The Matador

Was driving by the other day, this time without my 2 y.o. son. Stopped by for a happy hour, and was wowed, again. I had a cold avocado soup and a chipotle shrimp burrito. I would like to reiterate that cooking here is masterful. Every dish I’ve ever tried here was inventive, delicious, and satisfying. It’s a hearty and refreshing homage to the Mexican cooking tradition.
For this reason especially, I just have to get up on my soapbox again about the kids issue. :) It’s a great shame they won’t allow kids. Matador may not be a family-​oriented restaurant, but a lounge it is not. The bar area is only half of their total space, with the other half, the dining room, well apart and insulated from the bar. There is absolutely no need for this restriction.

Really good food. Well made drinks. It is always really busy when we go, so we always sit at the bar. Keep that in mind, reservations, maybe, if you want a table? Haven’t had a bad dish or drink here, and I keep trying different things on the me menu :).

DYNAMITE Margarita and Tequila selection! Good food and great atmosphere. Service is good, I recommend the place really!

I ordered the shredded chicken burrito with the hottest sauce they had. Coming from Phoenix where Mexican food is everywhere, I was pleasantly surprised by how well this compared. The outdoor seating was comfortable and the server was attentive but not intrusive. I’ll be back next time I visit Redmond.

Tired of going there for specific things and then being out EVERY TIME! Also miss their old vegetarian options and the way they used to make a really awesome chilies rellenos only to finally bring it back but changed it into something yucky :(Also– no air conditioning so it’s so freaking hot!

Fantastic vibe inside with old brick walls and metal artwork. We had fried ice cream last night that was outstanding. Good service and good Mexican food. Will definitely go back again.

The place is nice but quesadillas used to be really good but now they are really greasy as shown in the picture. They need to make it less greasy.

It’s open late (you can get dinner after 9), drinks are strong and tasty.

The food is amazing. That said, the service provided by our waitress, Destiny, and the bartender, Jesus, has set the bar high. Thank you both for great service! We’ll be back!

The food here is always top notch. The service is decent, not personable but good enough. The carnitas tacos and habanero shrimp are outstanding and the tequila selection is fantastic.
Being a whiskey drinker that loves this type of food, I sure wish they would have a few more of the popular whiskeys like Pendleton or Templeton Rye. This place is always quite busy but open very late so I like to make it one of my last stops at night for a good taco and a nightcap.

Happy hour! This place gets packed, so plan accordingly or be prepared to wait. My review is for HH only, as that’s all I’ve had here. Prices on HH items are great, they only have deals on food though so be prepared for regular priced drinks. Not an issue for me since all I do is eat anyways. Big portions, tasty, and at a low price, what’s not to love!
I’d for sure recommend the HH nachos grande w/​carne asada, chicken quesadilla, and street tacos ($ 1.50/each, your choice of meat). We usually opt for the calamari as well. This last time we even tried the Ando-​chile wings which turned out to be a nice treat.
Good vibes all around, great service despite being packed, we’ll be back!

Hello happy hour menu!
Just like all the other Matadors this one is great!
The parking lot is super small so you will probably have to find parking somewhere else on a busy day!
For the food I love their happy hour menu and would seriously order one of everything if I felt I could eat that much food… Though I might try!
I love the bacon wrapper jalapeños I have been known to eat a whole plate to myself! The wings are also a favorite. I like the habanero prawns and the street tacos. Pretty much everything is super good if you are going in knowing not gonna be authentic Mexican.
They have really delicious drinks. And since I love me some tequila this is really a great place for me to spend a day!
We were seated at the bar and had great service!

My first time here was on a Thursday evening. My coworkers always talk about how good this place is so I was really excited to try it. I had no idea there was a public parking lot close by so that made things convenient! I loved the atmosphere of the restaurant, a perfect spot for Happy Hour. I didn’t come here for Happy Hour though and I kind of wish I did because most of the items on the menu are a bit pricey, but I get off work later than the cut off time.
I ordered the street tacos and the pomegranate margarita. There were also complementary nachos on the side. My tacos were pretty good but I didn’t realize how spicy some of the were, and I’m not a fan of spicy but that’s not the restaurants fault. I liked how every taco was unique though. The tortilla was breaking off pretty easily though because of the sauce soaking it so I had to use a fork. The margarita was so yummy, the tequila kind of overpowered the pomegranate but I’m not complaining. I also must say that my friend ordered their grande nachos… She barely made a dent by herself so definitely share that if you are planning to order this! I was debating about getting dessert but decided not to since our waitress seemed pretty busy at the time.
I would definitely come back here if an occasion calls for it, but I’d preferably come here for Happy Hour. I would also try more things on their menu. I would give this place a 3.5 but for Unilocal I’ll rate it a three just because it wasn’t quite what I was expecting for my first time here.

