Our server, Oscar was very professional and timely with the entire process from appetizers down to refills. Great food! Great service! Amazing view! read more

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We enjoy going to El Torrito because of its location, and food. I would give it 5 stars, but it's hard for me because I look at everything... not just their service or food. This place is good not perfect but good. I just wish their restrooms were kept clean (Restrooms are thing for me; you don't have to agree). When I go to restaurant i always look at their restrooms, how they clean the tables, etc specially nowadays with everything going on. We have come here 4 times and the restrooms are always dirty, perhaps, due to its location it's hard to keep up? I don't know... anyways.... Moving on. The service is good. The times we have come they are short in staff but their service is on point. Due to low staff, I recommend that you have your order ready so they can have it come out on time. There could be a long wait but it's worth it. The view, the food, and service are good. Check online for their brunch on Sundays; I have never tried it but we always get there when they are closing and it looks decent. If I can recommend something((((Fajitas))))) they are delicious! Never go wrong. Margaritas too! Enjoy! read more

Service was great!!! LOVE LESLY .....she is adorable and makes great drinks!!! Beautiful view.... #feelingblessedbeinghere read more

Went here today for the first time for Valentine's Day. Wait was about an hour which was fine because we wanted to eat next to the view. I researched this place the night before and usually don't choose places with less than 4 star rating but gave it a go because the view is incredible. My carne asada was DRY AND BURNT also WAY TOO SALTY. My boyfriend said his chicken was super dry. The rice has no flavor at all and isn't the Mexican rice I thought it would taste like. Super small amount of rice comes with the meal too. The only good thing was the carnitas sliders. I could order takeout from another Mexican food place for probably much cheaper and way tastier and better quality . You're basically paying for the view not the quality of their food. 2/10 to say the least. My waiter Omar I believe was his name was amazing but the food just wasn't it. read more

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Taco Tuesday is a great value with $3 tacos and delicious flavors of meats. This includes Beans and Corn cake. Service was very inefficient and slow. They either need to hire more staff for Tuesday night or be more Efficient with what they have. They have the best views in monterey. read more

Hubby took me to El Torito for my birthday margarita. This location (Montery) has amazing views....unfortunately we went at night but nonetheless the crashing night waves were beautiful. Food was amazing but even more so our beautiful and sweet waitstaff Luz! She has the perfect name because she is like a ray of sunshine! If you're ever in the area head over for awesome views, food, and ask Luz! read more

We had breakfast there on a Saturday morning and they were great. Service and food and everything was amazing!!! I also I'm so sad that they don't sell their cilantro pepita dressing in stores anymore so I asked them if I could buy some. I was so happy they sold me some. I'm going to treasure it. I wish they sold the dressing again in stores. read more

Good service in the bar but was wondering why there was a 25 min wait seating for early afternoon when there was visibly a lot of Open tables?? And remained open unused during the 2 hours we stayed sitting on bar stools. Even though so many open tables all over not being opened or used And on a Saturday afternoon & a holiday weekend ? Maybe short staffed but was not apparent to guests who were murmuring about the many open tables. Saul at the bar was friendly, served good drinks and we were able to sit at the bar and eat our meal worked great. I know it is a popular place and my first time was not disappointing. Food was tasty good. Easy parking. read more

We walked in and there was no one to greet us. They had a sign that they charge 3.99% for using a credit card. We were told that there were no booths available although half were empty. We had to sit in the bar area. Our order was cold to the touch. The chili relleno texture was super funky. Like a raw exterior, but the chili itself was chewy. read more

Food was awesome. Service was even better. We had a party of 14. They were very accommodating

Food was mid and over priced. Service was slow and not attentive. In addition, parking was $30 to park in the restaurants parking lot.

