Aldo Espinosa, owner and founder of El Toro Loco Steakhouse brand at his restaurant on Calle Ocho in Little Havana. The brand, which started as a food truck, is expanding further.
PHOTO BY AL DIAZ
adiaz@miamiherald.com
El Toro Loco Steakhouse is probably not the place to go for a quiet dinner.
Oh, you can try, of course. You can show up with your date or your spouse with hopes of gazing into one another’s eyes. But you are likely to be foiled in the most upbeat way possible.
At any of the El Toro Loco locations around Miami, you’ll see tables for two, but the mood is more suited to boisterous celebration than quiet contemplation. Look around. You’ll see co-workers meeting up for lunch outside the office or grabbing an early dinner after a shift. Friends gathering for birthday celebrations, laden with gift bags and balloons. Several generations of a family together at a big table for a milestone, sure to return when another milestone arises.
The dining room of El Toro Loco Steakhouse restaurant on Calle Ocho in Little Havana. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Founded by Cuban-born chef and entrepreneur Aldo Espinosa, the Brazilian-style steakhouses have become unofficial gathering spots for Miami. The brand may have started as a single food truck, but it’s now a sprawling massive empire with five restaurants, five food trucks, a ranch in South Dade, a home-and-design branch that exclusively creates furniture for the restaurants and a Spanish-language lifestyle TV show on MegaTV.
And El Toro Loco is still growing, with a new Doral location and a butcher shop on Calle Ocho on the way. Those ventures will stick with the brand’s simple policy: Serve the best steak for the lowest prices and make sure the customers are pleased.
“I do everything humanly possible to give the best to the customer,” Espinosa says. “I don’t care what needs to happen — they need to leave happy.”
The price is right 
Ymandra Rodriguez serves dessert to diners Martha Duarte, Oliver Duarte and Michelle Duarte, at right, who is celebrating her 31st birthday at El Toro Loco Steakhouse restaurant in Little Havana. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Meat is at the heart of this empire, of course. Churrasco. Picanha. Wagyu. Porterhouse. T Bone. Tomahawk. Ribeye. There are other items on the menu — chicken, octopus, tuna, pork belly, as well as cheesy yuca bites that are a must — but the steak platters are the real draw, not only because of the quality of the meat but also the cost.
A USDA Prime one-pound ribeye with two sides is $32, while a 4-pound sampler for the table with lamb chops, churrasco, picanha, chicken with bacon, chorizo and pork belly is $79. The more expensive 3-pound platter with three types of wagyu is $178. Compare the prices to some of the more upscale steakhouses around town, and the savings stands out.
Espinosa says keeping the menu affordable is something he’s able to do through buying large quantities to keep his own costs lower. He has made good deals, he said. And although he added expensive wagyu to the menu, even offering an El Toro Loco exclusive “gold edition,” he was insistent about ensuring that “someone who works at CVS can eat at El Toro Loco.”
“If I’m paying $12 a pound for churrasco USDA prime and I’m selling it for $18, I’ll make money,” he said. “Another restaurant, it’s going to cost them the whole $18, so they have to double or triple the price. And that restaurant becomes a place you only go to for an occasion. You don’t go for a casual dinner. I knew that more affordable hole was available in Miami, and we filled it. That’s why Toro Loco has become so successful.”
A family business 
Grill Master Ramon Rodriguez cuts meat in the kitchen at El Toro Loco Steakhouse restaurant in Little Havana. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Espinosa, who emigrated from Havana to Miami with his family at the age of 11, came to love cooking in the most natural way possible: He has almost always done it.
“I have been cooking all my life,” he said. “The reason was necessity. When we came here from Cuba, my family didn’t have the money to go to restaurants. My parents worked and would get home at 8 or 9, so I would cook.”
He saved to open his first food truck in 2014 in front of the Florida International University campus in Sweetwater. The first brick-and-mortar restaurant opened on the Tamiami Trail in 2017.
There are currently four other restaurants — in Little Havana, Sweetwater, Kendall and the Hammocks — as well as El Toro Loco Ranch at 16901 SW 177th Ave., open Friday through Sunday, a family-friendly spot with Brazilian-style barbecue, live music and a petting zoo for kids. There’s also a koi pond and a playground. There are now food trucks at Bayside and on Bird Road, as well as in Doral, Pinecrest and West Kendall.
Gaby Quintero plays chess with owner Aldo Espinosa at El Toro Loco Steakhouse in Little Havana. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Family has always been part of El Toro Loco growth. Espinosa’s 83-year-old father still works at the design shop, making leather for the restaurant chair seats. His sister Mara helps run the Tamiami restaurant, while her husband manages the Little Havana restaurant. A nephew helps out, too.
It’s also helpful to the business that eating meat has come back into fashion, Espinosa says.
“I go to food shows and I used to see so much ‘I can’t believe it’s not meat,’ ” he says. “There used to be 300 spots for that. Now there are two or three. So many influencers and celebrities are promoting the idea that eating meat is healthy.”
‘Keep on building’ 
A serving of wagyu Tomahawk Gold Edition at El Toro Loco Steakhouse restaurant in Little Havana. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
And still, Espinosa isn’t ready to rest. He’s full of ideas on everything, from franchises in the works to El Toro Loco Express, a fast-food version of the brand. He wants to improve and make changes to the TV show, too.
The new Doral restaurant is slated to open in the next month or so, while the brand’s first butcher shop, next to the busy Little Havana restaurant, is scheduled to open sometime later this year. Espinosa would like to see a butcher shop next door or near every one of the El Toro Loco restaurants.
And despite the fact that he said he could slow down if he wanted to, Espinosa can’t stop coming up with ideas. He thinks about expanding in the future with ideas like El Toro Loco Seafood or El Toro Loco Italian.
Chef and owner Aldo Espinosa delivers menus at the Little Havana restaurant. The menus come with photos of the food, particularly the platters, so customers have a better idea of what they’re getting. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
“I know this is hard to believe right now, but I can stop and live happily ever after,” he said. “I live within my means. I don’t need to go buy a jet. But I feel motivation to keep on building, to do things that are not done here in Miami. It’s a little crazy, just like the name. Toro Loco is me!”
And no matter how much the brand grows and changes, customer satisfaction will be the goal, he said, adding that everyone is welcome at El Toro Loco.
“You can come in with a suit or come in shorts, and you’re welcomed exactly the same way,” he said. “Everybody’s a VIP.”
The exterior of El Toro Loco Steakhouse restaurant in Little Havana. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
Connie Ogle loves wine, books and the Miami Heat. Please don’t make her eat a mango.