Toro Sushi Bar & Lounge

So, I celebrated my bday here, october 2011. I thought i posted this then, but i noticed it was in my drafts. So this is from 2011. Great. So let me start by saying. Eh, i dunno. Umm sushi was really good. But i came with a large group and they charged me extra just for having a large group. They advertise friday nights sushi/​dj/​lounge/​dancing but it was pretty empty. My group and like maybe 10 other people were there the entire night. Dj was good though.

The yakisoba was too sweet.
I try the roll of the week every chance I get and haven’t been disappointed yet. The bonus is you save a few bucks while trying something new.
Windows are blacked out so you get privacy for the night life. This place offers live music and dancing. Just not sure when and what time. it’s listed in the restaurant.
The service here is very friendly.

Love love love love this place f$&& the haters!

I came in here strictly for two things after seeing the menu online. The yellowtail carpaccio and the oysters. Came in on a Monday about 6:30pm. Sat at the bar (there was no one at the bar). I saw 3 people at the sushi bar, and a handful of people at tables. They were out of oysters. WTF? So I changed up to the seared garlic white tuna. Both were unimpressive. The ‘seared’ garlic white tuna was not seared at all, but was cooked through and warm, on a bed of fake crab. It wasn’t terrible, but not nearly what I was expecting. It wasn’t seared, and I didn’t detect any garlic (and I love garlic). The yellowtail carpaccio was pretty standard. Cilantro, slice of jalapeño, sriracha, and ponzu. I get the impression this is more of a night life kind of place. What really irked me was I sitting at the bar watching the Red Sox playoff game, and 3 Dodger fans come in wearing Kershaw jerseys. One of them (with 2ft dreadlocks), who may have been a part owner or just a regular who knows everyone, grabbed the TV remote and put both TV’s on Dodger game. What an ass.

Really good sushi… For being in the IE
We had the classics, spider and caterpillar roll which were decent. But we also tried something different, the Moun-​10, which was different, yet very good; and the Hawaiian something (the one that they light up), that was my favorite of the night.
I had a drink, Finding Nemo; though I never found him :[.
Another plus is he great service we got!
If I’m ever in the area and craving sushi, I will definitely come back.

Not one of my favorites, but I’m glad I got to check it out with my hubby. Started off with a Finding Nemo and Lime Mojito. Both were really good! But I prefer the Mojito over the Finding Nemo.
I had the Colorado Classic and Dynamite Mussels. The mussels are delicious! The Colorado Classic was all right. In hindsight, I probably would have enjoyed the Tuna Tataki more.
My hubby got the Chiliyaki Wings; I highly recommend! Best part of the meal and discounted during Happy Hour! He also had the Ginger Beef with seasoned vegetables:
Zucchini, onion, broccoli, and mushroom. It was pretty good.
Despite the fish, I will be back… For the Happy Ending!!! It’s our new favorite dessert from any restaurant! Tempura-​fried Oreo ice cream sandwich: D To make things even sweeter, I got it for free by checking in. So don’t forget to check in! They may have other sweet deals available!

Chiliyaki Chicken Wings — Really good!
Toro Trio Appetizer — subpar and lacking
MOUN-​10 roll — good but nothing great.
Super Diablo Roll — topped with langostino and set on fire tableside. It was too salty. I could barely eat it.
Salmon Skin Handroll — meh, just ok.
If you check in on Unilocal,you can get a free dessert called Happy Ending. I think it was deep fried Oreos with ice cream. It was pretty good.
Service was ok. Overall, the food was average. So many way better sushi restaurants out there.

I don’t even know where to start! This place is the worst sushi bar ever. Unilocal has no idea how much a regret to come here.
First off, took my bf here for his bday, this wasnt just a date night. There were 12 – 15 people that came with us. Had reservations for 8 ish 830. Yes. Came late. But when we walked in are table was already set up. Idk, why we were waiting for 25 minutes. Whatever. We sat down 15 people, we got 3 ginger and wasabi plates, 3 menus. What the fuck ?! How we all ganna divide small quartered sized wasabi or ginger between us many people. Besides the point, the waiter was so bad. Didnt want to even do a sake bomb with us. Her words «I’m sorry we don’t do those, you can do them with your group» WOW!
The sushi was okay, nothing special, especially because they were so small. I know better rolls that can satisfy my hunger
You don’t come here. Plz, plz. Save your money!
I wish I would of read all the reviews before coming here. But my bf knows I did this dinner for him, so that’s the best that came from here.
P.s they will charge you a service charge for shitty service. I promise you this place sucks ass. Maybe the night club is good but fuck, this place. Waste of 63 bucks.

Price is reasonable. I love the presentation of food and fresh fish!!!
Owners are so friendly and so is the staff!!!

