Mateo

Oh, Mateo. I felt awkward, like I was intruding on a ritual for regulars, and we left feeling uncomfortable.
Basically, my boyfriend and I walk in to a half empty restaurant, over an hour before close on a week night, and I have never been greeted so rudely. The hostess looked up, stated, «we ask that parties of two with no reservations sit at the bar if they wish to dine.» After, she immediately looked down and didnt acknowledge us again. No joke. I work in customer service. I have patience for those in customer service, like myself, and know that after a long day, a customer can slip through the cracks; however, after seeing that there were clearly at least five two top tables, and a bar tender who was not interested in taking our order or pleasantries, I quickly characterized this «fine dining» experience. That seems like a bad approach to a service based establishment, but who am I? Overall, we spent an hour and 10 minutes there. A solid 30 minutes was waiting for service.
Conclusion:
The food was ok, the meatballs I thought were exceptional, and my boyfriend loved the duck and rice. Like others have mentioned, though, overall underwhelming
Service-​inexcusable

Food was interesting. I’m not the kind of person who has to have something weird in every dish, and this place put something weird in every dish. You pay 10 bucks and get like 4 tiny meatballs. It’s way overpriced for the amount of food on the small plates. I get it’s «small plates’ but those were more side dish mini bowls sizes. The deviled eggs were probably my favorite, that and the fried rice with egg. Banana pudding was also a hit at the table and delicious. Everything else was good but again, for the $ 230 spent for our table to eat, I was hungry again in 2 hours.
Ambience wise — It felt like every other new trendy restaurant in the area. Uncomfortable metal chairs to sit on, horrible lighting, chalkboard with specials, industrial lighting. Really warm in there too, to where we all had to take off our cardigans because we were sweating from poor air circulation. Our server was SO good though and super nice and made great recommendations. Food also came out quick though they said it would be an hour wait for the steak which who has time for that?
Overall it’s aunique place food wise and if you’re into that kind of thing, you’ll enjoy it.

Tapas places are fun to try many different dishes and the food here is fun and different. My family and I enjoyed the different plates here overall. The food was good but the portions are really small for how pricey it is.
The place was very packed and difficult to move through. The tables were packed tightly together and the tables are really small. It is definitely a place that you go to with only one other person rather than a group.
No parking, so you have to find parking somewhere on the street, which can be difficult downtown during a meal time.

It was interesting food. It was very crowded. The hostess said something rude (and underserved) under her breath which I’m sure she thought no-​one could hear. I ordered the bone marrow (and a bunch of other stuff) but was unsure how to eat it when it was presented. The person that dropped it off didn’t know either. I would think that is something they should be able to answer without having to get someone else to answer that question. I was glad to check this place off the list but we probably won’t be back.

4.5 stars given it’s a gem in it’s area. Solid Spanish tapas, with a good mix of local ingredients and novel additions.
The bar extends the full length of the restaurant. In addition to bar seating, there’s a row of high four tops with stools, and a bench row of two top tables with chairs. The overall décor has an accessible and rustic farmhouse feel.
Service was great, with the entire front of house feeling like a team in their approach. Staff was knowledgeable about the food and helpful with ordering a tasty lineup. Water glasses were kept full, rarely reaching half full.
We tried the tortilla Espanola, a large board of mixed jamon, gambas garlic shrimp, fried potato bravas, fried chicken skins with green tomato relish, grilled large oyster mushrooms, mollejas sweetbreads, pato y arroz duck rice, and churros with chocolate.
Stand out dishes were the chicken skins (fried like chicharones), duck rice (rich savory flavor), and mushrooms. The mushrooms were better looking than tasting (maybe needed more and longer seasoning?), but both very good taste and presentation. The tortilla had too little olive oil flavor. The jamon plate didn’t include Iberico Belota, which is offered on the menu (we should have asked for it to be included). An example of how some of the tapas are taken above pure traditional is the microplaned saffron cured egg yolk shaved over the tortilla Espanola. Similar minor flavor and presentation touches were present throughout.
Price was high for tapas, but their novel approach deserves some premium.

