Love coming to the bar at El Torito. Alvaro the bartender always takes great care of us and makes it for a great Friday night!

Gaby was my server, let me tell you she was amazing. Brought our food quick, and was really attentive to my group. We never had to hunt her down, nor ask another server because she was always there. Anytime she saw our waters go down, she refilled them right away. It was all our first time here, and she throughly explained the menu to each of us one by one and answered any questions we had. She made this place a million times better, she carries the ambiance and shows what a server should be like. Thank you. read more

1/24/2026 Stopped by El Torito (Cypress) recently and overall had a pretty good experience, with a couple of things that held it back from being a full 4 stars. We ordered a mix of appetizers, tacos, and drinks: * Tableside Guacamole - $14.50 (excellent) * House Margarita - $6.00 * HH Mahi Taco - $10.00 (tasty) * Flauta App - $8.00 * HH Birria Taco - $8.00 (good) * Root Beer - $4.00 First off, the tableside guacamole was the star of the meal -- super fresh, great flavor, and worth ordering if you're coming here. The beef birria tacos were good, and the mahi fish tacos were tasty and a nice lighter option compared to the heavier items. My main complaint was the house margarita. It was served in a small glass filled with ice, and honestly there wasn't much margarita in there. The flavor was fine, but the portion felt a little weak for a restaurant margarita. Overall, the food was enjoyable and I'd come back, but I'd probably skip the margarita next time (or try a different one). Solid spot when you're in the area and want dependable chain Mexican food. read more

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Excellent service. Great food, sorry if that offends some people. Lol. Almost always do the lunch buffet when there. Only thing stopping 5 stars is prices are a bit high read more

My all time favorite salad, the Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad + a side of the sweet corn cake, chips and salsa, all served to me by Julio C, was delicious, the atmosphere was pleasant, and I thoroughly enjoyed every bite! Thank You, Julio C! I'll be back! read more

Julio is the man! Great and friendly service! Food is always amazing and I love the AYCE.

Had an amazing experience at El Torito thanks to Samuel Limon! He was friendly, attentive, and made sure everything was perfect from start to finish. Drinks stayed full, food came out quickly, and he had such a energetic attitude the whole time. Excellent customer service like this really makes a difference. Samuel truly made our visit enjoyable, and we'll definitely be back because of him!" read more

Their lunch buffet is good. The variety of simple but yet the tacos are great because they are made to order. Service is fantastic. The place is never super busy during lunchtime. read more

El Torito - Mexican Near Me - Cypress, California

Best Happy Hour in town! Alvaro always takes good care of us when we come in and always remembers drink orders! Happy hour & taco Tuesday can get busy so the earlier you arrive the better. Food is always great too never any complaints! read more

Great happy hour menu and big bar area! Went for dinner and had mahi mahi tacos (happy hour menu), tortilla soup, and my son ordered burrito off the menu. Good service, outside patio, and great happy hour options. read more

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We went for Sunday Brunch to celebrate me and my brother's birthdays. The food was amazing! The cheese enchiladas, birria meat, and sausage were incredible!. There was also a great Mariachi band playing music. And our waitress Gaby was fantastic always making sure we were taken care of! I highly recommend going to their Sunday Brunch. read more

Had an amazing Mother's Day brunch with delicious food and fantastic service from Julio!

Service and food was great . Julio C . Was a great server. Brunch was awesome. Will definitely come back again. Had a great time.

We came in for a late afternoon lunch and had a great experience today. Angel was our server and he was friendly, got our orders perfectly, and provided space for us to eat, but always came back at the right time to refill our chips/salsa, give us napkins, and all the right containers for our leftovers. He also didn't make it awkward when we mentioned we had a promo for table side guacamole and did a great job making it. He really made us feel comfortable, like a tío you look forward to seeing at family gatherings haha. Our food runner was also friendly and inviting. We enjoyed all the food we ordered, which included: - carne asada/enchilada combo - macho combo - margarita flight - table side guacamole - banana chimi for dessert Everything was great, but the standout items were the guacamole and margarita flight, which is especially good if you're indecisive about a particular flavor. Our favorite was the mango, very refreshing and had a nice flavor combo with the tajin. We also enjoyed all the natural light and the booths were clean and comfortable. Definitely recommended! God bless! read more

El Torito - Margarita Flight - Mexican Near Me - Cypress, California

Took my dad who is 92 to El Torito for his birthday yesterday on Valentine's Day. We had a reservation and we're seated fairly fast. The server came and took our meal and drink order which was very nice we ordered our food which was which was very very good at the end. They came and sang my dad happy birthday for his birthday, which is very nice and they gave him a sombrero to take home with him. Thank you for the nice evening for my father and a great atmosphere at the restaurant my dad was very happy with his dinner read more

Had a good experience tonight at el torito. Our server Gloria was great! She was very helpful and quick. The food was good as well.

Brunch at El Torito was so good and our waiter Julio gave us amazing service! 10/10 would recommend to all. The cafe de olla was so yummy and the pancakes with the honey butter made my morning! read more

Excellent food and more when its your Birthday and you get a Free Entree. Can't beat that! Seever Julio was great with his customer service.

