Kansas town loses a favorite restaurant after 60 years. Now, it’s for sale.
After more than 60 years, Newton has lost one of its favorite restaurants.
At the beginning of June, the longtime owner of El Toro — a mainstay Mexican restaurant at 121 W. Fifth St. in Newton — closed after more than six decades in business.
Now, the restaurant where Newton residents grew up eating fried tacos and ham flautas is up for sale. Joe L. Carbajal of Re/Max Associates has the listing on the two-story building and describes it as a “turnkey restaurant opportunity” that includes a fully operational Mexican restaurant on the main floor and “untapped potential” on the upper level. All the appliances and fixtures are included in the sale, and the asking price is $315,000.
When the restaurant’s owners shared the closing news on social media on June 1, its post was flooded with comments from longtime customers lamenting that they’d never again be able to enjoy the restaurant’s famous cheese dip or feast on the compuesto — a house specialty that featured a crispy flour tortilla topped with taco meat, lettuce, grated cheese and tender pork chili.
Many wrote on the post about their years of patronage, especially on the popular “Taco Tuesdays,” and said they’d miss the restaurant’s warm family atmosphere.
“We figured up that we had been coming regularly for 40 years with kids and then grandkids,” wrote one longtime fan of the restaurant on the Facebook post. “Thanks for all of the great food and your friendship.”
Marcella Larez and her mother, Barbara “Bobbie” Hernandez, first opened El Toro Cafe on Fourth Street in Newton in 1961. Bobbie was in the kitchen, and Marcella worked the front of the restaurant.
Then, Marcella’s husband Narisco Larez — a contractor and remodeler — bought two next-door buildings on Fifth Street, and in the early 1970s the restaurant moved to its most recent location.
Narisco designed El Toro, fitting it with over-sized booths big enough to seat six and decorating it with wrought-iron touches. He also added a rear dining room that could be reserved for private parties. In the early days, the restaurant featured an adjacent El Torito gift shop selling imported Mexican crafts.
The restaurant became known statewide and was a personal favorite of The Wichita Eagle’s then-restaurant writer Kathleen Kelly, who would frequently mention El Toro in the newspaper, urging Wichitans to try it. The late Kelly, who lived in Newton, even celebrated her 70th birthday in the restaurant in 2003.
But Narisco Larez, now 92, told Newton’s newspaper, The Newton Kansan, in June that he wanted to focus on his wife, who he said had suffered a heart attack and was struggling with dementia. His grown daughters, who were children when the restaurant opened, were still working for El Toro when it closed: Brenda did the books and Traci worked as a waitress.
They told the paper that their father was ready to slow down.
The restaurant’s farewell message on Facebook read,
“We want to express our gratitude to the community, as well as to our regular customers that we will miss dearly. Thank you all for supporting us, and filling our dining room with laughter, and smiling faces for 50+ years.”
This story was originally published June 27, 2025 at 5:02 AM.
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