Tonight, Mal planned a surprise birthday dinner for me at Toro, a restaurant in the South End that serves authentic and innovative Spanish-style tapas. I’ve been wanting to go to Toro for months now, so Mal was “spot on” with his restaurant selection!
Toro offers all the best features of Spain’s own tapas bars, including a cozy, comfortable atmosphere, with long, wooden communal tables, an extensive menu of traditional pinchos and tapas, and an exclusively Spanish wine list.
What a cool place! Toro almost doesn’t feel like it should be located in Boston. The restaurant had more of a Greenwich Village-vibe to it.
By 6:30 pm, the place was packed!
Before our party arrived, Mal and I shared a round of cocktails. I ordered the most amazing drink ever! Holy yum!
My cocktail was called “Verdad y Amor,” which was Hibiscus-infused Milagro Silver tequila with ginger and lime. It was a sweet cocktail, but not too sweet. The ingredients were natural and fresh, and the tequila seemed to cut the unnecessary sweetness.
The drink was seriously amazing! I raved about it so much, all of my girlfriends ended up ordering one, too!
Our crew of 8 ended up having a wonderful time at dinner. We tried all sorts of interesting tapas, got a little tipsy, and acted silly, which seems to happen when we get together! 
I’d recap all of the tapas that we tried for dinner, but we ordered about 20 different dishes, so here’s just a sampling of what we tasted…
The ladies…
The guys (and some of the gals) were psyched that Toro served $1 Pabst Blue Ribbon 16-ounce cans. I lost track of how many our table ordered! You don’t come across deals like this in Boston often, especially not in the South End, so you need to take advantage of them when you can!
My second drink of the evening was a Patron margarita on the rocks. I’m not sure why I thought tequila would be a good choice for the evening, but I am chugging water now before bed!
The “highlight” of our dining experience was the Asado de Huesos, which was roasted bone marrow with radish citrus salad and oxtail marmalade. My friend, Andy, was feeling brave and ordered it for the table to try.
I think Andy liked it? However, I was very skeptical.
The idea of bone marrow totally grossed me out, but I thought I should at least give it a try before I made any decisions about it. One of my biggest pet peeves is people who say they don’t like a food, but have never even tried it! Boo!
Not too sure about it…
Eeeeek!
I was not a fan of the bone marrow! The taste was actually okay, but the texture was slimy and weird. 
Mal didn’t like it much either. 
Oh well. I always say that I will try anything once, so I’m glad that I tasted the bone marrow, but I will never eat it again! Ick.
However, Toro is one of the best restaurants I have ever visited! I loved the food and the chill, yet sophisticated vibe. Honestly, it was my ideal restaurant in almost every way possible! 
I will most definitely be visiting again VERY soon!
What a fantastic birthday celebration! I’m off to bed! Good night!!!
{ 42 comments… read them below or add one }
Haha..I’m loving the PBR
sounds like an awesome place to try! I don’t think I would like the bone marrow either. Just the idea/sound of it..makes me kinda ill thinking of eating it lol. The drink you started off with sounds beautiful! Glad you had fun
The hubby made a good choice!!
Sounds delicious! I’ll remember this one next time I go out to eat in Boston. Tapas is the best because you get to try so many things…and I’m with you on the bone marrow. I might have needed more than 2 cocktails in order to think trying that was a good idea!
Amazing tapas with a good group of friends sounds like a great way to celebrate your birthday
You are having a super long birthday celebration – I love it! Hope you are having an awesome time!
that restaurant looks delicious- so brave for trying the bone marrow!
I’m so glad you had a great birthday celebration. Everything but the marrow looks great
The tapas looks delicious. I was wondering if you knew what the proper etiquette is for paying for tapas when with a big group? Do you just split everything evenly?
What a fantastic surprise birthday dinner venue! I love reading your restaurant reviews – I’m glad I live in Boston as well so I can check out the places you rave about
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We missed you at Elina’s potluck dinner, but it looks like you guys had a blast in Canada. Let’s get together sometime soon!
Oh, I was lucky and got a ticket to the Summit, so I’ll definitely be seeing you there.
Wow those are big cans too! BONUS!
that looks like a great meal! i totally agree with your “try everything once” philosophy. life is so much more fun that way!
Ahh – that cocktail sounds lovely! Thanks for the review – I think we’ll try Toro on our next trip to the city! Tapas is the way to go…
Looks like such a fun time!!!
Hmmm I have never tried bone marrow but see the chefs on Food Network using it a lot! I agree, try everything once!
