El Torito - Monterey

Review summary

1. k

   kevin

   VIP

   Central Coast

   3 reviews

   1.0

   3 reviews

   Dined today

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 2

   First time here for dinner and last time here for dinner. We have gone for lunch time(1100am) and had great experience. Service was great, food was fresh and not rushed. Dinner time completely different experience. Service was horrible. Server did not speak to us one time. We had to ask a different server for napkins and even a fork. Food was cold and wrong. Kids running around everywhere (we have 5 kids) but we dont let them play tag around the restaurant. Tables left dirty for 15 plus minutes. Avoid dinner time. Go at lunch when they first open.
   

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2. J

   Jessica

   Central Coast

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Sundays are a favorite morning for us here. El Torito is a great place to wind down the weekend with friendly service and hot fresh traditional Mexican dishes. The mimosas help Saturday nights drinks fade smoothly into family Sunday afternoons. I give all my compliments! Provecho y salud
   

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3. R

   Rose

   VIP

   Central Coast

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 3

   Service was horrendous, made reservations didn’t get seated until 30 min later, what’s the point of making a reservations, no follow ups from the hostess until I checked in again, people where getting seated before us . Didn’t get our food right, missing place settings, I could go on and on, but I won’t because we won’t be back
   

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4. D

   Douglas

   VIP

   Houston

   8 reviews

   2.0

   8 reviews

   Dined 1 day ago

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 3

   Hard to have words for the lack of service, the food quality, I hate to be so negative but it was a Saturday night reservation for 6 people we got sat in the bar which was fine but for some reason the manager and host felt it ok to seat our server a 20 top and another 6 top and our 6 top almost back to back to back. We waited 45 minutes for table-side guacamole, 20 to get 2 alcoholic beverages 3 waters and a Diet Pepsi, our food to 70 minutes to arrive. The check arrived and the bill was $156 gave her my card and when she arrived back with the bill to sign she informed me that she forgot to charge us the the guacamole and instead of coming back and informing us of the mistake she just ran the care for a different amount other than what we were originally told. 2 hours for terrible service, terrible management and lackluster food. I really blame management for the way things are being run, the food is being prepared, and how the service is. You gotta do better hire better. Very sad
   

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5. J

   JoAnn

   Tahoe

   3 reviews

   1.0

   3 reviews

   Dined 4 days ago

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   Service sucked Food portions were for a small child did not match menu So disappointing We intend to call the manager it was so bad
   

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6. T

   Trini

   Central Coast

   3 reviews

   3.0

   3 reviews

   Dined on January 12, 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 4

   Chips and salsa were great. Food was ok it could have been better if it wasn’t lukewarm. Service was HORRIBLE. Never saw our server after he took our order. No refills- NOTHING. Even had to ask for utensils. Dirty plates sat stacked in front of us even though he passed our table 5 or more times. Enough said!
   

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7. R

   Ray

   San Francisco

   1 review

   2.0

   1 review

   Dined on January 12, 2025

   1. Overall 2
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 3

   It took over a half hour to get our food. The server was not very attentive. She never came back to see if we wanted more water or soda. She spent a lot of time chatting with other patrons and servers. Food was very good but the server was poor
   

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8. S

   Serena

   Baltimore

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined on January 3, 2025

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 1

   We went with our kids for our anniversary. Hoping for a great experience. Our waiter did not bring us chips and salsa but brought them to everyone else. We waited an hour for our food and then they brought 4 of the 5 dishes we ordered. When I asked them about the 5th dish since they didn’t realize it was missing they said in it is coming. When they brought her dish it was some grilled chicken and veggies thrown on a plate. She was definitely disappointed. We asked for waters and never received them. I was given a gift card to use and the waiter didn’t apply it because it was dropped in the restaurant. Thankfully I found it on the ground. My meal was $29 and was not worth the price. We are locals and have never eaten here before. I was disappointed with the service and food. We will sadly not be coming back or recommending this to anyone.
   

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9. A

   Alffy

   Los Angeles

   1 review

   3.0

   1 review

   Dined on January 1, 2025

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 2
   4. Ambience 2

   Service is slow in and food was serve really late
   

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10. C

    Chandra

    Central Coast

    3 reviews

    2.0

    3 reviews

    Dined on January 1, 2025

    1. Overall 2
    2. Food 3
    3. Service 1
    4. Ambience 1

    Long wait despite reservation so we opted to sit at a high top in the bar. Only one bartender on NYE with no bar back so never got our drinks. Server was awful. She never checked on us or asked for things we needed. Food came out reasonably fast and was pretty good. They had no music or festivities. There is no reason to pay more for the ocean view at night because it’s dark and you can’t see the water so maybe try this place for lunch instead of dinner. It was also cold in there so lucky I had a coat to use as a blanket. The employees don’t seem happy or trained at all.
    

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