El Torazo

TLDR: A mom-and-pop Mexican restaurant that feels like a true neighborhood gem. Good food, reasonable prices, clean dining area, and great service.The Food:-10-Piece Chicken Nugget Combo, $9.25, 5/5: Includes french fries and a drink. These might just be the best chicken nuggets you could have--tender, well-seasoned, and worth the premium price.-Mini Flour Quesadilla, $3.65 (with chicken, $5.45), 4/5: Small but hearty. It's a good-quality snack, though far from a meal on its own.-Del Mar Burrito, $11.75, 5/5: Ordered with shrimp. This burrito is well-made and balanced, with ingredients thoughtfully placed throughout and an abundance of shrimp. Very enjoyable.-Classic Wrap (Breakfast Burrito), $9.95, 4/5: A simple and satisfying breakfast burrito with eggs, diced potatoes, your choice of ham or sausage, and cheese.The restaurant has plenty of seating, a clean dining area, and from what I could see, a well-maintained kitchen.Would I Return? Absolutely. The food delivers on its promises, and the restaurant offers tons of daily specials. Be sure to check the photos for what's on offer!

Street tacos are fairly priced and served after 3 pm for $1.50. I recommend them for a quick fix Bean n cheese burrito $5Small drinks $3

This location was formerly known as Lickity Splitz, and it used to be my favorite spot when I was a kid. I often got a banana split or chili cheese fries and played basketball at Thompson Park across the street. Unfortunately, Lickity Splitz closed down years ago, and El Torazo, a Mexican restaurant with a unique twist on Mexican cuisine, replaced it.I have visited this place many times and always go for their tacos because they are large and full of flavor. Today, I dropped by for a quick snack as I wasn't very hungry but needed something to keep me going through the afternoon. It was around 1 pm on a Wednesday, and a few customers in the restaurant appeared to be employees taking their lunch break. I ordered a small drink with a Mexican Taco Al pastor, which totaled around $8 with a tip. I ordered only one because I remembered they were big, and two tacos would have been too much for me. My taco took about 5 minutes to prepare and bring to my table.When my taco arrived, I was surprised that it was a standard tortilla size but filled with al pastor meat. One thing I like about this place is that all their tortillas are handmade, giving the food an authentic Mexican flavor. The al pastor meat was perfectly cooked and flavorful, and the tortilla was hot and freshly made. Even though it was a regular-sized taco, it was pretty filling because of the thick tortillas and generous meat filling.In conclusion, I will keep coming back to El Torazo. They offer excellent customer service and serve delicious, flavorful food that carries on the tradition of my childhood favorite restaurant, Lickity Spliz.

