Crazy for El Toro Loco?

Last night my husband, our friend ET, and I had dinner at El Toro Loco. The place is located on Staples Mill Road and took over the old Sal Federico’s. As we were being seated we were promptly served the obligatory chips and salsa. And the service remained prompt and attentive for the entire evening. As for the chips – they were golden-hued, light and crisp. Very pleasing. The salsa, on the other hand left a little to be desired. A lot of tomato flavor (no tomato chunks – which is a plus for me), but scarcely any other tastes present. Other “chunky” salsa elements were missing – cilantro, peppers, onions, etc.

It being a Friday and the end of a long work week, margaritas were the beverages of choice. ET ordered a grande strawberry frozen margarita. She pronounced it as good and hard hitting. Hubby ordered a regular golden margarita on the rocks, no salt. He thought the margarita mix used was decent, but there was an absence of golden tequila (at least he was not able to really detect the agave nectar). I went for the grande golden margarita on the rocks, with salt. It came in more of a margarita bowl on a stem. I needed two hands to steady her. And even though I also could not find a distinctive golden tequila flavor, by the time I reached the bottom of the bowl, the tequila buzz effect had found me.

As we perused the menu for entrees, one thing stood out – El Toro Loco had ranked the hotness of dishes with no, one, two, or three chile designations. ET decided upon the Combo # 4, cheese enchiladas. She said that one could not mess up cheese enchiladas too much. She was pleased with the portion size, which was not huge. It was served with Spanish rice which lacked flavor and refried beans that were very tasty. My spouse opted for the Nachos Salad. The ground beef packed a lot of flavor, but the sour cream-like sauce was very runny and made the chips soggy. It seemed like he was eating his meal atop a thin tamale instead of chips. I made the riskiest move of the night and ordered Burritos Alegres – a one chile selection. It consisted of two marinated beef tip filled burritos smothered in melted queso cheese. The beef was very flavorful and the burritos were packed with meat. And it lived up to the one chile reputation – a little heat, but not overwhelming. My only disappointment was that the dish was not served with any sides. Some rice or beans would have been good to break up eating the beef.

Although we had a decent meal, it was run-of-the-mill Richmond Mexican restaurant fare. Crazy for El Toro Loco? Well…perhaps, not.