Matador

Doesn't Recommend

JENNERATOR

Joined 5 years ago

Terrible Service. So I had heard all these wonderful things about the food at The Matador and decided to go there for dinner last week. All the things I heard about the food were right, one word...YUM. I have to say though THE SERVICE COMPLETELY STINKS!!! It took 20 min for chips and water to show up. If the waitress cracked a smile it may have hurt her. My water was never refilled. The kicker was that my partner had to approach a group of employees gossiping in the corner for us to get the check so we could leave. The ONLY reason I went out of my way to give this place 2 stars is because the food is awesome. Unless some major staff overhaul happened I will never eat there again.

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getfuzzygurl

Joined 7 years ago

Go for the atmosphere and the happy hour!. I took my friend here for a belated birthday celebration. We arrived slightly before 6 pm (Happy Hour is from 3-6) and sat at the bar. The bartender was prompt to serve us and make some recommendations on both drinks and appetizers. We both got margaritas, which were superb, and split plates of calamari and quesadillas. The food was great without too much spice and both bartenders were good about being attentive to us and friendly. Atmosphere was nice and small enough to feel cozy. We managed to get there before the crowd, so if you don't want to wait for a seat you would be wise to arrive before 7 pm, even on a weeknight.

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desireedralle

Joined 6 years ago

Good food, good drinks. My boyfriend and I went here last night for dinner. There were no tables available, so they let us sit at the bar till we got seated. The bartender was very nice and gave us water and chips and salsa without even having to ask. I got a cosmo and it was nice and stiff. When we were seated, I ordered steak/shrimp fajitas and my boyfriend got steak medallions. If I went again I would get the shrimp fajitas as the steak kind of tasted like it had a teryaki sauce on it. Our dinner was good and I would probably go back for the happy hour, probably not for dinner.

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dinner_and_drinks

Joined 6 years ago

tequila heaven, waistline hell. sometimes a place just goes too far making people happy, and they get fat.

ok, seriously. like it's sister "matador west" in west seattle, this restaurant has something beautiful for everyone. i think the happy hour menu is genius, a huge selection of incredible little meals for just a few bucks a piece, and if you're going to judge a bar on it's tequila choices, you're going to fall madly in love with the matador.

this is one of those "mexican" food restaurants that specializes in american comfort food style mexican. authenticity is not the point here, pure food bliss is.

unfortunately this is the destination for loud stupid kids on weekend nights, so if you have the choice head to matador west on weekends to get away from the amateurs.

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smack28

Joined 6 years ago

Jalapenos, goatcheese & bacon... need I say more??. Besides the best jalapenos ever, the Matador is the first place I think of when I want to be by a fire OR sit outside. Plus, who knew? the tastiest steak around!

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mc17

Joined 6 years ago

Great Restaurant. I have been to The Matador a few times now and have always enjoyed it. I love the shrimp quesadilla's, and the nacho's. Happy hour is excellent. Great prices. Good service.

Doesn't Recommend

sitastafie

Joined 6 years ago

Worst paella ever (and shoddy customer service). Two of us ordered the paella for dinner. It was the worst paella that both of us had eaten in our lives. It was burnt so that there was a thick crust of hard rice, stuck to the bottom. The rice on top was extremely dry and hard, to the point where it was actually unchewable. Between the rice stuck to the bottom and inedible rice on top, there wasn't much left to eat. It was served in a heavy skillet, presumably what they cooked it in.

It seems to me that they stuck it in the oven, forgot all about it and were shameless enough to serve it.

I would have still gone back for the ambience (and just avoided the paella), if the waitress had at least acknowledged the problem. However, when I complained to her about it, she pretended that that was normal and said that the rice was 'carmalized'. It didn't even seem to register on her that the dish was inedible. I know that the place gets busy, but that's no excuse for downright bad service. I certainly won't be going back there.

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sutu

Joined 6 years ago

Great Food!. I came here with a group of friends and we loved it. The food was excellent, the service was great and the ambiance was pleasant.

Doesn't Recommend

seaguy8

Joined 8 years ago

Can I give less than 1 star?. I'd walk a mile to avoid this place. I went there with 5 friends after seeing a movie on Sunday afternoon at the Majestic Bay. We ended up at the Matador because it was within walking distance, in the future I'd keep walking. The service was slow and inconsistent, the waitress couldn't manage to keep the ice teas full and pretty much just ignored our table for large amounts of time. The food is mundane and sub-par. The salsa was so spicy that most of us were unable to eat it. I ordered the Carnitas and they were terrible. The pork itself was completely underdone and had a sweet aftertaste which is not what carnitas should taste like. The tomatillo salsa also had a sweet aftertaste to it as well, again not what it should taste like. All in all it was a waste of time and food as I left 75% of my order on my plate. While authentic mexican food may not be easy to find in Seattle I know that I've had decent mexican food in the past and the Matador certainly does not qualify. Avoid Avoid Avoid!

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ballarddining

Joined 6 years ago

Good Happy Hour. Matador is the neighborhood singles spot. For dining, i would go other places but for a margarita and happy hour spot it's a good place for bar food. The spring rolls and nachos are pretty tasty and the prices are very reasonable. The bartenders are friendly too and the patio is fairly large.