El Torito

The last time I went to this restaurant — the food was TERRIBLE — and I never went back. I just read that they CLOSED. Good Riddance!!!

I had such a great time tonight with my little one! The food was awesome, but it was all about the service! Edwin was my server who made sure I had everything I needed. And as my 5 year old pointed out, he was really fast! Always seemed to know when to drop by the table. And the little hostess Lilliana chatted with us and went above and beyond her job to grab us chips when she saw the bowl was empty. Very impressed. Thank you guys for a great dining experience and we will be back!

Great experience. It’s been years since I had eaten at an El Torito. They totally reinvented themselves. Considering that I’m a Mexican food snob I was very content. From the prompt greeting to the manager introducing herself it was a great experience considering the day I was having. I have a kiddo with food allergies and when asked to modify the item we ordered (which I’m always embarrassed to do) they had no problem accommodating that. I asked to speak to the chef (Willie) to thank him and he came over and introduced himself. The Shrimp Fajitas and Steak Fajitas were on point. They even made me a custom habanero salsa to pair with my meal. Drinks were nice tasty and strong and everyone was super friendly. If you want a great family experience with hard working people who care about what they do check out El Torito in Oxnard and ask to meet Willie!

Service good, food .so bad, brunch terrible, quality sucks. Need better management to have better quality of food. I won’t come back for brunch

Love coming here with my little family. Good food and good drinks! They have added a lot of new items to their menu

It’s like going to a friends house who microwaves his leftovers from that one Mexican place outside the local dive bar, that only gets business between 1am and 3am, because you have to be really really drunk to like it.

This is absolutely the worst El Torito I have ever been to! I stopped there for dinner one night on my way back from LA and the service and food were so bad I almost walked out. I ordered two enchiladas and it took 45 minutes. My friend ordered a salad and it looked like they had dropped the salad on the ground and then threw it back on the plate.
The enchiladas tasted like rubber and they were cold. There was no one in the restaurant besides one family at a table and one other couple. Absolutely no excuse for being so slow.
At one point a couple of guys came in that were friends with one of the waiters. I heard the waiter tell them «don’t worry I’ll comp your meals».
When were were ready to pay their credit card machine went down. Had to wait another 20 minutes. We were in there for over an hour to eat crap food and get crap service.
I will never go back to this place again. Everything about this place was an awful experience.
Zero stars if I could!!!

Worse service ever! Didn’t have set up’s or napkins, waitress didn’t bring chips n salsa when asked ordered a appetizer and they shorted us one flauta, ordered salads w chicken, chicken was dry on both as if it was sitting and they rewarmed it up, didn’t get tortillas w dry chicken fajitas and when got them they were cold and hard, manager didn’t offer to comp anything we had to tell him we weren’t paying for 2 of the meals, he should’ve comped the whole meal, just good business but he didn’t seem to know what he was doing! Worst experience ever in a restaurant in a really long time! Don’t waste your money or time!

I came for taco Tuesday it was awesome Eric or Erin, I can’t remember his name. He was super friendly and it was by far the best service I have ever recieved. He told us about happy hour and we were sold. We kept on asking for margaritas. my friends and I will definitely be coming back for good food, service and drinks. If you ever go to this restaurant, ask for Eric and you will not be disappointed. If he is not there, just walk out.

Have been here more than my share of times for their Margarita happy hour and taco Tuesday, I haven’t been in a. While, last time was my 27^th bday, I am 30 now.
My visit back, I didn’t go for happy hour, I went because I missed my movie time, and what’s a girl to do, that to go have a bite to eat :)
Me and my friend Lala went, she ordered nachos. It was Tuesday and we’ll of course I had to enjoy their taco Tuesday.
It tool a few minutes after sitting for a waitress to come take our order. Long enough for me to look around and see if I can flag one down, but not long enough for me to Complain about it. Now, my food was fast, I got the ticket back from the waitress. And got my tacos, BUT my friends nachos tool forever.
we ordered, went to the restroom, got my tacos. Ate my tacos, and then her nachos came, now they where smaller than the last time I wad here, I had a few and they where not all that great, the tortillas chips where either stale, or I could tell they had been sitting around for a while.
I think I’ll stick to their great happy hour and great taco Tuesday!

I will never come back here. The service is horrible, the food takes way to log to come out and it would have been better to just go to Taco Bell.

I took my family for father’s day. We arrived around 1:00 we were told it would be 30 – 45 minute wait, we figured there were six of us so we waited finally 50 minutes later and probably only because my wife asked what was talking so long they sat us at a cheap temporary folding table next to the bar. We noticed many open available tables throughout the restaurant. After another longer than usual wait the waiter came up and told us this was buffet only. We looked at the buffet and noticed the food trays were mostly empty, what was there looked like it had been there all day. I heard other customers complaining. At 20 dollars per person times six of us we got up and left. Ended up having a fantastic father’s day lunch at Yolandas on Victoria. Would never come back to El Torito it’s no wonder the one in ventura closed, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see this one suffer the same fate.

