Toro Restaurant Review

Best paella in town. Plan on waiting hours to get in

Awesome tapas joint but be careful- they don't take reservations and there is always a wait. Try going when they open

They don't serve food until 5 PM. Bar has small plates which are amazingly good but no dining room seating until 5. Minus one star for that and minus one for no Kahlua or Bailey's behind the bar.

The food is amazingly good and everything is reasonably priced too. And the service staff are very polite with outstanding service skills.

We were very disappointed with the level of service and attention, as well as the overall quality of the food at such a talked about eatery. Our waitress failed to introduce herself, make any recommendations, check in at any point in time, or even ask if we wanted drinks. The food was subpar, especially for the caliber of pricing.... with the exception of the mushrooms and bone marrow, which were delicious.

Overall the experience was vastly subpar of what we have had here in the past, and unfortunately this will be the last time we visit.

Dark and stylish restaurant, very hard to get into on a Friday Saturday evening as they don t take reservations. Worth the wait though. Delicious mixed drinks. Get a few plates to share...we had the paella, pork ribs, and duck and everything was delicious.

The salt cod, duck legs, steak, and shrimp dishes are great. But some of the other plates are rather overpriced. One time I got the stuffed dates which were exactly two stuffed dates for an absurd price. Coming for a weekday lunch is a great way to beat the crowds.

Just wasn t up to the hype, in my opinion. The food is fine, but nothing to write home about.

Vibe isn t an important thing to me, but it seems to have a lively one, and everyone looked like they were boogying.

Authentic Spanish Food is served here. Food is delicious and service is great. Love the vibe this place offer. It's is the best place to hangout with Friends and Family.

Excellent food. Favorites included the octopus, which I have to say was cooked more perfectly than I've tasted in a while. The other top pick was the beef tartare which was incredible.

The other must try items include the potatoes bravas, fried Chicken, boar and truffle terrine, OTC deluxe (Mexican street corn with crab), and the chocolate churros.

As long as you don't get a large item like paella, figure three or four items per person. Definitely have to go back again as there were some items we just didn't have room to try.

I'll start off by saying I'm biased: This restaurant is right around the corner from my house, and tempts me every time I walk by, with its delicious smells and crowd of happy-looking patrons on an outdoor patio. I've succumbed to temptation half a dozen times and, man, the build up was worth it. Going to Toro is an adventure: what sorts of crazy dishes and daring plates are you going to try this time? It's a great first date restaurant, to get a sense of how "picky" your partner is when it comes to food (low tolerance for spice? Doesn't like fish? Sticks to one of four common livestock animals only? Up for anything at least once?)

Most dates I've had here run $80-$100, but can be as low as $25 for a couple of cheap drinks and a plate or two (followed by a romantic walk around the beautiful South End parks? Why not!)

I highly recommend the salt-crusted fish for two.

One of the best dinners I had in a very long time. I decided to come here after watching an episode of Chopped where the head chef was competing. They showed their signature dish of bone marrow. I ordered the foie gras and bone marrow. The combination of sweet and savory flavors in the foie gras and the citrisy ingredients on top of the bone marrow were incredible. I highly recommend this place.

Wow! This place FAR exceeded my expectations. We arrived around 6:00 on a Saturday night, and this place was PACKED. The energy in this restaurant is insane! We waited almost an hour, and would do it again in a heart beat. We grabbed drinks at the bar and the bartender was amazing, the drinks equally so. Food was incredible- I highly recommend the crudo, corn, figs, and tartare, but everything was fantastic. Loud music and close seating, so if this bothers you, steer clear. We don t mind and honestly, I always feel like this adds to the intimacy of who you re with. I would recommend this place over and over and over again!

Great atmosphere amd service! Good is excellent and mouthwatering! Need to go!

Toro is my favorite Boston restaurant, hands down. Delicious tapas, inventive cocktails, warm wait staff, and always killer tunes.

