Toro’s Bar
Yesterday evening Eron and I decided to try out a place we’d walked past almost every day for the past couple of weeks. The place is called, “Toro’s Bar”. It’s on Lazaro Cardenas, about 1/2 block west of Casa Glea.
The decor is pretty typical for a small Mexican, family-run establishment. They have a few tables out on the street and a few tables inside. Although open to the street, the interior is very tidy with clean Banos available for patrons. And true to being named “Toro’s Bar”, they do have an actual bar that spans the width of the establishment at the rear of the room. On this evening, they were playing a good 60’s and 70’s mix of Rock Classics; loud enough to hear but not intrusive.
On arrival at Toro’s, you’ll most likely be personally greeted by Christopher del Toro, the proprietor/host/maitre de/waiter/bartender. He’s very friendly, gregarious, and speaks very good English. When asked about recommendations, Christopher will proudly proclaim that they make the, “best hamburger in Mexico!”, and that he blends the, “best Margarita you’ll ever have.”
Well, with claims like that, we just had to try both. I’m not sweet-drink aficionado so Eron ordered a House-Special Margarita while I had a Pacifico. Eron declared that the margarita was, “a little sweet”, but otherwise “pretty damned good”. A definite thumbs-up from her! According to Christopher, instead of Tequila, he uses a local artisan-distilled Mescal and a natural agave syrup in his version of the classic cocktail. He told us he can adjust the sweetness to a customer’s preference on subsequent orders AND remember their preference on future visits. We’ll have to test him on that during our next visit.
If you’ve ever tried the usual “Hamburgesea” offerings in the resorts and restaurants in Mexico, you’ll know what I mean when I describe them as as mostly forgettable, occasionally memorably bad, or horribly over-priced. The usual fair being a very sad, thin, commercially-produced excuse for a pattie on a plain dry bun with maybe a piece of limp lettuce and a ring or two of raw onion; totally uninspired and absolutely unappetizing.
Apparently, Christopher has heard the complaints and this is his response:
The Toro’s Hamburger.
This, folks, is an honest-to-goodness, real home-style, dislocate-your-jaw-to-eat cheeseburger with BACON! The pattie is old-school; it’s thick and handmade with pieces of diced onion, herbs, and seasonings mixed-in. The tomato slices, onion slices, and lettuce portions are all fresh and generous; the produce is purchased every morning at local markets. The slice of cheese is not wafer-thin nor is it processed; it’s real local cheese. You get a hearty portion of actual thick-slice bacon; it’s salt-cured but not overly salty. And thankfully, this burger is not drowned in a coating of any “special sauce”. You get to add your own mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard.
Dislocate-your-jaw-to-eat thick!
The beef pattie was cooked perfectly; the middle was medium-well without any obvious “pink” yet still very moist with the outside having that all-so-satisfying crusty-crunch when you bite into it. In the photo, you can even see the fresh herbs and diced onion in the pattie. It had a definite, “beefy” taste that was never overwhelmed by the seasonings. The bacon was treated with respect as well. It was cooked all the way through and was crispy but not “incinerated” into the consistency of dried-out jerky like at most places. About the only downside was; the bun didn’t have the necessary tensile strength to hold all of that burger-goodness! The bun started to fall apart after a few bites; I carried on but Eron had to resort to knife and fork. Whilst we can’t vouch for this being the best hamburger in the country, it is definitely the best burger either of us have had outside of the US and Canada.
The other notable item were the French fries that came with the burger – they were, in a word, fantastic! They were some of the best fries I have had, ANYWHERE! They were deep-fried to a gold brown on the exterior with that perfect, crisp mouth-feel and that sought-after soft “potatoey” texture on the interior… yum!
Toro’s Bar is now definitely on our list of local goto restaurants in Bucerias. All told, our tab for the evening was about $34 Cdn (before tip); that was for two burgers, two Margaritas (yep, Eron “had to” try another), a Pacifico, and a soft drink. That puts Toro’s solidly into our “medium-priced” category of eateries. However, their combination of good service, great food, and good value-for-the-dollar will have us coming back again. We recommend you give Toro’s Bar a try when you’re in Bucerias.
Update:
On April 22, 2017, we visited Toro’s for the second time.
Toro’s interior. There’s also a sizable al fresco dining area to the right.
We tried Toro’s tacos for dinner this evening. The fish taco (bottom) was delicious with a large serving of tender, moist, mildly seasoned fish. The beef taco (left) was very good with small chunks of mildly seasoned beef. The restrained use of spices really let the taste of the meat be the real star. And the chicken taco (right) had moist pieces of diced chicken, again with a very light seasoning. The tortillas themselves were even a delightful surprise; handmade in-house by Christopher’s wife (the chef) and made 100% with a locally-ground varietal of maize grown specifically for use in the making of tortillas. The resulting tortillas have the strength to hold the fillings yet remain soft, have a definite corn taste, and present you with a nice “mouth-feel” as they are being chewed. The tacos were accompanied by small bowls containing salsa rosa (a nice heat on the front of the tongue and around the inside of the lips), salsa verde, salsa aguacate (avocado), and salsa ranch. They also provided a small dish of diced onions and cilantro. Eron also ordered their house special Margarita made with Raicillo (a local artisanal variety of Mescal). All told, we had 5 tacos, 2 Margaritas, and a cola with the tab coming to 385 Pesos (about $24 Cdn); pretty reasonable for a dinner for two.
Toro’s tacos; fish (bottom), beef (left), and chicken (right).
On April 27, 2017 we had our third visit to Toro’s Bar:
This evening I tried the Toro’s Bar Chicken Wings. When combined with an order of French Fries, it was a good-sized meal for one. They were certainly not your typical pre-cooked then over-cooked, smothered in Frank’s Red Hot, bar-wings. These were perfectly cooked; tender, no “pink” (even along the bone), moist, and had a crispy-crunch along the edges . Instead of the usual wing-flavours, Toro’s seasons theirs with a hand-rubbed blend of powdered chili. The flavour was quite complex with a heat that slowly built up as you ate more of them. The wings were accompanied by generous servings of matchstick carrots and celery. There was also a dipping sauce but unfortunately, it’s flavour was too subtle and was simply “lost”. No problem though, the wings were great on their own; they “didn’t need no stinkin’ sauce!”
Toro’s Chicken Wings
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East to Hedon
East to Hedon 
OK,,, I’m drooling now!
Paradise lost…is now Paradise found…WOW!!!