Not your mother's El Torito

It was nearly 8pm when my boyfriend and I finally chose a restaurant to eat at after a long day out in the sun and at the beach. Not having eaten a real meal all day I was ready to eat something filling and welcomed the suggestion of Mexican food with open arms. The first open Mexican food we found was El Torito Grill in Torrance, CA.

I loved the atmosphere at El Torito Grill and the service was excellent. We were politely greeted despite the fact we walked through the door only ten minutes before the place closed. Instead of the traditional chips and salsa, fresh warm flour tortillas were brought to our table promptly. With the tortillas were two types of salsa, both excellent, and sweet butter.






The menu at El Torito Grill was not the same menu I had been familiar with from numerous trips to my hometwon El Torito Restaurant: it included much more 'gourmet' cuisine and lots of seafood. My eyes were immediately fixed to the traditional "Mexican Classics" subtitle. I ordered cheese enchiladas and my boyfriend went with the chicken enchiladas.

I was yet again surprised when the food was brought out, for some reason still expecting to be served the well-known cheese enchiladas I typically got at El Torito.

My Cheese Enchiladas:





My boyfriend's chicken enchiladas:






Notice the sauces are different. The sauce in my cheese enchiladas was much more spicey than any typical ranchero or enchilada sauce. Very tasty. The sauce on my boyfriend's chicken enchiladas was a more mild and very cheesy orange colored sauce. Originally dissapointed when I saw black refried beans instead of pinto, I realized these black beans were quite good. Not impressed with the green rice, though I typically abandon the rice portion of the plate when I order this traditional Mexican combination.

El Torito Grill was a surprisingly good experience!