I’ve been here a handful of times, at this point. What I have noticed over the years is that the portion sizes get smaller and the prices get higher. Last time I went there, my husband and I had to order 7 small plates to fill up, and we still walked over to Parlour for ice cream afterwards! I ordered the beef brisket for $ 15, expecting a nice-​sized portion– it was 2 bites, I kid you not. They were heavenly-​tasting, but I would have expected 4 times the amount for the price.
I think I’m just over the small-​plate trend. At Mateo you never know if you’re getting an appetizer that’s big enough to share, or something small enough for a child. Especially with the specials, it’s so hit or miss.
The food is good, but lacking in vegetables (unless I’m missing something). During that last meal with the $ 15 brisket my husband and I were craving something green and fresh to start the meal so we each got the grilled romaine salad. The thing was huge, soggy, and just not good.
Another thing that really gets on my nerves is their reservation system. I don’t know why but a whole wall full of tables was empty during our last visit, and we were seated at the bar. I wouldn’t have minded except we were crammed in with enthusiastic hand-​talkers on both sides of us, and the bartenders were definitely being more attentive to the folks ordering the most drinks. We had to flag them down every time we wanted to order another plate. And the food-​runner guy who brought us our food didn’t take away the empty dishes, so our area was just a mess of plates after a while.
Just a frustrating experience, even though I have had a lot of great food there. Won’t be back unless I have heard things have changed– I’m not interested on having that kind of experience for two with a $ 97 bill attached to it.

Fantastic. If you are looking for a Tapas Bar in the Triangle area this is a great place to start. This particular part of downtown Durham has become the go to place for the best food in the area. Dame’s, Taberna and Mateo are all on the same street corner. You even have Toast for a lighter meal during lunch.
Mateo has a number of amazing dishes that include everything from caviar to ham wrapped dates. Every time I go to this location I try something different and I have never gone wrong. If you like adult beverages, the beer and wine list is quite extensive.

Finally had the chance to check eating at Mateo’s off my bucket list last Wednesday night at 10 PM.
Walking into the restaurant, I was impressed by the interior space characterized by wood, brick, and large hanging lights, though the latter (and the candles on the tables) didn’t end up providing much illumination.
I briefly glimpsed the specials menu is to the right of the entrance before being escorted to a table of which there is a wide variety, from ones with benches and cushions to high circular ones. Given the late timing of our meal, I was surprised that a decent majority of all the tables were full.
Reading the menu is expedited if you know Spanish. But our waiter was friendly and answered any questions we had about the menu.
My favorite dish of the night was the beet salad. It was amazing; such wonderful presentation. The beets were shaved into curls, and the radishes, yogurt, and peas contributed to a wonderful medley of fresh flavors. The calamari was decent and I liked the dipping sauce. But I wasn’t a big fan of the other dishes (patatas bravas, costillas de puerco) because they were somewhat heavy and had a bit too much grease. Overall, I would be very interested in exploring the menu further in a future visit.

Enjoyed dinner before seeing a Broadway show at the DPAC. I found this restaurant on a NC restaurants you must try list. So being a Spanish tapas lover, my husband and I had to go. Make reservations. They were turning people away at the door. We made ours for 6:00pm. Which was plenty of time to enjoy and talk comfortably before our show. And, gave us enough time to walk to the DPAC.
We sat at a tall, two top table. The chairs have backs. However, you lean back a little. And, if you’re not that tall, like me, your feet barely touch the metal footing to rest your feet. It wasn’t comfortable. These same chairs are at the bar. They look more enjoyable there because there is a metal footing about 6 inches higher to rest your feet.
Our server was named Gavin. He was helpful and our food came out quick. We ordered the croquettes, on the special board, meatballs, sweet bread and shrimp. I enjoyed this with a glass of their red sangria. It’s topped with cheerwine. It made it sweeter than normal and gave it a unique taste. My husband ordered a Spanish beer.
For dessert, we enjoyed the banana pudding that was served in a kind of small jelly jar. The many cream tops were presented with a beautiful char. This was accompanied with a café con leche and espresso.