Went to the Sunday Brunch. I had a Taco/ Tostada. I did not eat my beans as they were cold. The only upside was Pancho. He has been a Bartender there since it was Tia Maria's! That's 45 years!!He is always kind. He is very customer oriented. He is a local favorite. El Toritos food 50-50. But if you want a great cocktail. See Pancho! He's the best!!! Pancho Thank you! To the Manager. Please check the food, make sure it's hot! read more

45 min wait just to leave after an hour and a half of waiting. Ordered drinks and repeated myself multiple times and still didn't get the drinks right. Everyone seated before us got served food drinks except our table. Mind you I came in with my three children who were hungry. Sodas tasted sweet and like sink water. Super hot In there no fans or ac. Waited about an hour for our food just so it could come out cold. I told waiter and she told her manager I was complaining about my food being cold. Like yes I will complain if I'm paying 30$ for a plate that I waited for an hour and it's cold. They took it back just to bring me back a super hot plate that just came out the microwave. I ask him is this a new plate and he says yes. Clearly me seeing it was the same plate as before. We stormed out. Worst service and food ! Oh let me add that the meat that was in the "Burris tacos" looked like pudding. Do not come here believe the reviews. Don't be stubborn like me and give them a try. Just cause you are by the beach doesn't mean it's good read more

The food and drinks were 10/10 the service was great and the server was very attentive. The only thing I can say is don't go when the weather is hot the place heats up! Everything was delicious but hard to enjoy is such a warm restaurant. read more

What can improve?! We can improve. We can make better choices about how we spend our Thanksgiving family time and money. This was totally on us for thinking this will be great experience. El Torito on the water in Monterey. What could go wrong?! I mean they couldn't possibly miss with staples like tacos and beans and rice for $41 per person?! Seriously that is what they served. And how about us thinking turkey and stuffing and mash potatoes from El Torito should be great! I mean they been serving these Thanksgiving meals for a few years now. You would think they would have a few Turkeys ready to go for 6pm dinner crowd. We'll never know because for the hour that we were there there was none. Empty containers. We fell for it. Maybe you won't next time. Won't be back. read more

Pancho was amazing bartender!!! He was helpful on drinks great food and environment will definitely come back agian soon!! read more

I wish I could give negative stars. The worst experience ever. It took an hour for a few kids meals and some nachos to come out, and we were never checked on once. When the food did come out, it was awful and no apologies were given. Drop and run. The food had clearly been sitting in the kitchen because the kids burritos were literally like soup. Oh don't forget, we sat there for 20 minutes before even being greeted. TWENTY. Awful. Made our family vacation experience go down, was looking forward to a nice dinner. read more

Just finished a fabulous brunch at El Torito in Monterey CA. We were served by Rose who took great care of us. The food selections were huge. Anything you could think of, they had. Rose even brought us a stack of pancakes that melted in my mouth. El Torito is located right at the edge of Monterey bay. You can enjoy the food and watch the sea lions play! What a great way to spend the morning. read more

My family and I had lunch here today and it was just ok. I had the Street Tacos and the tortillas broke way too easily. I added a Mexican Cesar Salad which was excellent! My son had the shrimp fajitas which he said was very tasty. My husband had the sizzling enchiladas which he said were very bland and did not taste good. I have two complaints pertaining to our dining experience. First our waitress was not attentive. Several times we had to ask for refills of our drinks or set them out on the edge in hopes she would notice as she went by and tended to other tables. Yes, the restaurant was busy, but no more than average. My second complaint is the 3% surcharge which was automatically added onto the bill. On the bill the explanation for the surcharge is supposedly due to a local labor ordinances. The problem is, there is no such ordinance. When I asked the waitress about the surcharge she said it was due to the restaurant providing fresh food and the labor for that. My husband and I balked at this explanation. The waitress offered to have the manager come by. When the manager arrived, the manager once again tried to say that the surcharge was due to the restaurant offering fresh food. I explained that there is no such local ordinance that demands a 3% surcharge and for the restaurant to use that language is appalling. Those words insinuates that the local government has placed a law requiring a fee. I told the manager that this explanation is completely ridiculous and it forces customers to think that there is an actual law, when in fact there is not. I told the manager I felt the fee is a direct result from the increase in minimum wage. The manager tried to explain that it was either an increase on menu prices or a 3% surcharge on every single customer's bill. The restaurant decided to add a surcharge. I said I understood the restaurant's decision, however the terminology at the bottom of the receipt is completely uncalled for and then to lie and say it's because they are providing fresh food is absolutely ridiculous! The manager decided to remove the surcharge from our bill. The fact is, the surcharge is a fee to offset the minimum wage increase. It has nothing to do with fresh food, nor is it a local ordinance, but it is about passing the wage increase onto the customers. Literally! What my husband and I find comical, is the surcharge is a percentage rather than a fixed fee. No extra labor is being done to warrant a percentage. In other words you still receive subpar service but now, you have to pay more for it. Ownership, take note - What should be at the bottom of the bill is, "A 3% surcharge has been added to your bill due to an increase in minimum wage. Thank you for contributing." read more