After being seated it took about 20 minutes before someone came over so we could ask for drink menus. After ordering our drinks and waiting again, we had to wave over our waiter to make a food order. The food was good although portions small. We were never asked by anyone how it was or if we needed anything else. We didn't speak with our waiter until he finally came by to ask if we wanted our bils. Very disappointed by the service, we felt completely ignored.

One of the great restaurants in Boston. The place is beautiful, nice service, nice atmosphere. The tapas and the wine are delicious.
Very friendly place where you can go alone and meet other people if you happen to be alone in the city.

After all the hype, I was completely unimpressed. The paella was good in the places it wasn t burned (literally the pan it was served it in was covered in char). As others have said in their reviews, the place is really loud....not a great date night when you can t hear your partner from 2 feet away. And to top it off, the ambience is so basic. Nothing Spanish about it, and they had their stupid t-shirts hanging on the wall for sale. C mon, if you want to be taken seriously for your food, focus on selling food, not merch.

Cool place with good vibe, tasty food and good service. The music was a bit too loud, which made it hard to have a conversation. The dates, bone marrow, mushrooms with egg and tuna tartare were very good. The txipirones too, although they are not real txipirones. The duck, corn and churros were just ok. The patatas bravas were pretty bad.

Toro is a great South End restaurant, serving up Spanish-style tapas and great drinks! Their duck drumsticks and corn on the cob smothered in Manchego cheese is AWESOME. Communal style seating makes for a convival atmosphere, but it does get somewhat noisy on Fridays and Saturdays, and the no-reservation policy can be a bit of a drag.

If you re Fromm boston you eat here! If you re not from
Boston then you also definitely eat here! Best authentic Spanish cuisine

I am Spanish and this is not a Spanish restaurant. But the food is very good

I waited for a second visit before writing my review of Toro since my first experience wasn't as amazing as the expectations I was given.

On both visits the food was excellent. That portion of Toro did live up to expectations. However, the ambience and the cocktails failed to deliver for me. On the first visit we went around 5:30 on a week night. We called ahead and they told us if we hurried there were a few seats left and when we got there we were seated at a shared high-top table between a family and a group of friends. We had very little space for ourselves and had to essentially shout at each other the entire evening because it was so loud.

On the second visit we sat outside for drinks and light apps. The patio was a much more pleasant experience but we weren't impressed with the drinks. I got the Mamacita, which is apparently their most popular drink. It's a take on the classic Margarita but the flavor balance seemed off to me.

I can't give Toro fewer than 4-stars because the food is just so excellent here. However, I struggle loving Toro because of the ambience and the hassle of getting a seat. Maybe I've just had a few bad experience, and I will come back again, but for now I much prefer Toro's sister restaurant Coppa.

Went in when fairly new restaurant. I was rushed through ordering, eating, paying, etc. My soft taco was horrible.

One of my favorite restaurants in Boston! Fun flavors, fun space

The food is OK but the customer service is TERRIBLE. Definitely not come back here again.

I cannot put a three star review, yet it s hard to say it s a 4-star for sure. The food is great, not most delicious, but still. When talking about any tapas place, you should understand that you are going to pay a lot, but get a little.
In terms of quality, the food probably deserves 4*. I would put 5* for potatoes and grilled corn without a doubt. However, the price compared to quality should not be that high. Especially the steak and the duck...
Toro is worth visiting and trying anyways. Would come back to get more corn

This is one of my best friend's favorite restaurants, and for good reason. The staff are friendly and the food is amazing. We usually end up getting a bottle of wine (or two..) so our bill total tends to be a little higher than usual, but it's always worth it.

With my girlfriend ~

Really love Asado de Huesos, grilled bread with the beef and bone marrow is amazing!

Higado is also good!

-1 for noisy environment.

Never fails. Toro is one of the restaurants we go to most frequently in Boston and it's always a great experience. Definitely get the paella

Had dinner here. Loved everything we had! Staff was friendly!

