El Toro Taqueria

Best carnitas and chicken burrito bowls and salsa bar. Best salsa verde in SF. They also give you chips without charging you anything extra… like the greedy taqueria’s do. Best lunch or quick dinner spot.

Very good, delicious. Unilocal deal makes it even better.

I’ve lived on the same block as El Toro for the past 6 years and have eaten there more times than I can count. It’s easily one of the best establishments on the block.
Their food is tasty, fresh, and fast. It’s the standard taqueria setup but you can tell they take the quality of their ingredients and cleanliness very seriously. What’s more, they’re the only place on the block that hasn’t changed their prices in the past 6 years. With SF’s costs rising everywhere, this is hugely convenient.
I usually get a regular burrito or super nachos. The burritos tend to be a little high sodium for my taste and can occasionally come luke warm. The nachos are consistently great. I’m a big guy and I generally use one $ 9 order of nachos for two meals. They always come out hot and are loaded with meat, cheese, beans, salsa, tomatoes, lettuce, and sour cream.

i ordered my dad’s father’s day dinner online through the app called order ahead. i requested my order be ready for pick up at 7:30 because i was getting off work to go visit my dad for father’s day… i get there one plate out of 5 were done… my onions were burnt. and cold the other 4 which were done fresh were done ok… no one apologized for my order done wrong and ad no one wanted to right the cold food i got having been there for over 30 sitting on the rack…

Delicious and very authentic! Went with a bunch of friends on friday night and had a blast

I never got a chance to go back since my last review, but since our gripe was with the service and not the food, it seemed only fair to add an additional star because the owner contacted me personally and apologized for the mix-​up and asked for another chance.

Tasty spot, usually very busy, but staff work incredibly hard to get food out quickly! Good location in a busy spot of town. Would highly recommend for a burrito

Food was so bland. Sure, you can add salsa & salt, but it shouldn’t be required.
Their chili relleno was mostly batter.
Their flauta was hard as a rock.
The person who made my order, it was her first day, and she’s completely untrained. Nor does she understand English, so making my order took about 15 minutes (and this place is considered fast food).

Came in today for Taco Happy Hour as the line at Pancho Villa was crazy. While looking up at the wall saw the sign Pancho Villa has regarding visiting their «sister» location El Toro which is just a block away.
Upon arriving, there was ONE other person in line. Menu is the same as Pancho Villa, ordered two fish tacos and quickly made it down to the register to pay, total was over $ 8 whereas at Pancho Villa know well that two Grilled Salmon Tacos are under $ 5 and that’s with Tax. Didn’t have enough money as it being Memorial Day banks are closed and there’s no mail delivery so temporarily «strapped» for money.
My previous visit here tried to use their $ 2 off ANY Super Burrito for Unilocal check-​in offer, so paid full price, someone from El Toro left a follow up comment saying that shouldn’t have happened and should have received the discount. Thanks for replying. but how do I follow through? Not sure if I’ll continue to come back — hungry man

There is lots of taqueria competition within a few blocks of my job. El Toro sets the bar pretty high. I keep saying I will try something else on the menu, but the steak/​shrimp quesadilla has me hooked! The line moves pretty fast and the service usually comes with a smile. The prices are pretty reasonable. The room can get kind of warm with all the bodies, the windows, and the cooking.

El Toro Taqueria needs to open a location downtown because these are the tacos I need to have more of in my life!
It was a bright and sunny day, and I browsed Unilocal to find some tacos to bring to Dolores. The location is right nearby and with a Unilocal deal, it was a no-​brainer to try it out.
Walking in, it is bright and airy, with a huge menu that spans the entire wall. Plenty of vegetarian options were offered, including a Tofu Ranchero!
I came up to the line and ordered 3 tacos, 2 Tofu Ranchero & 1 Rice and beans.
Unfortunately, I believe I got a fairly new worker who didn’t speak much English. Like… zero. I couldn’t even get «2 tacos» out before she went «huh?» Another worker had to help translate.
Then, she kept asking me what I wanted on top of it. Um… isn’t that your job to know? Just give me what it says on the board. Tofu, beans, salsa, etc. But she kept pointing at random ingredients asking if I wanted it or not. Confused, I said yes to a few additional toppings, not knowing if I was going to get charged for it or if it was included in the price. (Spoiler alert: I got charged for it).
Also, when she was scooping ingredients, she was realllyyy stingy on the scoop. I’m talking like 3 cilantro leaves per taco. Kyle H. was getting helped by another worker and she was giving him full scoops. Booo…
But fortunately, with the low price and the Unilocal deal I purchased, it was still but a small dent in my wallet. I just got unlucky with the person helping me out.
As for the tacos? Some of the best I’ve had. Simple, but executed really well. You can see how fresh their ingredients are. I also loved the variety of salsas you can choose from, which was great with the free chips they give with every order.
The small hiccup with customer service aside, this was a great experience. I will be back for more tacos!

