I talked with receptionist to make sure Dodger game would be on as well as World Cup with Mexico, she assured me it would and it was. Halfway through the game they switched it, even though myself and a few others were watching it. They had PLENTY of TV's showing the Soccer game, there was no need to switch this one, the Manager could care less. So after I missed the ending of a game I was promised I'd be able to watch, the bill comes and it has a Surcharge, there was no way I was going to pay extra, especially after they gave me less. Too bad the server had to have some of their tip go to this charge, hopefully this heartless manager reimbursed the tip to the server but I doubt it! I will NEVER go back! read more

I recommend this place. This is the only El Torito we go to because the service is immaculate. So many servers here are great! Especially Victor Perez. Hands down, best server I have ever seen. Very detailed and is always asking what we need. I recommend to come here and ask for Victor. You won't be disappointed. read more

El Torito - Mexican Near Me - Riverside, California

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We had the best brunch today and excellent service from Victor P! Can't wait to visit again!

Fernanda was great. I got the mahi mahi tacos and they were dry and not very good. We asked for the birria tacos instead. She was able to get the uneaten dish removed. She was pleasant and friendly. read more

I had the new torta sandwich and it was not good. There was very little meat and it was stringy. Prices have gone way up, quality gone way down. I ate there again and the beans were like flavorless soup. Not going to return. read more

Food was great! Victor P was amazing. We have had him several times. Every time he is very accommodating and attentive. He's our favorite. We always ask for him to be our server. Please give him a raise. read more

Victor, took care of us!! Made our Christmas morning brunch feel special, Thank you Victor ! read more

Stopped by El Torito for the first time recently and had a really great experience, largely thanks to our server, Victor Perez. Victor was attentive from the start and checked in with us often throughout the visit. He made sure our drink was never empty, kept a great attitude the entire time, and was genuinely friendly and welcoming. It's always nice when a server takes pride in what they do, and Victor definitely does. Since it was my first time there, he also took the time to recommend a few things to try, which I really appreciated. His suggestions were great and helped make the experience even better. Victor was professional, personable, and truly made the visit more enjoyable. Great service like that really stands out. Huge shoutout to Victor Perez, keep up the great work! read more

Rolled into El Torito in Riverside looking for a margarita and a moment--and kinda got both. Ordered the house marg, which leaned more "vacation juice" than "kick in the pants," so I had to back it up with a shot of tequila to level things out. Crisis averted. The real MVP of the night? The Mexican Caesar salad. Honestly, shockingly good. Crunchy, flavorful, and way more satisfying than I expected from a salad. I'd go back just for that. Service was... let's call it "leisurely." The bartender was clearly doing the job of two people, bless them, but it meant a bit of a wait for drinks. If management reads this: hire that person a co-pilot behind the bar. They've earned it. All in all, solid night, great food, and with just one more bartender, this place would be firing on all cylinders. read more

Came to El Torito at the plaza in Riverside for taco Tuesday. Our server Lorenzo was the best. He was very informative, professional, and extremely nice. By far this was one of our best experience at El Torito. My husband and I are regular there on Tuesday and Friday for their happy hour and Taco Tuesday. Highly recommend!!!Thanks again Lorenzo keep up thw good work.! read more

Went for the Sunday Brunch and all of the food was delicious! They had an immense variety of food; from seafood to tacos, sopes, quesadillas, enchiladas, chilaquiles, omelets, soups, esquites & a handful of desserts! Our server Erika was quick to take our drink order and brought coffee to the table right away! She was very friendly and quick to take the plates away from the table, making sure we weren't needing anything! Will be back! :) read more

$39.95 Thanksgiving Day buffet for adults with unlimited mimosa! The carving station served the Thanksgiving must-haves--ham and turkey. The made-to-order Taco station had six different tacos to choose from, two soups, tamale plates, holiday veggies, and giant cut sweet yam. The kids' section had mini dogs, chicken fingers, cookies, fresh juices, and horchta. It was such a great deal for the holiday meal, and all the staff were friendly. You can feel the restaurant management really wants to create a happy holiday meal experience for their guests! Thank you for having us today :) read more

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Be prepared to wait!! Our server was kind and helpful, but it was hard to flag him down when we wanted to order and when we wanted to get our check. The food was good and flavorful. Our favorite was the sizzling chicken which had a unique smoky flavor and the table side guacamole. The restaurant seemed clean and lively! read more

El Torito - SIZZLING ENCHILADAS - GRILLED CHICKEN MACHO COMBO - Mexican Near Me - Riverside, California

We took our big family to dinner Sunday evening. Bella was our server. She was efficient, patient, an incredibly kind. She made our experience fantastic as she was serving us. I looked around the table and and saw my family with big smiles on their face as they interacted with her. We're very thankful for such service. read more

Great food, service was excellent, especially Victor P. Great attention to detail and very kind.

