El Torito is saying adios to Santa Monica.
The popular Mexican restaurant will close its doors permanently after business on Sunday, March 9, several employees tell me.
El Torito — located in the Santa Monica Business Park at 3360 Ocean Park Boulevard — has been serving up fajitas and margaritas to westsiders for nearly to decades. The restaurant was originally branded as Acapulco, another casual Mexican concept operated by the same company, XPerience Restaurant Group.
Employees learned of the closure on Tuesday. Several report that the company will not permit any human resource transfers to other nearby locations.
The closest El Torito Restaurant is now located at 13715 Fiji way in Marina del Rey.
Santa Monica mayor Phil Brock, commenting on a social media post about the closure, noted that the restaurant has been operating on a month-to-month lease for some time. He suggested that the property owners may already have a new tenant lined up.
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