El Torito - San Leandro

El Torito - San Leandro reviews from people who’ve dined at this restaurant. Based on recent rating.

Review summary

1. OT

   OpenTable Diner

   San Francisco1 review

   4.0

   Dined on April 27, 2025

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

   Muchas gracias! Everything was amazing, from reservation, to parking, to the service of everyone on staff, to Lily our server (the best!!), the food selection, to abuela who was cranking out the tortillas 😍😍😍 (Feliz cumpleaños, señora!), the value for the Mimosa bucket, to the tambourines, to the views from our tables - as I’ve said, everything was amazing! Anything that got less than 5stars is nit-picking at this point: *carpet is noticeably old *restrooms needed attention Otherwise, our family had a great experience, core memories locked in! Will recommend, and will most definitely will return!
   

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2. Y

   Yao

   Central Coast2 reviews

   3.0

   Dined on April 20, 2025

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

   Went for the Easter Brunch Buffet on 4/20/2025. Omlette station was very slow, and the poor lady had allergies or a cold and was wiping her nose on the inside of her apron and didn’t change gloves. The food was good, the mimosas were just okay. The taco bar uses flour tortillas which is a bit sad. I like corn tortillas. They should only have corn tortillas. The horchata was not very flavorful. I think it’s the same food every Sunday. The only difference for Easter was the ham Tri tip carving station. And the carpeted food area is very sticky. The food was good, but didn’t blow me away.
   

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3. K

   Kristy

   Sacramento1 review

   2.0

   Dined on April 20, 2025

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

   When we pulled into parking lot it was a little off putting by the number of run down rvs and cars. We haven’t been back in that area before and if we didn’t have a reservation we would have left. They had make shift tent area on the sidewalk for additional seating. Plastic tables and folding chairs. It was a little windy for those having to sit outside and deal with the flocks of seagulls. We were lucky to get seated inside the bar area where a mariachi band decided to perform right on top of our table. I couldn’t hear or have a conversation with my family while dining. Then the mariachi performer tossed down a bag onto our table, aggressively staring at us for tips. Again not a pleasant experience. The food was in abundance but flavor was lacking so it was just ok. The floors, walls and even the plates were all dirty. We had to dig for cleaner plates. We were never offered the unlimited mimosas. For $50 a person it was not worth it. We all said been there done that! So our final review is “Disappointing” won’t be back.
   

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4. L

   Lisa

   San Francisco7 reviews

   4.0

   Dined on April 19, 2025

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

   Decided to go to El Torito on the marina before attending a production of Grease at the Alterna Theatre, which is only about 5 miles up the road so it was very convenient. I hadn’t been to an El Torito in years! I ordered the appetizer nacho supreme, and it was more than enough food! I was glad they had leftover chips on the table because the only thing lacking in the nachos was enough chips to eat all of the goodies on top. My sister ordered a combo with a taco and an enchilada. She asked for her taco to be prepared without meat and wished they had made a little more effort than just beans and lettuce to make it a little more hearty. We were seated right by the window, so it’s nice to be looking at the water. They had mariachis for about 10 minutes, which was a nice extra we weren’t expecting. When we arrived at 5:30 it was fairly quiet, but by the time we left at seven, the place was getting back so I recommend a reservation. Parking was easy. We had two margaritas, but did not get the happy hour pricing because they don’t offer that in the dining room, only the bar area. I’m guessing that’s simply out of convenience for the waitress. Our service was fine.
   

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5. C

   Christine VIP

   San Francisco1 review

   3.0

   Dined on April 13, 2025

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

   We went for the champagne brunch - the food was great but service was pretty poor. They almost never took our plates away and it was very hard to get mimosas. The Mariachi band ended up playing near us for more than 30 minutes which was very loud. We had to take our toddler outside to escape and hoped they'd eventually move to other parts of the restaurant. They did not so we essentially gave up and paid and left.
   

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6. G

   Gareth VIP

   San Francisco31 reviews

   5.0

   Dined on April 13, 2025

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

   Excellent food (happy hour) and cocktails. Fantastic service by Valentina. We will return soon.
   

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7. J

   Jill

   Central Coast10 reviews

   4.0

   Dined on April 7, 2025

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

   An interesting experience. We arrived a little early. “I’ll go see what we have available “. Waited a little while another host said it will be twenty minutes. We explained we had reservations. They seated us in about 5 minutes. While we waited I ran to the restroom. The seat on the toilet was completely detached. Had to be very careful getting on and off. The handle just twirled when trying to flush. Let check in host know. We were seated at a nice table with view. Food , drinks and service were good but took a while. The server was the only one in the section. He had to get drinks, take orders and make table side guacamole. He was working very hard. There was a mariachi band that sang a song which was incredibly loud and then walked around with a beat up paper sack asking for tips. Sang one more song and then left. We left about an hour later and they were starting to play again. New patrons to ask for tips.
   

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8. D

   Destany

   Las Vegas1 review

   5.0

   Dined on April 6, 2025

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

   Food was amazing and fresh very friendly staff would highly recommend
   

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9. M

   Mariah

   San Francisco1 review

   3.0

   Dined on March 30, 2025

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

   Food was good. Service is amazing. Plenty of parking. Be sure to make reservations as this place can get busy.
   

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10. c

    carl VIP

    San Francisco26 reviews

    3.0

    Dined on March 23, 2025

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

    We have been coming here for years. The food has recently gotten better. Our waiter said there is a new chef. Service was slow as the restaurant was packed on a Saturday night. We'll be back soon
    

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