El Torero Mexican Restaurant

El Torero Mexican Restaurant has been an Amador County institution since 1994, when Adolfo Gomez — who immigrated from Jalisco, Mexico in 1962 at age eighteen — opened the doors with his family at the Amador Shopping Plaza on Highway 88 in Jackson. For over thirty years the Gomez family has served regional Jalisco-style cooking made entirely from scratch, including handmade tamales, enchiladas, carnitas, and flan that have earned the restaurant a devoted following across Amador and Calaveras counties. The full cantina bar rounds out the experience with margaritas and Mexican beers.

The restaurant celebrated its 30th anniversary on Cinco de Mayo 2024, a milestone that longtime patrons marked by sharing stories of growing up on El Torero’s food and now bringing their own children. Rosie Gomez has noted that watching multiple generations of families come through the door is one of the most rewarding parts of the business. In a county where Gold Rush history dominates, El Torero represents a different thread of the Mother Lode story — the Mexican and Latin American families who have shaped the culture and cuisine of the Sierra foothills for generations.