The only reasons I even stopped by El Torazo were:1) I was taking a walk around next door T. Mayne Thompson Park2) I saw a sign that advertised street tacos for $1.50 each after 3 PM every day, and it just so happened to be after 3 PM at the time3) I needed to use the restroom, and the restrooms at the park appeared to be closedWhile a couple of my Yelp friends did give 1 star, I was willing to assume that risk and try just one taco to support this business that I hadn't even heard of before my arrival at Thompson Park.There was plenty of signage on the exterior windows advertising the daily specials for each day of the week. I went on a Sunday, and the Sunday special was a cheeseburger for $7.95. Seemed like a decent deal, but I just wanted a quick snack since I was planning on eating pizza later that evening. Also, I wasn't sure if the extra 'u' after 'g' on the sign would have meant a nuance or some other deviation from a standard cheeseburger.When I arrived, there wasn't a customer inside. Actually, there was someone napping at the table in the corner, but it turned out to be an employee on break. Sleeping on the job? lolAnyways, a female cashier was ready to take my order, but I wanted to ask about the $1.50 street tacos deal that was being advertised. She recited the list of tacos for that deal, and then I realized they were listed on the top left corner of the menu! I went with the asada taco. The other tacos on their menu were over $3, so I thought $1.50 would have been a great deal.While the cashier was ringing up my order of the asada taco, I saw that the regular price was $2, so I really only saved 50 cents here. From the way my receipt is spelled out, I think any street taco would have been $2 normal price regardless of what flavor you choose, but 25% savings doesn't sound too shabby if you ask me! I was also asked if I would like some onions and cilantro; it wouldn't incur an upcharge, so I figured why not?I asked the cashier how long I'd have to wait. She said it would be a quick one: about 2 to 3 minutes. It was indeed about 3 minutes before she handed me my small taco plate, a cup of green sauce, and two large napkins. Two might have been excessive for the size of the taco that I got, but I used one to wipe my hands with water from the drink dispenser, a trick I like to do whenever I have to eat with my hands.The asada taco was pretty good! Almost certainly 5 star worthy for most others, but as flavorful as the taco was, especially with the green sauce, I did find the meat kind of tough to chew. Also, it did get pretty soggy that the second corn tortilla was necessary to hold the taco. And the tortilla wasn't exactly big enough; I spilled a little on the table while eating my taco.I wanted to use the restroom, which was for paying customers only. However, the door was locked! I couldn't tell if there was someone inside, so I went up to the cashier and asked if I needed a code for the restroom. Turns out no code was needed because there isn't even a keypad on the bathroom door handle. Instead, she gave me a spatula with a key at the handle end. Kind of like a hall pass in school.After using the restroom, I tried to return the restroom spatula key to the cashier, but didn't see her at first. A different co-worker was at the front, but seemed too busy to even notice me. That cashier then turned towards me, and I gave her back the key. It was the first time I saw her smile and demonstrate appreciation for my business; otherwise, her service was just pretty much normal for fast food.While I was waiting at the table in the center of the restaurant, I noticed a QR code for El Torazo's rewards program. I looked up their website and saw they only have one other location: Huntington Beach. If they had a location in Lakewood, I'd consider joining, but I didn't bother to ask more about the rewards program since I'm rarely in that part of town.I grabbed a menu on the way out and saw that certain groups of people can get 15% off there! The rest of the menu seems reasonable in price, so it's definitely budget friendly if you fall in one of those groups. I do not, and I probably wouldn't return anyways unless I make another visit to Thompson Park. If I lived closer, and especially if I were a member of one of those groups, I would definitely want to return to try something else on their menu!

Absolutely love El Torazo!! Their customer service is always friendly. The food is great. The champurrado is excellent. I come here often and they're always consistent and the portion sizes are big ans theyre not skimpy on the meat and leave you nice and full.

The salads here are very refreshing! The food is always fresh to order and I love that. I never can complain about a place who takes time with great quality food & I absolutely love the horchata, so good !

I've been coming here for years. The amount meat in their crunchy tacos has lessened over the years but the prices haven't . Also their Del Mar shrimp burrito was my other go to but the shrimp aren't as plentiful as they use to be and have a strong fishy taste to them lately. I'm definitely not going to frequent as much as I use to.

Authentic, not greasy, great specials, you can eat inside or outside. Drive thru yessss! As a Mexican I approve, it's a solid 4.5 for me. But the drive thru gives it the extra 5 stars. Just don't get the fish tacos it felt like fish sticks. Bean and cheese burrito and aguas frescas are good. Barbacoa is good. Aguas Frescas are amazing

During COVID, I ordered El Torazo on Door Dash religiously. This Sunday my girlfriend craved taquitos which brought me to my first in restaurant visit to the infamous El Torazo. The establishment was super clean and welcoming. I appreciated the Halloween decorations inside which added to the charm. The staff was super friendly on a quiet Sunday evening. We ordered the chips and salsa: the chips fresh and hot out of the fryer. The zesty vibrancy of the salsa verde contrasted well with the smoky and spicy salsa roja. The tacos de chorizo were delicious, crispy and quality chorizo with a quality corn tortilla. My girlfriend greatly enjoyed the taco rolls (taquitos) and devoured them with tons of salsa roja. Her only comment was the beans and rice being under seasoned and specifically the rice being too forward on the cumin and pepper and would benefit from garlic, onion and tomato to make a more balanced flavor. I also had the Mexicano Burrito with Carne Asada that I enjoyed very much. Thank you El Torazo, my girlfriend is a tough critic but you won her over with your salsas and taco rolls.

carne asada was mushy like beans... really threw me off. sour cream on 1/4th of my burrito and the guac was on the other sideended up throwing away both my burritos and ordering from somewhere else