Disappointed this time. Have enjoyed this taqueria twice before but it’s been a year or so. The portions are generous for the price but the food was not very good. Had chicken flautas. Turns out the tortillas were pre-​fried and filled at order time. The result was a tough «shell» with no cohesion to the pretty bland and dry chicken filling. The dinner plate with rice and beans, a small side of guacamole, a side of pinto beans, chips, a water, and one slice of flan was over $ 30. There are lots of places to eat in the vibrant Mission District — including a woman selling heavenly-​smelling homemade tamales out of a tiny 3′ sliver of space between two shops. Will try elsewhere next time.

I have one word to say: YUM! The menu is expansive and it is all delicious. Just the smell of this place is enough to drive a person crazy! I highly recommend to anyone the next time you are close to the 16^th street BART station.

Much like many other taquerias in the mission, this one was also delicious. Pretty big portions for the price you pay and it seems they always have a Unilocal check in offer which is pretty awesome and convenient (keep those coming!). I had the carnitas dinner plate. Their juice is also on par.
My only complaint is that almost all of their salsas were pretty spicy (delicious though) — wish they had a more mild one other than the ‘tomato salsa’ (which was good, just a little boring)…for those of us non-​spicy food goers. :)

Authentic Mexican Taqueria in the Mission District — Tasty Vegetarian Tacos!
My mother and I visited El Toro Taqueria for dinner during the evening of July 31^st as well as a few other evenings after that during our 7-​day trip.
El Toro Taqueria is located at the corners of 17^th and Valencia Streets in the Mission District (conveniently located just one block from where our Airbnb apartment was located). The line-​up of people to create their tacos/​order was always long and this place was very popular in the evenings. But it was definitely worth the wait!
I ordered the super vegetarian taco with a strawberry flavoured agua fresca (fruit flavoured water and sugar beverage) each time I visited this taqueria. The tacos tasted so delicious and fresh! El Toro also had an extensive menu with a large variety of options, in addition to tacos.
The staff were very generous with their portions of each topping and the tacos were piled high with delicious ingredients. The taco tasted very authentic.
The salsa bar was also fantastic and it had a great variety of sauces, toppings and salsas of varying degrees of spiciness.
If you are visiting or staying in the Mission District, I recommend eating at El Toro Taqueria. I really enjoyed all of my taco meals there and will definitely eat there again next time I am in San Francisco.

The super vegetarian burrito was great! The lady making the burrito was very nice and accommodated my imperfect Spanish skills. There was no wait at 3:00 pm on a weekday. The free chips were great and they have an unlimited salsa bar! Try the salsa verde!

I used to go to Pancho Villas a lot. I only went to El Toro once or twice in 1994 or so… but it was memorable. I had my first horchata here… There was a mexican seasoned tofu they offered that was quite delicious… and there was a mariachi band. It was quieter than the other one but the food was quite good and that is the main thing right.

I ordered a chicken & prawn salad. The salad only consists of lettuce and tomatoes (and the meat). It doesn’t come with avocado or cucumbers as most salads do. Anyhow the portion was small so I ask for a little more lettuce. The employee mentioned it was an extra charge… for lettuce? I was confused. Will never ever return here bad service. I don’t know how they operate this business.

There are so many awesome places to eat in Mission, but El Toro is one of few places I like to visit when I’m in the city. The lines are not outrageously long and it is a really clean place (not that is deal breaker for me as long as the food is good)! They move people in an out of here pretty quickly and I haven’t had any problems with finding seating since I tend to go after the lunch rush.
Like many have said, prices are cheap and you get a great deal of food, too! I normally go in for the Super Burrito ($ 8.50) which tends to keep me full for a good portion of the day (sucker is gigantic)! Street parking may be a bit hard to find, but I tend to get lucky and usually find something within a two block radius.
VALENCIA STREET
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​|
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
|_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​X_​| | |
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​| |_​_​_​_​_​_​
17TH STREET
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
| |
| |
| |
| |
X = EL TORO

A standard of the Mission Burrito scene. El Toro has been around for a long time, and have awesome burritos and tacos. The rest of the menu can be really hit and miss. I was disappointed to come in and see a sign on the counter talking about their ‘taco happy hour’ which the staff promptly explained are «Tacos as small as they can make» not their «Regular Tacos». Ok I’ll pass then. So I tried some enchiladas for the first time and they were pretty «Meh». Overcooked and blasting hot by the microwave they were put in before being served to me. Lesson learned I’ll stick with the burritos!
Drinks are soda or bottled beers, no margaritas, and even though it’s right across from the police station there’s almost daily crazy homeless doing something that makes you stare and say «No Way!». Watch your parking around here after dark… All the glass on the sidewalks should tell you why.
Will I be back… Hell yeah cuz Burritos/​Booze/​and Bumfights rock!

Most DISGUSTING AND VILE food ever! Took one bite of everything I ordered and proceeded to throw it all in the GARBAGE! Guacamole looked like barf. The thing they call a taco made me nauseous. The burrito was hideous.
DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!!!

The service and value at this restaurant have really gone down lately. i recently ordered the «Taco Dinner» and was informed that it would be $ 3 extra per taco to get lettuce, cheese, sour cream. That would leave your meal costing ~$ 17 for a fast food taco restaurant.
The employees don’t seem happy. Often have staff that do not speak english, making ordering and customer service questions difficult.
Terrible restaurant, hopefully they close soon.

the delivery sucks, now. I waited for 30 min,
and no food,?
Plus I gave em extra time.
Like any other reasonable person out there.
But what’s going on,
is the delivery, walking or what,
I call, nobody answers the line,
I was a regular. after this,
I think I’ll go to Los Yaquis a
much better place and fast delivery.
I call grubhub and the nice girl on the line told me that they state my order as delivery already, are they trying to f… me over or what, well, she help me to get a refund.
what is wrong with this people, I may be the first one but I assure you that I’m not the last person they’ll do this

An Ode to El Toro
It’s clean!
It’s cheap!
Mucho awesome stuff to eat!
Like shrimp
Like fish
Meeting every taco wish!
And salsa
And chips
Going straight from lips to hips!
This poem
It stinks
Maybe time for some more drinks?

After getting emails from the owner, I committed to giving them another shot. I’m glad I did, because there was definitely an improvement in quality, especially with the carne asada.
It’s been a few weeks since exchanging messages, and I ordered 5 burritos, so there’s no way it could have been a fluke or any kind of special treatment. Out of all the burritos, I didn’t have any of the gristle that plagued previous orders. Was really pretty happy, because this style is closer to the classic taquerias of Southern California.
I prefer the simplicity of LA burritos — meat, rice, beans. No guacamole or lettuce or sour cream. The rice is flavorful and fluffy, the beans are hearty, and the meat has none of the problems I used to find.
Of all the taquerias in the Mission, this is now my undisputed first choice for burritos.
PROS
— Great improvement in quality
— Classic, simple, delicious burritos
CONS
— Not open late

In the area for a concert, we needed a quick bite for dinner before the show. After parking, the first restaurant we walked by was El Toro. There was a short line and decided to give them a try.
Checking-​in on Unilocal,there was an offer of $ 2 off any super burrito. I guess I knew what I was getting. After looking over the large order board, we ordered:
Steak and Prawn burrito supersized — with rice, beans and salsa, getting it supersized includes cheese, guacamole, lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream, which I withheld. Burrito was tightly wrapped and the steak and freshly grilled shrimp were tasty.
Fish Taco — with shredded lettuce and salsa. Fish was freshly grilled and was tasty. The lettuce that was put on the taco still had moisture on it. The lettuce should be dry.
There is a salsa bar, though two of the salsa containers were empty, for the chips that come with your food. Ample tables available in the larger dining area for you to dine-​in. Saw some customers with the combo dinners and they did look good. So will need to give it a try in a future visit.

El Toro was once a very good neighborhood taqueria. Now, they have partnered up with Caviar delivery app service and take phone in orders. That means the staff is totally over worked and can’t keep up with the huge delivery and phone in orders.
The line that used to take 5 minutes took 45 minutes. You could see the orders pumping in off the app machine and the Caviar delivery guy waiting for 20 orders of whatever to deliver to the app people. Not going back after 18 years in the neighborhood. Owner got greedy and the employees are getting the shaft. The app bros can have it.

