EL GRINGO MEXICAN RESTAURANT
EL GRINGO is the premier Mexican Restaurant in the South Bay.​ Serving the beach cities since 1986, El Gringo has become wildly popular with the local community and visitors alike, continuously winning the award for the Best Mexican Restaurant.
El Gringo currently has locations in ​​​
-Manhattan Beach
-Redondo Beach
-El Segundo​
SERVING THE SOUTH BAY SINCE 1986
OUR STORY
El Gringo was established in Hermosa Beach in 1986. Local restaurateur Bill Graw had a vision when he saw the Hermosa Beach landmark El Gringo for sale in 2001. After taking over the operation, El Gringo Mexican Restaurant has become wildly popular with locals and visitors alike. El Gringo has consistently been voted Best Mexican Restaurant by the locals. In 2004, El Gringo opened its second location in Manhattan Beach. In 2006, a location was opened in Redondo Beach based on the same model. The fourth El Gringo opened in El Segundo in 2017 serving full liquor. Through the years, as the beach communities have transformed, El Gringo has adapted to meet the changing lifestyles as a result of listening to the feedback of our loyal customers. We are proud to offer a variety of healthy items in addition to wines and craft beers. El Gringo has certainly come a long way in the past 30 years! We appreciate you choosing El Gringo as one of your dining choices.
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Our Mission
It is our belief that Americans are being deprived of authentic Mexican Food. El Gringo's mission is to prepare the most authentic and fresh Mexican food served in a clean, upbeat environment with quality service.​​
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Reviews
"BEST MEXICAN RESTAURANT"
-The Beach Reporter Newspaper-
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"BEST MEXICAN RESTAURANT"
-The Easy Reader Newspaper-
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"EL GRINGO IS JUST ABOUT PERFECT..."
-Alton Brown, Star Chef, Food Network
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The Surfing Monkey
Ceramic Surfing Monkey piggy banks have been for sale at the border just south of San Diego since the early 1970s. Today, many Southern Californians have these unique banks in their homes reminding them of the good times in Mexico. El Gringo's nostalgia for Mexico is represented in our logo. (FYI: It's not a monkey. Its a chimpanzee. Monkeys have tails!)
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"El Gringo"
The term EL GRINGO has many meanings. To most Latin citizens, "EL GRINGO" means North American or Non-Mexican. Many Americans believe this to be a derogatory term directed at white people, however "el gringo" is often used to refer to anyone from American regardless of their skin color.
Urban Myth Definition #1: Forklore suggests that it was generated when the United States army invaded Mexico, wearing green uniforms and the people shouted "Green Go Home" thus created Green-Go or Gringo.
Urban Myth Definition #2: Originating from the spanish 'griego' meaning greek. In Spanish, the phrase 'hablar con griego' or 'to speak in greek' translates roughly to the English saying 'it's all greek to me.' The word 'gringo' is an evolution of 'griego' which was used to describe any foreigner that had an accent that prevented them from speaking Spanish - particularly Irish.
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We appreciate the support of the community and look forward to seeing you again. Rant or Rave, we would love to hear from you
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Sincerely,
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Operator Since 2001​​
