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El Torito In West Covina, Ca

nasalady

By nasalady
in Gluten-Free Restaurants

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nasalady Contributor
nasalady
Posted

I recently went to the Sunday Brunch at the El Torito Restaurant in West Covina; I was concerned because this is only the second time I've eaten out since my diagnosis and I didn't know what to expect. I called the restaurant first and spoke to the manager on duty, who sounded young and said that in his tenure there the issue of gluten free food had not come up. Which I found difficult to believe...?

HOWEVER, he was extremely helpful...after I asked a few questions about specific menu items, such as the meats (chicken, pork, and steak) served at the taco bar as well as the hand made corn tortillas, he immediately went to talk to the chef to verify that the corn tortillas were 100% corn (they are) and to find out what the ingredients were in the marinades for the meats. He actually brought the ingredients lists back to the phone and read them to me. As it turns out, the chicken and steak marinades both contain soy sauce, but the pork (carnitas) is safe. The omelette bar should also be OK.

When my family and I arrived at the restaurant, I told the waiter about my issues with gluten and asked if I could order just a chicken breast, grilled without the usual marinade, but maybe with lime juice or something like that. In the meantime my husband went to the taco bar and got me two of the carnitas tacos with salsa plus extra corn tortillas and salsa for the chicken.

The waiter said that he would talk to the chef, and 15 minutes later came back with a beautiful plate of steamed veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots) plus fresh plum tomatos and an ENORMOUS grilled chicken breast with a whole lime cut in half. I cut up the chicken and tomatos and made more tacos. The veggies were wonderful.

All in all, I was very impressed with the service and the way that the staff responded to my special requirements. I don't know if all El Toritos will be as accomodating, but I can definitely recommend the one in West Covina.

JoAnn

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suepooh4 Contributor
suepooh4
Posted
I recently went to the Sunday Brunch at the El Torito Restaurant in West Covina; I was concerned because this is only the second time I've eaten out since my diagnosis and I didn't know what to expect. I called the restaurant first and spoke to the manager on duty, who sounded young and said that in his tenure there the issue of gluten free food had not come up. Which I found difficult to believe...?

HOWEVER, he was extremely helpful...after I asked a few questions about specific menu items, such as the meats (chicken, pork, and steak) served at the taco bar as well as the hand made corn tortillas, he immediately went to talk to the chef to verify that the corn tortillas were 100% corn (they are) and to find out what the ingredients were in the marinades for the meats. He actually brought the ingredients lists back to the phone and read them to me. As it turns out, the chicken and steak marinades both contain soy sauce, but the pork (carnitas) is safe. The omelette bar should also be OK.

When my family and I arrived at the restaurant, I told the waiter about my issues with gluten and asked if I could order just a chicken breast, grilled without the usual marinade, but maybe with lime juice or something like that. In the meantime my husband went to the taco bar and got me two of the carnitas tacos with salsa plus extra corn tortillas and salsa for the chicken.

The waiter said that he would talk to the chef, and 15 minutes later came back with a beautiful plate of steamed veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots) plus fresh plum tomatos and an ENORMOUS grilled chicken breast with a whole lime cut in half. I cut up the chicken and tomatos and made more tacos. The veggies were wonderful.

All in all, I was very impressed with the service and the way that the staff responded to my special requirements. I don't know if all El Toritos will be as accomodating, but I can definitely recommend the one in West Covina.

JoAnn

Hi JoAnn,

I'm glad to hear you had a good experience there. Wow I went to look for restaurants and I saw West Covina, I used to live there from 3 years old to 19. I now live in Ohio, I have been here for 11 years, but hearing someone mention it, it sure bought back a lot of happy memories. I often wonder how it is there now. I really haven't been to West Covina since 1987.

Sue

nasalady Contributor
nasalady
Posted
  • Author
Hi JoAnn,

I'm glad to hear you had a good experience there. Wow I went to look for restaurants and I saw West Covina, I used to live there from 3 years old to 19. I now live in Ohio, I have been here for 11 years, but hearing someone mention it, it sure bought back a lot of happy memories. I often wonder how it is there now. I really haven't been to West Covina since 1987.

Sue

Hi Sue,

It would probably look very different to you now. There have been lots of new homes and big malls built in that area. Do you miss the Southern CA weather? :)

Of course, it must be nice to have snow for Christmas....do you get much snow by Christmas where you are?

JoAnn

suepooh4 Contributor
suepooh4
Posted
Hi Sue,

It would probably look very different to you now. There have been lots of new homes and big malls built in that area. Do you miss the Southern CA weather? :)

Of course, it must be nice to have snow for Christmas....do you get much snow by Christmas where you are?

JoAnn

Hi JoAnn,

I'm sure it does look a lot different. I do remember the West Covina Plaza, the Wescove movie theather, and the Puente Hills mall. I don't know if you are familar with the schools out there but I went to Edgewood High School, class of "87".

I do miss the weather, but not the smog (especially when having to have your vechile get a smog inspection every other year) or the traffic on the freeway. I also miss a lot of the stores, and In N Out burger (I don't have celiac, my husband does).

We do have nice weather here too, its hot in the summer, cool in the fall with the leaves on the trees turning beautiful colors, and snow in the winter. We do have some snow outside right now about 3 to 4 inches (talk about cold this morning it was 17 degrees outside). But every year it is different like last Christmas 2007 we didn't get any snow until January and there have been times when we can still see snow until April and once we had snow as early as Halloween. The schools here have snow days too, so if there is snow on the roads and the school district feels it might not be safe for the school busses then school is cancelled, we are allowed 5 snow days that don't have to be made up. Or sometimes they just have a 2 hour delay. We do enjoy seeing snow at Christmas it just seems more like the holiday with it. I can remember one year that we had so much that it was called a level 3 and you weren't allowed on the roads unless you had to go to work, because it wasn't safe out, but last time that happened was in 2002.

We have 4 children ages 18 (senior in high school) 14, 5, and 2 1/2. So the older two look forward to snow days, my husband is a teacher so he also gets the snow days off.

Take Care it was nice hearing from someone who lives in the area I grew up in. I hope to hear from you again

Bye

Sue

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