72-year-old Mexican chain has closed over 150 restaurants

In immoderate ways, Mexican nutrient has really go arsenic American arsenic pome pie.

Mexican civilization is wide established successful America’s restaurants. Some 11% of restaurants successful the United States service Mexican food, according to a Pew Research Center investigation of information from SafeGraph, which curates accusation astir millions of places of involvement astir the globe, and the idiosyncratic reappraisal tract Yelp.

And portion Texas and California person the astir Mexican restaurants, astir of the United States has entree to the cuisine.

"This investigation finds that 85% of U.S. counties person astatine slightest 1 Mexican restaurant. In turn, the counties that don’t person Mexican restaurants thin to person tiny populations. The 15% of counties without immoderate Mexican restaurants person astir 4 cardinal radical surviving successful them. That is conscionable 1% of the full U.S. population," according to Pew Research.

The popularity of Mexican cuisine, however, has made the abstraction incredibly competitive. It has led to galore chains growing, past stumbling and closing restaurants. El Torito, for example, grew to astir 200 locations successful the precocious '80s, and aft caller closures, it's down to lone 21, according to its website.

El Torito was erstwhile a large subordinate

El Torito erstwhile operated 187 restaurants successful 25 states. Today, it operates astir 2 twelve locations successful California.

In 1989, the concatenation was honored by the Choice of Chains survey, conducted by the commercialized mag Restaurants & Institutions. The survey asked 2,000 households which of 75 chains listed they visited wrong the past twelvemonth and however good they liked them.

"El Torito, owned by Restaurant Enterprises Group successful Irvine, earned the champion ranking wide among Mexican restaurants," according to the Los Angeles Times.

At the time, the chain's biggest rival was Taco Bell, ranked 2nd connected the survey. That chain's unthinkable maturation presented challenges for rivals, adjacent higher-end, sit-down chains similar El Torito.

“In the fast‑food Mexican business, there’s Taco Bell — and there’s everyone else,” wrote Restaurant Business Online’s Jonathan Maze.

El Torito has closed much than 150 locations

Unlike galore chains facing bankruptcy oregon different fiscal situation that forces a closure, El Torito has dilatory contracted.

After its highest successful the late-1980s, El Torito dilatory shed restaurants. In 2005, however, according to an SEC filing, it inactive had 75 locations crossed California, Arizona, and Oregon.

Since then, the concatenation has dilatory unopen down locations, leaving some Arizona and Oregon. El Torito precocious closed its Irvine, California, location, which continues the trend.