I stopped by for lunch at El Matador and decided to try the "Tacos Dorados." The tacos were delicious!!! You can already tell the food is prepared with the best ingredients. The tacos were cooked to perfection....fresh and crispy! Not oily like other places!!! Very flavorful (I had the beef) and packed with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and avocado. Did I mention fresh avocado?? Excellent combo of flavors. Words cannot describe how great and fresh the food tastes. They have something for everyone in the menu. The restaurant has a casual but pleasent decor. Everyone is extremely friendly. And there's parking available. Overall, excellent food, friendly service, lovely atmosphere and great location. I had a great dining experience and recomend it to anyone looking for fresh food that tastes amazing. You won't be dissapointed. I Will definitely be returning for those tacos and some homemade dessert! read more

El Matador - Yummy - Mexican Near Me - Bloomfield, New Jersey

Small place, only about 10 tables but the food is awesome and the staff was friendly. I ordered for takeout but they are BYOB so i look forward to dining in soon. Tacos are awesome. (3 come in one order) read more

Amazingly authentic Mexican food. This is a must try for lunch or for dinner. The owner is so warm and inviting, always greeting guests when he is here. Recommendations: Sopes Chiliquiles Tres Leches for desert! read more

The food is absolutely delicious! The customer service that we received from the moment we walked into the restaurant great! I wish I could give the more stars! read more

We love this restaurant! Excellent mole! Favorites are enchiladas and fajitas. The tamales are fantastic. And the chips are thick and crispy. Yum! read more

This place makes me happy. Growing up in AZ, I'm very picky about my Mexican food. And while this might not be the Sonoran Mexican I'm used to, it is damn good and I'm so relieved it's not Tex Mex claiming to serve Mexican food. In my "top 2" fav restaurants in the area. The chilequiles are a must, and so is the horchata. read more

The first thing I have to mention is how difficult it was for me to even place an order with them. I tried searching online for a menu and could not find one, which obviously is frustrating when you're wanting to call in an order to a place you've never been to. So I decided to drive there and the parking situation is ABYSMAL! Good luck finding parking on Broad Street at anytime of day. I ended up ordering some tacos and guacamole and although the food was good (although certainly not the best I've ever had) the prices were not worth it in my opinion. I can't imagine myself trying this place again when there are so many other Mexican places around. read more

Delicious and authentic food reasonably priced. Their tres Leche cake is to die for and their virgin margaritas the same.

I have to admit that I truly enjoyed the authentic taste of the food. The Mole has to be one of the best I have ever tasted and their Tamales are amazingly good. I am a huge enthusiast of Mexican food, especially Chilaquiles Verdes and they have the best Green sauce I have tasted. I will definitely be returning and recommending them to friends and family. Thank You Leidy Z. la Casi Casi for recommending me to this nice little restaurant! read more

Very cozy and welcoming. The staff and owner are warm and provide great service. We've eaten in and had food delivered. The food is yummy and leaves you wanting more. Their delivery is quick, efficient and they are extremely considerate and clean in their food portions! Will definitely be going back to enjoy this great Mexican food! read more

Ordered from here today for the first time through Grub Hub and it was a very pleasant experience. I had the Tacos Dorados and absolutely LOVED them! My fiancé had the Enchiladas and though spicy he also enjoyed it. I will deff order from here again! read more

Someone is definitely slacking in the kitchen and it's honestly really freakin disappointing! I used to order often but I stopped a few months ago when I saw and tasted the food just going downhill. Thought I'd give it another try tonight after a few months but damn it's just even worse. Bland, one tiny little piece of an avacado in my tacos dorados. Just whatever man. I'm done ordering from here. Pricey as hell for blah, skimp food. read more

I was really impressed with the food that we had delivered. Everything tasted great. After living in East Harlem, I have Very Strong Feelings about what constitutes a good taco and tostada. They did not disappoint! The tacos were stuffed with well seasoned meats, it came with two great sauces, and they sent a large appetizer size of guacamole over that held up enough that I was able to eat the leftovers the next day. That almost justified the price. In terms of quality of food, no arguments here! read more

El Matador used to be our favorite Mexican place, we followed them from their previous location and have enjoyed their food. It was pretty good food and service until recently. There have been extended waits delivery definitely over an hour. They did not have flan, mexican coke or steak. We had the steak replaced and cancelled the flan but they sent us diet cokes?! If I wanted a mexican coke what makes a diet coke even close? The avocado on my dish was pretty brown, not fresh or the best. I am almost certain there was little to no chicken. They are skimping and it makes me wonder on what else? read more

All I can say is WOW. We have ordered from here a few times and have been completely blown away every single time. Wish they delivered because we would definitely order a lot more. Other than that no complaints! Just really delish home cooked food! read more

This was the first time for me and my wife and it was awesome! Everything we had was delicious. I can't stop talking about the different sauces they had. I had the bisteak and my wife had the shrimp tacos. Mmmmm. It's also BYOB so we hung out awhile because it was a cool atmosphere. read more

I have to jump on the bandwagon for this tiny, hole in the wall Mexican place in Bloomfield. The menu is limited but what they do, they do well. Absolutely must get the creamy, flavorful guacamole with freshly fried chips. I had a sampling of tostadas and it was way more than I could eat at once. Finish with the addictive tres leches cake- it lives up to the hype. Will return for sure. read more

Guacamole was delicious. I ate the enchiladas verde with chorizo. It was spicy yet full of flavor. My fiancé had the juevos ranchero with shrimp and he loved it. The staff was very friendly. It's a BYOB spot btw. There is a liquor store a nearby which also delivers to them. There is also read more

Best meal of my life, owner (i think it was) was super nice and friendly.. guacamole was slammin too read more

El Matador - Don't remember what it called but it was the best thing I have ever ate - Mexican Near Me - Bloomfield, New Jersey

I had a couple of the tamales along with the tres leches cake. OMG amazing and by far the best I've ever had. I don't write many reviews but this little spot deserved one from me. Great food! read more

Holy impromptu dinner run on this Monday night! My boy shouts me out that he's rolling to Bloomfield NJ to go to this Mexican spot that he likes and if I want to roll with him. I'm always down for good Mexican! I didn't know we were having excellent Mexican food!....this spot is bangn'! At El Matador Mexican Restaurant the taco orders come in three which is typical of many Mexican restaurants. So I ordered the pulled pork (aka carnitas) tacos, and the short rib Sopes (thick oval corn masa patty). The carnitas tacos were pretty good but they were a wee-bit dry without the squeeze of the lime or the green sauce they give you on the side. The pork however was very flavorful. Now the Sopes with Short Rib was delicious all around. The Sopes Masa patty taste a little like that of Papusas from El Salvador (check your local Salvadoreño for Papusas...emmmm). The Short Rib lays on top of the Masas in a bed of some delicious green sauce which has a nice degree of heat! But the champion of El Matador Mexican Restaurant is their Chilaquiles! Amazing! Delicious! Scrumptious! SLAMMIN'! We destroyed this wonderful plate of Chilaquiles con carnitas! Do yourself a favor, go treat yourself to a ride to Bloomfield NJ, right off of the Parkway, a couple blocks from Bloomfield Ave,...(don't worry about travel just do it); eat some Chilaquiles with pulled pork (carnitas), byob a six pack of Modelo Negro, and finish dinner with their very delicious Tres Leches Dessert, and be careful driving home because you'll surely get "the ītis" (for an explanation of "ītis" please send me a comment! Happy Eats Peeps! read more

Absolutely amazing! I had the special tacos they were so savory and the tres leches cake was so good. It's a little bit of a wait but that's why the food is so amazing it's made fresh to order. read more

Pretty solid steak tacos. More of a traditional style place, which I prefer. Worth a stop by.

This place is incredible. It's right off the GSP in Bloomfield. They have a parking lot too, so it's convenient for a quick pop-in. The owner is the nicest guy ever. His mom is the head chef, and she's got mad skills. They make everything in house, including the tortillas and the chips. I sampled so many delicious items. The pork soup was spectacular. The tacos dorados were amazing. The carnitas was next level good. My favorite, however, was the chilaquiles. They are a must! I will 100% be back here. read more

Ok EL Matador recently raised their prices, which I can understand because their food was awesome BUT they raised prices and USE CHEAP MEAT NOW. My favorite thing were the steak tostadas. They were good, the meat was perfect, and I was in love with them. What happened, I don't know, but I guess the owner is not interested in being the best mexican place around, now they are just ok, and so why should I go there when any other place is the same..and less?? I mean, I honestly wouldn't mind paying more for the same tostada, but you have the nerve to charge more, and use cheap meat, that is so tough and flavorless?? No thank you. very dissapointed. read more

