Rancho del Zocalo - Review #1

Date of Visits: October 9 and December 21, 2006

Rancho del Zocalo @ Disneyland Park Official Site Full Menu

Working on a full-fledged review of Rancho del Zocalo inside Disneyland with plenty of pictures. For now I wanted to point out that they have the same holiday-themed pastel de tres leches cake that Cocina Cucamonga at Disney's California Adventure has except that here it looks more genuinely holiday-themed but is not promoted as much.

Here's the rest of the pictures:

Usually I'm pretty good at not putting up a review until it's really done. This review, however, is coming together piecemeal due to holidays, weddings in the family, etc. The first visit to Rancho del Zocalo for this review was on October 9 when I was at Disneyland with a couple of my brothers (Dave & Scottie, Lee & Lara and Emma & Eva & Ben and Ella, and Gary & Wendy) and their families and with Marissa, Avalon, Kobe, and Cashel who joined with us a little later in the day. It wasn't even me who suggested we eat Mexican food when it came time for dinner. It was Dave. Rancho del Zocalo is in Frontierland right next to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. It's hosted by Ortega (the people that make the canned salsa) and does the Mexican theme fairly well with a little imagery from the old American South-West thrown in.

The next visit was about two months later by which time I was a Disneyland Annual Passholder so I could do stuff like just go to Disneyland for lunch and take some pictures in the daytime (but I also rode Big Thunder Mountain just before leaving).

I tried some of Marissa's citrus fire-grilled chicken which was surprisingly moist and tantalizingly flavorful:

For myself I ordered their Carne Asada/Red Enchilada Platter. The entrees are dished out for you when you order them.

You can get kids' meals that are served on a dish shaped like the iconic Mickey Mouse ears:

The most colorful tortilla soup I've ever seen:

I love this painting here:

When I went back the second time I got very creative and ordered the exact same entree I had ordered before, the Carne Asada/Red Enchilada Platter:

Just like Cocina Cucamonga in Disney's California Adventure and Tortilla Jo's in Downtown Disney, Rancho del Zocalo is not fantabulous but still a little better than you expect it'll be going in and therefore earns a four "Panchito" rating:



Check out the complete photo album (30 photos so far) at flickr.

Cocina Cucamonga Holiday Dessert

This is probably the last in my recent line of "quick mentions." Was at Disneyland yesterday and for the first time in three decades of living just a few miles from Disneyland I signed myself up for an annual passport. When I did they gave me the current issue of Backstage Pass magazine for passholders. One of the things it pointed out is that the Mexican restaurant inside Disney's California Adventure, Cocina Cucamonga, is offering for a limited time a holiday-themed pastel de tres leches dessert. Hope to get a picture of it soon. For further reading on Cocina Cucamonga, check out our prior review.

UPDATE (November 29, 2006):

Went back to Cocina Cucamonga today for a quick lunch. Found out that they do have the holiday-themed pastel de tres leches dessert as well as holiday-themed "Crispitos" which I suspect are like the old Cinnamon Crispas from Taco Bell. Also noticed that their regular menu has now dropped the fish tacos, pork tacos, and nachos.

The tres leches cake was perhaps the most mass produced I've ever had. It was dry around the edges but moister as I worked my way to the center. The frosting seemed liked it had been zapped from a Zinger and I suppose the red sprinkles on top were what made it "holiday themed."

El Torito Grill - Review #2

Date of Visits: September 10, October 4 and 14, 2006

El Torito Grill 1910 Main St Irvine, CA 92614 (949) 975-1220 Listing on Google Maps Official Site

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My menu selections from my first visit:

Appetizer: Fresh-made tortillas with honey butter and two salsas
Entree: Mesquite-grilled Halibut
Drink: IBC Root Beer
Dessert: "Fresh Fruit Indulgence"

I was trying to hold off on reviewing El Torito Grill in Irvine for a while but felt like I better do it soon once I realized it is very easy for people to confuse it with the El Torito that is just around the corner. (Read our review of El Torito in Irvine.)

