I haven't been to Toro Taberna for over a year. I have had two brunches here previously and one dinner. Never left a review before. We had good experiences in the past and the food was OK, some dishes were good some dishes not so great but overall we were satisfied so we came back last night. We ordered 6 tapas and 5 out of the 6 we had were super salty. I hope the management reads this and talks to the line cooks about the salt levels. In addition, both me and my friend started to burp shortly after dinner and it lasted for hours. Seems like the quality of the food went down significantly and salt levels have gone through the roof. Very disappointed, we will not be back
Dan Herrick
I went to the 2nd of the 3 Mexican restaurants in this chain and the 2nd impressed as much as the 1st, Toro Mexican Street Food, also in West Hartford. Everything, so fresh and so perfectly tasty. I had the shrimp with crack sauce, the beef barbacoa adobo sauce and the la casa chorizo red sauce chimichuri aioli tacos. So very great! Add the homemade loco house hot sauce, so perfect!! You must try this restaurant. Plus, so many more choices, I will try them all!!
Joshua V.
Went during happy hour nice calm place. Tacos were bussin and drinks were good. Nice brunch date
Edgardo
Happy hour dishes were delicious. Shrimp tacos were the highlight. Mango Margaritas hit the spot. Would highly recommend this place.
Bob-Maria Rizzo
We have had their food at parties, small get together and dining in. Every experience has been great. Appreciate the GF full menu.
Ed Sutton
Wow is all I can say. Been wanting to visit for months now. Our visit tonight was worth the wait. We had a variety of tacos one was better than the next. Will be back for sure. Well done
Susan Levy
Manager had bad attitude and didn’t care, food was ok. Churros were burnt. Won’t go back
Michael Z.
They pour their margaritas from a tap and they're horrible. Asked them to make one from scratch and they said no. Drink glasses came right from the dishwasher and were hot. Paid my tab and left. Terrible experience.
MissDj LuLu
I was originally going to go to Zaytoons, man do I regret it. The food here was salty as heck. Oh and the utensils we got where dirty, like they took them out of someone's else's plate and put them in the little bag. The waiter wasn't that friendly oh and the floor was slippery like if they cleaned it with the kitchen oil. I definitely do not recommend this restaurant. Stay away I also don't see them in business too long.
javier orlando barbosa ñustes
worst experience...We arrived at the restaurant for the first time interested in the concept of tapas that we had seen on their website. Since we arrived the manager with an unfriendly attitude kept us waiting for ten minutes for a table, when there were several tables available "uncleaned". After ten minutes he comes back to ask us again how many people we were, to which we replied that we had already been waiting for ten minutes and his answer was that if we wanted to sit at a dirty table. At last he assigned us a table, he put the menu for us and another 15 minutes passed until he finally sent us a waitress, we told her that we had already been waiting for more than half an hour in the restaurant and that nobody attended to us, then she rudely told us she was going to call the manager and no matter that we kept calling her, she turned her back on us and went into the kitchen. At this point we decided it was better to leave. First impression matter and we will never go back there. We then went to Zohara in west Hartford. Although this restaurant was packed, the host went above and beyond to accommodate us. This will be the restaurant that I will recommend to all my friends not to go. unpleasant people. postscript. We were the only three Latinos on the site, and we felt an air of racism from their employees.
What a hidden gem!! My husband, toddler and I came across this place yesterday and stopped by for happy hour. This restaurant looks so unsuspecting from the outside but we were so pleasantly surprised by the wonderful happy hour menu which included a rather large selection of drinks and tapas. All 3 drinks we had were excellent (definitely recommend their spicy margarita) but it was the food that actually blew us away! The tapas were soooo delicious! And what an amazing portion size and the service was so great! Highly recommend!
Todd P.
I wished they had at least some offerings that are not hot and spicy as hell - however if thats what you enjoy - great... not one dish :(
Joe K.
