El Torito - Monterey

Review summary

1. B

   Bryan

   Los Angeles

   4 reviews

   1.0

   4 reviews

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   Way overpriced for what it was. There was no turkey as advertised - grilled chicken breast was substituted but even the guy cutting it couldn't tell us what it was. The ham was okay but clearly store bought and reheated, not anything specially prepared in any way and the same chicken cutter guy just hacked thick chunks off of what always seemed to be the last corner of it and plopped a single piece on plates. He even ran away from his station when he was out of both the chicken and ham. Our server was atrocious, explained nothing about the buffet dinner or what was included and was inattentive to our party. Meanwhile, Doug was serving a table next to us and we had to listen to his intro to his table to figure out how everything worked and what was included that was never offered by our server (Aly P on the receipt but we couldn't understand most of what she said to us so I don't know if that was really her name). Signage on the buffet dishes and what they were was severely lacking. We couldn't tell what 30% of it was because there were no signs by the bowls of mystery foods. Many items ran out just as we got to them. The taco bar line was 15 minutes to get anything they had left - and they had things that weren't displayed as though you had to be an insider to even know they were serving empanadas and other items. Absolute waste of time and money. We paid $41.50 for my daughter to have a scoop of dried out and cold Kraft Mac and Cheese, some cold corn dog bites, a few chunks of mealy watermelon and a hotel style prepacked cup of Frosted Flakes with no milk. The rest of us scraped up the bits that we could to make a meal but it certainly was no cornucopia and even what we could get was mediocre. El Torito statewide has fallen from the grace it had 25 years ago and now, after this and our previous experience there, it's just below-average, overpriced "Mexican" food. I grew up begging to go to El Torito as a kid but we won't ever be back after this.
   

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2. J

   Jacqueline

   Los Angeles

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined 2 days ago

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

   We appreciate you being open on a holiday, fantastic experience, happy thanksgiving
   

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3. R

   Rachelle

   Las Vegas

   6 reviews

   3.0

   6 reviews

   Dined on November 17, 2024

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

   I have been going to this El Toritos for many years. Pros: They were able to accomodate 10 people on time, and their drinks are good. Food was okay. Other restaurants give bigger portions. Cons: They ran out of Crown Royal and only had Makers Mark or Jameson), service was slow (but order was correct), and the worst was 9 out of 10 people paid cash (which the manager took from the table), and 1 person used a credit card. We got up to leave and stood by the hostess podeum. My friend's credit card did not go through, and the manager said to the waitress, "watch, they are going to stiff us". My friend was standing behind him waiting for her card back and said loudly, "what is the problem?" The manager turned and told her rudely, "your card was declined" She apologized and told him she had grabbed the wrong card (old card had been comprimised and she had not activated the new card yet) and gave him another card that went through. We are all nicely dressed and our bill was over $500. He had all in cash except $60. I just thought that was very unprofessional for the manager to say that.
   

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4. C

   Clarice

   Sacramento

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined on November 17, 2024

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

   Our waitress was amazing but they were incredibly understaffed. Almost 3 hours total to get through dinner and an hour wait just to get drinks. Multiple plates came out lukewarm or not at all.
   

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5. M

   Maria

   Central Coast

   10 reviews

   vip
   5.0

   10 reviews

   Dined on November 16, 2024

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

   Saturday morning breakfast is the best. Ask for Cres.👍👍
   

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6. S

   Sabina

   Seattle

   127 reviews

   vip
   1.0

   127 reviews

   Dined on November 14, 2024

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

   Let's start with the positive... The view is stunning and the bar area is really nice. I was really disappointed with the service, it's atrocious. Our waitress spilled a good portion of one of our margaritas on the table and it pooled around one of my guests. She did apologize but did nothing to clean it up. When I asked her to, she just tossed some napkins on the table for us to clean it ourselves. Not very nicely either, like we were bothering her. Then the food came which was just okay. I ordered the street corn as a side and there were tons of black burned corn in it. Inedible. It tasted bad. I pointed it out to our waitress but she never offered to get another, nor did she take it off the bill. I'm beyond annoyed by the lack of training these people get. It doesn't take a lot to please me but when I encounter this level of lack of caring, it makes me upset. Please retrain the staff to make someone's experience here happy. There's enough turmoil in the world that when I go out to eat, I'd like to have a good time. Would not recommend this place at all.
   

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7. I

   Isabel

   Central Coast

   3 reviews

   3.0

   3 reviews

   Dined on October 27, 2024

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

   Unfortunately the food was not good at all. The food that arrived was not what was advertised or shown in picture. My chicken “wings” had a rubbery taste, the sodas had no oxygen and tasted like dirty dish water. Just overall, would not come here for dinner again.
   

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8. T

   Tanya

   Central Coast

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on October 20, 2024

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

   Maria was an amazing waitress! Had such a great experience with El Toritos. We weee sat immediately an accommodated for changes in our reservation
   

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9. H

   Heather

   Las Vegas

   9 reviews

   vip
   5.0

   9 reviews

   Dined on October 20, 2024

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

   Our server Alex, provided exceptional service. 5 out of 5 stars! Best experience at this restaurant in years.
   

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10. B

    Bill

    Denver

    7 reviews

    vip
    3.0

    7 reviews

    Dined on October 16, 2024

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

    Seating staff does not remind you that the sideways seating for the view is better for a party of four then is the seating where two people cannot see the sunset
    

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