To further confuse the matter, this location doesn't appear to show up in the Yahoo! Local or Citysearch listings and appears incorrectly in the Google Maps listings as "El Torito Mexican Grill."

So, just to clarify matters: El Torito is on Macarthur (across the street from John Wayne Airport), while El Torito Grill is on Main St.

To park to eat at this El Torito Grill you will probably have to use the adjacent parking structure. On weekdays you can have your car valet parked or you can self-park and get your ticket validated inside the restaurant. On weekends you can self-park for free. You will see the following sign painted on the wall of the parking structure as you are headed towards the restaurant:

At El Torito Grill, rather than getting the standard chips and salsa you get some freshly made tortillas with honey butter to spread on them and a mild salsa and a spicier salsa. It is easy to eat four or five of these before your entree comes.

There are also intriguing appetizers such as the Chicken and Shrimp Taquitos:

The Romaine Salad comes with pumpkin seeds and Cilantro-Pepita Dressing™ (yes, they have actually trademarked the term "Cilantro-Pepita Dressing™") and is chopped tableside for you by your server:

The Carne Asada Tostada comes with "Grilled marinated steak, romaine, beans, jicama, tomatoes, crispy tortilla strips, cheese, salsa quemada and ranch dressing served on a crispy red chile tortilla," which just so happens to be the same shape as the triangular plate it's served on:

You can order the same item with barbecue chicken in place of the carne asada.

The tortilla soup, according to their menu, is made of "Tender chicken and vegetables in a savory broth with crispy tortilla strips and jack cheese." When it says "vegetables" I think it really means "zucchini" because there was a lot of zucchini in it.

One of the things I like about El Torito Grill is that their specials menu changes more often than the specials menu at the regular El Torito does. I was told by a waiter at El Torito Grill that it changes roughly every two to three weeks. On the first of my three visits for this review I ordered the Mesquite-grilled fresh halibut with "mixed vegetables, tomato-jalapeño salsa and orange-cucumber relish."

Mesquite-grilled Halibut

My friend Chris is a carnitas junkie so he of course ordered their Carnitas Yucatan, "Roasted marinated pork topped with red onions marinated with habañero chiles and lime juice. Served with red and black beans, rice, avocado relish and sweet corn cake."

When my roommate went with me on my second visit he got wild and ordered the fajitas:

A popular entree item at El Torito Grill is the Santa Fe Torte, "Chicken, cheese, and chiles in corn crepes with jalapeño butter and red chile sauces. Served with red and black beans, pineapple-mango salsa, sweet corn cake and crispy plantains."

When I went by myself on the first visit for this review I ordered a dessert from their specials menu called the "Fresh Fruit Indulgence." The official description of this dessert is: "Fresh berries and mangos tossed in Grand Marnier, creamy custard, fresh cream and a peanut tostada crisp. Served with chocolate and cajeta sauces."

Fresh Fruit Indulgence

Since the picture turned out a little blurry I ordered it again on the second visit and this time, instead of coming on a plate, it came in a glass:

I was told by one of the servers that this dessert item was so popular that it will be added to their regular menu soon but I can't say whether it will be flat on a plate or cone-shaped in a glass when you order it.

El Torito Grill earns a four and a half Speedy Gonzales rating:



Here's some photos from subsequent visits:

Cheese Quesadilla

Roasted Vegetable Platter

Coconut Flan

Other El Torito Grill entries:

• El Torito Grill - Review #1 (Mission Viejo)
• El Torito Grill - Review #3 (Anaheim)
• El Torito Grill - Review #4 (Newport Beach/Fashion Island)
• El Torito Grill - Review #5 (Brea)
• El Torito Grill - Review #6 (Rancho Santa Margarita)

Or click on the "el torito grill" label below to read our full El Torito Grill coverage: