Outdoor dining area. Awesome food. Fast service. Must come! Come practice your Spanish, order inside and eat outside. Masks ON if going inside.

I got 2 carne asada tacos and 2 al pastor tacos and they were the bomb. My friend got the chimichanga which was also very good. I don't live in Oakland but I would tell anyone visiting or in the area to try this place. It is definitely authentic and tasted great. The two women working there were very friendly as well. Good food and good atmosphere. Five stars.

After a long and jolly night bringing in 2018 and a full day of helping my friend from college move all of his possessions out of his ex's house, it was time for some god damned tacos. Fortunately for us, El Torero waited just around the corner of Seminary and International. This joint is a veritable little gem (and I do mean LITTLE) of delicious Mexican fare. From the outside, admittedly, El Torero looks a tad beat up. There are a handful of outdoor tables, two of which are four-tops with attached plastic swivel chairs, most of which still have their backs. The patio overlooks a sizeable parking lot complete with a giant brick facade side of a building across the street. But we didn't come here for the vistas. The interior is occupied by more tiny tables and a jukebox, and dominated by an impressive tile-topped counter, where you place your order. From the front of the counter, you can glimpse into the kitchen where a handful of ladies work their magic in facilities that can only be described as old school. One of the ladies will come out of the kitchen to take your order. Up against the wall behind her stand a couple of fridges, packed with Coca Cola, Sprite, Budweiser, Modelo, and a few other staples. You place your order from a laminated menu which contains straight-forward Mexican classics, plus a burger and fries option for $6.50. All of the food options are, in my opinion, reasonably priced. Tacos are $1.75 each, and the burrito runs for about $9. Beers, whether Bud Light or Negro Modelo, will cost you $4.25. After you've placed your order and received your beverage, you can have a seat wherever you'd like. We chose to sit outside and enjoy the closing of a long, taxing day. The experience was elevated greatly by the arrival of complimentary chips and pico de gallo, which was an excellent blend of body, spice and freshness. Our food came out in about fifteen minutes. I took full advantage of El Torero's exciting meat options and ordered 4 tacos: asada, carnitas, lengua and cabeza, respectively. They were traditionally made on corn tortillas, with just a touch of onion and cilantro - and they were awesome! I was left satisfied by these four victuals (plus all the chips I ate), but I probably could have handled two more. The lengua was superb! There is a reason that, in spite of all the culinary options that exist in this fine region of ours, we always come crawling back to our tried-and-true friends, the taco and burrito. They promise and deliver satiety, flavor, warmth, and comfort. They are a reminder that no matter how crazy and painful the world may be, there are also reliably delicious staples that have the power to re-charge us and lift our spirits. El Torero successfully fulfills this sacred promise. We may have been still hung-over from New Year's reverie and ragged and forlorn from a full day of lugging boxes containing the leftovers of the last 8 years of my friend's love-life ... but there we sat underneath the setting sun, laughing and sharing stories, while enjoying the magic served up by the women of El Torero as 'Despacito' roared from the jukebox inside. We came for tacos, and we left with hope. As far as I am concerned, they are one and the same.

This place is my Friday night JAM. My husband and I have a thing - it's called Burrito Friday. It happens EVERY GOD DAMN FRIDAY. We haven't accepted social invitations on Friday nights for the past five years because of #burritofriday. Here's how it goes... We pre-order two burritos from El Torero, drink a six pack, and watch a scary movie. And that's FUCKING IT. A perfect evening. SuperHubs calls our order in; the El Torero ladies know him just from his "hello". All he has to do is ask for "his usual". We overheard them call him "El Blanco" in the background once. *I* call him El Blanco now. Once, someone broke the glass in El Torero's entry door. I was stressed about it for weeks; worried it would turn people off from patronizing them and their business would suffer and... BURRITO FRIDAY WAS AT STAKE. I told El Blanco that if the El Torero ladies didn't replace that door quickly, we might have to do it for them. They DID replace it, but I now have a bunch of glass quotes ready for them just in case we ever need one. *we*ever need one. So if you're looking for a good burrito in the Bay Area, or a taco, or a pupusa, or a place to drink a beer in a divey parking lot with Mexican music blasting and "locals" and stuff like that, come here. But you better give them respect. Respect El Torero. Respect #burritofriday. And if you're getting married on a Friday night or something and SuperHubs and I RSVP no - don't take it personally. Or just have El Torero do your catering and we will see you there.

Not bad little joint in SEM CITY. I wanna say their tacos are their best item. It is a taqueria after all, so that is what im gonna rate them by. Burritos are just OK in my opinion. I want to try their enchiladas next. Go with the tacos tho. You will not be disappointed