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El Jacal
Category: Restaurants Mexican Mexican [Edit]
1056 Bloor St WToronto, ON M6H 1M3
Neighbourhood: Dovercourt
(416) 244-4447
- Hours:
Mon, Wed-Thu 5 pm - 9 pm
Fri 5 pm - 11 pm
Sat 12 pm - 11 pm
Sun 12 pm - 8 pm
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Loud
9 reviews for El Jacal
9 reviews in English
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Review from Edwin A.
4/18/2011
the pulled pork tacos were fantastic, quite exceptional so tender and flavourful.. the rest of the meat selections were so so
could use little more flavor in the guacamole dept . it was pretty very bland.. to kick it up we had added some salt and use the hot sauces.
we ordered some basic dishes on this visit:
an appetizer of guacamole and chips.
selected 6 different tacos to share (pulled pork was amazing)
custard flan for dessert
Friendly service. Looks better inside than outside. Food authentic. Will certainly be visiting here in the future. -
Review from Angela L.
1/22/2012
On an early weeknight, we entered a sparsely sat and moodily dim El Jacal for our first time to be welcomed by a lone female server. She was friendly and efficient, single-handedly juggling the many tasks of host and server as well as preparing fresh margaritas.
While we sipped our beers and got far too engaged in the telenovela playing overhead, our food arrived leisurely. My tacos (one each of chorizo, pork, and beef) and my dinner date's chicken burrito were all pretty good, but not amazing.
The execution of the birthday celebration at the next table really demonstrated the server's genuine enthusiasm for the guest experience. Her face lit up as she turned down the lights and cued the celebratory music. With such dedicated staff and an authentically decorated space, El Jacal could befit a much livelier atmosphere if their food was just a little bit better (or their prices just a little more family friendly?). -
Review from Mike G.
Toronto, ON
9/17/2011
At first it was okay - nothing spectacular. Nice enough, despite the terrible service.
Then we found the dead bee in the food.
They didn't even apologize, just "oh."
The bill was brought to the table soon afterward without comment.
$45 for two including bee. -
Review from A J.
4/24/2011
I feel terribly guilty writing this review but I have to be honest and hopefully the owner takes action. Although I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I am a Toronto native and my family is still living here so I visit a lot. My mother's side of the family is Mexican and I was born there so we try to support Mexican businesses in Toronto especially because when we got here in the 80s it felt like we were the only Mexican family in the entire GTA and that has since changed.
So anyway on this visit, the service was terrible, atrocious, careless. There were two girls working as waitresses and two guys waiting and busing tables. One of the girls claimed that the owner was working the back. By the way, we have used El Jacal for multiple catered events and loved the food.
My brother-in-law ordered Tacos Barbacoa and it took over one hour to bring them. My mother ordered a Tacos Mixtos and it took them over 1.5 hours to bring them to the table. If the place was a fancy gourmet restaurant and everyone was served at the same time I maybe would understand. Instead, they brought the appetizers out with the totopos and the entrees for most of our party came out just after the appetizers. I CAN'T STAND IT when I am eating my appetizers and they bring me my entree. So there was close to a one-hour gap between most of us getting our entrees and two of us getting our entrees. This is completely unacceptable. It got to the point where my sister and her family had to leave before my mother got her taco plate.
Once we asked about my mother's taco plate we discovered that they had clearly forgotten about it. We asked the girl at the front (one of the waitresses) and she passed the responsibility to one of the busboys. The busboy (in our presence) made it clear that he had no idea we had ordered the taco plate.
To make matters worse we were there with two children ages 2 years and 16 months.
Our main waitress, by the way, is the owner's daughter. She never once behaved like we mattered. She didn't give us a proper welcome, she never gave us totopos (tortilla chips) until the appetizers arrived, they never replenished our salsas.
My main point here is that we were treated like we didn't matter and it was reinforced by the fact that other guests came in and got their food before us.
A final point, especially as a person accustomed to Mexican food in California, is the prices. OH MY GOD!!! The prices rival the price of Sotto Sotto or Spuntini on Avenue Road. The Queso Fundido was over $11 and veggie enchiladas were $17??? This was armed robbery with bad service to boot.
The food is good by the way but not good enough to be treated like crap. -
Review from Laura M.
Toronto, ON
7/26/2010 1 photo
This is my little neighborhood secret. In fact I had to force myself to write this review. Because the truth is, I really dig walking into El Jacal and pretending I am still in Mexico. I like the fact that from the outside it looks like a hole-in-the-wall catering biz, which seems to keep the general populous out. I like that I can walk in without being greeted by shiny people and shiny macbooks. No wifi = low hipster action.
This place is the real deal. A wee bit expensive, but you're getting top quality, authentic Mexican fare. Their tortilla soup is delicious with globs of cheesy goodness, tender pieces of avocado, and crunchy tortillas. Their tacos (you can select 3 from a list for $10), are simple, hearty and well seasoned. They also have a nice selection of Mexican beer and a whole counter of kitschy Mexican candies and toys to peruse while waiting for your meal. They also do take-out!
If you're in the Bloorcourt hood and looking for a casual and authentic place to eat I highly recommend. -
Review from chris l.
Toronto, ON
7/24/2011
Being Mexican born and raised and living in Toronto since 99' the one thing is missing from Toronto is good Mexican food.
El Jacal (No longer jacalito) solves that and more. The restaurant is a hole in the wall place, and honestly aren't those places always better than most?
