El Toro Bravo: expectantly satisfying
By Sophie Meads,
HUB Staff Writer–
Alimento Francés, comida Americana y ahora comida Mexicana.The recent addition of El Toro Bravo Mexican Kitchen to the already popular Davis sister dines Crepeville and Burgers and Brew has started out as successful as American Idol did 11 seasons ago.
The trio of restaurants might just be the rewrite of The Three Little Pigs; so close in relation since they all share the same owner, yet so different in the finished result. Each restaurant is inspired by different types of food.
The only alteration to the already well-known tale would be that all of the houses withstood the competition of eateries in a town – on a Saturday night it seems as if there are more restaurants in the downtown area than parking spaces.
As you enter the rather small restaurant on a Saturday night, a friendly staff member finds an open table for you within three minutes. Once seated, the warm, freshly crisped chips become tempting as do the prices on the menu.
Enchiladas, fajitas, tacos, nachos, burritos, quesadillas, soup and salad are each priced for about eight to 10 dollars. The kitchen does not allow the guests to fill up too much on chips, however, because the food is served in about 10 minutes, even with a full house.
Despite the delicious food, the restaurant has some aspects that are more incongruous than Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj. The lone candle that decorates each table vibes a romantic feel, but that is countered by luminescent yellow reusable menus.
The complementary salsa served with the chips is only distracting enough to a certain point because eventually the tacky interior design of the restaurant reveals itself. The eye has an abundance of opportunities to notice the rusty-red brick triangular abstractions that frequently coat the kettle corn-colored walls.
Even with those low charting details, El Toro Bravo should keep people pleased for longer than one-hit-wonder Carly Rae Jepsen did with her summer smash “Call Me Maybe” considering its reasonable portion sizes, satisfying flavor and comparable quality with its well-received sibling restaurants.
