El Torito

I came here on two separate occasions with two separate groups of co-​workers.
The first time I went, my first group was seated at a table close to where the all-​you-​can-​eat lunch buffet was at. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what was in the buffet, but there was a pretty decent mix of Mexican food from soup to rice to enchiladas, and there was even a taco bar to boot! They had some pretty nice desserts too. I definitely recommend their lunch buffet to others. The rest of my co-​workers in my first group enjoyed the food too. I also got to use a coupon from junk mail (yay junk mail!) that saved each of us a couple bucks. It might not have been the best food we ever had, but in the end, we all left the restaurant happy.
The second time I went, I came with a much larger group of about 25. I came in rather late, but the receptionist at the front desk allowed me to walk around the restaurant and find my group. A blonde cashier named Ashley served all 25 of us that night. She may have had a few slip-​ups like forgetting my water (that was a bit painful) and mixing up two co-​workers’ credit cards, but she was overall pretty good! I had brought an El Torito coupon that I had actually gotten from a YEE in Orange a couple months back (shortly after my first visit to the Lakewood El Torito), and I was hoping Ashley would honor it. Luckily, she did. The coupon was good for a free tableside guacamole or dessert. After a bit of deliberation, I chose dessert. She gave me three choices: cake, flan, or deep-​fried ice cream. Deep-​fried ice cream sounded very unique, and I was in a mood for trying something I had never had before. So that’s what I went for: deep-​fried ice cream. I believe I had to purchase an entrée first, but the way things were going that night, it’s very possible Ashley could have gotten me that dessert with no strings attached.
Since I didn’t want to cheat El Torito out of a free dessert, I decided to order something. As mentioned earlier, I was supposed to order an entrée to get the free dessert, but at my table, I could only find a menu of appetizers. When Ashley asked me if I wanted any appetizers, I decided to pick something that sounded good and was not ordered by anybody else at our table. A co-​worker had ordered a fiesta platter for us to enjoy beforehand. A fiesta platter consists of Mexico City flautas, Mexican Buffalo wings, nachos, and a cheese quesadilla. The nachos and quesadilla were my favorites, but the wings and flautas were pretty good too. I had already gotten my hands on some «No Bull» Nachos that another co-​worker gladly shared. But what about the Roasted Pasilla Chile & Cheese Quesadilla? «Grilled with a hint of garlic until crisp and golden brown with pico de gallo, salsa picante, guacamole, and sour cream.» Hey! That sounds like something I’d like. Let’s go for that!
«Steak or chicken?» Ashley asked. Wasn’t that hard of a question. Steak always!
Ashley came by a few minutes later with my too-​long-​of-​a-​name-​to-​remember steak quesadilla, which was divided into five pieces. «Huh? That’s a quesadilla? Why is it shaped like a chicken bake from Costco?» I asked myself. The «quesadilla» didn’t look anything like what I was expecting. It came with a hefty amount of guacamole and sour cream. I shared a couple pieces with my co-​workers and had the rest for myself. Pretty good! But I probably would have preferred a traditional quesadilla instead.
Ashley made sure that I was done with my quesadilla before bringing me my deep-​fried ice cream; she mentioned to me she didn’t think having those two at the same time would be such a great idea. I didn’t think so either. She brought me a cocktail glass, which held the dessert. Deep-​fried ice cream is vanilla ice cream coated with cinnamon sugar topped off with whipped cream and chipotle-​chocolate sauce. It was good, but quite unique! It was a nice deviation from the traditional vanilla ice cream, but I still would have preferred the ice cream by itself.
El Torito overall is a pretty decent Mexican restaurant with decent food and decent customer service. Not quite at the level of a 5 in my opinion, but I would definitely come back to try something even more unique like their Mexican burger!

Happy Mother’s Day? More like crappy Mother’s Day. I wish I could give no stars. Our reservation of 16 people had been cancelled after we had confirmed. While waiting an hour and a half for a wait that should have been an hour shorter, we received lie after lie. Starting with the fact that we were told the manager was not working, and then that they never received our reservation and lastly that they found the reservation but it was crossed out (as if someone already took our reservation). The manager’s frustration began to show and began to upset my party. They didn’t do anything to fix our frustration. I understand that they were busy but they didn’t go out of their way to fix a mistake that THEY made. Once they found a place for our party, they sat us in the very back of the restaurant in a very tight area, where we felt squeezed and abandoned by servers. This was by far the worst dining experience I’ve ever had. To make it worse, the food was bland and overpriced.
I WILL NEVER COME BACK HERE AND I RECOMMEND THE SAME FOR EVERYONE.