The worst michelada I've ever had :,( We had to ask for more michelada mix twice bc they gave us too little and was flavorless. The second time around, the mix was clearly watered down. I got the street tacos with steak which tasted good but too overpriced ($21+ for 3 street tacos...). We also had to wait 45 minutes for a table when there were several empty tables throughout the restaurant. read more

El Torito - Mexican Near Me - Cypress, California

Love visiting for happy hour & sitting in the bar area. The ambiance is very lovely and service always friendly. We ordered a couple of items from their yummy happy hour menu, chicken flautas & guacamole as well as a menu dinner, veggie fajitas with a grilled chile relleno. First time getting that place and I was so happy with it. We had to treat ourselves to the bread pudding for dessert. read more

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Ambiance was good, the service was good ( the waiter worked very hard to help us). the food was good. my complaint is that I ordered three taco's, no cheese. the waiter knew and understood, but the cook never got the message. they made new taco's for me. the second complaint is the taco was very low amount of meat, both times. if you took all of the meat from all of the 3 taco's and put it in one taco shell, it still would be low in meat. the meat tasted good if you could taste it thru the lettuce and tomato. read more

We loved the breakfast buffet! The food was delicious! My kid just wished they had ice cream included in the buffet, lol. But the atmosphere at this El Torito is really pleasant, and our server Julio C. was attentive and kind. read more

Gabby was amazing, provided great service. Food was delicious! Will definitely be back!

Came here for dinner and it was not what I was expecting. My friend said they used to come to El Torito and that it was a good pick for dinner... I stopped by Saturday for dinner, and it wasn't too busy. There was a few parties here and there. We arrived and were seated right away as there were plenty of open seats. We got started with water, some salsa, and chips. The salsa and chips were probably the best part of the meal. My friend ordered a fajita combo, and I got the Macho Combo. I was actually looking forward to trying this since my friend said they used to get the Macho Combo a lot and that they remembered it was pretty good. So, because of this, I had high hopes...but they were crushed. My favorite of the items was the beef barbacoa crispy taco, as I actually finished the whole thing. The chicken tamale, Chile rellenos, and the enchilada weren't my favorites. Of the 3, the chicken enchiladas would bring my second pick, but overall, these 3 items I just didn't care for too much. The chicken tamale was all masa and no chicken. Not that I don't like masa, but the masa for this tamale was also just not flavorful and might I say a bit dry... The chile rellenos were also just okay; it was just a chile stuffed with lots of cheese. I also thought the refried beans tasted a little burnt. In the end, I had about half of everything left over since it just wasn't hitting the spot for me. My friend ordered the fajitas combo, and all I can say is that they were truly disappointed. They had fond memories of this dish, and they were a bit upset about how it had changed and was served. When the fajitas came out, a lot of the veggies were burnt, like the dish was just sitting in the kitchen for so long before it came out that the onions had enough time to sizzle and burn up before even getting to us... Maybe I came during an off day, but not only was the food disappointing, but the service was also quite lacking. We were just watching the front staff just talking in the front with the bartender and the two waiters busy running around, but never in our area. We did ask for limes when we were seated, but it took about halfway through the meal to even get the limes... it was super hard to flag down the waiters for anything, and we couldn't even get our water refilled. Even waiting to get the check and paying to leave took 30 minutes alone. Honestly, this experience was super disappointing that I don't think I'll plan to visit again anytime soon. read more

El Torito - Mexican Near Me - Cypress, California

I recently went to El Torito and had a pretty decent experience overall. The atmosphere was nice and lively, and gaby our waiter was friendly and attentive. Food was amazing! read more

El Torito - Mexican Near Me - Cypress, California

First time at this location. Staff very friendly and restaurant well kept. Appreciated the taco Tuesday bar where u order how many tacos you want n get beans with all taco fixings for 3 bucks a taco. Unfortunately food was not hot even on burners. Darn! Other items ordered off menu were ok... nothing outstanding. If you can't eat on the spicy side.. not for you. Everything pretty much pre marinated. Flavorful but heartburn city! read more

Food and service were amazing! Saturdays buffet was great. Our server Julio was very attentive and checked on us often for refills & to see if we were still doing okay! Can't wait to come back next Saturday. read more

My bfs first time to an el torito and Arturo made it a wonderful experience. Table fajitas are always a must here or the table side guac! Such a cool experience every time! Thank you for the great food and service! read more

