Torta Boyz 60A Lebreton St.
The neon signage of Torta Boyz beckons guests from its perch amongst tightly packed houses on a residential stretch of Lebreton Street. It’s a casual dining destination that serves up great atmosphere and the vibrant flavours of Mexican street food in approachable formats. Hearty handhelds called “tortas” headline the menu and are complemented by a selection of sharing plates and smaller bites.
This unsuspecting industrial space at the south end of Chinatown is overflowing with good vibes. Interior red lights cast a warm glow on the sidewalk and catches the attention of curious passers-by. Once inside, an up-tempo playlist of Latin pop and rap will have you shoulder-dancing in your seat as you sip on a spicy margarita or tuck into a heaping basket of asada fries.
Initially launched as a food truck on Preston Street in 2021, owners Luis Guerra and Moudy Husseini quickly outgrew their setting, with hordes of hungry diners eager to sink their teeth into the toothsome Mexican sandwiches on offer.
Their bricks-and-mortar location serves the same staples that locals came to know and love, in addition to an expanded menu featuring tacos, churros, and agave-based cocktails.
On our last visit, my dining partner and I kicked things off with orders of pork and fish tacos. The former featured unctuous pork prepared al pastor style, topped with creamy avocado, pineapple, and a bright salsa verde. The fish dish with cabbage, avocado, and chipotle mayo smeared on beer-battered haddock tastes great, but may have spent just a little too long in the fryer, as the breading was more crunchy than crispy.
We paired the opening dishes with a spicy margarita and hibiscus mezcal margarita respectively. The spicy margarita was too mild to merit its moniker and slightly over-diluted. The latter was more successful, a well-balanced composition of smoke, floral notes, and acidity.
The asada fries are another transplant from the food truck days and involve a large basket of perfectly cooked fries topped with cilantro, onion, guacamole, pico de gallo, crema, cotija, and salsa. These hit every high note on the palate and are completely addictive — and they are generously portioned for shareability.
For the main course, we split a carne asada torta. The AAA top sirloin was cooked to perfection, served on savoury Mexican bread, slathered with queso, chimichurri, cabbage slaw, chipotle mayo, and avocado. Juices ran down our chins as we greedily devoured this dish.
We finished with an order of bite-sized churros which were cute but suffered a similar fate to the fish: too much time in the fryer.
Torta Boyz makes dining fun and unpretentious. The food and atmosphere are joyful, approachable, and best enjoyed in good company. You might get a little messy trying to nab that last fry or biting into a juicy sandwich, but that’s what napkins are for.