EL TORITO'S FIESTA; MEXICAN RESTAURANT CHAIN IS EXPANDING, RENOVATING, RETHINKING.Byline: Kirsten Searer The Orange County Register In 1954, a former Korean War Korean War, conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces in Korea from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953. At the end of World War II, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into Soviet (North Korean) and U.S. (South Korean) zones of occupation. fighter pilot decided to buy a Polynesian restaurant in Encino; he thought it would do better serving tacos. It wasn't easy, though, to introduce Mexican food to his Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, customers, who pronounced ``tacos'' as ``take-os.'' Larry Cano persevered and is credited with mainstreaming taco salads, fajitas fajitas Noun, pl a Mexican dish of soft tortillas wrapped around fried strips of meat or vegetables [Mexican Spanish] and margaritas during his 30 years at what is now Irvine-based El Torito The format developed by Phoenix Technologies and IBM that has become the standard for creating bootable CD-ROMs on the Intel platform. El Torito provides only the format. In order to make a CD-ROM bootable, the correct boot images must be placed on the disc, and the target computer must Restaurants Inc. But El Torito's history hasn't been one prolonged happy hour. ``The little bull'' dwindled to fewer than 100 restaurants in the early 1990s as it sagged with the stretch marks of overexpansion. The baby boomers who'd filled its cantinas in the 1980s deserted El Torito to cocoon cocoon: see pupa. at home, and the Mexican-food chain had to do some serious retrenching. ``El Torito used to be considered the fun innovator, but they've kind of lost that edge,'' said Randall Hiatt, a restaurant-industry analyst in Irvine. ``Almost every restaurant chain goes through some type of a life cycle.'' El Torito executives say now's the time to rebuild the name of one of Southern California's oldest and biggest casual-dining chains. El Torito is making servers more ``interactive'' and food and drinks more fun. Guacamole, salads and even margaritas are prepared tableside ta·ble·side n. The area beside or around a table, especially in a restaurant. adv. & adj. Made or prepared alongside a table: lamb that was carved tableside; a tableside recitation of the menu. - and cantina can·ti·na n. Southwestern U.S. A bar that serves liquor. [Spanish, canteen, from Italian, wine cellar.] finger foods are served in buckets. The chain also is introducing new dishes for anniversary celebrations this year. After business trips to Mexico, company executives say they're taking the restaurant back to its roots by recreating a Baja dining experience. The chain is remodeling remodeling /re·mod·el·ing/ (re-mod´el-ing) reorganization or renovation of an old structure. bone remodeling many of its 95 company-operated restaurants, spending as much as $300,000 per store to revitalize main dining areas and create a brighter cantina atmosphere. The company also has eight franchises: seven in Japan and one in Turkey. ``We've got a very strong brand, and we feel there's an opportunity to build up El Torito,'' said President Bill Burt. The money spent seems to be paying off. For 1998, sales for restaurants open at least one year increased almost 1 percent, reversing a negative trend that began in 1995. For the fourth quarter of 1998, same-store sales were up 2.6 percent. Total sales last year were relatively flat at $214.4 million. The number of El Toritos peaked in the 1980s at 225 nationwide, and then dipped, largely because of the chain's reliance on its cantinas. They benefited from a time when both people and drunken-driving laws were looser, Hiatt said. Growth was halted throughout the 1990s, but El Torito - now owned by Koo Koo Roo Enterprises Inc. - plans at least three new restaurants in Southern California this year. An El Torito Express is being built in Orange, and El Torito restaurants are being constructed in Long Beach and Palmdale. Company officials say ``a number'' of additional units will be built this year in California. El Torito also will launch a line of salsas Salsas is a Portuguese parish in the district of Bragança. The population in 2001 is 424, its density is 16.5/km² and the area is 25.76 km². , sauces and other products in grocery stores this year. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--Color) The original Mexican restaurant in the El Torito chain is located in Encino, at 16817 Ventura Blvd. Eric Grigorian/Special to the Daily News (2--Color) no caption (El Torito salsas, sauces) |
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