I had this memory that delicious mission burritos were available nearly anywhere in the mission, so when choosing among the many possibilities for a quick and delicious lunch I picked the nearest place that had four stars and a recognizable name: El Toro.
What I got was disappointment. While the pinto beans were decent, the carnitas were flavorless and the salsa watery and bland; the guacamole was brown. I fecklessly tried to doctor the thing with salt and extra salsa for a while before giving up and throwing away the greater part of it.
Maybe you can’t go home again, maybe I just picked the wrong spot.

My wife got really bad food poisoning, and my quesadilla was so gross I chucked it.
Not sure why the rating are so high, we ate here and it was terrible. Cheap low quality food. The quesadilla I had wasn’t properly heated; the cheese not melted fully, and they put this watery salsa all over itt that made the whole thing soggy and gross. I ended up eating ¼ then chucking it and leaving. My poor wife ate ½ of her burrito and was ill just a few hours later. I’d avoid this place.

Worst burritos I’ve ever had. Hands down.
The chile relleno burrito AND the al pastor burritos were BOTH terrible.
Don’t do it.

Good tacqueria option in the Mission. It’s hard to miss with Mexican food when you’re in this area, but it’s always good to know your options. It’s not as crowded as some of the more popular joints, and the food is good.
And that SALSA BAR!!! 12+ options of complimentary goodness! Hot, medium, spicy. You name it, they got it. Throw in some fire roasted chile peppers, radishes, japalenos, and limes, and I’m sold son.
The food is tasty. I had a chicken fajitas a la carte. Good taste. The guacamole has chopped tomatoes in it. The burrito and quesadilla are also good. The strawberry agua fresca was freshly sweet.
They offer a good amount of seating. On a Sunday at 1pm it was busy, but we were able to find a table. Good place for kids. Order at the counter and they bring the food to you.

Back in the country, back to the Unilocal game! It might take me a little while to catch up on everyone’s reviews… as well as my own!
As one of the only SF taquerias I’ve ever seen advertise on TV, El Toro, to me, has always been a little different from their competitors in the Mission. Which, sadly to say, hasn’t always been a good thing. While I appreciate how they’re generally cleaner, both in terms of the food as well as the restaurant itself, they’re not quite as good as several of their more well known and popular brethren.
– FIESTA PLATE — Nachos, Garlic Prawns, Chicken Flauta, Corn Quesadilla, Grilled Onions, Guacamole, Sour Cream, and Salsa…$ 10.95
(
)
We ordered this «appetizer» to share, but it was practically an entrée (we had leftovers). I didn’t try the prawns since they were the same as my entrée’s, but I thought the nachos were pretty good. The flauta was a little disappointing though — decent flavor, but not the least bit crispy (more on that later).
– DINNER COMBO #5 — Carne Asada, Chicken Asada, and Prawns…$ 11.00
(
)
Okay overall, with a plus (Chicken Asada), meh (Prawns), and miss (Carne Asada). The chicken was perfectly cooked and flavorful, while the prawns were fine, albeit heavy on the butter. Sadly, despite the nice char on it, the Carne Asada was tough and chewy.
While I appreciate how El Toro tries to keep their food (relatively) healthier, I can’t say I’m a fan of their set-​up. While some items (like their prawns) are cooked to order, others (like the flautas) are just reheated in a microwave. I assume there’s a reason why, but even if their food turns over decently quick (the line is steady), it’s certainly not the «freshest» way of doing it.
Since I didn’t really get to try one of their burritos, it’s entirely possible I’m rating El Toro for the wrong things. At the very least, they seem to be the most popular menu item. Still, despite having the best intentions, the food just can’t compare with what you can find elsewhere in the neighborhood.

The veggie «D» burrito on whole wheat, no rice, add avocado, always holds me down.
Pinto beans, salsa, cheese, avocado.
Add green salsa. Yummy (pronounced yoo-​meee), as I feel my Latin self.
The nachos are a perfect fit on NBA doubleheader Sundays. Pickled jalapeños, sliced tomatoes and avocado, and lotsa cheese. Why yes, yes I would like that, all of that. Right now.
The enchilada meal makes me feel like I’m eating a well-​balanced meal (rice, beans, salad).
Hand hygiene is flawless.
El Toro, mi corazon de melon.

Very yummy burritos, tacos etc. Good atmosphere and fast servive! Good price too! Mucho caliente!