I love this place so much! It gets better every time I go. The owner is super friendly and makes sure to connect with every guest. The food is fresh, delicious, and comes out fast. The tres leches cake is to die for and my Puerto Rican mother declared it was the best she's ever had! Do yourself a favor and stop by this little gem of a restaurant! read more

Rushed here after work today to get a good meal after a long day in the office! And that's exactly what we got! I live in Bloomfield and I'm kind of upset with myself for not visiting this place sooner. We played it "safe" by ordering items that we were pretty familiar with. My boyfriend ordered three steak tacos and I got an order of quesadillas (carnitas, pollo and steak). We also got another free steak taco after checking in with Yelp. To finish it off [kind of], we ordered the tres leches cake for dessert... Oh and we even got another order of carnitas tacos to go! :P The steak was cooked really well and all of the ingredients [including the freshly made tortillas] tasted super fresh. The carnitas were so juicy, they were my favorite part of the meal! And the tres leches cake was SO moist and sweet, it was perfect. Needless to say, every part of our meal was so flavorful. On our next visit, we will definitely give the other menu items a try! Also, Mucio and his mother were really friendly. Mucio was very welcoming and recommended other menu items for our next visit. My boyfriend even said , "I can't wait until the next time I'm hungry so we can come back." It is so nice having an authentic Mexican spot so close to home! I'll probably dream about the meal we had tonight. read more

Found El Matador on yelp. Food was awesome, but the tres leches cake was phenomenal! It's a must have when you come here

This is no TexMex people ...it's REAL Mexican food!!! I have been waiting for this place to open up! They are a family owned restaurant., completely friendly and helpful. We ordered to take out, but I think we are going to stay in, welcoming little BYOB. We ordered the tortas carnitas and sopes pollo. The food was like eating off the resort in Mexico! Delicious and huge servings! Expect to have leftovers! The hot sauces are homemade and spicy, just the way I like them. If you are not sure, ask for the hot sauce on the side. They have homemade specials each day so I can't wait to have one of those very soon. The great thing is they deliver, and they are open until 9pm! read more

Mucio's mom is a star. Mole enchiladas. Albondigas. Tres leches.

Finally, good Mexican food in New Jersey! It's been hard to come by after moving here from Colorado. The owner were super friendly and the food was fast and great! read more

Only been once so far but I loved it. Very much like a small deli/sandwich shop to look at, but oh my the food! Because of reviews here I ordered chilaquiles w/carnitas and it was one of those dishes you bit into and at that moment it's the best thing you ever tasted. I still think about it two weeks later. Mucio who hosts, serves and does some cooking is friendly, relaxed, and enthusiastic. His mom is a phenomenal cook. I'm not knowledgeable enough to talk about 'authentic' but it's definitely not Tex-Mex. Its a short menu, but from now on I will not hesitate to order anything recommended. I took home a big piece of the tres leches cake, baked by a cousin, and it was the best I've had. Maybe I'll go back tonight and try something else, but it will be hard not to order the chilaquiles again... so good. Let's go often and keep this place going! (It's worth the trouble to find the little parking lot and deal with the one-way streets there - don't give up!) read more

Wow.... Being a NYC native, we found a gem in Jersey. What DELICIOUS homemade food. It's family run and made fresh everyday. The fish comes from the fresh market and the chicken from live poultry. Oh can't forget the homemade tres leches. Truly yummy food and it's affordable! read more

First of all, let me say that the tres leches cake is really all it's hyped up to be. That cake was delicious! I loved every bite, unfortunately I had to share some with my husband so I didn't get as many bites as I wanted and that's my only regret. As for the food, it was really good. My husband got the enchiladas in mole sauce. We both never had mole before but I'm sure having this restaurant be the first to "pop our mole cherry" wasn't a bad choice. It was good! I also ordered chicken tostadas and they were really yummy and fresh. The tacos dorados were amazing too. My only con is that they're a little far from my house, which obviously is not their fault lol. But my second con is that all of my food came with rice and beans as a side (which is great) but the portion of the side dish was quite small. It came in the styrofoam container (3 portion container) leaving the two top portions for each side and the large bottom portion for the meal - obviously one side was rice and the other was beans. I'm not trying to complain because I did love all of the food here! In fact, I loved it so much, that I only wish I was able to enjoy some more rice and beans. Maybe their to-go version is smaller? It seems as though if you dine in you get a bowl worth, or a much bigger portion on your plate. Typically, when I order Mexican food to-go around my area, I get a small round tin container (with the plastic top that the tin folds over) with half rice and half beans in it, which is just enough for me. Plus, my number one favorite Mexican food is chicken fajitas and I didn't see it on the menu and I'm not sure they serve it. Maybe I'm wrong? If this place was closer to my house, (despite the small rice and bean portion) I'd still probably order from here more often than I should lol. Still worth going. Still giving them 5 stars, super friendly, good food, authentic! If you're in the area, definitely try it! read more