Just stopped in for brunch with a party of 8. Manager said it would be 45 mins to an hour. I was surprised since we usually never have to wait (which was no big deal). I repeated the wait time as I was thinking out loud about whether or not to stay and the manager abruptly interrupted me and rudely repeated the wait time saying, «like I already said 45 minutes to an hour.» We left.

Is our first time here with our family
For sunday brunch and we love it. Great service Nena show us around and our server Rodrigo give us very good services. We definitely coming here again.

We had a 50^th Birthday party for my sister about a month ago in their Courtyard room. I was very happy with the location and the service we received and would definitely recommend it for your special events.
From the beginning everything went smoothly. We had 28 adults and 5 children. Lulu in the office handled the contract for our event. We communicated via email and she always replied to my questions promptly. Jose, one of the managers at the restaurant, was extremely helpful. He went out of his way to provide excellent service. We planned on showing a slideshow so I asked Jose if they had a projector screen we could use. He said yes. I arrived early the day of the party to check out the room/​table arrangement. He brought out what looked like a brand new projector screen still in the box. I think they purchased it especially for our event! The other thing he did that I thought was great had to do with the table set up. He had 3 long tables set up and I thought the third one was sort of off by itself and also it was in full view of the other customers in the restaurant (the Courtyard room is a semi-​private room; a small portion of it is exposed to the rest of the restaurant). I made a comment about that to him. Later when I arrived an hour before the party with the cake and flowers, I noticed he had moved the third table closer to the other two tables and he placed some tall potted plants at the end of that table; that would give those guests more privacy. I was happy with the new set up.
The servers, Ashley and Francisco were polite, efficient and did their best to please us. The food received many compliments from our guests, especially the corn cakes.
And lastly, the price was right! I had researched many other venues and a lot of them charged a rental fee for the room itself (apart from the cost for the food). One place charged $ 150 for 1 ½ hours with each additional hour at $ 100; another was $ 250; and another was $ 500 + tax. That’s quite a lot for a room! This location did not have a separate rental fee for the room.
The only thing that could have gone better was entirely my fault. One of our guests had not arrived yet when it was time to eat. So I decided to delay the buffet by about 10 – 15 minutes in hopes this person would show up soon. When you have a room full of hungry people, that’s not a good idea. Lesson learned!
All in all I think everyone had a nice time. Especially the birthday girl; she said it was one of the best days of her life! So thank you Lulu, Jose, Ashley, Francisco and everyone behind the scenes who made this event memorable.

Just left without being helped at the front desk. My two children and I stood there for 10 minutes while the hostess helped with a to go order. Never once acknowledged us. What’s worse is the manager came up and started talking to the people getting the take out. Helloooooo take care of the guests in house. It takes under a minute to seat us. 10 minutes! Can’t believe it.

Horrible!!! Wait for 10 min just for water. One of the Waitress wouldn’t shut up, she keeps complaining about her job and how much she want to go home. very Unprofessional, they dont want your money here. Go far far away from this place.

Vegan friendly! Excellent service and atmosphere for family or groups. Fast and delicious, drinks are top notch! Oldie but goodie, will definitely be back! Some of the best wait stuff I’ve ever experienced.

Back again… service and food was excellent.
Will return. I ordered the Mexican salad with the dressing on the side, shrimp fajitas. Prepare to perfection

Terrible, terrible service!!! Waited most of the time we were there. Got a hair in my quesadilla. Food was not good. Although staff was friendly service was simply terrible.

I went there with my family for lunch. It was good. The service was awesome. I would recommend this location to all my family and friends.

