas came sizzling to the table as they are supposed to. He checked in with us several times during the meal to make sure everything was okay. Food was very good. Will definitely go back.

Pretty disappointed, my first time here, its the last one as well, Carne Asda was chewy, kids chicken tender not tasty, food came late resturant was not busy,

Great service, the hostess was friendly, our bartender/​server was awesome and everything came out very fast. Our margaritas were tasty and so were our flautas! We will come back again. Fun atmosphere.

Ok so this place gets a solid 3.9 stars for a few reasons.
First, we love the food. I recommend the fajitas… So delish. But you have to ask for plates because they don’t bring them with the fajita pan for some reason.
Second… The older Mexican guys that serve our table all the time are AWESOME. Service is great. Very happy, friendly people and very efficient with our orders!
We did go in one time where the hostess sat us in a section that another girl was serving and nobody came to even greet us for over 25 minutes and we had a baby with us… BUT they were quick to recover from their mistake with free guacamole and very fast service for the rest of the evening after that.
Other than that one time, my husband and I have been very pleased with this place as a casual, laid back family Mexican restaurant and will most definitely be back.

All I can say is what the efff? Hostess full of attitude dropped menus on table and walked away before our butts even hit the chair. Got beers 15 – 20 minutes in. Kept walking away before we could place our food order. Finally took our order and 55 minutes later our food came partially warm, cheese not melted in the enchiladas, rubbery chile in the relleno, waiter never returned except to offer us desert, after the manager offered to comp our food. We said «um, no.»
Three other tables and staff walking around doing something, not sure what.
At least we didn’t have to pay I guess but wasted our one night we had for a quick date. We knew it’s chain restaurant food but once again, what the eff?