El Catrin

As always amazing. We love this place. The washrooms are the only area needing improvement

we had a great time...great place catching up with friends. all the food and drinks were good...the lady getting our orders was very helpful. When asked about the stuff we had to order she was all happy to explain to us what it is....her recommendations, we all tried it. Love the food!!! Guacamoles are the Best!!

Food was good but very small portions and not a lot of vegetarian options for tacos. They also brought me out chicken tacos so had to wait for them to approach and ask how everything was before they noticed.

Amazing food and service. Small tasty plates. We got excellent suggestions from our server and they were all fantastic. Great place

I enjoyed the unique interior and table side making of guacamole.

Excellent guacamole and marguaritas! All 4 of us also enjoyed our lunches

Great ambiance and decor. Service is very professional. But the food is missing some “soul” to it. It tastes very bland for Mexican food.

Even on a busy, bustling Friday night the service was excellent and attentive. The food was flavourful as u could taste subtle details in all their dishes. The table-side guacamole preparation is always entertaining.
And as an added touch the DJ spinning a good mix of current and 90s hip hop made the night very enjoyable.
Photo above is just a sample of the unique ambiance.
Special shout to Patrick our server who was on point all night and help make the night enjoyable.

Music was too loud at dinner service.

We came 30 mins before our reservation as traffic was lighter than expected (coming well before the dinner rush, it was 6pm), asked to be seated earlier. We were told if possible yes but our reservation wasn’t for 30 mins so we should wait. We saw numerous walk ins seated before us, including some waiting for their guests (meaning they were seated and not ordering). There were only 2 of us in the party. Later, when we walked up 2 minutes before our reservation again to make ourselves undeniably known, we were told it was Open Table’s fault for over booking. A lack of front of house staff expertise indeed.

We stopped in for dinner on Friday. The hostess told us they were not taking walk-ins in the dining room but we were welcome to sit on the patio. After leaving I checked open table and reservations were available in 15 minute intervals for the next 2 hours. I promptly booked the first available and went back. Not sure what the point is behind the no walk-in strategy other than to lose business and/or annoy customers.

Great food and atmosphere . Friendly service but given it was a weekday lunch we needed service to be a bit faster and attentive. We didn’t have time to linger on a business day lunch.

Incredibly disappointed. I have dietary restrictions - was looking for a non-dairy, no nuts & no meat option. The server notified me that the chef is in a "bad mood" and they are understaffed so they won't be able to do any subtitutions. I asked to swap the avacado creme dressing on the taco with anything non dairy....she said no. This is just one example of 3 requests I made. My server kept insisting that I try the a salad with tuna even after I told her that I do not like tuna. We ended up leaving and going somewhere else. Couldn't believe the lack of compassion, service or willingness to accomodate my dietary requests. This has never happened before. The atmosphere is nice, but this place is terrible for vegetarians. They need more veg options.

Excellent service and delicious food! Our server even offered to take a picture of us!

Had heard great things and finally got there. The decor is very awesome and great patio if the season is right. Would definitely go back, even if just for the amazing mojito and the guac!

This was a real disappointed and the value was terrible. Everything from the Service to the quality of the Food and even the water Lady seemed to miss our table on more than one occasion. We would never go back and of course never recommend it!!!

Excellent resto pour lors d'un séjour à Toronto. Nous étions placés au second étage au départ mais l'hôtesse a tout fait pour nous relocaliser au premier plancher face au bar à notre demande. Merci encore. Bonne ambiance, beaucoup de plaisir. Bref, une belle soirée réussie.

Fantastic food, highly recommend starting with the guac and chips, they make it right at your table. Great starters for sharing and the ceviche trio was dynamite!! Our server was amazing and very friendly and the ambiance is fantastic. Great cocktails, great food and great staff, El Catrin should be a must visit for anybody coming down to the Distillery District.

We live in Ottawa, but whenever we are in Toronto, we head to El Catrin. An amazing and delicious menu that provides plenty of options for folks with food intolerances. Gluten-free vegetarians have lots of great selections here, and the guacamole is fantastic! They mash it up at your table - doesn't get fresher than that. We'll be back again and again.

Great service, tasty food. It’s a nice place for friends to get together. The music was a little loud and therefore conversation was a little more difficult.

We all really enjoyed our meals, the fresh at the table made guacamole was lovely, the ambiance was just right, not too loud.

My wife & I ate here for the first time and it was great for celebrating our second year wedding anniversary! The ambience was amazing, the service was great with their recommendations, diverse staff and the food was insanely delicious! Coming back again with family and friends, highly recommended!

Cons: Despite confirming my reservation the day before via email, El Catrin cancelled my reservation 10 minutes before the time I booked it for. When I arrived, my guests and I had to wait for them to set up the tables to accommodate us. The portions were small so everyone had to order 2 items off the menu (excluding a shared guacamole). The tacos weren't exceptional so you are really paying for the location and ambiance. I had to ask twice for my sopes which came at the same time as dessert.

Pros: Because we were celebrating 2 birthdays, we received complimentary churros and tres leches. The rest of food came relatively quickly (beside the one item they forgot to place the order for). Our server was kind and helpful overall.

Vibrant atmosphere, great menu and drinks. Staff are friendly and the food was delicious!

I have a very unique allergy and they did everything and more in order to ensure my allergy was accommodated. The food was amazing, the ambiance is incredible and the service was phenomenal!

Service could have been better
Good food
Beautiful restaurant
Food portions poor

One of my favourite restaurants in Toronto! The food is all amazing!

food was just ok.
we felt rushed as it arrived immediately after ordering. as if it was it was prepared in advance.
the music was cranked up to an even louder decimal half way through the meal so talking had to become shouting. the restaurant was more like a club than a dining establishment at that point.
the servers were all very upbeat and excellent though.

Amazing margaritas and guacamole. Favourite meal was the fish tacos.

The meal was perfect flavours went together really well. Meat was cooked perfectly. Portion size could’ve been more. I went close to closing but I didn’t feel rushed. I was able to have a drink and have my meal and relax. I would recommend this place to anyone who is a fan of Mexican food. Although that wasn’t my personal reason for going the food was great.

This was my first visit and overall I found the wait staff very knowledgeable and the food was authentic and extremely good tasting.
The restaurant decorum was fantastic worth the visit for that alone.
The restaurant was full of energy and lots of people which made it great for people watching.
The only downside was that my friend and I were served everything so quickly that we did not really get to bask in the total experience.
Maybe the next time!
Thanks

Great ambiance however servers were too busy to lavish attention on you to enrich your dining experience. Guacamole was well presented though bland. Nice margaritas n great presentation of food. Taste overrated hence expensive for your buck. Stinky toilet

This place is absolutely amazing we will definitely recommend it and we will be back!

A great lunch! Portion size could be larger though

We dined in the patio, very lovely despite the wind gusts. Our waiter was very well informed, the food was great & we thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

The food portions were too small, especially for the price it cost. Regardless of it being a tapas experience, too much for too little. It didn't taste all that great either. Won't be returning.

This is one of my all time favorite restaurants. The ambiance, food, drink, decor and service are all exceptionally good. Each dish uniquely bursts with flavor. The portions are perfect.

Waiter..I think was Ricky (in the dinning room) was absolutely fantastic. Cheers to a really well done job!

Great location in the Distillery District, great food !

Awesome food and drinks! Ambiance is excellent too but music was way too loud