El Torito

When you see Will, have you ever seen him at events or anything, like actor-y? The

last interaction I had with him was when I was working at El Torito Restaurant in Philadelphia as a waiter.

Wow! This is after he became very successful, moved to LA, came back, and he had a big table with a bunch of friends and stuff like that.

And I come out, I'm like, hi, what can I get you? Would you like the, you know, the burrito special? Did

Believe it or not, he brought Mexican food in Orange County.

with El Torito.

Yeah.

Open Las Brisas.

Baroni's Pizza is another one.

El Torito.

El Pollo Loco and King Taco.

Wow.

Really?

We had to go to El Torito.

El Torito.

El Torito Grill, the good one.

Oh, I wanted to go to the cheap El Torito.

But you know what? I actually have a lot of feelings for you.

El Nino.

I'm Cliff Albert.

The news last week that El Torito's restaurant at La Mesa is closing is another hit to nostalgia.

A lot of restaurants have closed in recent years, beginning in the COVID pandemic years, but still continuing here in 2026.

And many of them have been around for a long time.

El Torito's on Baltimore Drive at La Mesa has been around for decades.

A lot of our listeners probably have memories of family dinners, date nights, Sunday brunches, and special celebrations there.

When a longtime restaurant and a popular one closes, it can almost be like losing a longtime friend.

The restaurant business has always been a hard business, but with higher costs and changing demographics, it has been even more challenging.

Is Orange Julius still around? I think they have some locations.

montgomery wars yeah you know i passed a restaurant last night i was driving home from the track and there's an el torito still in like that uh santa not the san anita area and i'm like i'd love to go to el trito i've been to el trito a long time but man the food there was always great when i was a kid what if

it's huntington or something yeah right yeah yeah yeah

or foothill and yeah yeah But I wonder if it's still the same.

But I loved El Torito.

El Torito was the only Mexican restaurant in the Valley when we were growing up.

Oh, wow.

It was El Torito and what's the other one? Not El Coyote.

...

I put El Torito.

El Torito.

That's what I have too, Greg.

Like sit down.

That's what I have.

That's a great one.

El Torito.

3,000%, brother.

Uh, by the way, guest list is sponsored by El Torito Honda, more than just a car dealership.

We are family.

Big Walt, who reported to me he was ready to run through a wall, the intensity, but that would've scared baby Christian.

I could tell you so many stories.

If you could ask questions, I'll think of something and I'll tell you a story that you'll just go like, "Holy crud." You know? From the simplest thing of, uh, I had a, I had a old lady that was at a church meeting at, uh, El Torito.

Mm-hmm.

There used to be an El Torito in Whittier, and she ended up collapsing.

She had a heart attack.

Um, and we got the call, and we get there, and by the time we got there, there's a bunch of old women that are in a circle, and they're-