El Torito
Encyclopedia
El Torito is a Mexican restaurant chain, consisting of 69 restaurants which are located primarily in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. Some of the restaurants are located in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, and overseas. El Torito is one of several Mexican cuisine restaurant chains operated by Real Mex Restaurants
Real Mex Restaurants
Real Mex Restaurants, Inc. is the largest operator of full-service, Mexican restaurants in the U.S..Owned by a private equity firm and headquartered in Cypress, California, they have more than 200 restaurants operating in more than a dozen states. 2006 income was approximately $534 million.In...

. The executive chef is Pepe Lopez.

Founded in 1954, El Torito claims to be "a pioneer in the California full service Mexican casual dining restaurant segment." Leveraging more than 50 years of operational experience, El Torito is currently the largest Mexican restaurant brand in California in terms of number of restaurants and operates franchise locations in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

." In online conversations, El Torito is the most loved brand of Mexican restaurant.

History

El Torito was founded by Larry J. Cano, who gives the restaurant credit for popularizing the margarita
Margarita
The margarita is a cocktail consisting of tequila mixed with orange-flavoured liqueur and lime or lemon juice, often served with salt on the glass rim. It is the most common tequila-based cocktail in the United States...

 in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Cano served several tours in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

, got a business degree and worked as a bartender. When the owner passed away, the widow asked Cano if he wanted the bar.

The bar itself Cano felt was popular with veterans but had a limited lifespan. He brought his own Mexican cooking to the bar and it became the first El Torito, named - theoretically - based on the large clay bowl with a bull painted on it. Cano hired local Mexican cooks and asked them to cook genuine Mexican food with an eye for mainstream. Success wasn't immediate and for a time Cano was evicted from his home and lived in the restaurant.

However within three years the company was opening additional locations and movie stars were frequenting the establishment. The company continued to grow with a focus on upscale communities. At one point, the chain bought more tequila than any other. By 1976 he had opened 20 locations before selling the business to Grace & Co, a multinational chemical company looking to diversify, for about $20 million. They hired him as the President with a directive for rapid expansion. At one point 54 stores were opened in a single year.

In 2000, Acapulco bought El Torito renaming it to Real Mex Restaurants in 2004 and moving the headquarters to Cypress.

On October 3, 2011 Real Mex Restaurants
Real Mex Restaurants
Real Mex Restaurants, Inc. is the largest operator of full-service, Mexican restaurants in the U.S..Owned by a private equity firm and headquartered in Cypress, California, they have more than 200 restaurants operating in more than a dozen states. 2006 income was approximately $534 million.In...

 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced that it was putting itself up for sale citing the poor economy as a reason. No plans have been announced to close restaurants or layoff staff.
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