Hubby and I had lunch here today after reading all of the positive reviews. Teeny-tiny little place... We found parking a few doors down and were greeted immediately when we walked in by the owner and another customer :) We sat at a table and checked the menus before our server (the owner) told us the special of the day was pork ribs in some sort of sauce and recommended some of the Mexican sodas. Hubby ordered the special, chicken tacos durados for me. We chatted with the owner, Mucio and the other customer while we waited for our food. Others came in to pick up takeout orders. Our food was served hot and fresh. Everything looked delicious and tasted SCRUMPTIOUS!! Hubby had eaten an hour or so before we went (not sure why) so he wasn't hungry but he tasted the pork and said it was tender, flavorful and the sauce had a little kick to it. Tortillas were thin, fresh and warm. I dug into the tacos durados and they were crunchy outside with tender chicken inside. They were served with fresh avocado slices, cotija cheese and lettuce and the plate came with beans and rice. We continued to chat while I ate slowly, savoring every mouthful. Then I noticed that Hubby had been picking at his food... He looked up at me and said, "I'm full but it's SO GOOD I want to keep eating it!" Being from Arizona, I appreciated the authenticity of the food and the friendliness of Mucio and his mother's smile when she proudly brought out my plate. After telling Mucio we liked spicy stuff, he brought me some hot sauce... It had some heat, but I can go hotter. He promised to give me the real hot stuff on our next visit. 5 stars for service 5 stars for food We can't wait to come back and try some of the other dishes & Hubby wants to try the desserts - flan y tres leches. Muchas gracias, Mucio y Mama! read more

FLAVORFUL, FRESH, FANTASTIC! *BEST* Mexican food in the Bloomfield/Montclair area! Guacamole is creamy with pops of cilantro. The special, a shrimp enchilada, was filled and covered with deep flavor of their "red sauce"...WOW. Another draw, the owner is warm and the decor is inviting. For a "sweet" and perfect ending, try their tres leches cake!!! read more

i had to move my review to the YELP ELITE EVENT PAGE sorry guys. check it out there. http://www.yelp.com/review_share/Nl3t4BrOoBh4BNcqOZztYw/review/KmFvPSi5e36FcUBEfVSJEA?fsid=t9flg9p0OjOKvHEv2gMQyQ read more

Food is great - very authentic. Only reason we are not giving five stars is because the wait was QUITE long. Tres Leches is tres awesome mi amigo. read more

This is an excellent place! The owner is friendly and provides great food and service. The tres Leche is the best I have ever had and everything is reasonably priced. read more

This review is based off of going on cinco de mayo- so take that for what it's worth. We originally tried to go to el matador on a Friday night around 9:15 (45 mins prior to closing)- when we got to the restaurant we were told that they were closing early for a "deep clean." Though disappointed, I figured clean is good. I like clean. We returned last night for cinco de mayo knowing that it may not be the ideal experience, but hey, it's local and let's give it a try. The place was packed (to be expected) and there was a group of people waiting outside (also to be expected). When we were finally sat, we wound up sharing a table with another couple. Though awkward, this was probably the saving grace of the evening. We were handed special cinco de mayo menus which were truncated versions of the original menu. As a pescatarian, this was a huge disappointment because my options immediately fizzled down to vegetable tacos or vegetable enchiladas. Fine I figured, busy night, they're trying to streamline the process, just order the vegetable enchiladas. Huge mistake. Should've just stuck with the chips, salsa and guac (which were good). When I got the enchiladas they looked good, smelled good... but when I cut into them, they were just rolled tortillas with sprinkled un melted cheese in the middle. Where were my vegetables you may ask? Well we asked our waitress (who was very nice) and the response was yeah, vegetables- no meat. I said ok so vegetables mean cheese? She said yes. It was at this point that the table next to us and our table companions burst out laughing because apparently every table was having a bad experience. Listen, the place is nicely decorated, the people were nice, I think we even got a small discount for having to share a table... but it's incredibly disorganized in there, the food was mediocre (notwithstanding the salsa, that was bangin) and the menu and hours are unpredictable. Really wanted to love the place but 2 strikes from two failed visits. Womp womp. read more