The first time I came here I was dressed nicely and wearing makeup. Tonight I was not. And very tired. I guess the bartender didn’t recognize me. He was friendly and attentive during my first visit. Tonight he seemed to ignore me, and then told me I’m rude. (Maybe I was – I was also hungry… and ignored.) Luckily I’m fresh from Harlem so it’s like «dude, why are you talking, where’s my food?»
The moral is if you look pretty you get a friendly, attentive bartender. If you look frumpy and exhausted, you get told off.
Good food, though. Skip the wings. Get the nachos.

I only come to Matador for the Happy Hour. My usual order consists of the Chips & Salsa with a Quesadilla or Carnitas Street Taco. I enjoy coming here during the happy hour with a group, since the food is pretty good and the price is awesome.
My main complaint is the service. In my recent visit to the Matador, I didn’t get greeted at the door. I went around 5:00pm (when it wasn’t that busy) and I waited 12 minutes to get someone to greet my small party and I. Usually, you’d expect someone to at least be close proximity to the door and when you see a customer, you immediately go greet them. Another thing is trying to flag down our waitress. We were put in the back corner of the restaurant, so it kind of makes sense that we might not be easily seen. When we wanted to order more food we waited for our waitress for 20 minutes. Within that time frame we asked 2 people to find our waitress. In the end, we ended up not getting more food and just left with our check.

Only a couple days after leaving Texas, I was craving Tex Mex. (It’s ingrained in our bodies!) Visiting some friends from Oklahoma that had recently moved to the Seattle area, we decided to give this place a shot. And I was pleasantly surprised! I had no idea what I was going to order or any expectations, and enjoyed everything.
For a Friday evening, it was crowded, but they seemed to turn the tables quickly. We were seated in about 20 minutes in the second room. While still loud, like the rest of the restaurant, it was a bit more subdued in the dining room away from the bar. Wait staff was quick and attentive and our glasses were never empty for too long. The chips and salsa were delicious. After seeing another table order the nachos, I knew that’s what I had to get. I do have some dietary restrictions, and nachos are pretty easy to adjust!
I was super happy with my selection. Everything tasted fresh and delicious with just the right amount of kick.
I would definitely visit again in the future!

Came here for happy hour with a business colleague so I don’t know prices, but flavor wise everything was pretty good. Service was great for a bar place… attentive in water refills. Chicken wings, chicken tacos, and chips & salsa also were pretty good. Actually, I loved the chips & salsa. There was a spicy shrimp thing that was HOT. I could only eat one. But everything else good. By the end though, my body was craving veggies, so hubby & I had a salad and that was the best thing!
Had a virgin strawberry margarita that could’ve tasted more strawberry’ish.
Greatly appreciated the smoke-​free environment and the fireplace. Nice touch.
Dark and noisy though, which is typical of a bar. But for a happy hour bar place, pretty decent overall.
Their ladies bathroom is tiny though, with only 2 stalls.
Overall, very happy with service from beginning to end (hate it when you get neglected after a while) for the entire 4 hours we were there.
Since work related, I didn’t take any pics.

Decent happy hour with lots of plates to share! The nachos are huge, so plan on splitting that between at least 3 people. There are also several vegetarian options which are pretty tasty.
Some of the drinks are pretty pricey; you can get a house margarita for $ 6 – 7 but an orange margarita for half the size is $ 10? What? The mule is pretty decent as a spinoff on the traditional vodka version too.
Service was good but when they’re busy it can be hard to get the waitstaff’s attention.

This was good. We had their taco street flight. Boy was that good. We got 1 of each of their tacos and. yeah it was good. We ordered chips and salsa and queso. The queso was weak!
But the Taco dish is enough to keep you filled up. That is the best bet if you want a variety of flavors.

My time was good. During the lunch rush my friend and I were seated almost immediately and was greeted with warm smiles. We were promptly given menus, promptly taken orders… The service was fantastic.
Reading the earlier reviews, i’m not quite sure what the problems were. But seeing that there might be a food inconsistency, I will revisit this place again to see.
I ordered the beef burrito and my friend got the taco salad. It looked pretty good. I loved my burrito– the beef was juicy and plentiful. They don’t skip out on the cheese either– amazing! So I enjoyed my food. I’d come back here again, although the prices are a little higher, I love the atmosphere this place gives. You could go to Bandido’s a few blocks over, pretty much same (if not more) portions, almost same quality meat, for lower the price (lunch-​specials), but the atmosphere just isn’t the same as El Matador.
So, I would come back for lunch dates and meetings.