Founded in 1954 in Encino, California, El Torito has been a pioneer in the California full service Mexican casual dining restaurant segment. Leveraging more than 50 years of operational experience, El Torito is currently the largest Mexican restaurant brand in California in terms of number of restaurants and operates franchise locations in Japan, Turkey and the Middle East. Designed to replicate authentic cooking found in a traditional Mexican hacienda, the restaurant focuses on using fresh, high-quality ingredients to prepare made-from-scratch Mexican cuisine.