As close to Mexican food as you will get living in Toronto. I love the all their tacos, specially the chorizo tacos. However, the Pozole is more Mexican than my blood (not really but close). It was as delicious as I remember. You can tell it is home made Pozole and served straight from the heart. The sopa de tortilla follows close behind.
Great service, friendly Mexican atmosphere. More importantly when Mexico's Football Seleccion is playing this is the place to be to soak in the culture a few dozen tacos, and more than a few goles from EL TRI. Friendly owner and service.
Recommended for those Mexicans and adventorous eaters as well. You will not go wrong. Go here if you can't make it to Kensignton market where there is a very good Mexican place that my family raves about but have not had a chance to visit. Plus, there is a green p parking lot conviniently loacted behind this line of buildings and it is a short walk to good eats. -
Review from Allen H.
Toronto, ON
4/1/2011
El Jacalito is that kind of place you would walk by for several years and never even question what its interior or its business is all about. A small door and inconspicuous signage make it seem as though they really don't care if you notice or not. I lived right by it actually for 2 years. It was a 2 min walk up the street, and yet I walked by always unnoticed. It was not until a night out with friends, when i had by then moved out of that Dufferin and Bloor area that a friendly drunken me asked several friendly drunken Latinos where i could find good Mexican food in the city. As per usual, when always talking to newcomers or visitors the topic of food always seems to be first brought up. EL JACAL! was the unanimous shout by the entire group followed by nods of loud agreement (and even a high five!) I woke up the next morning, sufficiently defeated by the night be before and found a note shoved into my pocket with ELHAKAL (its how i wrote it) scribbled onto it.
It was one of those places stuck in your mind when you go down a list of places where you could take your stomach. I took me another year to finally visit it and it was to right a big wrong done to my mouth and hunger. I had been to other Mexican places before in the city and found them all whitewashed with their heaps of tasteless ground beef and sprinklings of cheddar mix cheese - It would be hard to find these things in a real taco down south. After a particular awful meal at Mexitaco (i protested but a friend insisted) I vowed to recoup an authentic Mexican restaurant experience somewhere, anywhere in the city. The following week I went to El Jacalito. I bee lined to it.
For some reason, with my memory of partying with Latinos, I had in mind a place that would be somewhat of a communal party scene. Tequila and tacos flying around and rowdy singsonging. But what i found was a small quiet restaurant, with random paraphernalia plastered all around. It was charming, but real quiet and the only customers its seemed were Latinos. We browsed the menu and I went for the flautas, wanting something crunchy. Its several rolled up flute shaped tacos, filled with chicken and lamb and deep fried. All topped with shattering mound of lettuce, crema and queso. Plantains (they ran out of rice) and bean on the side. This was good. Actually it was amazing. It was better even than the ones I used to painfully and methodically make at an Mexican restaurant I used to work at. It's innards were still juicy and meaty, especially the lamb, but first there was that intense crunch with it golden outer shell that was anticipating. Screw the rice! The plantains are oh so fried sweet and soft and beans that were for once not bland. My partner got the enchiladas, with a deep black mole. It was a little too sweet. However it still had an intense rich and complex savory flavor that I was missing for a very long time. It was the first time my partner has ever experience mole, and he could not believe he had never encountered and licked such a smooth, luscious and savory sauce before. It lingered in conversation all the way back home.
We also ordered the barbacoa tacos to finish as dessert. It was roasted lamb pulled off the bone and shoved into maize tortillas. Completely blindingly delicious. Juicy and meaty and lamb-y. They also served it by the KILO for $50.85 or 1/2 KILO $28.25 with salad and tortillas. I highly suggest grabbing some friends and mowing the whole lamb down. Really this is what is worth just coming back for.
The place is owned by a large friendly man who shuffled around the restaurant. He eyed us suspiciously when we came up pay at the counter. "Did you live in Mexico?" No we said "Why did you order the mole?" As if we shouldn't have. I told him my past restaurant work experience and that i simply used to live near the border in California and adore mole. He nodded and then shook his "Oh good, but you know, it is a hard dish for people around here." he said this with a twinge of sad. And it is, probably because one of its main ingredients is chocolate, but not knowing that when you first take a bite you would never know. Its that unctuous flavor and texture that the chocolate that lends that really lifts up the encyclopedia of spices in it, and the more exposure people get to it the better I say, because its truly an amazing sauce.
This place is on the top pile of restaurants in my books. Even though I've only had one visit. This place is no pretend, not trying to pass off food that only alludes to a place. This is real. "I only want to eat what I used to eat on the street in my country" The owner said, as if a half-complaint, talking to himself and us as we parted ways. -
Review from Ren B.
Toronto, ON
5/7/2009
After moving from San Francisco, I was astounded by how much good food Toronto has to offer. The one sore spot was Mexican, which didn't seem to have much flavour. Tacos el Asador is fine, but the meat is dry. MexiTaco tries, but it's flat. El Jacalito is the real deal. I'm especially fond of Mexican soups, and their pozole (pork skin! giant hominy grains! lime!) is fantastic. And the owners are super-friendly.
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Review from Ceecee P.
Toronto, ON
9/27/2010
They have an amazing breakfast special. $8 gets you a full plate of huevos rancheros and a side of what I can only term "breakfast nachos" tortilla strips cooked in spicy sauce and covered in queso fresco. I have never eaten dinner here, because there isn't much on the menu for a vegetarian, but if it's anything like the breakfasts it would be great.