This is a little piece of Spain in Durham, and I love it! Sit at the bar for great service, drinks, and a bit of entertainment. The tapas are well done. We had the huevo Diablo (think food child of a scotch egg and deviled egg), stuffed dates, ham plate (subbed for the iberico, but the local Johnson ham was my favorite), octopus, and the potatoes. The marinated olives are excellent, but I recommend getting a dirty martini, as the olives are used as garnish. The food is very well done and is quickly served. The drinks are carefully crafted and promptly delivered. The ambience makes you feel like maybe you did get transported to Spain for a minute– the décor resonates a Euro vibe and the flavors channel authentic tapas, with a slight southern twist. And if you order the trabanco at the bar, you’ll be surprised at the preparation of the drink. Over all, the food was excellent and the service and ambience matched.

Good, but not quite great.
I like this place, and having been there multiple times now, I can give an objective review. The cocktails are overpriced and a bit overrated. The décor is great. There’s a solid selection of tapas, most of which are pretty good and reasonably priced. The deserts leave a lot to be desired. The banana pudding was crammed full of marshmallows and crème with very few bananas.
The bartenders were a little cold and impersonal. But the food is good and we had fun.

Second visit to Mateo. Loveeeee this place! Nice ambiance, delicious food, great service — couldn’t ask for more.
These were my favorites:
— The bone marrow. Definitely get this. It takes about 25 minutes to cook but it was worth the wait. We had this as our last dish and it was the perfect end to the meal. The presentation was stellar. We scraped every bits and pieces of it. It was that good!
— Pulpo a la plancha: the octopus had the right tenderness to it.
— The croquettes: delicious. Could eat this all day long.
This is a tapas restaurant so definitely take that in mind when you order your food. My husband and I ordered 5 different dishes. We were full by the end of our meal but weren’t uncomfortably stuffed.
The restaurant is right in downtown Durham. Very close to DPAC, only 8 minutes walk. We had dinner here before our show. Perfect place to get your meal if you’re looking for something delicious before catching a show.

Two stars for this one… One star based on rude service and three for mediocre food. Please note that I may have enjoyed the food more if the service would have been better. Mateo is seemingly trendy and special but not really.
Mateo is a tapas restaurant with menu items listed in Spanish with English food descriptions. We ordered a lot of tapas, I would say at least 10 menu items. Not one time did our server do anything but drop off the food. He did not provide a name for the menu item or description of the food. They have a huge selection of Spanish wine but he offered little assistance with helping us select as we were not familiar with any Spanish of the wine.
In short, our server was a huge snob and made for a very unpleasant experience.

If you are feeling adventurous and want to try a bunch of different things, tapas is the way to go! With the smaller portions, you can order more dishes to try. And luckily, our fellow Unilocalers already sniffed out the best dishes at Mateo, leaving us stuffed and satisfied after our meal.
After some heavy researching on Unilocal,we ordered the following dishes:
Mata y Pimienta gelatin: My favorite dish of the night. The slightly salty and almost butter like consistency of the cheese combined with the sweet (with a little bit of spice) pepper jelly on their sturdy bread made for an excellent start. They give a huge portion of cheese and if you run out of bread, they’ll bring you more.
Huevos diablos: YUM. The texture and flavor of this deviled egg is not like any deviled egg I’ve had before! A must order!
Patatas bravas: Don’t let this dish sit on your table too long! It tastes significantly better when it is hot right out of the kitchen. It is probably one of the «safer» menu options for someone who is picky, but still really good.
Braised pork cheek: This dish was on their specials board for the night. I wasn’t sure what flavor I was expecting when I initially bit into it, so it took a few bites for me to accustom to it. But it grew on me.
Pato y arroz: RICH AND CREAMY. SOOO good! Another one that seemed very popular!
Pulpo a la plancha: While Vu N. loved this dish, it was not one of my favorites. But I think that may have been because this was the last dish that came out and I was already too full to really enjoy it. (We’ll probably order one less dish next time we go).
We made reservations for 6PM, since we had tickets for the 8PM show at DPAC. It was great timing, as we were able to walk and make it to the theater by 7:30. I definitely wouldn’t recommend making a reservation any later than 6, as it got VERY busy around 6:30 and you could tell that the service slowed up as well. We finished eating around 7, but it took about 15 – 20 minutes for us to get the check.

