REAL ESTATE : Former El Torito CEO Opens Salud! Mexican Cafe in Huntington Beach

Two former executives of El Torito Restaurants have opened Salud!, a Mexican restaurant in Huntington Beach that is their fifth eatery in Southern California.

Salud! is the latest concept of Larry J. Cano, El Torito’s founder and former chief executive, and Fred LeFranc, who was a vice president with the chain.

Cano stepped down in May, 1988, from his chief executive post with El Torito. The next month, he and LeFranc severed their ties with El Torito, according to Chuck Rink, general manager of Salud!

The pair teamed up and formed Vision Restaurants, a Newport Beach firm that owns and manages the five restaurants, Rink said.

So why does Orange County need yet another Mexican restaurant?

“We’re not just another Mexican restaurant,” Rink said. Menu items range from fresh sea bass with mango butter sauce and papaya relish to daily selections of empanada, a traditional Mexican pastry stuffed with seafood, chicken or steak.

The restaurant, designed with lots of open space offset by black, red and turquoise neons, is moderately priced. Lunch items range from $3.95 to $5.95, with dinners priced from $5.95 to $10.95.

In addition to Salud!, the four other restaurants under Vision are: Cano’s, a Mexican seafood restaurant in Newport Beach; Studio Cafe, a casual jazz club in Corona del Mar which Vision bought late last year; and Mananas, casual Mexican restaurants in Fountain Valley and Pasadena.

According to Rink, Vision’s growth probably won’t stop there. The company plans to open more Salud! restaurants, probably in Orange County with later expansions through the West Coast. The Mananas concept might be expanded as well, he said.