In some ways, Mexican food has actually become as American as apple pie.
Mexican culture is widely established in America’s restaurants. Some 11% of restaurants in the United States serve Mexican food, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from SafeGraph, which curates information about millions of places of interest around the globe, and the user review site Yelp.
And, while Texas and California have the most Mexican restaurants, most of the United States has access to the cuisine.
“This analysis finds that 85% of U.S. counties have at least one Mexican restaurant. In turn, the counties that don’t have Mexican restaurants tend to have small populations. The 15% of counties without any Mexican restaurants have about 4 million people living in them. That is just 1% of the total U.S. population,” according to Pew Research.
The popularity of Mexican cuisine, however, has made the space incredibly competitive, which has led to many chains growing, then stumbling and closing restaurants. El Torito, for example, grew to nearly 200 locations in the late 80s, and after recent closures, it’s down to only 21, according to its website.
El Torito was once a major player
El Torito once operated 187 restaurants in 25 states. Today, it operates roughly two dozen locations in California.
In 1989, the chain was honored by the Choice of Chains survey, done by the trade magazine Restaurants & Institutions, wich asked 2,000 households which of 75 chains listed they visited within the past year and how well they liked them.
“El Torito, owned by Restaurant Enterprises Group in Irvine, earned the best ranking overall among Mexican restaurants,” according to the Los Angeles Times.
At the time, the chain’s biggest competitor was Taco Bell, which was ranked second on the survey. That chain’s incredible growth presented challenges for rivals, even higher-end, sit-down chains like 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 over 150 locations
Unlike many chains which face a bankruptcy, or another financial crisis which forces a closure, El Torito has slowly contracted.
After its peak in the late-80s, El Torito slowly shed restaurants. In 2005, however, according to an SEC filing, it still had 75 locations across California, Arizona, and Oregon.
Since then, the chain has slowly closed locations, leaving both Arizona, and Oregon. El Torito recently closed its Irvine, California location, which continues the trend.
“Over the past three years, the Mexi-Cali chain restaurant — now owned by Xperience Restaurant Group, also known as XRG — has closed longtime locations in Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Orange, Westminster and Tustin. Its Anaheim location has been temporarily closed since 2024 due to a fire,” according to the Orange County Register.
The chain, which was founded in 1954, “helped popularize Mexican American fare in the United States as well as Taco Tuesdays, the day of the week when tacos were discounted and drew crowds, added the paper.
Shutterstock
Mexican restaurants have struggled
Mexican restaurants, along with the broader restaurant industry, have struggled due to a convergence of negative headwinds.
In more than three decades covering restaurants, I’ve rarely seen operators face a combination of elevated costs, cautious consumers, and economic uncertainty at the same time.
“Survey data shows that three out of 10 Americans have reduced their spending at retail stores and are dining out at restaurants less frequently than a year ago,” according to an S&P Global Data report from March.
Prices have played a large role in keeping Americans away from restaurants.
“Consumer prices for food away from home increased 39.3% from January 2019 to January 2026. By comparison, the index increased 19.2% across the previous seven years, from January 2012 to January 2019,” according to another S&P Global Data report.
Almost half of U.S. restaurant operators, however, have seen their sales climb.
“Forty-six percent of restaurant operators reported lower traffic in March, compared to 30% in February.” according to the National Restaurant Association’s monthly tracking survey.
A number of Mexican chains have struggled
El Torito’s struggles are not unique among Mexican chains.
- On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2025 after years of declining sales. The chain had about 120 restaurants in 2023 but was down to roughly 80 units at the time of its filing, and had closed 40 underperforming locations, according to Nation’s Restaurant News.
- Tijuana Flats filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2024 and closed 11 restaurants as part of its restructuring before being sold to new ownership, TheStreet reported.
- Rubio’s Coastal Grill filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2024 and closed 48 locations before emerging under new ownership, according to TheStreet.
- Abuelo’s Mexican Restaurant filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2025. The chain operates 16 locations across seven states, down from a peak of about 40 restaurants, reported TheStreet.
Chipotle, the second-largest Mexican chain in the U.S. behind Taco Bell, shared some insight as to why its rival have struggled.
Even chains like Chipotle have been hit by rising costs. The chain reported that food, beverage, and packaging costs reached 30.6% of total revenue in the second quarter of 2024, up from 29.7% a year earlier.
“The increase was due to inflation across several ingredient costs, primarily avocados and dairy, higher usage of ingredients, as we focused on ensuring consistent and generous portions, and a protein mix shift from the success of our Smoked Brisket limited-time offer,” the company shared in its second-quarter 2024 press release.
Related: Casino operator closes two more locations in Chapter 11
