El-Toro by Loretta Aulds

 If ever traveling on Decker Dr. where Garth Rd dead ends, you’ll come across El-Toro Mexican Restaurant.  Not the fanciest of places but an inviting site, with the Goose Creek running behind it, as well as a walking path.  The walking path and the two windows on the side of the restaurant are all that has changed since I was a little girl.  Never being a resident of Baytown,  I was born and raised in Channelview, Texas.  So for me, the face of Baytown is the El-Toro restaurant. Back then I had no idea of how it had started nor did I care at the age of 8.  All I knew was after sitting through a long boring hour of church; it would pay off in the end.  I would be on my way, to having me some cheese enchiladas from El-Toro.  My parents would make the normal trip to El Toro after church, every Sunday, like so many others. 

I believe El-Toro is a significant part of Baytown.  Not only have they been servicing out delicious Tex-Mex food since the sixties, they also have been employing Baytonians.  There are two other locations in Baytown, one off Bayway Dr. and the newest off Garth Rd.   Doyle Hingle which manages the El-Toro off Garth Rd. and helps part time at the Decker location said that El-Toro is a major contributor to the community.  For example every year they donate chips and salsa to the Regional Blood Center for the persons giving blood.  They also donate to Project Graduation for high schools in the community.  El-Toro is always giving back to the community and Mr. Eugene Ybarro the owner, wouldn’t have it any or way.  As told by Mr. Hingle, Mr. Ybarro would give the shirt off his back to a person in need.  

The History of El-Toro

            I used to think that the El-Toro restaurant that is located on Decker Drive was the original, but found out that, that location opened later in 1968.  It had taken the place of a fried chicken restaurant that had gone out of business.  After speaking with John Mays, El-Toro’s marketing director, I also found out the original El-Toro restaurant was opened in Clute, Texas in 1960.   It was a Mexican restaurant that went out of business and Eugene Ybarra had bought out.  There are a few stories of how they got the “El-Toro” name.  One is that, that was the original name of the Mexican restaurant Mr. Ybarra bought out in Clute, Texas.  The second story is that on a certain Looney Tunes cartoon there is a bull and above his pen was the name “El-Toro”.  The font on the bull’s pen and the restaurant’s are exactly the same.  I personally like the Looney Tunes story best. 

            Eugene Ybarra, started two of his sons, Roland and Moses at a young age in the restaurant business.  A small task of making tamales was their first experience in the business, while enjoying one of the perks of free sodas.  The sons also experienced the openings and closings of new El-Toro restaurants, while some were successful and others went belly up, there were the good times and the bad.  One of those times, was in the mid eighties, when the oil industry had started to decline and so did the business. The idea of putting out coupons and specials for customs, kept them afloat.  Through it all they stuck with it alongside their father, Mr. Ybarra.  Now older and joined by their other 5 brothers and one sister the El-Toro restaurants have thrived and expanded to 21 locations.  Mr. Eugene Ybarra still runs the business along with his wife, Alice.

 

My friend Georganne and I just finished at the Lifetime Fitness in Lake Houston.  Even though we are in the Atascocita area and its thirty-something miles away and 45 minutes to get there, we decide to go to El-Toro.  I told her about my assignment and she said “Let’s go!”  So, we are off!  Destination? Baytown.  The anticipation differs slightly from when I was a little girl, but feeding my hunger, was still the same.  After 32 miles and 37 minutes (due to my excellent driving skills) we arrive at our destination, El-Toro.  The parking lot has about seven vehicles, possibly due to it being 2:15 in the afternoon.  Georganne and I are having a late lunch.  As we got out of my car, I was hoping for the smell of sizzling fajitas, but nothing.   When we walk the front sidewalk, Georganne sees the old San Jacinto Hospital in the distance and says her husband Garry was born there.  I thought that was pretty neat.  Upon opening the door to the restaurant, “Bam!” the smell of shrimp and enchilada sauce hits us in our face.  We get seated in a booth and the waitress takes our drink order.   Here come the crispy corn chips and two kinds of salsa, one red, the other green.  We order off the lunch menu because it’s not over until 3pm.  Georganne orders the Cuatro which has beef fajita taco with rice and beans.  I order the Siete which has cheese enchilada, crispy taco, rice , beans and queso.    Eating the first bite, was so pleasing to my tastes buds as well as to my stomach. 

         After moving to Crosby in March of 2001 and the fast growth of Atascocita, I rarely visited Baytown, much less the south end of Garth Rd.  It wasn’t until I decided to go back to school, that I would revisit Baytown.  On my first trip to Lee College to register I passed up El-Toro.  I couldn’t help but think back when I was a child and not a worry in the world, just excited to be out eating with my family.  Never thinking I would ever get married, have children or lose a parent.   The times we shared at El-Toro were happy memories.  As I drive past El-Toro twice a week on my way to Lee College, I see the parking lot full.  This is a good sight for me; where the little girl once visited and where I can take my children where it can become part of their memories as well.