Growing up in the 80's, I remember when going to El Torito meant we were celebrating a special occasion in a special place. Alas, as with everything that matures and gets old, that specialness has worn off about the dining experience at El Torito. My review would be 2 stars but the shining personality and friendliness of Lexy, our server, and the attention of the General Manager, took it to a higher level. Let me take it in parts. I'll begin with the highs. Service: As stated before, Lexy made it a nice experience notwithstanding our initial disappointment in the non-existance of our appetizer ordered in minute 2 of our stay. Our entree order arrived and two delicious margaritas later and the blessed ceviche was still MIA. Decor and ambiance: The restaurant is in dire need of capital improvements. What passed as nice decor in 1982 now looks like 1970s outdated fixtures and architecture. Value: we were there for happy hour and the margaritas were refreshing and generous. The fajita plate, compared to other Mexican themed restaurants, was skimpy in its portions--from the vegetables to the guacamole. The meat was bland and poorly seasoned. The sweet corn cake was a standout. Very tasty. Overall: we'll go back. Why, After all that? Because of the people. Our server Lexy and the Chef/General Manager have little control over corporate policy on portions, decor or capital improvements but what things they have control over they performed beautifully. Kudos to them and hopefully the recent closures will prompt Real Mex Corp. And it's CEO to focus on the basics: good employees, good value and a pleasant eating environment that old customers like me can take a new generation to make them feel special as I did when I was a young man. read more

I'll never go to or order from here again. Ordered through door dash and on a delivery that was supposed to arrive at 6:01pm the dasher text me at 7:15pm to tell me it doesn't look like it's coming. He had been in communication with me since 6:15pm. I wound up having to heat up leftovers. What a mess. An accurate delivery time up front would have let me make an informed decision and I would not have ordered from there. Ridiculous. read more

Update: On 7/27, Restaurant Manager and Regional Director both said they would call us to reach out. Three weeks later, no word from anyone. At least the order was refunded. read more

La comida estuvo super buenisima. Servicio excelente. Nuestro servidor Cruz estuvo muy attento a nuestros ordenes. Siempre que venimos al restaurant tenemos comida caliente y bueno servicio. Nosotros ordenamos varias comidas y toda la comida salio buenisima cervezas y shots salieron rapidas. read more

Very disappointed with my recent order. Ordered at 8pm on 11/11/21 for delivery. My order did not come with the gaucamole that was advertised, it was completely missing and instead included corn. The steak was so chewy, I tried cutting it into tiny pieces, but eventually just threw out most of my dinner as the steak was not edible. Complete waste of $27. read more

Amazing service. I called in for a last minute lunch reservation, they said they did have availability, when my party and I arrived, we got seated right away. We decided to do the lunch buffet there was a long line but staff did not hesitate to help. I saw Manager helping in buffet as well. Line went by surprisingly fast. My server was amazing always had our sodas filled. Thank you El Torito for taking last minute reservations! Saved me a long wait at yard house. read more

These guys are amazing. I came for business trip and felt well taken care of. The food was awesome and atmosphere was very up beat! Highly recommend!! read more

I'm so glad this place is able to open during Covid. They serve my favorite cocktails, and the server Fortino gave the best customer services I can ever receive. I took my girl here for the first time and the food was amazing, the music was on point, the place looks nice. I am for sure coming here again. Thank you Fortino for the great services amigo. read more

Worst service. Sat us at a table with a leak over us had to move. Then took an hour to take an order of our drinks. Took another 45 minutes just to bring them out and brought 3 wrong drinks and remade them wrong again and again just over again. Went to the bar myself to tell them the drink I wanted from their menu. Then brought out our food messed up on two orders. Had to switch our server because the first kept messing up. Then ordered our dessert took 30 minutes to bring out. Will never be back. read more

My buddy and I meet once month for lunch to catch up on family, fishing, and other things! We chose El Torito in Northridge. We had lunch at 12:30p and there was no waiting as we were seated right away. Our server (forgot to look for name) was ready to take our drink orders and our food orders. As we both have not been here for several years, we were amazed at how large the menu for lunch/dinner was. Lots of specials, and classic dishes. I ordered the chicken fajitas and my buddy ordered the ranchero chicken burrito with rice and beans. Both items came out of the kitchen quickly and my fajitas was sizzling hot! However, my fajitas was mostly onions and very few small green peppers!! The flour tortillas were good as well as chicken which was cooked perfectly. The beans, rice, and salsa/guacamole was also very good. Our drinks were always filled and did not have to ask. Parking is spacious and lots of it. We both will be back soon! read more

Good food .and great service. All stuff .and management is very helpful.thank you all you guys!!!

