Toro Latin Kitchen & Bar

Toro Latin Kitchen & Bar sits at kilometre 18.5 of the Transpeninsular highway in the Los Cabos Corridor, the resort strip between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo in Baja California Sur, in a large open building looking out toward the Sea of Cortez. The kitchen works a pan-Latin brief rather than a strictly Mexican one, pulling from Peruvian, Spanish and Argentine cooking as well as Baja, with a wood-fired grill and rotisserie at its centre. Wood-roasted chicken at roughly $26 comes off that rotisserie with aji sauces in the Peruvian manner; the ceviche near $22 follows the Peruvian leche de tigre formula rather than the Mexican lime-and-chile version, which makes ordering both a useful comparison; and the Iberico ham croquetas at about $16 sit on the Spanish side of the menu. Tableside guacamole, empanadas, grilled octopus and a substantial section of wood-fired meats fill out the carte. The dining room is large, high-ceilinged and open on the sea side, with an exposed kitchen along one wall, a long central bar, hanging lights and a soundtrack that keeps energy up through the evening. It is a lively room rather than an intimate one, and works better for groups and celebrations than for a quiet dinner. Dress is resort-casual. The bar is a genuine part of the offering, with a pisco and mezcal-forward cocktail list, South American wines alongside Valle de Guadalupe bottles, and a busy pre-dinner trade. Service runs 11AM to 11PM daily, so lunch is available and is noticeably cheaper than dinner for the same grill cooking. Reservations are advisable for evening tables in the December to April high season, two or three days out, and the sea-facing terrace seats are the ones worth requesting. The Corridor location means a taxi or car is necessary from either Cabo San Lucas or San Jose del Cabo, roughly 15 to 20 minutes from each.