El Torito - Wrong terminology. - Mexican Near Me - Monterey, California

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Do yourself a favor and do not eat here! It's been my experience that restaurants with great views in vacation areas don't always have the best food because they don't have to. Knowing this we decided to try El Torito as we were really wanting Mexican food. The waitstaff seems to have no training. The food was the most disgusting food I've ever been served in a restaurant. I ordered an enchilada and rolled taco. It looked like a tv dinner. Food was fried in rancid oil. My son was served rotten fruit. Kid's pizza was soggy and disgusting. My husband's tacos were soggy, tasteless. Silverware was dirty. Restroom was disgusting. Employees seemed like they were trying but possibly under trained and overworked. This happened yesterday and I'm actually still disgusted. We will never eat here again! read more

Unimpressive. Very unimpressive. What shows above was my original review. The next day someone from El Torito replied to the review that my comments would be shared with the staff. Here's what I replied to her/his message: Do better at what? You didn't even ask what the problem was. I asked if I could get a wet shrimp burrito and was told yes. What I got was a plate with rice, beans, and eight little shrimp wrapped in a flat, folded over, tortilla. I said "That's a burrito?" and was told it was. It looked like a thick pancake. And where's the wet part of the wet burrito? There was no sauce at all. Supposedly to appease me they brought out a bread plate with some cooked onions and peppers to add to my 'burrito.' WTH? No offer to change out the entree. No offer to reduce the price. No offer to buy me a margarita. Just a blank stare and the dinner bill. Outrageous. read more

We waited for one hour after we ordered the food and the server disappeared. She forgot us. I don't think this restaurant is one star, yelp should have zero star option:) read more

I had decided to take my daughter to El Torito for lunch on Christmas Day. It was a bit busy and we were put on a wait list and told the wait would be about 30 minutes. Well, after 55 minutes i received a text stating our table was ready. We seated at a table that would typically be for the bar, but it seemed as though they were using it for dinning. After about 30 minutes of no service I had to approach the hostess and asked if we would receive service, which she apologized and took our order. After another 30 minutes we still didn't have our order. I re-approached the hostess and as doing so our food came, but part of the order(appetizer) was missing. The hostess tried her best, but it was obvious the restaurant is poorly run. It seems harder and harder to find a nice restaurant with good food and good service, or just service. read more

Walked in thinking this was a nice place. First thing I saw was flies on the window! Our waitress was horrible. After we ordered our food she started walking away didn't even ask us what we wanted any to drink. She didn't check up on us to see if we needed anything else. We had to flag her down. The restaurant was dark and not inviting. I do not recommend coming here . The 3 hour drive was not worth it. read more

Ambiance here gets 5 stars as we were right over the ocean. I've always loved the Mexican Ceasar salad and everything else is standard fare. Nothing special. But come for the view! read more

El Torito - View from our table at the window - Mexican Near Me - Monterey, California

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Consistently terrible service. Bad service and long waits the first time we came here. We were in the area again recently and decided to try it again and had the same issues. Terrible service, unclean, flys in the dining area, water tastes weird. I won't go back, there is plenty of much better options in the area. read more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voO5SvrkVuw Been here twice now and really enjoyed it. Great Mexican Food, Great View! read more

Front of house here is a mess. Can't say anything about the food, because the host side is in such disarray. Showed up at 7:10, was told 25-30 minute wait. 45 minutes later went to check in, and they said they were "giving priority to reservations," and couldn't give us an estimate or even tell us where on the list we were. At 8:10, we gave up and went to Chili's, with 2 now very hungry and cranky kids, as they still couldn't tell us where we were on the list or give us an estimate. 5 minutes later, after we'd gotten to our car, a text came through that our table was ready. Totally disorganized and rude. read more