After a long day of work stopped at El Torito for dinner and had the best food and service. Lizz was amazing! She was very friendly and attentive. Thank You Lizz! We'll be visiting again soon. read more

We order a tamale i inform the waitress. The tamale was not what I expected. Waitress never offer to ask the manager if she could waive the fee. Also upon receiving the bill their was a ser charge we ask about this charge the waitress bring a sign that was hidden away out of sight . We ask about this charge , I had not seen this fee. With other restaurants. The waitress answer it was due to to covid. I'll never return to El Torito . read more

Horrible horrible service from the server "710 Jennifer" we asked for a couple things while dinning in and she never brought it out when I ordered she would look at me like if I'm saying something wrong. We asked to substitute an item for fries and immediately said "NO". She left us waiting on her for water that never arrived then we had to ask for the busboy for the check. Finally she brought it out and again never came back I had my toddler who was getting fussy so I went up to pay my food at the front and immediately she ran up there. I payed and walked out. WHY DOES THIS LADY THINK ITS OKAY TO CHASE ME AND MY TODDLER OUTSIDE YELLING WHERE WAS HER TIP. I'm one to tip for good service but refuse to tip someone who doesn't execute their job correctly. The thing that made me write this review is her thinking chasing me outside is okay especially when I'm with my child. Oh and the 2 stars is for the BusBoy. read more

This is the best pace I have eaten in any recent times. The wife and I came here after a long day of hard work and really enjoyed the food and service. Liz was an amazing server!!! Great service was provided by her and she was quick with our food! She constantly checked on us and made sure we were always filled up on drinks! Love this place and definitely recommend coming and asking for Liz as your server!!! read more

Food was awesome, and delivered quickly! Great ambiance, great company, great service thanks to Liz!

Let me start by saying Diana the bartender was amazing, she had orders after orders & managed to take the bars orders & everyone else's. This is the reason i give it a 3 star because of her. But really shes a 5star! Now with the food itself I've been to the Pasadena HH & it is the bomb ! This was my first time here & there food was pretty bad the ceviche number one had no flavor. The mini torta was very oily but tasted alright. The tacos literally were the same as the torta without the bread literally felt like i was eating the same meal you guys need to change either one of recipe it's basically the same. The only thing i really enjoyed was the queso dip besides that you guys need to step up your game. Might not be coming back here, might just stick to Pasadena's location. read more

My family and I had the absolute best experience dining here! We were well taken care of by our wonderful server, Evaristo! He was very friendly, attentive, and made sure we had everything we needed. The food was very delicious. Dining here is the perfect Sunday afternoon outing! :) read more

Elmar was a great server. He was taking care of us and very attentive. Great service.

I appreciate the ambience and how friendly everyone is. Our server Juan R. was so attentive. It makes me want to be here every weekend to enjoy good food in a good environment. Their weekend brunch is amazing and they have an omelette chef and taco assembler (my kind of place). Anything you are in the mood for is at your service. Great place to eat! read more

El Torito - Mexican Near Me - Northridge, California

It's a shame that you resort to charging a hidden 4% surcharge to an already overpriced meal. We won't return until this unscrupulous, deceptive practice is removed & will advise others of this extremely poor tactic. So long & good riddance!! read more

Was there last Sunday for brunch with family and Jose made our day great with all his help. Thank you Jose !

I came to have lunch and the waitresses were slow and it took awhile for a waitress to come and take my order food was lukewarm and they gave me a small portion of rice and the enchiladas weren't covered with enough of the enchilada sauce I know its the pandemic but that's no excuse for not having good service!!! read more

Food is honestly hit or miss depending on what you get, but the table side guacamole is always super delicious! Wish I could give more stars but it's really kind of 50/50 and really depends on what you order. The quesadillas are always good. read more

Just wanted to warn customers that if you're looking to redeem the promo for a free entrée for your birthday, that offer currently is good for dine-in purchases only, not for To-Go orders. So if you're still not comfortable dining in restaurants during the pandemic, this is not a promo that's usable for you! They lost our business tonight and we'll use a birthday promo for a To-Go purchase at another restaurant. read more

Eirlandia was amazing. We sat at the bar and had such a blast with the family. We've been coming in for a few years but Eirlandia's attention for our party was refreshing. The place looks great too. It was recently remodeled and makes me feel and to return next weekend. Love this place! read more

Love being able to get together with coworkers and all of the staff made at the bar made sure we had a great time. The prices were very affordable. Will definitely come back again . read more

