El Toro - Izamal

We went too late, but the staff was amazing and still get us. The Guacamole was amazing!!! And we order the stockplace, that was more than enough for me, my partner and my baby! The environment is beautiful, seems like you are in an old Spanish city, and the staff was the most friendly ever. Totally recommended!

The menu was still very vegetarian friendly, but if we explained our diet requirements to the waitress (by a pre-printed card, as their English was as bad as our Spanish) we can draw some good food together for us inuding a dish from the breakfast menu (at noon) and an adapted lunch dish.

Did not have too many options as many restaurants were closed. The steak that was the most expensive dish on the menu, and a chicken dish. The steak was totally overcooked, the chicken skirt hard. They said it would come with pages that were only tortillas, a few onions, a spoon of greens and sauces. Huge disappointment, I don't know it could end in 4th place.

Went today for lunch and everything was delicious. Truly handmade tortillas and the chaya chimichurri for the steak was creative. The place was spotless which we know is very important in these times. Our waitress, Ana, was lovely. We will go back next time we visit with friends.

A Watson and Grumpy reviewWatson rates places high and goes down. With Grumpy...you gotta work for it.The small city of Izamal is known for its local legends, including the one about a famous bull that loved his owner, the wife of a rich man, so much that when the rich man murdered her, the bull went berserk and eventually had to be killed. But during a wild and terrible storm, the ghost of the bull came back and frightened the rich man to death.In the shadow of this legend is one of Izamal's hidden gems, El Toro. It was a hot day, and while they don't have a/c, the ceiling fans and a couple of icy Indio beers cooled us right down while we perused the menu. Their selections are similar to bigger restaurants; however, El Toro has Yucatecan dishes the others don't. Grumpy ordered one of these, called 'dzotobichay', while I had the arrachera Yucatan style.(Grumpy: Watson asked if it was going to be enough food, as my order was about half the price of his. I just laughed)Grumpy's dish came first. Whoa. Dzotobichay is hard boiled egg and ground squash seed rolled up in masa, with cooked Chaya leaves wrapped around the three pieces they gave her, smothered in tomato sauce and extra ground squash seed. Think a tamale but without the banana leaves - and you eat the Chaya, which is much like spinach. It filled the plate. My arrachera arrived soon after, and if you like red meat, this is your dish. The beef was lean and thick, marinated in spices and achiote, flavorful but not picante. It also came with salad, pickled onions, and a chimchurri sauce that uses Chaya instead of parsley and or cilantro.The staff was extremely nice and helpful, explaining what the dishes were and making sure we were taken care of (when we asked for mineral water, they were out, so she ran next door and bought a couple bottles).All in all, a restaurant every bit as good as the better known establishments, with a better selection. (Grumpy gives El Toro a double thumbs up)