Went here for Christmas 2015. I had been telling my son for quite some time about how good this place was for Sunday brunch and to please give it a try. WHAT A MISTAKE!!! The food was horrible and the cost was $ 3 more per person ($ 24.99) for the holiday.
They served two carved meats; beef and pork. My son (who is not a picky eater and is an adult) tasted my pork and said that is tasted spoiled. The cheese WAS NOT melted on the fresh platter of enchiladas, they were cold. The mashed potatoes had bacon in them and were dry as heck and no flavor. Their corn cake was dry. Normally when you scoop out a spoonful it keeps the shape on your plate. On Christmas, the corn cake just crumbled on our plates.
The dessert bar was a joke. When we first got there (which was about 11:30am) the only dessert on this large dessert table was pumpkin pie. As time went on, they added flan, rice pudding, brownies and some type of white cake. The brownies tasted and felt like they were left overs from the Sunday before. The white cake was so dry it was as though it had been sitting out on a counter for days. When we touched it, it just crumbled. It looked like a small pile of grated Parmesan cheese.
I can’t believe that we actually paid $ 24.99 a person. The service was horrible and we literally had to wait almost 25 mins for our server to come pick up our bill and credit card. I can’t tell you how many times I apologized to my son. I felt so bad. Worst thing was that my son paid the bill. Guess I owe him big time… lol.
My thought is that the people working on Christmas were not happy to be there. The food was horrible and the service was almost as bad. The only reason we tipped our server was because we felt sorry that he/​she had to work on Christmas. I DO NOT think I will ever go there to eat again.
I work at a company that employees about 1600 people. Believe me, I am spreading the word of how horrible our experience was on Christmas.
UPDATED today, 12-​31-​2015. I left a message 4 days ago for the manager to call me regarding my experience. He was in a meeting. Guess the meetings still in session because I haven’t heard from him yet!!! Really NOT expecting to hear from him.

Well I haven’t ordered the Mexican Cesar salad in awhile and boy was I disappointed. Used to be a meal now it’s barely a side salad definitely not worth the $ 9 they charge for it. I won’t make that mistake again

Horrible experiencia! No regresaríà la comida no tiene un buen sabor y el servicio es horrible!!!

In an effort to keep my mother happy we go out and try margaritas often. Just to be clear, the lady is a margarita connoisseur. She knows a good margarita. In our quest to find the one and only margarita, the one that will put a smile on her face we ventured into El Torito. Yes! El Torito. The margaritas were ok. They do not have that extra special flavor that makes my mother super happy. I would have to say she was just content with the fact that she had one today. She described it as, «not the best, just the one that was available today» she also suggested I take her to a new spot for our next margarita seeking venture.
The food:
Picture this, a 78 year old woman that weighs 115lbs. You wouldn’t think that she could fuck up an entire Fiesta Platter. Think again, not only did she devour the contents, she attempted to scrape the plate. I wasn’t impressed with the platter, it contained wings, cheese nachos, small flautas and a good quesadilla. The flavored all meshed together was not that great. But, alas! My mother managed to look beyond the flavors, all in the name of keeping her tummy full.

This review is strictly for Sunday Brunch folks!
Let’s start with walking towards the front doors, ready to enter the restaurant on a Sunday morning around noon. As soon as you approach, the doors open for you by two sweet ladies welcoming you into the restaurant. They walk you to the hostess and everyone greets you with a smile. As soon as you let them know that you are in for brunch, they give you a quick tour of their menu, they show you where you can find certain items and walk you to your table. Then your server introduced themselves and asks everyone what refreshment they’ll be having. They bring a complimentary appetizer and your drinks. Now, let the feast begin! && bottomless mimosas? I’m in!
The restaurant is like a tiny maze. Here, you can find an omelette bar, with tasty meat and veggie omelets by a friendly cook. He is quick, efficient, and is generous with the topping servings. Best omelets ever! Next stop: the taco, quesadillas and burrito bar! Handmade tortilla, delicious meat options and fresh limones, cilantro, onion, and radishes! Yum! You can also find a variety of hot traditional Mexican dishes. There are traditional Mexican beverages too, such as delicious Agua frescas, coffee, and my favorite: Mexican chocolate! Wait, it gets better: pan dulce! Oh my goodness; it takes me back to my childhood days at grandma’s house. More delicious pastries can be found ahead such as flan, cake and arroz con leche. This place is the Mexican Breakfast dream! Oops I almost left out the hot soup bar such as menudo and then fruit and salad bars.
Hmm, I’m curious to know if the bloody Mary’s are good? Don’t know if I’m ready to spend a little more though! Gosh just writing this made me hungry, I might be in on Sunday!

While not my first choice for mexican food I happen to be the grandchild of a lady who happens to love it (weird being that she’s from Mexico and her cooking is way better). So we come here every once in a while to please her .
We usually start off with the table side guac and chips. The ingredients are always ripe and fresh and prepare nicely. For the main entrée I typically order the sizzling combo which includes shrimp fajitas, a chicken enchilada and a steak taco with all fixins .
The service was excellent as usual
And the cost is not bad but if you order drinks it may go up quickly. Give them a shot.

