Dining Reviews

Specifically, after Mexican food aficionados discover their Holy Grail – their favorite neighborhood mom-and-pop joint – they’re often a lot tougher to impress. The original corporate entity that broke them in with enchilada-taco combos begins to have the same appeal as plain vanilla. 



This is one of the inspirations for the tenth El Torito Grill (with 5 OC locations). “Designed as a more upscale version of El Torito, El Torito Grill offers a more sophisticated Mexican casual dining experience...(with) the combination of contemporary and traditional dishes,” cites realmexicanrestaurants.com, parent company of El Torito.



And that’s the way it works out. El Torito Grill is the high end of Real Mex Restaurants’ line of Mexican-themed eateries – nearly 200 restaurants in more than a dozen states – making Real Mex a giant that boasts more than a half-billion dollars in sales. 



Expect a certain institutional touch – the interior at the Fashion Island location is comfortable, but a little stark, evoking the sense that you’re dining in a big adobe house, with terracotta and avocado colors lightened by lots of bright paintings. It’s a rambling sort of place, with a big presentation kitchen and an airy, glassed-in patio for fair-weather dining. 



The menu shows a lot of imagination, as well as a lot of ingredients, used judiciously. I began with a great starter, the fire-roasted tomato soup. It’s a puree of mesquite-grilled tomatoes, pasilla chiles, roasted corn and onions, with chicken chorizo, garlic and spices.

This is a thick, rich, deeply flavored and textured soup. It is a burnished orange – almost a pumpkin color – and the complexity will have you sorting out wonderful flavors with every spoonful. 



My entrée was more traditional: the carnitas Yucatan, listed as a “Mexican specialty” item. It’s pork marinated with garlic, achiote, fresh lime and orange juices, then slow-roasted and topped with citrus-habanero-marinated red onions, and paired with green rice, avocado relish and a scoop of sweet corn cake. 



The pork was very tender and tasty indeed, marinated well and roasted carefully. However, a bit of institutional nature crept in: There were 3 good-sized pieces of pork on the plate, 2 of which were lean and lovely. The third was mostly fat on bone. This can sometimes add to the richness of the adjacent meat, but I believe it should have been spotted in the kitchen. Otherwise, the dish was fine, and the avocado relish was particularly refreshing. 



One dessert looked irresistible, and I urge you to give in if you feel the same way after reading about it. It’s the peanut tostada. Espresso chocolate chip ice cream is topped with cajeta sauce (milk with sugar), chopped nuts and a dollop of fresh cream. It comes on a sweet, flat, peanut tostada shell. The ice cream is wonderfully rich, and the only thing I could have wished for was a bigger tostada to provide even more of a pleasant, nutty crunch.



El Torito Grill, 951 Newport Center Drive (Fashion Island) 949.640.2875