I just gotta say...Jazmin at the bar was amazing! We came for Sunday brunch and sat at the bar, which was wide open. She kept our mimosas and margaritas full the entire time. The food is great...the service is great...the drinks are great! read more

El Torito - Mimosas and margaritas - Mexican Near Me - Riverside, California

Our server Cynthia is Rock star caliber. She bar tends too. So she does it all and it shows. Ask for the hot brown chili to mix with the mild. Everything was outstanding ! read more

El Torito - Dous taco lunch special - Mexican Near Me - Riverside, California

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Amazing service from Evelyn my server came in with a little over 30 minutes before they closed, the food was great too and again compliments for the excellent service that was provided. read more

Amazing brunch. Best deal in town plus unlimited mimosas. Staff was great Christian (female) was our server. She checked on us and made sure everything was refilled. Food was great especially taco bar. Unlimited for $40 what a deal read more

Hey El Torito, your happy hour menu says "draft pints for $4" but when the beer came it was filled to the first line, which is 12 oz. It is not possible to put 16 oz. in a plastic cup that only holds 14 oz. to the brim. Wonder what you pour is on your mixed drinks. When we asked the waitress at the bar she said "yes it's 16 oz., everything is measured." Hmmmm, I think she doesn't know her measurements. Tortilla soup was not what it used to be, broth was watery, no depth of flavor. Chips tasted like they were fried in stale grease. Tacos were just ok. So disappointed! Loved our server. read more

El Torito - Empty beet cup - Mexican Near Me - Riverside, California

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We went to El Torito for Easter Bruch we had a party of 12 had reservations got in with in 5 minutes, our server Victor P was awesome continuous mimosas yummy omelette, bar, fresh tortillas, and tacos cleaned up the table right away our food was good Everyone was very friendly. The restaurant was very clean:) read more

Amazing service Classy Polite Professional Ms Fernanda was great Taco station: great Will be back. read more

The food was awful -- the rice was stale and dry, and the entire meal was so overly spicy it was basically inedible. Nothing tasted fresh or balanced. To make things worse, the service was terrible -- inattentive and dismissive, like they didn't care at all. Definitely not worth the price or the visit. I left hungry and disappointed. read more

El Torito - Stale rice way too spicy taco - Mexican Near Me - Riverside, California

I love their Sizzling Enchiladas. Last time I came they only had 1 server. The poor lady was working so hard to keep up. I gave her a good tip. Today I went for dinner, they told me it was 5 to 10 min wait. I waited 30min. They were short staffed again Many customers walked out and the manager turned away a large party saying it would be a 2 hr wait. If they don't make it, it will be their own doing. Such consistent bad costumer service is not OK. read more

Girl, no! They not only ran out of multiple of the happy hour items, but then also took an hour to get our order to the table. I don't know what I was expecting but the food was anything but Mexican cuisine. I ordered enchiladas and I have... thoughts. These enchiladas were flour tortillas with pico de gallo inside, why? Customer service also left a lot to be desired. Took a while for a host to get us a table, even though no one was waiting. The server also checked in on us once during our one hour wait for food. read more

Brunch was so good because our server Victor P. was one of the friendliest, most attentive servers me and my friends had. We had drinks flowing, the Norway vs Brasil game going and food was banging! Thank you Victor! read more

Came here recently for dinner on a Friday night, it was early, but still very crowded. I had the chicken & sour cream enchiladas. The service was very slow and it took forever to pay and leave. It reminded me of why I don't come to this location anymore. read more

Great device and great food once again I love the service and quality here! Christina thank you for making my day even smoother much appreciated!! read more

Came in w my husband for our 18th anniversary on a Sunday during brunch time, we had a great time, great food, good vibes. I didn't know they offered complimentary champagne until our server mentioned it after offering us different drinks from the drinks menu. Victor Perez was the name of our server and he was very attentive to say the least. We ordered a few songs from the live mariachi. We had a great time overall. Will definitely be coming back. read more