I came here for dinner with a girlfriend. It seems like this striving for the classy, nightclub concept you would get in Hollywood… in the city Ontario right by the 10 freeway? I say this because there is already security in front of the establishment, a weird bar setup right when you walk in, bad top 40s music on max volume so you can’t even have a real convo over dinner –_​-​, and dim lighting so you don’t see the bad paint job on the walls, lol.
My friend and I sat at the bar and we ordered 2 sushi rolls and shared between the two of us. The sushi was mediocre at best. Pricing was okay. I think the highlight of my meal there was the free ice cream at the end (when you check in on Unilocal!). Deep fried oreos with ice cream… so good lol.
Other than that, it was just a weird restaurant to visit.

I love me some SUSHU, SAKE, and UNI!
This place covered my palate.
We came here during happy hour and ordered
$ 1 — Edamame
$ 3 — Gyoza
$ 4 — Seaweed Salad
Chilliyaki wings (FAIL — they were out)
$ 7 — Tuna Tataki Carpaccio (AWESOME!!)
$ 7 — Albacore Carpaccio (AWESOME!!)
a bunch of $ 1 hot sake & a bunch of $ 2 sake bombs
Thanks to Unilocal,we were given a FREE HAPPY ENDING! oh man! ORGASM to the fullest!!!
Thanks TORO, I WILL BE BACK AGAIN! Hopefully I can score another FREE HAPPY ENDING: P

Went here on a Sunday for happy hour.
the wife and I made our way through the happy hour menu and ordered a few hot, cold and sahimi. Everything had that «not quite right» taste to it.
We figured it might be just the happy hour menu so we ordered a few rolls from the standard menu… still something tasted off and sorta foul.
Well…later that evening the wife and I paid for our sushi sins and continued to pay for it over the next three days.
It was so unpleasant that I find myself physically flipping this place off whenever I drive by.

This restaurant pretty much solidify my beliefs about why no one should eat sushi
in the IE. I know I’ll be getting a lot of slacks for this, but I need to warn someone, ANYONE about staying away from this establishment.
Hawaiian Volcano — Cali roll topped with a lot of dynamite sauce. Lacking flavor and dull! Don’t let a sizzling plate and fire fool you into ordering it unless you want to pay $ 12+ for mediocre cali roll slather with spicy mayo.
Any Rolls — Ever wonder why rolls are so cheap? Because they use really old pieces of fish! I ordered a couple of things not even worth mentioning, but what stuck in my head was how brown their tuna looked. Salmon so slimey I can’t just can’t take another bite.
The only sushi I ordered was Uni, which was surprisingly fresh and not that bad at all.
Waitresses aim to please but slow. I hope their Pasadena location is better.

This was our first visit at the new Toro location in Ontario, California. We had a discount coupon and a Unilocal offer thanking us for visiting. However, the waitress would not allow us to use the Unilocal «thank you» with our coupon. In addition, the waitress did not know the prices of the standard drinks, including the beer. Perhaps she was new.
Anyway, the food met our expectations, and the ambiance was trendy. Overall, it was okay but we will be going to our regular spots where the staff is familiar with the menu and prices.

Let me start out with the positive, the owners and the wait staff, LOVE them. They really made me and one of my best girls, feel like VIPs. We suspect they suspected we were either food bloggers or food critics, or maybe they just are cool people. Either way, they rock.
The food?! Well although fresh and delicious, was rather overpriced and inauthentic for sushi. And, while I get this place is going for (maybe) originality, eclectic, and/​or a hipster type feel, the price of food just didn’t vibe with the décor and ambiance. I’ll get to that later.
The negatives:
1. The décor needs a serious upgrade. My friend and I walked in and almost walked right back out. For one, it’s totally not a lounge. Two, it could be much cleaner. Oh, and the bathroom. *sigh*
2. At around 9:30 o 10 it converts to a «club» with DJ. That’s cool and all, but again the space is not set up correctly to be a lounge or converted club. Also, the people were an interesting mix. You had your Cha-​Cha Mamas, old cat daddies, Asian hipsters, & eses/​cholos (my Cali peeps know what I’m talking about). Just a random mix of people.
3. You aren’t allowed glass drinks once the restaurant converts to a «club.» That right there should tell you what type of place you’re working with.
4. There bar drinks are super weak and the presentation is lacking. I ordered Lemon Drops and they were merely Lemon Drop shots served in a beer cup. *shudder*
All in all this isn’t a place I’d come back too. But, I guess if you’re a youngin (or a person not really used to certain things) this would be an OK kicking spot. I just can’t do it.

