What: Pan Latin Steakhouse with two beautiful bars including a downstairs lounge that turns into an awesome dance party after hours!
Style: A beautifully designed space that makes you feel super posh but it also has a really warm Latin American vibe, especially as you look around and notice large groups of friends feasting on churrasco and delicious craft cocktails. Chef Richard Sandoval’s vision of merging “the warmth of Latin American dining with a trendy New York City-esque lounge environment” is clearly evident at Toro Toro.
What we loved: The ability to hang out in the dining room late into the evening without the feeling of being rushed. We both come from a Latin American background and this felt very authentic — very warm and welcoming. We also took full advantage of the Friday latin party downstairs and danced late into the night to some of our favorite beats.
Decor: Sexy and sophisticated. One of my favorite design elements is the animal fur covered bathroom stall doors. It’s unexpected and just too cool. We also loved the pops of metallics and warm accents like reds and oranges.
Meal: Toro Toro is well knowns for their churrasco grill but in order to have an opportunity to taste everything we wanted, we decided on the shared plates option. Everything was delicious but some of our favorites were the ahi tuna tacos and salmon tiradito from the crudos/raw bar, and the mouth watering spicy Korean spare ribs and empanadas the choclo from botanas and antojitos section. Also, don’t leave without trying the wagyu beef carpaccio and the chipotle miso chilean bass melts in your mouth. As far as cocktails, we were blown away by the passion fruit pisco sour (full disclosure, if there is passion fruit ‘anything’ on the menu we always order it but it doesn’t always turn out to be a good option). This cocktail was beyond good — we would come back just to sit at the bar and sip on this perfect creation. As far as dessert goes, see the pro tip section and thank me later.
Pro tip (or in this case, three): 1. Even if you’re already full from all the small plates and/or churrasco, you still HAVE to order La Bomba for dessert. We won’t reveal much more than it’s definitely a dessert you’ll want to share — oh and that it’s literally the bomb! 🙂 2. Bring your big crew and dine late into the evening. We had reservations for 9PM and noticed that there were a lot of other people who were also taking their time and really taking in the experience way past 11PM. 3. Stay for the party, the downstairs lounge/bar is sexy and so is the crowd. 
Toro Toro
1300 I (Eye) Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20005
Tel. 202.682.9500
Also check out their News & Events Page. There is everything from a Thursday all night happy hour & salsa classes to bottomless brunch with a bloody mary bar — sign us up for everything please and thank you!