Mateo was really hyped up with all of its rave reviews, and after dining here on a Friday evening, I’d have to say the food was very unique and tremendously flavorful. We made a reservation at 6 pm and were sat promptly. The restaurant wasn’t too crowded, but most of the tables were probably reserved. The restaurant is tapas style, so the theme is to order a bunch of small plates to share. For the two of us, we ordered six total plates, which was a lot of food, and we probably should’ve ordered five. Two of the plates we ordered I would consider «sides» and not as big as the other four plates. I would recommend two plates a person and maybe a smaller one to share between two, and you should leave very full.
I really enjoyed everything we ordered, and there really wasn’t anything that we tried that I did not enjoy. Here is the breakdown:
1. Mata y Pimienta Gelatin — farmers cheese with pepper jelly and baguette. The cheese was soft, light, fluffy, and a little salty, but combined with the amazing pepper jelly (sweet and spicy), it was absolutely delicious! They bring you extra bread when you run out as well.
2. Huevo diablo — deviled egg inside of a chorizo shell. Chorizo was slightly salty and warm, not too spicy. The topping was so delicately light, and the mustard was not over powering. The topping was warm and melty as well, delicious to eat.
3. Patatas bravas — basically home fries covered in sauce. Surprisingly simple, yet very good and satisfying. The potatoes are super crispy, yet soft and lemony on the inside. The aoili and tomato sauces are wonderful to cool your mouth down. I would recommend eating this immediately when served otherwise the potatoes lose there crispiness, and they get too soggy.
4. Pato y arroz — Savory, creamy, delicious. Has a Thanksgiving kind of taste. The duck and rice infused wit ha creamy and rich gravy like sauce gives a risotto like texture. The duck flavor is prevalent and the creamy sauce compliments it well. A must try for sure!
5. Pork cheek with brussel sprout «kraut» — a little weird tasting at first because of the brussel sprout kraut flavor. It has a olive and kraut flavor, but after a few bites I got used to the flavors and it was good. The pork cheek is extremely tender and is not fatty or greasy at all.
6. Pulpo a la Plancha — charred octopus, and mussels in a tomato based lemony sauce with black garlic aioli. The octopus was so crunchy, yet soft and tender on the inside. The tomato broth and black garlic sauce were so good. My favorite dish of the night.
I got to try many great and diverse dishes at Mateo, and everything was full of flavor and delicious. There is definitely nothing bland about this place. Although it can pricey ($ 30 a person and we didn’t get drinks), it’s definitely worth trying if you’re looking for something unique and flavorful that you’ll not find at many other restaurants.

I finally checked Mateo off my Durham Eats bucket list this evening. It was a memorable yet inconsistent inexperience, and I will most probably come again.
I arrived to a packed restaurant a little before 8 pm, ready to wait a few minutes. The only seating options were a couple of chairs at the bar and one high table, and I chose the latter. Before I even had time to get comfortable on one of the tall yet tiny metal chairs, a friendly pixie-​haired waitress appeared out of thin air to help me navigate the menu and drink options.
I asked her to get me a wheat beer, and she brought me a pint of Brooklyn Ace, which was an excellent choice. Crisp and tangy, it put me in a good mood, not as irritable as I could have been as I struggled to read the tiny font on the menu by the light of the candle on my table. Giving up, I just asked my waitress what she liked. She suggested several tapas and Pintxo options, and I ordered a couple of each.
The food arrived quickly, and I tried each dish as it was brought to the table:
Huevo Diablo Pintxo — this was advertised as Spanish deviled egg with chorizo, and though I couldn’t really taste the latter, this was the best dish I tried. The texture of the rich creamy topping contrasted beautifully with the extra hard and chewy boiled egg — the overall effect was very satisfying.
Bocadillo Pintxo — these were two little sliders with a tiny bit of barbecue pork, an over abundance of Piquillo cheese and some pickled cabbage. It was dry and bland, and the flavors didn’t hold together very well, probably because the proportions were off. Disappointing.
Costillas de Puerco (pork ribs with espelette pepper jelly) — this dish held a lot of promise, but was inconsistent at best, with just one of the ribs soft and juicy, the others either overcooked or burnt to a crisp.
On the other hand, the final tapas plate — Queso Frito y Huevo — was delightful, with an egg fried on top of a layer of crispy Manchego cheese, underneath which nestled delicious lion’s mane mushrooms over red pepper sauce. My only complaint was that the cheese was a bit too salty.
Mateo is quite large, with a low lit interior, an open kitchen, a large bar along one long wall, low tables along the opposite long wall, and the area in between packed with tall metal tables and chairs. There is also a massive seating area upstairs which they rent out for private parties ($ 150 booking fee, $ 2000 minimum bill on weekdays, $ 3000 minimum on weekends).
Overall, Mateo was a mixed bag for me. But I will probably come again — there are plenty of dishes I haven’t tried, and the service and atmosphere are worth giving them a second chance.