9.10.11 So I bought a
certificate and it’s because the reviews were actually decent. Boy… was these people super wrong. First we ordered the Agedashi Tofu. They were supposed to serve it in tempura sauce; well the sauce they gave me was extremely something else. I thought maybe the girl made a mistake so I asked for another bowl of sauce and once again it was the same thing and it tasted like soy sauce. I forgot to mention that it took 35 – 40 minutes to get this one dish. About 55 minutes later we got the rest of our order.
Everything was decent we ordered the sashimi plate, miso cod and some other side dishes. Nothing spectacular except for their service, our waters were constantly refilled with no questions asked. All the staff who passed by our tables took away empty dishes. It was a great team work environment. However the food is not up to par. The last thing we ordered was Toro. Yup it is a fish and a name of the restaurant. It was expensive and super gross! I was highly disappointed. I would not come here again because the wait was way too long. I’m not sure why the sushi chefs were taking awhile. I could see that they were working hard, but I would not wait 1 hour for my food to come.
The place became a bar/​clubish type place at night. The bar area is way too small to have anyone actually lounge around. They do have a patio but it was cold outside. Overall just two stars.

Great place! Our Server Jenni was really friendly and suggested some great sushi pieces to try off their Happy Hour Menu. We walked away eating almost everything off that menu and it was some good stuff and so cheap. My favorite was the Albacore and Salmon Carpaccio. Also some deep fried sushi dish we tried had some really nice flavors going on, and though we don’t normally order deep fried sushi of any kind this was great. The TNA roll– spicy tuna with a piece of albacore on top was so tasty, and spicy. Our waiter gave us a Happy Ending with a deep fried twinkie in some ice cream… holy cow that was insane good. It was quiet inside with dim lighting makes for a nice atmosphere. We also got 1 dollar Sake off the happy hour menu… okay so we order several bottles of this stuff for the price I’m not going to complain… :) $ 2 dollar sake bombs too! Great Selection of beer on the happy hour menu too. Monkey Balls appetizer– (despite the crazy name of this dish it was sooooo good!) Definitely try it.
I’ve been here one time before when they had loud music playing and the waiter told us they do that on Friday nights and the weekends, which is nice if your there with friends for drinks and sushi and looking for a lively atmosphere. They have a bar area opposite side of the seating area.

Was looking for a good sushi restaurant to have my birthday dinner at in a few weeks and from Unilocaling I saw this had high reviews and decided to give it a shot to see for myself. That was an extremely smart choice given the overall opinion of Toro!
The outside is very inviting and at first reminds me of RA, but hey don’t judge a book by the cover right?
Menu wise, between myself and the wife we consumed the calamari, rock n roll roll, # 32 roll, diablo roll, and godzilla roll. Altogether about $ 65 worth of damage which was less than I expected.
They are very generous portions for the price, but the quality of the food in the end just wasn’t there. My wife picked up a few pieces of sushi back to back and they fell apart. In any sushi restaurant to me that is a red flag for disaster. I encountered falling sushi as well when I dipped it into soy sauce with my chop sticks. I have never been FORCED to use a fork to pick up crumbled remains of sushi, but today was a meal of firsts.
I felt the calamari was rubbery and it was brought out cold which bothered me initially. the rock n roll roll was saved by the cream cheese which was very very odd to think out loud. Another low point was the rice (at least for me). It looked like they use small grains and the appearance of the rolls felt like I was eating Uncle Ben’s from an aisle of Costco.
I guess from reading the numerous reviews before me it works for some, but needless to say Toro will not be seeing me back in the seats anytime soon. I wanted this to work, but c’est la vie!

Came here again because I felt like some sushi and drinks, was looking forward to HH prices, but were told we had to sit at the bar, which we did not feel like doing and the HH deals were not good enough to make change our minds. We printed the certificate so we got hooked up with a sake bomb each, love free booze, and a happy ending after dinner. The gf got a dirty martini, which was not very dirty but came with 4 olives, for $ 4 they gave us the HH price, I got a large Sapporo $ 7.
We got the Salmon Asparagus Roll, very good got it last time too, the Toro Taco, which is like a low carb sushi it had a shrimp tampura, spicy tuna and some other fish wrapped in lettuce it seemed more like and appetizer and it was alright both were $ 8. We also got a Super Diablo Roll $ 16.50 its pretty good if you like your sushi fried and Americanised which I do enjoy. The service was pretty good, asked for some extra wasabi, and they brought me quite a bit in a bowl.
Ended the night with a free Happy ending, got a pic of it
Remember to print a certificate $ 14.50 value for us because of the 2 sake bombs $ 5 each and the $ 4.50 happy ending. Why can’t really happy endings only cost $ 4.50?

WOW — went to this place on the recommendation of the hotel I am staying at and they hit it dead on. There were 4 of us and we each picked a roll to share. Usually rolls come in 6 — 8 pieces but these were huge. We ordered the following:
Langostino Roll (served flaming — an interesting touch)
B-​Rad Roll (my choice — I love unagi)
Greenbay Roll (never had sushi with lemon but it added a nice contrast)
Loveulongtime Roll (I think this one was picked because of the name!)
They were all incredible! The Langostino Roll was probably the hit of the 4. I would definitely recommend this place. I am not usually a fan of ginger — but I tried it here and I think they have created a convert.