Usually, this is our go-to El Torito location. Out of all the El Torito spots, this is the one we normally recommend to friends and family, and we've been here many times with good experiences. That's why this visit was especially disappointing. We made our Mother's Day reservation a couple of weeks in advance because we knew it would be busy and wanted to plan ahead to avoid a long wait. We arrived on time for our 11:30 reservation, only to be told there were 21 tables ahead of us -- not 21 people, but 21 full tables. That honestly felt pretty unreasonable considering we had reserved well in advance. What made it more frustrating was later finding out that walk-ins were still being accepted and mixed in with the reservation list. In my opinion, reservations should absolutely be prioritized on a day like Mother's Day. I understand wanting to accommodate everyone, but if reservations are being delayed that heavily, then maybe walk-ins should primarily be offered patio or outdoor seating instead of taking up the main indoor dining areas that reserved guests expected to receive. We ultimately ended up seated outside on the patio. Unfortunately, it was very hot outside, the ambiance wasn't great, and overall it just didn't feel like the experience we expected after planning ahead. My wife is pregnant, so the heat made it especially uncomfortable for her. The restaurant itself also felt extremely overcrowded and somewhat disorganized. I completely understand that Mother's Day is one of the busiest days of the year for restaurants, and I do want to give the staff grace for that. At the same time, this isn't their first Mother's Day, so I do think the reservation system and customer flow could have been handled much better. The reason I'm still giving three stars is because this review is based on more than just this one visit. If I were reviewing only this Mother's Day experience, honestly it would probably be one star. However, we've had multiple great experiences here before that were genuinely five-star visits, which is why I still want to give credit where it's due. We still love this location and will probably come back because we've had many good experiences here before. I'm mainly leaving this review because I genuinely hope management takes the feedback constructively and improves the process for future holidays and special events. read more

After driving around trying to find a place to eat, we ended up at El Torito, and I'm so glad we did. From the moment we sat down, Raul took such great care of us. He was warm, attentive, and genuinely kind, it honestly felt like we were at a family gathering. He checked in at just the right times, made great recommendations, and went out of his way to make sure we were comfortable and enjoying ourselves. The food itself wasn't our favorite, but the guacamole and Jamaica were absolutely delicious and definitely standouts. That said, we didn't even mind, the service completely made the experience. The ambiance was also perfect for winding down after a long day, relaxed, welcoming, and just what we needed. What really stood out was how much Raul cared. You don't come across service like that very often anymore, and it made a lasting impression on us. We're not even from the area, but we will absolutely be back, and we will definitely be asking for Raul. Thank you for the hospitality, kindness, and for turning a simple dinner into such a memorable experience! read more

Julio C, we've been coming here for more than 10 years . Julio is consistently excellent at his job‼ Thank you ‼‼‼ read more

Another wonderful brunch with the family! Fresh fruit and foods and the desserts and always great! Our server Mario M. was a great server and very friendly. Always checked in on us and topped our drinks. Ambiance is always great and full of laughter and family friendly hospitality. read more

El Torito - Mimosa Time! - Mexican Near Me - Cypress, California

We dined at El Torrito the other night and had Jorge, a fabulous server--who was attentive and took care of all our needs. Thank you, Jorge! I ordered the queso with chorizo, which came with the homemade tortillas and it was fantastic. I also got a side of the sweet corn cake, which was delicious. read more

Food is great. The reason I can't give 5 stars is their reservation wait time. Even when you have a reservation, you would wait for 30 min from your reservation time. So if plan on a certain time, just book 30 min beforehand. It's very frustrating that they don't seat you within at least 10 min of your reservation. Expect 30-40 min after your reservation time to be seated. read more

We haven't had an experience like we did the other day. The employee that was seating did need some pep in his step or to be more people friendly. Greet your guests. But our waiter did make up for it all. We had jorgé and he was the it waiter. The ambiance was great. The music and the place was popping. The food also didn't disappoint. All delish and hot. The service was top tier. Make sure you ask for Jorge. read more

Gaby was an amazing server! She was super attentive and made sure all our needs were meant!

Came with my family to celebrate my brother's birthday. Ernesto was our server and Wow, couldn't be any more grateful and ecstatic about the service we had. Ernesto was on top of it and quick with everything! Always had our drinks ready and was quick w getting our food orders. He was extremely hospitable and I hope to have him as a server again! Will be coming back soon (: read more

El Totito for the win! So many locations have shut down. The Cypress location is one of the last bulls standing. I frequent this location for the amazing Happy Hour, weekday lunch buffet and Sunday Brunch. My latest trip was for take out. My chicken fajitas were packaged perfectly. The beans were on the side in a seperate container. The meal also had a bag of chips and salsa. Everything was ready at the time promised. Happy Hour has always been a winner winner. Alvaro always makes the best drinks. Happy hour menu frequently changes so you are not stuck eating the same old thing. I am a forever fan. read more

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Review for El Torito Great service and delicious food! There's a wide variety to choose from -- ceviche, pozole, omelets, and much more. Arturo, our waiter, was fantastic, always keeping our champagne topped off without missing a beat. To our surprise they had mariachi band that made the ambiance lively and happy. We'll definitely be coming back! Thanks El Torito for making my special day a great one!! read more

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Decide to drop in again in a Tuesday night for some happy hour dining in the cantina! Came in a little after 7pm and didn't wait even 5 minutes until I was helped, points there for speed of service. Music was at an enjoyable level with different games on the TVs and it wasn't that busy during my visit. My server Julian was very attentive and helpful, he made the dinner experience enjoyable. The flautas and birria tacos were hot and delicious! The flan was creamy and smooth. And what can I say about the margaritas other than divine, they all truly hit the spot. Definitely think I've found a weekly place to come in and I think I've found the right time to enjoy some dinner. read more

El Torito - FLAUTAS, Birria Tacos and margarita flight - Mexican Near Me - Cypress, California

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