Prompted by a reader query, dining critic Sue Kidd goes searching at seven South Sound Mexican restaurants for the perfect poblano rellenos.

For years, a sign just off Canyon Road in Puyallup advertised the future home of El Toro, a chain of Mexican restaurants operating in the South Sound since 1979. Years passed, there was no activity, no construction at the site. Just that weathered sign. Ruben Arias Jr. whose father Ruben Arias Sr. founded the chain, said he received so many emails and calls, he could not  respond to a fraction of them. The emailers and callers kept asking the same thing – are you ever going to open?

The answer is yes. El Toro is opening. The 160-seat restaurant should be fully running in the next few days. Read more »