It needs a review in Spanish: I went precisely with Spanish friends, the wide and decent place, somewhat uncomfortable chairs and tables, the regular service because there was only one girl attending, the menu has interpreted things that are not really Spanish and a complaint from my Friends is that there is not a single Spanish beer. The food was good and brought quickly although they were not happy with the hot sandwich. We will return.

Amazing tapas and pinxhos. Service was great, food was great, wine and cocktails were great - no complaints!

Nice drinks, good food, surprisingly rude bartender.

Seafood was not fresh! Good service, terrible food. Very expensive for what it is.

The food was really good; however, it was really oily and expensive. The place gets really crowded and people are talking so loud. If you prefer a cozy place, don't go there. The corn is super amazing, try that definitely.

Fantastic! Heavy use of my two favorite ingredients: Uni and Bone Marrow! The fancy taco while being quite expensive was delicious. As was the beef tartare.

Amazing, inspired food. Always delicious, always creative. Love this place!!

Ambiance: Great, low light, pretty
Service: Great
Food: Meh. Not balanced, no layers, too salty or too acidic or too fishy. Decent but not great by any mean. Whoever is cooking needs a trip to Madrid or maybe just to actually taste what they're sending out.
Price: Not worth it, not for the quality we got on those dishes.

Come for the vibe, it's a very nice place with great service.
If you come for the taste, you'll be disappointed.

Deafening atmosphere, slow service, and small plates that are priced as they should be 3x larger.

If you plan to pay with a debit/credit card, be prepared for the waiter to stand next to you and watch while you pay and add a tip.

This was an authentic Spanish tapas place. The service, bar and ambiance still is very nice. We always enjoyed the food here. having been to Spain several times and my wife lived there for 6 months, plus we knew tapas places from other countries we've lived in or traveled to. Tonight was different. We ordered 5 dishes,
The tortilla was lighter and had parsley. The boquerones (white anchovies) used to be served with garlic and spice, is now different in oil and some dressing and croutons. Then I had a Txistorra, supposed to be a red sausage, but they served hot dog style in a bun with onions and relish. The batatas bravas (fried potatoes) were just fried potatoes with some sauces, not with the subtle spicing. The food was good but anglicized, lost it's unique Spanish taste and special flavors. Again food is good but I won't return until I hear it has changed back to what it was. Also wasn't quite as busy as it used to be.

Octopus was fantastic, as were the shrimp. Tortilla was awesome. Split many things on the menu, including paella. Trifle was a great finish.

Different... Lot o of fatty buttery taste dishes.... Expensive but good to try out.

Amazing tapas and great service. Staff was very knowledgeable about and attentive to food allergies. Thanks for the great experience. Highly recommended!

Octopus was fantastic, as were the shrimp. Tortilla was awesome

Stop in on a busy Monday. Sat at the bar. Jesse was our server. If unsure what to order, follow his suggestions. Food was great. Husband and I both loved the 90s hip hop. If we lived here, we would regulars.

We ate outside because of the warm weather but I peeked inside and loved the ambiance -- we'll definitely be sitting inside next time. I love tapas style and wish we got the corn because everyone raves about it (again, next time), but my favorite was the duck drumettes! When you're licking sauce off your fingers you know the stuff's good! The paella didn't impress that much, so I'd recommend skipping it.

Other than being cramped this place is great... food is fantastic.

Everything was good, but the duck was great and the patatas bravas were basically mind blowing.

Roasted Brussels sprouts! Best Paella in the metro area. Creative and delicious mixed drinks. Great wine selection.

You have got to pair that awesome cocktail with Mexican corn. Seriously yum. Warning if you go before 5 but after 3, you can only sit at the bar - perfect for me but some groups were miffed they could not gather around a table

Slightly cramped for space here, but the service and food were amazing! Some outdoor seating in the summertime.