Came to Toro Taberna for Valentine's Day and was very disappointed. I should have seen the red flags when there was no one there for Valentine's Day dinner. It seemed like they may have changed their menu and went away from Spanish tapas and more toward Mexican street food/tacos. It was also a red flag that the decor was all Spain/Spanish themed but the menu was mainly Mexican. The food was very mediocre. I am not sure if the chef was off for Valentine's Day but it was not impressive at all. We had chips, guacamole and salsa to start. The chips and guacamole were good but the salsa was not homemade it was tasted like it was store bought. Which was not terrible but if you are going to be a Mexican restaurant you can't be serving store bought salsa. Blood orange and Spicy margarita were good but nothing to write home about. Then we had patatas bravas which was very good and a baked garlic shrimp dish was just okay. We also opted to get tacos and a pincho instead of the paella, which we instantly regretted. The ancho beef pincho was very tough and was supposed to come with a red chimmichurri sauce but didn't look or taste anything like chimmichurri. The carne asada taco was just plain bad. Overcooked with no flavor to it. The la gringa was a fried chicken taco which was also just flavorless, fried, cold and loaded with creamy sauce. Lastly we had the birria taco which was pretty good but by this point I was pretty over the meal. For the price the quantity nor the quality can be justified. $8 for 1 carne asada, $12 for 1 birria taco, $10 for 1 beef pincho. We wrapped up with a flourless chocolate cake which was very rich but good. Overall, I was just disappointed that I wasted a Valentines Day Dinner on this place and I would definitely not recommend. If you are looking for Spanish tapas, Barcelona is the place for you about a mile away. If you are looking for Mexican street food/tacos you are better off going to Sayulita in Glastonbury because this isn't it. The last red flag was the "service charge" which was 5%. I will never understand the surprise charge at the end. The owner really has to ask themselves if making a few extra bucks with a service charge is worth rubbing the customer the wrong way before they leave their restaurant. The hostess, waitress and bartender were all very friendly and helpful so this is in no way a reflection of them. It was really just the menu change, quality of food, overall price and service charge that was disappointing.
Murlo R.
This was a gem of a neighborhood Spanish tapas restaurant with a creative and changing menu. But it just went Mexican (huh? Yea). The paella is changed, losing its golden-brown luster and aioli. Now they put Salsa on top (huh? Yea. Ah no). And they doubled the price from when they opened a year or so ago. The changing and seasonal creative tapas are gone. The famed mussels - gone. No more Fideos. Cheese and jamon plates are mixed. The heralded Barcelona Chicken is now a bland sweet concoction without the crispness and caramelization that made the original dish great. Did they lose their chef? Taberna now plays in the overplayed taco space, following the theme of its other two Toro spots, Can you get a good trendy taco there? Sure? But it's not the authentic and reasonably priced tacos of the taqueria two doors down (and others scattered down the street). And they're not up to Bar Taco standards just a mile or so away. If you want higher end Mexican, Frida in West Hartford and Sayulita in G-Bury are great.
Kathleen R.
This awesomely located restaurant right off park road in west hartford has great food, drinks, and entertainment. You can tell the ingredients are fresh and the flavors are well developed. The patatas bravas are a fave of mine, but you really can't go wrong. They also host great events like trivia, drag brunch, and DJ nights. Even without a DJ the music is always great and leaves you feeling energized and happy. They're usually open late on the weekends & is a great spot for a drink. The drinks are great and have a few different price points which is nice (I'm a personal fan of the house rose which is only $6). Awesome spot!
I haven't been to Toro Taberna for over a year. I have had two brunches here previously and one dinner. Never left a review before. We had good experiences in the past and the food was OK, some dishes were good some dishes not so great but overall we were satisfied so we came back last night. We ordered 6 tapas and 5 out of the 6 we had were super salty. I hope the management reads this and talks to the line cooks about the salt levels. In addition, both me and my friend started to burp shortly after dinner and it lasted for hours. Seems like the quality of the food went down significantly and salt levels have gone through the roof. Very disappointed, we will not be back
I went to the 2nd of the 3 Mexican restaurants in this chain and the 2nd impressed as much as the 1st, Toro Mexican Street Food, also in West Hartford. Everything, so fresh and so perfectly tasty. I had the shrimp with crack sauce, the beef barbacoa adobo sauce and the la casa chorizo red sauce chimichuri aioli tacos. So very great! Add the homemade loco house hot sauce, so perfect!! You must try this restaurant. Plus, so many more choices, I will try them all!!
Went during happy hour nice calm place. Tacos were bussin and drinks were good. Nice brunch date
Happy hour dishes were delicious. Shrimp tacos were the highlight. Mango Margaritas hit the spot. Would highly recommend this place.
We have had their food at parties, small get together and dining in. Every experience has been great. Appreciate the GF full menu.
Wow is all I can say. Been wanting to visit for months now. Our visit tonight was worth the wait. We had a variety of tacos one was better than the next. Will be back for sure. Well done
Manager had bad attitude and didn’t care, food was ok. Churros were burnt. Won’t go back
They pour their margaritas from a tap and they're horrible. Asked them to make one from scratch and they said no. Drink glasses came right from the dishwasher and were hot. Paid my tab and left. Terrible experience.