Came here for restaurant week, but everything they offer is from the regular menu except smaller portion for the more expensive items, which is different from the menu posted on the triangle restaurant week website. It’s actually a better deal just to order off regular menu – why participate if you are not even trying to offer a decent menu? This came off as a pretty insincere offer.
We really didn’t came at the right time; more people=less attentive service, we got our food in long intervals, water glass was not filled until we stop a staff to fill it for us; everyone was nice but too busy to attend those details.
We also tried the special item on the chalk board, to which I think it’s quite over priced. Roasted broccoli at $ 20 is unexpected; and the seafood in some tapas dishes are just hard to find. Tiny blue crab dish & tiny squid in the pasta dish, where do they even find those miniature items? However, the taste of the food is satisfying. I’d say if we came at a regular day the experience would be better.

I love Mateo Tapas.
This place books up quickly on weekends but Boyfriend & I were lucky enough to get a parking spot right out front then grab 2 seats at the bar.
Drinks — Boyfriend stuck with a water while I tried the Ponysaurus IPA followed by a glass of 3 Ribieras. I was super excited to get to try the IPA and thought that it was good!
Tapas Frias, I always start off with an order of Mata y Pimienta Gelatin. The house made farmer’s cheese spreads easier than butter onto the baguette then you top it with the pepper jelly = amazing!
Dinner Especiales, Boyfriend and I decided to try 2 of the specials.
–Calico Bay Scallops, I loved the lemon sauce with the scallops
–Cheesy rice grits, I liked these; however, Boyfriend was not a fan
Tapas Caliente
–Morcilla, I have never ordered this before because I was always scared of blood sausage (not sure why) but it was delicious. I liked the pumpkin seeds and sherry brown butter that it was served with.
–For our last small plate we had to go with the Patatas Bravas after seeing an order beside us, the presentation made it look irresistible. These were definitely our favorite small plate of the night!
My favorite Tapas restaurant around the area.