I brought my mom for mothers day. The service and food was very basic. We didn't wait to long to be seated for being a holiday (35 minutes). We ordered 2 coronas and a micheladas to start. When we got them they were really warm and no one likes a warm beer. The server replaced them immediately. I also ordered some horchata and was shocked a Mexican restaurant didnt have horchata. I was a bit upset cause I love horchata. For food it was also very basic. The carne asada I had was well cooked but a but salty the refried beans were good and the corn scoop was so tasty. I don't know if the service was mediocre because it was mothers days and busy. My mom wasn't really happy with the service either, which was very disappointing cause I took her there for mothers day. I'm not sure if i would come again. Maybe for the bar. Not for the restaurant. read more

Been coming here for years . Never misses! Good food &' service is amazing ! Favorite server is Cruz !! Very attentive ask for Cruz next time read more

Had a great time with delicious food and amazing service. Liz and Richard were very kind and attentive! TRY THE NEW WATERMELON CANDY SHOT! It's delicious! read more

Rosaura was on it and we had fast and very efficient service....she was very friendly and a real pleasure, thank you!

Llucely had the best customer service. I've been here multiple times and appreciated her attentiveness. Thank you Llucely, will definitely be back and bring my family as well. read more

If I could give zero stars as a review I would, but unfortunately I am unable to. First off I wanted to say that I have been dining here for the past 4 years and typically sit at the bar. I usually get terrific service which is why I was shocked when I received the most horrific service last Tuesday. The bartender Diana gave the most horrendous service that I have seen in all my life while dining here. Firstly it felt like it practically took years for her to give me service due to her conversing with her friends/coworkers at work. After she finally did give me service she did it with a good attitude and with a sour face. I ignored her antics because I wanted to enjoy my meal and day. But the situation just got worse and worse. When my food arrived it was amazing, the chefs here really know what they are doing; as for the margarita I ordered it was horrible. It tasted as if I was drinking watered down lemonade, I asked her to remake it and she did with slight annoyance. After all said and done I ate my meal and was trying to get her attention so I could give her my card and leave, though once again she took extremely long; so much so that I needed to get up and give it to her. All said and done I will not be coming back because although I think the food is amazing, this situation has saddened me and I am not willing to put up with incompetent & rude bartenders. read more

Great place I love the brunch , Dora is the best in the west ..... thank you for all the great times Dora and Luis our bartender .

Very disappointing. Fajitas were stingy with the meat. Steak was like shoe leather. Shrimp and steak were both rather tasteless. Almost no bell pepper but plenty of onion. Came with about a heaping teaspoon each of guacamole and corn cake. Service was so-so. Strawberry Margarita was good. For the price I expected a better meal. Second bad experience in a row. read more

Are waiter Cruz is the best waiter in this restaurant he serves us good the food is good and he also make us laugh and I like it here because it's fun here to come here to watch a basketball and the deserts here are good. read more

First and last time we come here. We came to celebrate our 28th anniversary. A friend told us about their great buffet. No enough food to choose from and just average. On top of that they had flies inside landing on your food. I told the waiter and he said naturally that's because people leave the front doors open too long and flies come in, so I told him to let me to talk to the manager. The manager came shortly so I told her the same thing and she repeated the same thing the waiter told me so I moved my head like "no, no again". She said "I can't do nothing, what would you like me to do?", so I said obviously nothing now but you should try to keep the front door not wide open for a long period of time and ask upper management for a solution for it". She said "I'll do that and I'll give you a discount on the bill". Five minutos later while I was waiting for the bill, the manager opened one of the front door wide open and standed there talking for about one min to some customer standing outside. Now I know how the flies get inside. Buffet & flies is a no, no combination. read more

El Torito - A fly eating my flan. - Mexican Near Me - Northridge, California

Planned a girls night out by attending the Paint Nite that was being hosted here about 2 weeks ago. We ordered margaritas during happy hour along with a few appetizers. The chips and dip were good. I would definitely recommend the paint nite activity to anyone we had a lot of fun! Don't forget to order a drink while painting, it makes it that much funner. read more

El Torito - Mexican Near Me - Northridge, California

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I'm sitting at the bar and the bartender Diana gave me the best service I ever had at this location. She's very attentive and welcoming. Cristina, Ericka and Samantha are the best team, they help each other out and make El Torito have great atmosphere. The manager Sevana is the best, she asked me how I was doing and if I needed anything. I truly recommend this place especially on Mondays because all the girls are the best! read more

Went for Taco Tuesday, my wife had a coupon for a free appetizer with purchase. I ordered 3 tacos, she ordered chicken taco salad, patron margarita, and table side guacamole.(coupon required entree order) I tried carnitas, pastor, & chicken tacos the meat was dry. The waitress brought the salad, and guacamole out together? I thought it was table side? It looked just like the guacamole on the salad. My wife asked later if table side normally comes this way? The answer "I was really busy, and it would take a long time to make it table side." I've never heard that before. It would have been nice if she asked if we were in a hurry or could wait. Not the greatest taco Tuesday I've tried. read more