When scoping out a location to open another El Toro restaurant in Santa Maria, owners David Bonilla and Ralph Moran came across an empty building on the corner of one of the busiest intersections of town. They both peeked inside the windows and decided it was going to be the spot.
Fast-forward to now, and a freshly opened eatery sits on Enos and Broadway.
Getting a spot within a highly traveled part of the city is hard, but this sort of fell into the laps of Moran and Bonilla. Luckily, the place was already zoned for commercial use. But from start to finish, according to Bonilla, it took a whole year just to get the place open. Much of the kitchen equipment had to be shipped from Georgia, Bonilla said.
El Toro, as a restaurant, traces its roots to Santa Ana when Bonilla’s father Luis started the first location back in the early 1970s. It was a step up for Luis, who, according to his son, began working as a cook for a Disney hotel back in the ’60s. Bonilla said the first restaurant is still there and popular as ever.
Santa Maria’s newest El Toro follows the tradition of fast-casual traditional Mexican cuisine—from carne asada and carnitas to tamales, salsas, and mariscos (seafood)—in a cafeteria-style setting. The seafood is ceviche, which is prepared fresh and served cold. A typical meal costs around $10.
“It’s fast food,” Bonilla explained, “but not too fast. It’s made fresh with no preservatives.”
And speaking of fresh, all entrees are made to order. Side dishes are prepared relatively on the spot and added as the customer orders. The only things not made fresh onsite are the tortillas, which are made at the city’s original El Toro location on Main and Blosser, and brought to the second location on a daily basis.
Bonilla said unlike some restaurants that simply buy the powder to make tortillas, El Toro makes its own flour from grinding down the corn.
The first El Toro in Santa Maria is well known in the city, having opened in 2001. It’s more of a deli than a restaurant, with no seating and only a countertop that acts as a table for customers to stand at while they enjoy a meal. Bonilla is hoping the same reputation will follow to the second location. But apparently it already has.
Although the restaurant officially opened in early December, Bonilla said they refrained from displaying the “now open” sign because the space was already flooded with customers. The decision came down to quality control.
“We just want to make sure we get all of the orders correct,” Bonilla said.
Staff Writer David Minsky wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, email, or mail.
This article appears in Jan 1-8, 2015.