[Newport Beach] [Mexican] El Torito Mexican Grill

El Torito Mexican Grill
951 Newport Center Drive
Newport Beach, CA 92660
(949) 640-2875
http://www.eltorito.com

We had a Sunday brunch around Christmas time with friends at El Torito and loved it.  We have been thinking about going back ever since.  I wanted to have a little gathering with my blog friends to celebrate my birthday and engagement, and thought El Torito would be a great choice.



I picked the Newport Beach location because (1) it's closer to most of my friends in OC, and (2) it's next to Fashion Island!  The plan is to get all the guys drunk so they can't drive, and us girls can go shopping at Fashion Island afterward.  haha....




Our reservation was at 10am for 16 people.  They had a big long table ready for us when we arrived.  The restaurant was mostly empty at 10am.  But I think that was the best time to get there because the food looked really fresh, there's no line, and every plate at the buffet line was full.  The restaurant got really crowded around 11am.  Then there was long line waiting for eggs, prime ribs, taco... etc.  A lot of the plates looked messy or empty.  And there were so many people waiting outside for seats.


Champagne & Coffee

Sunday brunch price is $17.45 for adult, and $7.49 for kid under 11 years old.  Last time at Brea location, we got a free drink with the all you can eat brunch.  At Newport beach location, we got free drinks and all you can drink champagne.  ALL YOU CAN DRINK CHAMPAGNE!  Seriously.  What a great way to start a Sunday?  haha....


Tortilla & Sweet Butter

While we were waiting for our friends to arrive, the waiter brought us some freshly made warm tortilla.  The tortilla was so light and airy.  I ate it with the sweet butter sprinkled with sugar, and it was yummy.


Sunday Brunch Buffet ($17.49/person)

I started with some salad and soup.  I love their menudo soup.  I think everyone loved this soup.  How can you not love internal organ soup?  haha....  Potato salad, squid salad, cerviche, marinated mushroom, shrimp cocktail, everything was good.



For my second plate, I had Spanish green rice, corn cake, vegetable crepe, salmon, and ribs.  I absolutely love their beef ribs.  Couldn't get enough of those.  Again, everything was delicious.


Flan

Hey, when you're eating a buffet, there's no rule that dessert has to be eaten last, right?  Charles got a flan, I thought it looked so yummy, and stole it from him.  haha....  The flan was really creamy.  Yum!


Menudo

The menudo soup was so good that Dr. P went back and got a big plate for us to share.


Tacos

We also shared two tacos.  The steak taco was alright.  We thought the beef was a bit too tough to chew.  But the carnita taco was great.  Pork was so tender and flavorful. I really like their soft and chewy tortilla.


Dessert

They had a LOT of dessert, but I was too full (and trying to watch my weight).  I had 2 chocolate covered strawberries.  Yum yum yum!  The cream puff was ok.


Fruit

I had a big plate of fruit to end the meal.  And hoping it would sober me up a little.  I had 3 and 1/2 glasses of champagne, and was feeling pretty buzzed.  Good time!



Thank you, all my friends for coming!  Michelle, Wendy, Herbert, Wen, Leo, Jonathan, Cindy, Lance, Eric, Zoe, Connie, and Ryan.



And Mike & Charles who were trying to hide from the camera.



I had 4 birthday celebrations this year.  Hey, you only have 35th birthday once in a life time, right?  ^^

We really enjoyed Sunday brunch at El Torito.  We thought the Newport Beach location has better food & better service than the Brea location.  The restaurant was bigger and looked more upscale.  I am sure we will be back again shortly.  Hope all my friends enjoyed it as much as we did!

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