El Toro Loco

I love El Toro.
It’s consistent, fast, a good price, and the people who work here are so nice. You can always find parking & it’s in a great location.
Sure, there are other places in RVA with some slightly better dishes. Some other places might have better décor. But you really can’t beat El Toro in the «all-​around» category.
They’ve been closed for a couple of weeks for remodeling. I can’t wait ’til they re-​open.

Best Mexican for its price in Richmond! Good fast food with friendly service ! Great cheese dip and they have white sauce it you ask for it!

Pretty average mexican. Food was nothing special. The guacamole was well below average.
Found a guy vomiting in the restroom… doesn’t fill you with confidence or make you feel very optimistic about your imminent meal…

We had just been in a very toney olive oil and flavored-​vinegar shop in Short Pump where the suave and gentile owner recommended a «great Mexican restaurant.» We jumped at the chance for a local fare recommendation from someone whose credentials seemed unimpeachable.
My wife and I are both fairly-​good cooks and our general rule is that when we eat out, the food should either be better than what we can do; or that, at least, it should be a more cost-​effective use of our time, based on our time being worth $ 25 per hour with approximately 1.5 to 2 person hours involved and $ 20 worth of meat, vegetables, tequila and rice. There is no way either my wife nor I could have made worse, more-​insipid nachos. They were virtually monochromatic and bathed in some kind of white fatty substance. An absolute, immediate turn-​off! The Margaritas were OK, decently-​priced and generous in size. But you can do this at home with cheap tequila and frozen Margarita mix.
We split an order of beef fajitas. The meat was flavorless and a little tough while the guacamole was uninspiring and felt a little tired. Our meal with two large margaritas was only about $ 34 which mitigated my disappointment somewhat.
Service was fair; but our waitress never asked us about how the food was — as I generally expect. Had she done so, I would have told her. I do not think we will return. And if we did, it would likely be only for Margaritas and maybe fajitas if really hungry.
It was a Memorial Day weekend and maybe the A Team was not there. Maybe other dishes are terrific and maybe we should give them a second chance. But not any time soon…

This place is so authentic I worry about getting attacked by a Chupacabra on the way to the bathroom! The food and service are great. The grande margaritas are also a really good deal. Definitely my top choice for Mexican in the Richmond area.

The wife & I occasionally stop in for lunch. Yes, as other reviews have pointed out, this is Mexican food heavily «gringoized.» That means the authenticity has been muted to match the oversensitive taste buds of us wimpish Americanos.
YET – the service is friendly and accurate, the delivery is swift (do they have a Tardis in the kitchen?), and the food is Good Value For The Money.
Also, they regularly include coupons in the monthly Valpak mailing. Use them!
Because of the Americanization of the food, I’d give this place 3 stars. Because of the people working the place, and because of the value you get, four stars it is!

Hey if you see my other reviews and I really like authentic fplaces and this is not one of them but the food is a good value the service is always nice, and they get you in and out very quickly.
So if you’re not hung up on something being authentic and you’re in a rush and want a good value and definitely try this place out the beer is cold the margaritas are big and the servings are ample but its not authentic what would be my preference yet I still go here my wife really likes it.

I kept seeing a coupon for this place come up in the Valpak mailings, so it was high time to give this place a try. Let me just say, I was NOT disappointed. This place is now my favorite Mexican spot in Richmond.
Came here with a lady friend yesterday. She’s a particular fan of Mexican food, so we decided to venture beyond Little Mexico and try something new. With coupon in hand, we came here and things just kept going well.
Parking is easy and ample (you will never have to hunt for a space here ever). The inside of the restaurant is very attractive and clean, with a traditional dress on the wall inside the entrance and festive sombreros throughout. The service was friendly and cooperative (they frequently helped each other out), not to mention speedy and attentive. While I did come on a Wednesday, it was at what should have been peak dinner hours, though things were still very quiet.
The chips and salsa they bring to your table is great, and the salsa is clearly homemade. Plenty to choose from on the menu, and while they do have the «paint by numbers» standard offerings, they also have some unique ones, like «Camerones del Diablo» (or something like that); anything that has «shrimp» and «devil» in the same sentence is reason enough for me to order it! We still had room after our entrees, so we opted for one of their unique desserts. Can’t quite recall the name of it, though it was fried ice cream in a delicious tortilla shell with whipped cream on top. I’d go back just for the dessert, it was that amazing.
As I mentioned, I had a coupon (buy one entrée, get one half off, they send them out in ValPak all the time, look for it), which made an already affordable dinner even cheaper. I’m a good tipper, and I still made it out of there for less than $ 20 altogether.
I seriously can’t find anything bad to say about this place. If you are in the mood for Mexican, this place should be your go-​to, no compromises necessary.
Overall: 5.0 stars
— — — — —
Pros:
— GREAT food, ranks as one of the best places for Mexican food.
— Parking is GUARANTEED and easy to use.
— Value is really good, and coupons make it even more so.
— Service is both attentive, speedy, and team-​oriented.
Cons:
— I just wish this place was next to my apartment! Still, it’s right off Broad street, so it’s still accessible to anyone willing to drive a bit.

This is pretty much your typical heavily-​sauced Americanized «Mexican» food. Nothing tasted fresh or homemade. Everything was ridiculously fast. The décor was a little rundown. The chips were thin and cheap (pretty sure they were those 99 cent bag of store chips that makes you wish you’d really splurged and just gone ahead and bought Tostitos… but you were trying to save a couple bucks instead and your taste-​buds paid for it) and the salsa was watery and thin. The service was good… attentive, fast, etc…
Good place for a quick, bland bite.
We hit up Krispy Kreme for dessert afterwards because we were on a «bad decision» kick.