El Torito - Mexican Near Me - Riverside, California

I have been going to El Toritos restaurants for over 40 years and I have noticed the changes in the food quality, taste and portion sizes. When I first started, the food was consistently good, flavorful and the portion sizes were worth the price. I would always get the chicken tortilla soup, sweet corn cake, pepita salad with the grape vinigrette dressing, chips & salsa. Nowadays, the food does not taste like it did originally and has gone through many changes over the years, less quality ingredients being used, portion sizes shrinked (especially the to-go containers), but prices increased. The soup at times lacks flavor, ingredients missing, consistency is sometimes watery, other times it's a little thicker and more tomato based. Sweet corn sometimes comes out overcooked, dry, burnt pieces of corn, other times it was cooked with too much water and turned out mushy, easily falling apart, and did not have much flavor at all. Was told the salad dressing is being made with olive oil, but don't know for sure if that is really true or not. Sometimes the dressing was not made correctly having too much oil and not enough of the other ingredients to give it the right flavor. Even the salsa has not been consistent. Sometimes it can be way too spicy, too many peppers where you can barely eat it, if at all. Sometimes the veggies weren't cut up small and blended like they should be and it made the salsa turn out all chunky. The opposite has also happened, where it was over blended and came out like a puree creating a foamy type salsa, which was not good. Different Chefs preparing the food at the same restaurant and it comes out tasting different, between different restaurant locations the taste of food is not consistent. Being a paying customer I expect the food to taste good each and every time I order and I get my money's worth and that has not been the case in my experience. read more

El Torito - Grape vinaigrette dressing with way too much so called "olive oil" and not enough of the other ingredients. Taste like straight up oil. - Mexican Near Me - Riverside, California

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Service was great thanks to my server Evelyn. The food was savory very delicious. Will be coming back because of the service I experienced.

Had a wonderful time for dinner, had the Crab and Shrimp enchiladas and they did not disappoint. Very pleased with our waitress Christian, she was very attentive and friendly. Great experience overall read more

Went for their fantastic Sunday brunch. Everything was delicious and fresh. Our server Maria H. Was dynamite! We were serenaded by mariachis and the decor is always nice. Would highly recommend you check this out! Bottomless mimosas are delicious! https://youtu.be/U9eVwFBryaU?feature=shared read more

El Torito - Mexican Near Me - Riverside, California

Good service and good food. Ordered the steak fajitas with flour tortillas. It was pleasantly delicious. I would come back and also recommend the fajitas. Kudos to the amazing staff for being so nice and attentive. Great service overall. read more

El Torito has new menu items, we tried the molcajete and it was delicious! Plenty of food for 2 people to share. Maria H took great care of us! read more

Favorite new happy hour spot. Can't believe they have happy hour every day till 9 PM. Today our server was Fernanda who took very good care of us. Food was great except for the street corn which was a little strange. Thank you Fernanda for taking great care of us read more

I visited El Torito in Riverside on Thursday, March 12 around 5:10 pm and sat in the happy hour/bar area for a quick solo visit after work. I actually worked for El Torito years ago at another location (my first job and I was a server ), so I've always had a soft spot for the brand and thought it would be a nice nostalgic stop. Unfortunately, the experience was very disappointing. After being seated, I waited about 10-15 minutes with no acknowledgment from my server. An expo runner brought chips and salsa, but my server didn't come by until later to bring water and take my drink order (a strawberry margarita on the rocks with a sugared rim). Another long stretch passed and I still hadn't received my drink. Since I was seated in view of the bar, I could see drinks being made and delivered to other guests while mine never came. After about 30 minutes, I asked if I could place my food order, but the server told me to "give her a second" and never returned. Around 6:05-6:10 pm she finally came back with a blended strawberry margarita that had clearly been sitting on the bar and was watered down. I explained that I had ordered mine on the rocks and let her know I'd have to skip food because I had already been there nearly an hour and needed to leave for another appointment. When I calmly mentioned that the service hadn't been great due to the long wait, the server reacted defensively, looked over to the neighboring table during the interaction, and stated she had the right to decline service before walking away with the drink. She then immediately began discussing the situation with the table next to me while I was still there getting up to leave, which felt very unprofessional. As someone who previously worked for El Torito and now works in HR, I understand how busy restaurant service can be. What was most disappointing wasn't just the wait, it was the inability to receive basic customer feedback professionally. My company regularly orders catering for events and I had actually considered recommending El Torito based on my past experience working there. After this visit, I would hesitate to do so. I'm sharing this feedback in hopes that management is aware of how situations like this are being handled and can reinforce stronger service standards with their team. read more

Amazing time at ETG, service was great, ambiance was perfect for a moms nite out! Came in at 6:00 on a Saturday and it was busy but not crowded enough to hurt service. Our server Brooklyn was very attentive and friendly. The happy hour until 9:00 pm is what brought us in. And we'll be back again for more on our next moms nite out. read more

El Torito - Delicious sampler platter! Whats left of it - Mexican Near Me - Riverside, California

We love to order the chicken Caesar salad from El Torito. The salads were always fresh, healthy and delicious. Last night I ordered several salads and the ingredients have changed! The salads were filled with boring iceberg lettuce instead of romaine, a much smaller amount of chicken slices and the chips were stale. I'm so disappointed and am hoping this isn't a permanent change. If so, I won't be ordering again. read more

food services amazing The staff is friendly great place to go on a Wednesday with your children read more

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