A huge selection of dishes which all seem appetizing and creative. I particularly enjoyed lardo with black garlic and avocado on toast and the thinly sliced cow heart with romesco. Other interesting combinations included dates filled with almonds, blue cheese and wrapped in serano and a sea urchin with miso sandwich. The dishes are intensely flavored so I found myself desiring more subtle dishes, but overall the dishes were creative and successful.

our go to food are the Hamburguesas, Asado de Huesos (bone morrow), Patatas Bravas and Setas y Huevos. All amazing. Still working our way down the list. Our list visit we did notice smaller portions than we were used to and were a little unsure about it. Didn't complain because of our love for this place. The drinks here are delicious but we usually stick to the wine .. they know there stuff!

Mediocre food lacking Spanish essence, and bad service with negative attitude. Forgettable experience on our one day thru Boston.

The food is very oily. I couldn't eat more than couple of spoons. Staffs are very friendly :)

Quite literally the best food and service anyone could possibly ask for. Comfortable, relaxed environment where all your needs will be met before you even know they need to be! Try a porron , it's loads of fun and be adventurous - the menu is unique and everything is served in the best way it could be. The perfect spot to try something new because you know it will be perfect and you'll love it! And that bone marrow... damn!

Toro has amazing small plates that are definitely worth waiting for (though you could come when the open and you won't have to wait). I thoroughly enjoyed things like the yellowtail crudo and the bone marrow. Both had a very well-balanced and complex flavor profile that left me wanting more. Ambiance was a bit on the louder side given the size of the restaurant and how crowded it gets, but that did not detract from the experience.

Top restaurant in Boston. Great food and great vibe.

Really good food. Small portions but they fill it stomach. Steak was really delicious. Definitely try the corn

Best brunch place period. Everything is so delicious and decadent. Everytime I go to Boston I make sure I go get brunch at Toro. They also have a good selection of drinks and wines.

One of the best restaurants in Boston. Excellent Spanish tapas restaurant with an excellent bar and outdoor seating. It does not take reservations, so be prepared to wait. It s worth the wait. Really love the bone marrow and gambas. However, everything is excellent.

Great tapas, at a semi affordable price for the area. We came here on a date an we're really happy with our dinner. Service was excellent, being able to sit outside was great, and the food was even better. I like how they will bring food out as they finish so everything is fresh. Price is super reasonable for the location and quality, with dinner for two being around 20-30 each without drinks.

Excellent Spanish food in Boston. The. Paella a little strong .... But the. Site is worth it. Good attention.

Delicious tapas restaurant but expect 2 hour wait to get a table. Some of the appetizers tasted better than the entrees with same ingredients. No reservations. Cramped tables so get friendly with your elbow mates.

We bought a condo on this side of the South End for several reasons; one of those reasons was to be only two blocks away from Toro.

I think it's a bit overrated but it's a oldie goody

The food is amazing, but our waitress was very aggressive with taking both our food and wine order. We asked for bread and some how she thought we said "tomato bread" which is apparently a tapa on the menu. When it showed up we told the server that we didn't order it and our waitress came back and forced us to take the tapa (and pay for it). We also asked to sample a glass of wine which we were planning on buying the bottle if we liked it. She came back with 2 highball glasses that just came out of the dishwasher and filled both glasses with 5oz pours. She pretty much gave us no choice but to buy the bottle at that point, but she also never came back with real wine glasses. Aside from that waitress, which I hope no one ever has to be stuck with, the food never disappoints.

excellent tapas. we had the corn, the shrimp, pimiento, oysters, bon marrow, and tuna tartare. everything was just great. yum!

I have been going to Toro since it opened over 10 years ago and love the place. Great place to share tapas and It s like being in Spain. They do a great job there and have an excellent staff. Best to go for lunch during the week as there is no wait.

Fantastic Tapas, lively, noisy, tables very close together. Great food, popular so there may be a wait.

A preferred spot for tasty Spanish food. Don't worry if it's busy, it is worth the wait. Nothing but pleasant experiences here. Prices are appropriate. Similar to a cafe in Las Vegas I liked.