El Toro

The service was about average while the food was exceptional and plenty of it.

Cannot understand all the poor reviews. I go here often as its walking distance from my house, the food is stellar, they have nightly specials on margaritas or beer, and most of all the service is great. Everyone makes sure you are taken care of, not just your server, and that’s one of my favorite things about this place.

This place seems to get such mixed reviews I decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a try.
I won’t be back. The hostess acted like seating me was a huge inconvenience — she tossed a menu on a table and walked off. The waiter appeared to be alone in the dining room but did bring chips and passable salsa along with some terrible creamy mayonnaise sauce and took my drink order — came back shortly and took my order. The food came out surprisingly quickly — the carnitas were hot and tender which made separating the meat from the fat and cartilage easier — they had no taste whatsoever other than fat. The rice was good. The refried beans were ok. The guacamole was ok. The tortillas were stale. The waiter was nonexistent at this point so I picked at the meat and rice until he came back with the check. I paid and left — no thank you — no please come again. Not that I will anyway…

The staff was very nice and attentive. The food and drinks were good. I wish my burrito had been toasted a little more and that the margaritas were made fresh instead of from frozen drink machines, but they were good. The prices are good and this restaurant is definitely a good value.

This is my family’s favorite restaurant in the neighborhood! We have been coming here for the past five years. My husband loves the number one and I have a handful of meals I enjoy including the chicken tortilla soup, the tacos de carne asada, the fish tacos and the taco salad. The staff is amazing and the food is great what more could you ask for?

Great place to eat! Large menu, fast service, good margaritas and price is very reasonable!

This place always have great food and service. Their fast and friendly everytime and the prices really reasonable. I had the chips with cheese and guac with was delicious! I had the Fiesta Burrito which was huge! The only thing that made me give them a 4 was my food came out a bit after my husbands. But besides that I would definitely recommend this restaurant!

Good solid Mexican food. Was craving some and tried this place since I drive by it several days a week. The best thing on the plate was the tostaguac. Taco and chili relleno was pretty good too, though the chili itself was actually fairly tough to cut through and chew. I enjoyed it, the flavors were good, and the leftovers were good heated up.

We went to El Toro because the other restaurants we wanted to check out were closed… My friend ordered a mojito but had to send it back because it tasted like mint schnapps. The margarita that I ordered was supposed to be blended, but they served it on the rocks and I could taste the cheap tequila. Additionally, the food that came out didn’t match up with what I ordered. Ultimately, the food was not very good — it was bland and I can seriously make better Mexican food myself at home. Given a choice, I will never eat here again and definitely wouldn’t recommend it.

Much better than the Mexican Village I am used to in St. Cloud and better than any of the La Casita restaurants. I can’t say it’s 100% amazing authentic Mexican food, but it’s just as authentic as I could find in the Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, and Robbinsdale area…
The building inside is a little dark and small, but it’s nothing too intimidating. If anything it feels «homey», which I like. There’s a bar side, and a restaurant side, just like most Mexican restaurants. There’s also outside seating which is nice when it’s warm out.
They give you free chips, salsa, and sort sort of chipotle ranch sauce. I thought the ranch sauce was very strange at first. Ranch with tortilla chips? But we started sort of mixing it with the salsa they offer and now I’m a fan. It’s different, but I like it.
I always order the Ranchero Quesadilla with steak. MMMMM. The tortilla is crispy, the cheese is melty, and there’s also peppers, onions, and the steak inside, and you get quite a bit! I can never quite finish the last slice of quesadilla.
My boyfriend always orders the Chipotle Burrito (not sure if that’s really what it’s called… but it’s something like that.) It’s a gigantic burrito, about the size of a small child, haha. It’s covered in this amazing thick, creamy, chipotle, sauce. It’s not extremely spicy but it’s got a faint heat. He loves it. That and a beer. :-)
We will definitely be back.

We went here because the pizza place down the street was too obnoxious. The fajitas were bland, shrimp tasted like they came out of a fish tank & the Mexican beers were priced like craft beers. Service was fair to poor. I would not recommend this place.

In rating «El Toro Robbinsdale», I am wavering between 3 and 4 stars. Overall, if I was craving Mexican food and was nearby, I wouldn’t hesitate to go again, and may even recommend it as a good option. However, it was the friendly and quick service that tipped my review from 3 to 4 stars.
Positives:
Good service. Quick service. I enjoyed my dish: El Toro Loco — chicken and shrimp with veggies and cheese on top — and felt it was all very flavorful. The side beans were also some of the most flavorful I’ve had.
Meh:
While I enjoyed my dish, my husband was not as satisfied with his Pollo Asado — he says it lacked flavor and he’d rather go elsewhere. We also weren’t wow’ed by the chips and salsa — again, have had better elsewhere. The salsa was fresh and had a good taste, but we needed to spice it up with some hot sauce.
The place was quite busy today even around 5pm — always a good sign. We may go again, and will probably try a few different dishes next time to get a better sense of how good the food really is here.

The margaritas are excellent, and I love their rice!
My only complaint was the «cheese» enchilada. Upon biting into it, I discovered that it was filled with melted Kraft American Singles. Come on, even when I make an enchilada at home in the microwave I at least use real cheese. When I go to a restaurant I expect quality.
I would probably come back here for margaritas again, but I’m a little wary to try other menu items.

There’s a lot of hype around town about this restaurant being so great, but I can’t muster more than a meh.
Food is standard Americanized Mexican food. Salsas are bland and what’s with the miracle whip flavored dip they serve with the chips? I don’t understand it. I’ve eaten here 3 times over the course of 2 years and I’ve never been bowled over with joy by the food I’ve been served here. Like I said before… meh.
Service has always been somewhat mediocre as well. The servers are basically only attentive enough to get by.
I certainly wouldn’t be disappointed if I never returned.