What a great birthday dinner! I’m moving back to the Boston area in a couple weeks. I’ll definitely have to check out Toro!
I’ve been wanting to go to Toro too! The food looks delicious! I’d totally try the bone marrow, but like you, not sure how I’d feel about it!
@Ali: We shared everything, so we just split the bill 8 ways.
Oh I love Toro! The pork belly is my favorite there. Did you guys try pouring wine into each others’ mouths? Too fun.
We love Toro. Over the past few weeks we have been going once a week lol. Brunch is great too. Did you try the corn on the cob? If you didn’t, definitely try it next time. It is to die for!
Looks like a great night!! I love the sounds of that first drink – yum! Great deal on the drinks!!
I’m such a huge fan of tapas! It’s hard to find restaurants here that are as good as what I had in Spain, but we’ve found a couple that are close. Glad you had a blast!
Bone marrow?! You’re one brave woman!!!
hi
i AM FROM SPAIN, SO I AM SO HAPPY THAT YOU LIKE OUR FOOD. THE NAME FOR THE RESTAURANT IS BULL, VERY TIPICAL, SPAIN AND BULLS.I I AM GLAD YOU HAD A BLAST!!!!!!!!
My boyfriend has been dying to get tapas with me but we have yet to do it.
I added you to my blogroll!
Looks like you had a fabulous night! I had tapas once in Mexico-definitely a great experience!
That’s awesome that you are adventurous enough to try bone marrow- I’ve never heard of eating that before.
Toro actually did a visiting chef event in the BU dining hall (crazy!) and it was some of the best food I’ve ever tasted, and that was created using crappy dining hall equipment. Now I MUST get to the real restaurant!
What a fantastic photo of you two! Great recap.
I can’t beliee they serve bone marrow! I don’t think I would have been as brave as you to try it. But it looks like you had a great night! Those mussels looked yummy.
haha the look on your face after the bone marrow is priceless! i went to this place a few weeks ago one afternoon the first day of the Pride parade. my first time having tapas. it was delish. great drinks too and i couldn’t complain about the prices either!
Toro sounds like an amazing restaurant! what a great night =)
I love the idea of tapas…sampling a lil’ bit of everything is so my style.
So glad you had a fun night out with good food and friends!
Toro is amazing! I hope you tried the corn on the cob with chipotle lime butter and cotija cheese. I absolutely fell in love with it and have been trying to recreate it at home.
Ooh I love tapas. Toro looks amazing! And good job on trying the bone marrow, I don’t know if I could’ve done it!
Wow, that’s a lot of beer’s. Glad you all enjoyed yourselves and you had a great birthday, Tina!
Pam
http://www.alovefornewrecipes.blogspot.com
Toro was one of my fave tapas restaurants when I lived in Boston a couple of years ago. The corn dish is the best tapas on the menu (and I don’t event like corn!!!) Glad you enjoyed!
LOVE toro!!! can’t wait to go back
i couldn’t pick a favorite dish from what we had 
brave for trying the bone marrow!
Happy belated B-day Tina! Toro looks great. I live in Boston and have heard great things about it but have not tried it out yet. Can’t wait to give it a shot now (no bone marrow for me! Let’s hope for some sunshine for the Holiday weekend here in Boston!
I was just reading about eating bone marrow! I didn’t even know this was an eating option before I was reading the book Sex and Bacon by Sarah Katherine Lewis where she tried bone marrow and had the exact same reaction you and Mal had. The slim would get to me, too!
I love Toro; Ken Oringer is a genius! Did you try the pimientos del padron or the grilled corn with queso cojita? The pimientos are roasted hot peppers, kind of like the spanish version of edamame. Sometimes you get a hot one, sometimes a mild one – it’s the russian roulette of hot peppers! And the grilled corn is their specialty. They also make a great tortilla espanola, so good, I need to go back soon!
This sounds like the Tasca’s of the South End, and I’ll definitely have to try it! Good for you trying the bone marrow – this reminds me of my experience trying chicken feet for the first time. Real foodies at least give it a try and THEN decide that they hate it!
@Leah: Agreed, sista!
That place sounds great! And I love the name Toro because I know it means bull and I’m a Taurus, hehe. Good for you for trying the bone marrow, I don’t know that I could’ve done it!
LOVE Toro!!! I don’t eat a ton of meat but their short ribs were absolutely outstanding! I think I had a variation of a Paloma when I went, their drink list is awesome and nothing is too sickly sweet. It was a big highlight of our mother’s day weekend in Boston.