El Burrito, Jr, Torrance, CA

El Burrito, Jr
Full Service Locations:
21141 Hawthorne Blvd, Torrance, CA 90503 (at Torrance Blvd in the Albertsons strip mall), 310-944-9200
3830 Pacific Coast Highway, Torrance, CA 90505 (former Taco Bell, next to McDonald's), 310-373-5404
Walk-Up Locations (with limited covered outdoor seating):
919 S. Pacific Coast Highway, Redondo Beach, CA 90277, 310-316-5058
1865 Pacific Coast Highway, Lomita, CA 90717, 310-326-6513

Visited: Numerous times; Eat in and take out
Most recently: February 2010


We usually eat in at the West Torrance location (90503), however the food at all of the locations is consistent and equally tasty.

Table service starts with fried full-size corn tortilla chips (you need to break them up yourself) and the homemade fresh salsa which is not for the tame. The salsa is usually pretty zippy, and is so popular that people buy it by the quart.

Interestingly, nothing else is deep fried. The taquitos, tacos, and chimichangas are finished on the griddle, and this adds a different spin on those traditional items.

Particular favorites are Combos #1: Enchilada and a Taco with beans or #3: 2 Enchiladas and a Taco. We usually get cheese enchiladas and shredded beef tacos. Also Combo #27: the Chimichanga with rice and beans. The chimi usually comes with shredded beef, picadollo beef, ground beef or chicken, but you can also order it with carne asada for an extra buck or two, and it's worth it.

The Machaca and eggs plate is also very tasty, although sometimes the bell peppers and onions aren't quite as cooked as much as I like them.

The Carnitas are also good, and come as a plate or in burritos. The Super Deluxe Burritos (where the rice and beans are inside the burrito, and served wet) are also great.

EBJ has the yummiest beans around - so rich and creamy, they're like gravy! Most of the entrees come with beans, or you can get a Bean Burrito with cheese. Scrumptious! EBJ's beans are our gold standard, and we pretty much compare everyone else's beans to EBJ!

Lucio's Restaurant, Torrance, CA

Lucio's Restaurant
1605 Cabrillo Ave, Torrance, CA 90501
310-328-9810
Located on the oddly angled corner of Cabrillo and Gramercy in Old Torrance. There are entrances to the restaurant from both streets. Street parking.
Casual. Large dining room.

Visited: February 2009, Dinner, Dine-in


This is definitely a hole in the wall that's been here for decades, yet this is the first time we've been. It's a very casual restaurant, and you could tell that some of the diners had been coming here for ages.

We started off with the chips and salsa. The salsa was very mellow with a great roasted flavor. For entrees, we had:

Carne Asada Dinner ($9.50): comes with guacamole (warning if you don't like raw onions, cuz it was packed with them), rice, refritos and tortillas. This was a huge plate of meat. Everything was pretty mellow tasting, but very satisfying. Dinners come with soup or salad, and we had the albondigas.

Carnitas Dinner ($9.75): served with rice, refritos and tortillas. The meat was very tender and flavorful, and unlike many other restaurants, it wasn't greasy. A huge plus.

Chimichanga ($7.95): comes with shredded beef, rice, refritos, guac and sour cream. The chimi had a great crispy skin and the meat was very well seasoned.

I can see why it's been here for so long.
--T