The joke at the 53-year-old El Torero has long been "see if you can find us."
It's squeezed into the alley-tight East 26th Street, set back from the road in the shadow of the Stardust Ballroom.
It's sandwiched between the bustle of South Fourth Avenue's restaurant alley and South Fifth, which splits its personality between a quiet neighborhood and the backside of City Hall.
"Finding us is half the fun," joked Brad Hultquist, who has run the restaurant since 1976.
The powder-pink building is so nondescript it's hard to imagine the buzz you encounter on the inside. During a lunch rush, regulars down longnecks in the bar — El Torero has only a wine and beer license, so there are no margaritas to be had.
In the dining room, with walls adorned with bullfighter paintings and a stuffed swordfish, generations of El Torero devotees, some who have been coming since founder Adelina Borgaro ran the kitchen in the 1960s, nibble from hot plates of the signature La Bandera ("The Flag") enchiladas — red, sour cream and green enchiladas that resemble a Mexican flag — expertly crafted shrimp Vera Cruz, a rich coctel de elote (cheese and corn soup) and towering topopos.
"The topopo salad — an amazing sight," gushed Roadfood.com author and critic Michael Stern, who included El Torero in one of his Roadfood dining guides as one of the nation's go-out-of-your-way-not-to-miss restaurants.
Stern's raves mirror what customers have long said about El Torero, that the food is worth the U-turns you'll take finding the place.
"We have regulars who will wait at the bar until 'their table' is open," said Hultquist, whose two young daughters sometimes help out after school. "I see fifth-generation families that have been here for years and years."
Hultquist grew up at El Torero and at Lerua's, his mother's restaurant on East Broadway at Campbell Avenue. He and his brother, Mike, started working in the family restaurants in high school and now they run them.
In 1976, his au nt turned El Torero over to Brad Hultquist but made him promise not to tell anyone. She didn't want her customers to be scared off by the thought that the restaurant would change hands.
Ten years later, Borgaro finally let the secret slip, introducing her nephew as the owner. One customer complained that things were going to change for the worse, and Borgaro shot him a grin. "Have you noticed any changes in the last 10 years?" she asked the man. No, he replied.
Not much has changed during Hultquist's watch. They still get their share of local sports celebrities, movie stars and political notables, although business has been off with the recession and nearby roadwork.
And although the pool tables and the bowling machines with the clay balls are long gone, "We still have the jukebox that plays the 45s," he quickly added. "It's still a quarter. You put a dollar in and you get 12 songs."
El Torero
231 E. 26th St., 622-9534
• Owners: Brad and Mike Hultquist, who also own Lerua's Fine Mexican Foods, 2005 E. Broadway.
• Year opened: 1956.
• Known for: La Bandera "The Flag" enchiladas and shrimp Vera Cruz.
• Most expensive menu item: The Vera Cruz shrimp ($10.25).
• Least expensive: Three tacos ($4.25).
• Cost of a margarita: Only beer and wine are served.
• Entertainment: None.