The food is pretty bad.... The only thing going for this place is it's location, which right by the sea, and they have amazing views. we ordered vegetarian dishes, and every dish was filled with only zucchini , even nachos !! Who puts zucchini in nachos ??? The lady attending was nice though, overall restaurant is crap--- avoid going, PLEASE ! read more

One of the worst experiences I've had in a restaurant. Took over an hour to get our food after we ordered it, only to be more disappointed by the quality and taste of it. Don't waste your time and money going to this place. read more

Nicely decorated restaurant on cannery row. We went for a late dinner. There were no tables so we sat at the bar. The bartender was pleasant. We had fajitas mixed grill that we shared. The food was delicious. We could have ordered two plates as portions were small. Highly recommend. We will return. read more

Rose was an amazing waitress! The food was so good! Great service and good vibe! You absolutely need to order the corn mash!

Muy Bueno! The food was very good! This was my very first time eating at this wonderful establishment! I look forward to eating here in the future! read more

The reason for the low star rating is because of the poor service and food. We had great difficulty in getting our server to understand the modifications we wanted to make to our orders. For my burrito, I asked to substitute the chicken that comes with it to be white chicken breast. However, when it arrived that was not the case. I asked for the burrito to be remade as I ordered and I was brought a side of white chicken breast, which defeats the point of ordering a burrito. Hence, the lack of a photo of my "meal." I eventually just sent it back as it was not what I ordered and asked for mine to be taken off the bill. Thankfully, the server complied after talking to his manager. The other orders were also not as asked. For example, the wrong dressing and salad was brought for two of the salads, respectively. I would recommend avoiding this restaurant as we had poor service and food. Positive note, there were copious amounts of chips and salsa. read more

Adriana the server was AMAZING! She provided excellent service. The food was very good it was my first time trying Torito and I'll definitely be back read more

I went to El Torito with a large group for a ladies brunch, and Rose was our server. She was friendly, attentive, and mixes the BEST mimosas. Her superior service was the cherry on top of our ladies brunch. read more

Great service with a great view at lunch. Great spot for lunch by the water, went in for the buffet and the hostess said buffet started at 2 when we arrived they said it starts at 3 so the manager got us a free appetizer. Great save by the manager. read more

I love the food at El Torito. It's always delicious and satisfies my craving. But...every time I go, the service is terrible. Today, I sat in the bar area for 5 minutes. I was not acknowledged or given a menu. I tried to call one of the bartenders over but they just talked amongst each other and continued to watch the football game that was playing. I soon later went to the host stand to get seated at a table in hopes of better service. I sat at my table for 15 minutes and was approached by 3 different people who were not my servers. They all told me that a "server would be with me soon" when I ask if I can order. The server finally came after I had been sitting with only chips, no menus, and no water for 20 minutes. He was very quick and barely listened to me. I ordered and he walked away mid sentence. I ordered a margarita but when I wanted to point out that they gave me the wrong drink, Montana, our server, just half listened and turned away mid sentence...again. If you are to eat here, make sure you have enough time to sit and wait. This has been my experience the last 3 times I've gone and it hasn't gotten better. Food is always excellent and I recommend anything with fresh fajitas! read more

To the point , this place was absolutely disgusting. We were seated and it took a long time for a person to acknowledge us. Table was sticky, floors were dirty, the high chair looked like they dug it out of a dumpster. As others were being seated they got their food before us. The anytime we're stewing about how gross this place was. Coffee ans OJ finally arrived and both were terrible !!! The OJ tastes so old I spit it back into my glass. At that point we decided to get up and leave !! Thank god we did. I could only imagine how sick we could have got. Stay far away from this disgusting place..... note to the manager... clean your restaurant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GROSS AF !!!!!!!!!! read more

Now we remember why we don't come here. Last time here was over a year and we tried to give it another shot only to wait 20 minutes at the table with no server coming over while tables around us that got seated after us were served with water chips salsa and drinks. Never coming back here again for terrible service. read more