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| - This restaurant borders on that precious fine line between "hole in the wall" and dump. The parking lot was atrocious - potholes, uneven pavement and rocks all over the place. We decided to give it a try after locking our doors and taking all of our valuables out of the car.
To our surprise, the manager (the young woman with the short hair) was welcoming and asked us to sit wherever we liked. There was no host/hostess stand so the responsibility of seating fell on whoever was up front. We sat near the restrooms -which was a mistake for several reasons. First, our party of 5 was around two uneven tables that were pushed together. The tables were missing paint, and had scratches throughout. In addition, the smell of urine from the bathrooms crept around the corner and hovered around us during our entire meal.
On a positive note, the chips and salsa were very good. El Torito managed to limit the spice level (for those that can't handle the heat) but still deliver on flavor. However, the entrees that followed were not that great. I chose the Chile Verde dinner with rice and beans. The pork was shredded and was swimming in grease. The dish itself tasted OK--but the grease started overtaking my rice and beans. Speaking of rice, it was on point. There was no sign of vegetables in the rice, but it was fluffy and seasoned perfectly. On the other hand, the beans were a mess. I have tasted better beans out of that Rosarita can. Don't try and fool me by slopping cheddar cheese over the top-they were still horrible.
My wife ordered the tacquitos. Ewwwwww! I took a bit of that chicken tacquito and immediately spit it out. Gross!
If the food was better, I would call Guy Fieri and let him know that I found a "dive" worth checking out. However, I am leaning more toward shutting this eye sore down and heading the other way-into Las Vegas for authentic Mexican food.
BTW--they do not make their own tortillas here. That's just bad business. ....
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