Always have great service at this location

The bf and I always come in for brunch .
$ 17.99 adult and $ 6.99 for kids
(Champagne and mimosa included. Just ask your waiter and show ID)
They also have made to order omelets (it’s not in the same area as the buffet is. it’s in the other small areas) just ask your waiter
They have homemade tortillas for the tacos, menudo or Pozole verde
Everything is pretty much good
The carnitas tacos, waffles and brownies are my fav ! But I already get a little of everything.
I love this place for buffet /​brunch
.food is way better then hometown buffet or other buffets I’ve been too !
Try it out !!!

Hola, es la primera vez que vengo a taco Tuesday al torito de lakewood, puedo decir que me gustó vastante, la persona que nos atendio fue muy atento y amable (Ramon P) de verdad q tanto como los tacos y las bebidas siempre estuvieron a tiempo, fue rápido el servicio a pesar que el lugar estaba lleno… gracias por el buen servicio que recivimos de parte de RAMON P. ASÍ hasta dan más ganas de regresar.

Wrong El Torito

It’s been quite some time since I’ve gone to El Torito but Chris and I decided to come here on a Sunday for some drinks, guacamole, and catch the Lakers game in the bar.
We had a party of five and they easily accommodate us in the bar but that was mainly due to this establishment being so empty on a Sunday evening.
We got our drinks ordered in a timely manner but after that, it went downhill extremely fast. I cannot explain why service was so S-​L-​O-​W! It wasn’t a packed house at all. Drinks were slow and they served us a leaking cup which wet the floor and our shoes and no apologies or offer were made to move us to another table. We couldn’t get help for the life of us. We constantly had to ask different servers for different things. And that became annoying quickly.
To start off, we ordered two table side guacamole (one mild, one original) and although it was fresh, it was lacking all kind flavors. All I taste were avocados and a few spices and a very faint hint of lime (even though we asked for extra lime). There were no cheese or anything to wow this dip! For dinner, one friend ordered the cup of chicken tortilla soup which was replied with a decent face of approval. I ordered the street taco trio with mahi mahi and it was okay. The fish was a bit dry and didn’t have any rub or any special flavoring to make it memorable. The portions of the tacos were fair. Chris ordered combo #5 which came with tacos and cheese enchilada. The enchilada was soft and had a pretty good sauce to it. The taco wasn’t desirable. The flavor was quite flat to say the least. The last two ordered the fajitas and they enjoyed their order except for the steak. It was cooked a bit too long and was chewy. For dessert we ordered the flan (you only have two choices: deep fried ice cream or flan). The flan was a sugar over kill. If I was a diabetic, I would have for sure passed out from the amount of sugar they used. The flan itself was dense and creamy and have a lot of potential to be an amazing dessert but the drenching of caramel sauce killed it. The flan was just about swimming in the sauce.
The service was very disappointing. Our waitress left on a break and the breaker never came and if he/​she did, he/​she never introduced himself. We had to constantly flag someone from the bar to refill our drinks, chips, salsa, napkins, and silverwares. At one point, we stacked up our plates to make room for other plates and it sat on our table for almost a good 10 minutes before someone came and took it off our table. I would allow some excuse if this place was busy but this wasn’t the case and there shouldn’t have been an excuse.
I am reluctant to return to this establishment. I want to support business in Lakewood, but this type of service makes it hard to return for an enjoyable experience.

This isn’t my first choice for lunch, but they had a nice lunch buffet that I enjoyed with my co-​workers on one sunny Lakewood day. The lunch buffet included enchiladas, rice, beans, sweet corn cake, salad bar, chicken, beef, salsa bar, fruits, and a TACO STATION. I stuck with the rice, corn cake, and meat… oh yea cheese! All the unhealthy stuff for me! For $ 9.99 this is a sweet deal, especially if you want to stuff yourself silly!
Aside from the lunch buffet, the dishes here are pretty standard, and kind of pricey too. I wouldn’t come here if I was craving Mexican food… I usually stick to my hole in the wall taco joints.
Not sure if they do this but I know some El Torito have some great happy hour deals, and Tuesday deals for their tacos and margaritas!
Be careful with the complimentary chips and salsa before your meal! Don’t want to get too full.