El Torito's has excellent food but no atmosphere to accompany the delicious food or the hefty price you pay for that food. A little investment in updating the tables, decorations, and especially the carpet would make El Torito's a fine dining experience.

the food was delicious, the service was outstanding

We did not think the food was worth the money, presentation was not so good, omelette was small. Waiter did not bring condiments, pepper, ketchup, hot sauce.

When we tried to use our coupon he said it was not pertaining to our meal.
We presented a different one but realized our first one was the correct one, but he did not apologize for his error.

Just disorganized at check in ,too long of waits to get food from the buffet.

I enjoyed how easy it was to make my reservation through the app and loved the food and service!

Nice, casual, friendly, and the food is always good.

Waiters are the BEST!!!
Food is great.
I love this place 💕

Love El Torito, it has been a Family favorite for many years when we would visit in Arizona. Now it is a must every time we visit California.

We dined indoors and were seated in a booth too close to the open front door, so it was cold. The restaurant realized this and had a heater, but it wasn't helping, so the waiter moved it in front of us. He also gave us excellent service. The ladies in the next booth, especially one lady, talked so loudly that it was hard for us to communicate. Perhaps a different seating location would have made the experience better. The flaming fajitas platter was very good! More beans needed, though. Good margaritas.

Food came quickly. Service was great. The food was a little on the clicker side but was still delicious.

To start off with, we had reservations for 6:45 and arrived about 6:35. There was no line, but we were told we have to rage until 645 to be seated outside. And was about 6:50 before we finally got a seat. Then we were given a waiter who was having an off night. Our soup and salad were not delivered before the meal as we had requested. The salad and soup are both wrong. But then we were assigned a new waiter named Andre who was super. The food was good. Having a heater outside would have been a nice touch as it was chilly. I felt like we were penalized for wanting to sit outdoors. (We are still not comfortable dining indoors due to COVID). Even the waiter initially was not told we were sitting out there so it was a while before we received drinks, chips, etc.We had called ahead to verify that there were doing outdoor seating and so since it was offered it seemed reasonable that we should be treated just as any other customer. Andre did save the day as did our busser with making sure our drinks were refilled and food to our liking.

Our server Andres was fantastic. The food and Margaritas were perfect. We will be going back soon.

El Torito in La Mesa was at their change of shift when we arrived for our reservation. We didn't have to wait very long and were seated as far away from the DJ (per our 84 year old father's request) as we could be seated.

Our server, Rachel, was AMAZING!! She was attentive, energetic, and never allowed our glasses to get to the empty point. The food was hot and delicious, and the safety protocols through.

Overall....FANTASTIC dinner with Rachel as our server!

Absolutely the best El Torito I have visited in California. Definitely worth the drive and the customer service was on point!

Great place. Fajitas were excellent. Andre our server was attentive and outstanding.

Food was good, service by Thresa was outstanding and the music was great just a little loud but great overall

Menudo is great here and Carlos the bartender/server is awesome!

We sat inside. Unfortunately long wait at buffet line. The restaurant can use more cleaning. Waitress was attentive. Food was fresh and tasty. Nice authentic Mexican place. Good value for $29 Sunday brunch.

Asked to be seated far from others but close enough to the buffet. We were accommodated with that request and it was also nice and quiet. Service from the bartender was excellent! Food was really good as well.

Okay so we all know that COVID restrictions are impacting businesses, and most businesses have learned to adjust and have a good system in place. Valentines day is a very challenging day for restaurants and for couples that want to celebrate this special day. We used open table to check availability for Sunday evening for a table for 2. El Torito in La Mesa showed availability starting at 6:30 PM and every 15 minutes to half hour after that. We made a reservation using the app for a table for two at 7:30 PM. (See attached photo). We showed up 10 minutes before our reservation and went inside to check in with the hostess. She pulled up our reservation on her iPad and said I see you here but we have overbooked ourselves and have 11 people waiting in front of you and the wait is over an hour. I asked why didn’t someone call us text us email us in advance if they knew there was a problem. She said she has no way of doing that I know it’s not directly her fault but if there’s connectivity between the open a table app and the El Torito scheduling software that she was using on her device why wouldn’t one company or the other and make sure to provide some form of two way communication between them so the restaurant can avoid issues by communicating with the customer. She said there is nothing she could do we left and went to our car in the parking lot and got back on the web. We found the Brigantine which was one exit away showed availability. We called them and the hostess there said come on over we can have you seated in 10 minutes. We drove right there and checked in with the hostess. She directed us to go get ourselves a drink at the bar which we did and by the time we got back to her they took us directly to our table. It was a wonderful Valentines evening at the Brig in La Mesa. Not the Mexican food we originally had in mind and the price difference between the two restaurants is significant but it doesn’t matter to us. the Brig stepped up when El Torito failed.

Horrible! Never have I ever experienced the worst service ever. Started from the greeter. She honestly did not know how to do her job and was soo disorganized. I asked her questions and she just continued to either not know the answer or lie. Server thought we were content with our chips and salsa and took forever to greet us and attend to our table. I asked are you not honoring the reservations and again the greeter said well... uugh coming out of quarantine to go dine in at El Torrito and be treated like that no thank you!! What a joke. They need to step up their game because people want to finally get out and dine out.

Gil was the best waiter EVER! He was absolutely entertaining and earned his tip. They are cautious about COVID guidelines and things are handled well.

My reservation was easy, got our table fast and efficiently. Our waiter was Gilbert, he's fast professional and also fun. He gives you that comfort, like you are home with family. Service was great on your buffet areas. Pleasant cooks/servers. Overall, we will be back soon. Thank you

Had a very nice & pleasant time with my family! Everything was perfect.

I have never had a bad experience and I have been going for years! Thank you for your service

The bartender (Carlos?) is always quick and attentive and is the main reason for my repeat business for the past 3 years. Menudo is outstanding as well as the other food.

Brunch, we love going to el Torito for brunch,

Salmon Tacos were amazing and Miguel was an excellent server. Friendly and attentive when we needed refills!

Great food and service. Theresa is the best! Handmade guacamole, so good.

Sunday bottomless mimosa buffet is a great value!!!

the staff was AMAZING!! such a friendly atmosphere

Good food. Decent service. Went there for a Thanksgiving dinner.

Got Seated earlier than expected. Was seated quickly, shown the direction of the food, got our food and our Drinks quickly, Great Service from our Waiter Juan, A great job at attending our needs

Brunch was great considering we dined in the parking lot. Service was fantastic, especially since we found out that they were short handed.

Service was excellent and the food was delicious but of course due to COVID we had to eat outdoors.

I wish they hadn't closed the one in Plaza Bonita down otherwise I would go more often. I would highly recommend El Torito.

Brunch is always awesome Gilberto and the manager always give us an amazing breakfast

It’s been years since we have been to a torito restaurant and to be honest it’s the best brunch we’ve had in a very long time!!

The check in people could be more informative. They acted like they didn’t have our reservation. Waiter didn’t tell us about filling in the order form or tell us about where the food was. We had to walk around to find the different tables. Like dessert, salad and main food

There was a teeny-weeny little sign posted right at the hostess station that said a surcharge would be added to your bill, due to economic impacts of COVID-19; I missed it, but my husband saw it.

We questioned a charge on our bill, as the cost was higher than what was listed on the menu; turns out our server asked us if we wanted a bowl of soup or a cup, but "neglected" to mention that the bowl would be a separate additional charge, rather than the lower 'add a soup or salad' charge.

Great location and good. Good for group gatherings. I highly recommend it!