El Torito - Monterey

Review summary

1. J

   Jim

   Las Vegas

   6 reviews

   3.0

   6 reviews

   Dined on 12 December 2024

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

   Had to send bacon wrapped shrimp twice both times not cooked through at all. No apologies or offer of something else
   

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2. J

   John

   VIP

   San Francisco

   14 reviews

   4.0

   14 reviews

   Dined on 10 December 2024

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

   Good hardworking waiter who has worked at El Torito for many years!
   

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3. K

   Kyle

   Central Coast

   5 reviews

   5.0

   5 reviews

   Dined on 9 December 2024

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

   Amazing, great ambiance and food for the boat show my family loved it!
   

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4. Z

   Zeke

   San Francisco

   3 reviews

   5.0

   3 reviews

   Dined on 8 December 2024

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

   We love El Torito Monterey! Family Friendly and a great value for a world class view.
   

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5. S

   Susan

   VIP

   San Francisco

   77 reviews

   5.0

   77 reviews

   Dined on 1 December 2024

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

   Great Sunday buffet and service. So much food, it would be impossible to try everything.
   

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6. B

   Bryan

   Los Angeles

   4 reviews

   1.0

   4 reviews

   Dined on 29 November 2024

   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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7. J

   Jacqueline

   Los Angeles

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on 29 November 2024

   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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8. R

   Rachelle

   Las Vegas

   6 reviews

   3.0

   6 reviews

   Dined on 17 November 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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9. C

   Clarice

   Sacramento

   1 review

   1.0

   1 review

   Dined on 17 November 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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10. M

    Maria

    VIP

    Central Coast

    10 reviews

    5.0

    10 reviews

    Dined on 16 November 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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