This is actually a good restaurant for Mexican food. you get a lot for what you pay for and you start with free salsa and chips. The staff is nice and food is good. Expect things like tacos/​burritos and most sides are beans and rice. It’s more Mexican than going to a place like chipotle but don’t expect anything crazy. It’s good for a price of about 8 $ per combo as they list it. I hear they have good lunch specials but I have never been there for lunch! Enjoy it for what it is a American/​Mexican place with good quality food at a reasonable price.

Many times I have been here before but this time was a very bad experience. True it was Cinco de Mayo and they were busy but that is no reason for the rude treatment and bad service.
To start we ordered drinks and I decided upon a margarita. It came out served in two plastic cups and it was warm. How do you make a warm margarita? I don’t understand that one. I told them it was the worst one I had ever had and they got me a soft drink and did not charge me so there was some good.
It took forever but the waitress did come to take our orders. We all ordered and when I asked about my fajitas coming with a choice or refried or black beans she started arguing with me about the menu and said I got black beans with the order.
Then the chaos of the food delivery started. My fajita plate came out first and was sizzling hot. Everything stopped at that point. We waited for the rest of the food while the fajitas got cold. The burrito plate and the chimichanga plate were served and I still waited for tortillas and the side plate for the fajitas. They were finally delivered along with the «black beans». The beans turned out to be a bowl of cold black liquid with about a dozen beans at the bottom. It was totally disgusting and not edible. It looked like someone opened a can, drained the liquid and a few beans fell in the bowl.
The fajitas were pretty good and I was able to get some warm ones from the bottom center of the hot plate. I took the rest to go. The next day I was able to salvage the fajitas into a nice plate of enchiladas with some corn tortillas and cheese I had at home and I got some enchilada sauce and refried beans as well.
I will give them another try but if it is the same waitress again I will leave. Also, check your bill when it arrives as it appears the prices from the menu don’t match what is on the bill at times.

If you like to party, El Toro can be a good time! The fajitas are good. The margaritas are good. The staff is friendly.
The also have a extra spicy house hot sauce you can get for the chips. If you like spice this is by far my favorite part.

I’ve only been to El Toro twice and just for drinks. The strawberry margaritas are good. A little slow at bringing out chips and salsa refills. The patio is nice.

First off, I must say that I am a regular visitor of the El Toro, El Loro, and El Azteca restaurants. I most frequently have dined at El Toro, but El Azteca is by far superior in both portion size and taste. But this is beside the point. .. .
I dined here yesterday evening (Friday). It was very busy, but there seemed to be enough servers. We were virtually ignored most of the time, and having run out of beverages about 5 minutes into the meal I was nearly dying. Our request for more chips was also ignored until I snagged a busser about 10 minutes before we left. To say the least, I did not leave a tip, which is very rare.
What really irritates me greatly is that we ordered a parillada (a huge meat platter for two). We got about half of what we should have for $ 28. We got ½ of a very small and thin chicken breast, a few thin strips of beef, our usual amount of shrimp, a pathetic maybe 2 oz portion of pork carnita, and maybe ¼ cup of chorizo. This was enough for 1 person. We usually have enough food to take home, but we had nothing left. Everything tasted bland, bland, bland. And the tomatoes/​lettuce other vegetables tasted old.
Another couple behind us ordered what the waiter said was «the same thing in a different dish» when we asked. It looked huge, like twice the size compared to ours. I was very mad. It’s ridiculous that one would order a meal for two, only get enough meat for one, and then be expected to pay $ 28. But there was no point in trying to get anyone’s attention since we were being ignored anyway.
When the girl up front asked us how things were when paying, didn’t even bother explaining why I said «OK». The last time I was at El Toro, which was about a month ago, we got a «fried» ice cream that was rock-​hard and told the cashier and she said something to the effect of, «Oh well, at least you got it free with the coupon, right?» Seriously? We only came back because the actual meal is usually pretty good, although hit and miss.
Basically in the end the customer service is crap here now and the food has really gone downhill. I will not be dining here again. EVER.

Best homemade chips and salsa ever! The food is served quickly and the ingredients seem fresh. The new location is much nicer than the last, especially now with the patio outside– can’t wait to get there in the spring and enjoy a margarita outside.

Went here once, and that was plenty for me. They have reopened at a new location across the street from the old one… Dunno if the revamped restaurant has done enough to attract me back though… As a huge lover of Mexican food, and hispanic myself… The food is waaaay too bland. And that is a huge disappointment to me when it comes to Mexican cuisine… It should be full of flavor. Portion sizes were great though, but the way i seen it, it was just more crap I was paying for that wasnt gonna be eaten… FAIL

The food is average or maybe a little better, but I find them to be a touch on the bland side. Prices and portion are very good, and the service has always been great.
The chile relleno are pretty great. Try a combo that has one.
They have a mariachi band some days, which is generally a lot of fun.

Since they moved to their new location their food and service has been a lot better. Reasonable price for something to eat.

how can someone mess up mexican? forget to add the spice…
you get the standard free chips and salsa… but the salsa was bland
ordered the chicken enchiladas… bland — looked like they just took fajita makings… rolled it up and slathered it in sauce… no flavor and no cheese… so it was all spilling out everywhere.
Why they don’t get one star — my lunch buddy ordered a chicken chimichanga and it was very tasty. Unfortunately I couldn’t get him to switch plates with me
Prices were responable
Service was slow… very slow
Decorations, over the top

El Toro has some of the best authentic mexican food around. they moved across the street from their old pizza hut looking location into the mini mall which was a great move! new décor and seeting is awesome.
The food comes out fast, is in large quantities and super cheap. While you’re waiting you get fresh friend chips and salsa also.
give it a try, great prices, happy hour and service