Been here a bunch of times with a friend over the last 2 years. Was always good. June 8, 2015 we went for early dinner. Ordered the Fiesta Platter to share. Food was horrible… Mexico City Flautas nasty tasting (we both agreed). Cheese quesadillas had hot, spicy chili’s in them. Usually think of cheese quesadillas as pretty mild. Nachos were so so. Buffalo wings meat was dry, they were covered in sauce, as expected. We did our best to get through the meal and headed out. Service was fine, quite accommodating actually. We felt pretty disappointed and later learned via web search El Torito had a recent menu change.

I was helping a friend buy a car out here (we’re West San Fernando Valley dudes) and popped in to get lunch. Asked our waitress, Vivienne what she recommended and she said shrimp enchiladas with mac and cheese. Said it sounded weird, but she liked it (I’m not finding this on the on-​line menu). I ordered that and my friend ordered all-​you-​can eat fish tacos.
This was about 11:30 am and the place was pretty empty.
We waited about 10 minutes, working on our second helping of salsa and chips (ummm) when Vivienne comes out distressed and says, «You’re not going to believe this.» «Out of shrimp? I asked» «No, out of Mac and cheese.» «New chef, right?» I asked. «About two weeks,» she said.
A trained chef would tell the entire staff BEFORE the shift what has to be 86’d. He would not wait until something was ordered, sit on that order for quite a while making the waitress and customer wait, THEN inform her she was out of luck. So I ordered (according to the check): Ench Chilaq Chk which tasted fairly good sauce-​wise but seemed to contain mystery meat and strips of deep-​fried card board, more card board than meat. The rice was good, but was plated sloppily. The chili beans, as usual, were delicious.
My friend, seeing my long wait, preemptively ordered his next two tacos when the first ones got there. Still, it took another 15 minutes to get them.
I’ve usually liked El Torito over the years and find it’s usually mostly hit with but a few misses. This was a miss as the food service here left something to be desired.
Poor Vivienne was very apologetic and friendly, but she didn’t cook the food. Frankly, I wish she’d transfer to the Canoga Park store, we liked her that much.

My family and I stopped in to have a few drinks and an appetizer or two. Our server, Eric, was amazing! He provided EXCELLENT service and suggested options that we didn’t know of that we may (and did) enjoy.
We ordered the avocado rolls, nachos, and the free guacamole that you get when you sign up for their rewards. We tried different margaritas, but their regular house margarita on the rocks ended up being my fav.
I was also happy to see that their bathroom was pretty clean! It didn’t smell rancid, and everything was up stocked which is always nice.

If I could give no stars I would. Friday Night at 7 pm sitting in the bar and it’s empty and it takes 30 minutes to get a drink. The table next to us was empty when we got here and it still has dirty glasses plates and silverware. The waiter is trying to be nice but the bartender is so backed up the bar is even full of dirty glasses. I wouldn’t recommend the bar at all on the weekend. Very poor service. This place should be closing soon. Without the freeway advertisement, this place would already be done.

Came here for taco tuesday and I have mixed reviews. The tacos were good, the meat was very tough. Margaritas were pretty good as well. My biggest disappointment was the service. It took a while to get greeted, and when the server stopped by he simply asked if we were ready. No «hello may I get you folks a drink» or anything that would be considered an acceptable greeting. The rest of the visit seemed rushed, we were going to order dessert, but he brought out our check before I could finish my last taco.
It seemed very slow for a taco tuesday compared to other experiences at other locations, I wouldn’t be surprised if the service is the reason why.

THIS REVIEW IS FOR SUNDAY BRUNCH!
We just moved to the area from Pasadena. We sat in the bar and had Oscar both times. He is AWESOME! Never did I have an empty champagne glass nor did he rush me. I dealt with the manager (sorry, Asian fellow but don’t know his name) because I Had birthday coupon and he was Awesome and responsive and I got my discount without an issue. We have enjoyed our two experiences here and plan to come back thanks to Oscar and now his manager that worked today! Thank you!
The brunch is typical fare… but I enjoy the soup, salad and chile verde. They have a buffet that is not out of this world, but definitely enjoyable.

A little confused as to why so many people are dissatisfied with this place because for my first visit last Tuesday for «taco tues» — the food was delicious! Like many of you, it’s not just the food that needs to be good it also has to be the service, I get it. So, with that said, there was something that stuck out as soon as we walked in…
There was a hostess in the front who was getting ready to seat us, then the phone rang and she told us to «hold on» so she can answer the phone. Umm? It’s common sense to help the live body in front of you instead of answering a call– thought that was interesting. Our server was nice in letting us know bout the $ 8/​21oz yummy margarita… Very satisfying!
We proceeded with the taco special of $ 1.50 per taco in either chicken, carne asada and carnitas. This was cool because you build your own taco through a buffet style setting with different toppings. So here it is: the food is delicious!!! Very flavorful and fresh! The mini taco tortillas are fresh made on the spot– again a very nice touch. Our server checked up on us once, then didn’t see him until we asked for our check. That don’t bother much, the food was worth it.
We will mos definitely be back for future Taco Tuesdays!!! Yummmmm!

Good happy hour deals. Thursday all day special on Cadillac margarita $ 5.99. The salsa is not spicy at all and is mostly tomato. Chips are good. We were there from
3 – 4:30 and no other customers in the bar area. The drinks were pretty good. The service was good.