Nice venue with really lovely interior décor. The ambience has this really cool «Old World meets New World» feel. My friend and I tried to make a reservation around 4PM but they didn’t have anything (this place is popular, haha), so we just sat at the bar, which was fine. I ordered the Rye Pelusa, a cocktail that has charred peach infusion. Personally, rye whiskey is not my drink of choice, but I gave it a try since the peach infusion interested me. I can’t say I was impressed. The texture was weird and it didn’t help that the drink seemed «lukewarm» even while served on the rocks. My friend ordered one of their recommended signature pale ales, which I tried — it was delicious. Crisp, refreshing, clean. Not sure what it was called, but I’m sure if you ask the bartenders, they’ll know the one (apparently it’s one of the really popular ones).
Tapas were pretty fun. Between the two of us, we ordered two pinxtos (amuse-​bouches that have maybe 2 – 3 bites of food), one salad, and four tapas calientes.
Starting out with the Pinxtos…
1) Croqueta (3 bites): These were fried balls of Ashe County piquillo cheese, and they were phenomenal. The outer fried batter was yummy and not too overwhelmingly greasy at all, while the inner cheese melted into your mouth (without scalding you). Perfect starter. This is a MUST if you come here.
2) Datil (3 bites): I had never tried these before (my friend recommended it), and I fell in love. A datil consists of medjool dates that are stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped in a coat of country ham. The combinations of flavors and textures won me over. It was such a complex and fascinating amuse-​bouche that was just really fun to eat. Also a winner in my book.
And the salad…
Ensalada Verde y Duraznos: This was a simple salad consisting of regular greens, peaches, buttermilk bleu cheese, and spiced pecans drizzled in a sherry vinaigretta. I’m always a fan of peaches, which is why I ordered this one. The salad was nicely flavored, and I loved the peach, bleu cheese, and pecan accents. However, I can’t say I was impressed by the greens. They weren’t as fresh as I would have liked them to be.
Now, onto the Tapas Caliente…
1) Queso Frito y Huevo: My friend and I normally have pretty different tastes when it comes to dishes, but we unanimously agreed that this dish was our favorite. Basically, it consisted of a farm egg (sunny side up) served over a layer of crispy manchego cheese, all of which was nested atop this amazing combination of charred green beans sautéed in Romesco 10 sauce. Delicious. The egg yolk and cheese were a winning pair for me, and the addition of the green beans did wonders for the texture and taste of the dish. Wholeheartedly recommend.
2) Patatas Bravas: This is one of those quintessential dishes that you have to order if you go to ANY Spanish tapas establishment. It’s my litmus test for the quality of the restaurant. The patatas braves (fried potatoes, two aiolis, spicy tomato sauce) here was lovely. The potatoes were crispy and not too greasy, and the generous drizzles of the aiolis and tomato sauce added a lovely complementary combination of flavors without overwhelming the potatoes or making them soggy. Great execution.
3) Bacalao Frito: I really liked this one. The crispy salt cod fritters reminded me of crab cake, with less of a «crab» taste and more of a delicate cod flavor. The texture was amazing — perfectly crispy on the outside and very nice and tender on the inside without being «mushy» or anything. Also, the aioli verde, lemon, and piquillo did WONDERS to accent the cod fritters. The flavors went so well with each other and created this amazingly tangy, spicy, and fresh experience. Fantastic dish (I only wish they had more — it comes in a serving for three).
4) Costillas de Puerco: This one was alright. The pork ribs were very overcooked and not tender. And the espelette pepper jelly was a bit too sweet for me. Also the texture of the jelly was weird — it started congealing and I just was not a fan. Good concept, poor execution.
I definitely want to come back here again to try out some of their other tapas dishes. I was pretty impressed overall. This is a good place for dates and fancier occasions (restaurant patrons are generally dressed very nicely).

I hadn’t found a great Spanish tapas place in the triangle yet, and Mateo filled that void. The food was excellent, the restaurant has a great ambiance (casual/​trendy) and it was for the most part a great experience.
The only reason I knocked a star off was the service. Our waitress was really friendly (even gave us a free tapas) but I feel like she was one of the few people working and wasn’t able to be attentive. It was frustrating because we could see our drinks sitting at the bar but they wouldn’t come over to us for another 10 – 15 mins. We also were seated at the table right next to the kitchen, which was not the greatest — every time the door to the kitchen open a bright light shined on our faces/​table.
The food though — was worth every penny. There were four of us and we got:
The meat sampler — good portion, delicious
Cheese sampler — the 12 year manchego was my favorite, and the jelly that comes with it is a nice compliment
Chicken croquetas — melt in your mouth, probably my second favorite
Pork ribs — my favorite, sweet, smoky, and so tender they fell off the bone
The bone marrow — came with oxtail on top, very rich and good for sharing because you don’t need much
Lamb and artichoke — this was okay, just not my favorite
Hanger steak — cooked to perfection
Potatoes Bravas — a classic
Eggs with charred asparagus, romesco sauce and manchego — this was the one our waitress gave us for free and we all loved it. Highly recommend.
We had 10 tapas between 4 people, and I think that was a good amount!
If you’re in the area, Mateo is definitely one of the hot spots in Durham to check out.