I was originally going to go to Zaytoons, man do I regret it. The food here was salty as heck. Oh and the utensils we got where dirty, like they took them out of someone's else's plate and put them in the little bag. The waiter wasn't that friendly oh and the floor was slippery like if they cleaned it with the kitchen oil. I definitely do not recommend this restaurant. Stay away I also don't see them in business too long.
worst experience...We arrived at the restaurant for the first time interested in the concept of tapas that we had seen on their website. Since we arrived the manager with an unfriendly attitude kept us waiting for ten minutes for a table, when there were several tables available "uncleaned". After ten minutes he comes back to ask us again how many people we were, to which we replied that we had already been waiting for ten minutes and his answer was that if we wanted to sit at a dirty table. At last he assigned us a table, he put the menu for us and another 15 minutes passed until he finally sent us a waitress, we told her that we had already been waiting for more than half an hour in the restaurant and that nobody attended to us, then she rudely told us she was going to call the manager and no matter that we kept calling her, she turned her back on us and went into the kitchen. At this point we decided it was better to leave. First impression matter and we will never go back there. We then went to Zohara in west Hartford. Although this restaurant was packed, the host went above and beyond to accommodate us. This will be the restaurant that I will recommend to all my friends not to go. unpleasant people. postscript. We were the only three Latinos on the site, and we felt an air of racism from their employees.
Restaurantji Recommends
What a hidden gem!! My husband, toddler and I came across this place yesterday and stopped by for happy hour. This restaurant looks so unsuspecting from the outside but we were so pleasantly surprised by the wonderful happy hour menu which included a rather large selection of drinks and tapas. All 3 drinks we had were excellent (definitely recommend their spicy margarita) but it was the food that actually blew us away! The tapas were soooo delicious! And what an amazing portion size and the service was so great! Highly recommend!
I wished they had at least some offerings that are not hot and spicy as hell - however if thats what you enjoy - great... not one dish :(
Came to Toro Taberna for Valentine's Day and was very disappointed. I should have seen the red flags when there was no one there for Valentine's Day dinner. It seemed like they may have changed their menu and went away from Spanish tapas and more toward Mexican street food/tacos. It was also a red flag that the decor was all Spain/Spanish themed but the menu was mainly Mexican. The food was very mediocre. I am not sure if the chef was off for Valentine's Day but it was not impressive at all. We had chips, guacamole and salsa to start. The chips and guacamole were good but the salsa was not homemade it was tasted like it was store bought. Which was not terrible but if you are going to be a Mexican restaurant you can't be serving store bought salsa. Blood orange and Spicy margarita were good but nothing to write home about. Then we had patatas bravas which was very good and a baked garlic shrimp dish was just okay. We also opted to get tacos and a pincho instead of the paella, which we instantly regretted. The ancho beef pincho was very tough and was supposed to come with a red chimmichurri sauce but didn't look or taste anything like chimmichurri. The carne asada taco was just plain bad. Overcooked with no flavor to it. The la gringa was a fried chicken taco which was also just flavorless, fried, cold and loaded with creamy sauce. Lastly we had the birria taco which was pretty good but by this point I was pretty over the meal. For the price the quantity nor the quality can be justified. $8 for 1 carne asada, $12 for 1 birria taco, $10 for 1 beef pincho. We wrapped up with a flourless chocolate cake which was very rich but good. Overall, I was just disappointed that I wasted a Valentines Day Dinner on this place and I would definitely not recommend. If you are looking for Spanish tapas, Barcelona is the place for you about a mile away. If you are looking for Mexican street food/tacos you are better off going to Sayulita in Glastonbury because this isn't it. The last red flag was the "service charge" which was 5%. I will never understand the surprise charge at the end. The owner really has to ask themselves if making a few extra bucks with a service charge is worth rubbing the customer the wrong way before they leave their restaurant. The hostess, waitress and bartender were all very friendly and helpful so this is in no way a reflection of them. It was really just the menu change, quality of food, overall price and service charge that was disappointing.
This was a gem of a neighborhood Spanish tapas restaurant with a creative and changing menu. But it just went Mexican (huh? Yea). The paella is changed, losing its golden-brown luster and aioli. Now they put Salsa on top (huh? Yea. Ah no). And they doubled the price from when they opened a year or so ago. The changing and seasonal creative tapas are gone. The famed mussels - gone. No more Fideos. Cheese and jamon plates are mixed. The heralded Barcelona Chicken is now a bland sweet concoction without the crispness and caramelization that made the original dish great. Did they lose their chef? Taberna now plays in the overplayed taco space, following the theme of its other two Toro spots, Can you get a good trendy taco there? Sure? But it's not the authentic and reasonably priced tacos of the taqueria two doors down (and others scattered down the street). And they're not up to Bar Taco standards just a mile or so away. If you want higher end Mexican, Frida in West Hartford and Sayulita in G-Bury are great.
This awesomely located restaurant right off park road in west hartford has great food, drinks, and entertainment. You can tell the ingredients are fresh and the flavors are well developed. The patatas bravas are a fave of mine, but you really can't go wrong. They also host great events like trivia, drag brunch, and DJ nights. Even without a DJ the music is always great and leaves you feeling energized and happy. They're usually open late on the weekends & is a great spot for a drink. The drinks are great and have a few different price points which is nice (I'm a personal fan of the house rose which is only $6). Awesome spot!