photos by yuli scheidt
El Caballito located on King West is serving up more than just midnight tacos, it also is a lovely little tequila bar in the home of downtown Toronto. Opened since the beginning of February and located near Simcoe Street in a dimly lit basement, as you walk down the stairs you are met with feast for your eyes & ears.
With a live DJ (at least on the night I was in attendance) and lots of neon lights with Mexican style murals, the space feels like you’ve entered this authentic Mexican speakeasy of sorts. With plenty of banquettes and tables (the restaurant seats 120 comfortably), you have the ability to come with a large group or a couple pals. Whatever the choice may be, you will feel cozy and comfortable and still be able to have a conversation – even with the music playing. This I can absolutely attest to.
As mentioned, El Caballito has a private tequila tasting room which seats four people at a time. Bar Manager, Manny, will walk you through the ins and outs of all things tequila and keep you in good hands. El Caballito currently has an extensive tequila list containing of 64 blanco, resposado and anjeo tequilas and mezcals sold by the ounce.
But in order to keep all the down, how does the food size up? We were given a small tasting of the menu to discover including the Flank Steak Tacos to start loaded with bell peppers, roasted onions, salsa verde and cheese. The slices of steak were cooked to perfectly and thinly sliced making it juicy and tender. The salsa was heavenly, and the cheese cooked onto the tortilla. I could have eaten about 10 of those tacos in no time.
Photos by yuli scheidt
Next up was the Tamarind Ceviche (including tortilla shells made of jicima and mango) and holy flavour explosion. This was probably one of the best dishes of the evening. It was light and a quick bite. But it was the perfect sweet and spicy. Plus: jicima tortilla shells? Get out of here!
I was brought to cheese heaven via El Caballito empanada dish which had chicken, tomato sofrito, chipotle and arrived covered in cotija cheese. Delicious and packed a perfect 1-2 punch.
Just when I thought it couldn’t get better, we were delivered the Quesadilla de Quintero which was stacked with zucchini, bell pepper, cheese & salsa roja on a corn tortilla; Cheesy, light and so good.
Nothing finishes off a dinner like dessert, so we saddled ourselves up to face the finish; churros! El Caballito provided us with cinnamon doughnuts with vanilla custard, and while I may not be a sweets person, I was most into this. Another thing that I’ve noticed is that churros are something that are hard to do right, but El Caballito’s did them justice.
So while Toronto is filled with many Mexican restaurants, journey out for something a bit different and take on this tequila bar and midnight taco for size.
Fat Girl Food Squad 
