Apparently our waitress was not having a good night as she was very grumpy and the food took forever to come out. The meal was meh. Not there best night fort the Matador. Traditionally their waitstaff and food quality is much better. Disappointing. read more

Food awesome, had the shrimp tacos. .so good.friend ordered quesa birria was fried, but she said yummy... Definitely a must come too. read more

We stopped in late night to eat & were seated on the patio. They were pretty busy & it was kinda odd to see them carding folks at like 9p on a Monday night at the entry before being seated. The server was alright. After we ordered and I told her my alcohol drink was too strong & she offered a remake which I declined bc the one I had was like drinking gasoline she asked my friend I was with if she'd drink it. Smh. My friend took one for the team & tried to finish it but ole girl literally never really came back until it was time to pay. Even then she was still kinda dry. I gave her a max tip bc I'm guessing she's going through something & Yelp said "be nice its Covid." Anywho, we both ordered tacos - me the Nashville ones. You could tell it was a chicken tender but there eas hella slaw. I ate a few bites & was fine. The rice & beans are a no for me. Queso gave me powdered cheese vibes. The chips were definitely the best part of that. The haba prawns are a hit. But, if you get these you have to know it's not a light spicy. You're throat & stomach will on fire!!! They get 4 stars bc its a cool late night scene & quick food service. read more

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Parking is a nightmare but I think this applies to all of downtown redmond. I had to go around the block a few times and then I waited for someone to leave. So if timing is an issue, show up early for parking. The inside is so cute! Great service, very friendly staff. Oh and the happy hour! I love the happy hour food, but dang they don't offer happy hour drinks! I know I know, you can't get everything. Do check out this awesome spot! read more

Matador Redmond - Mexican Near Me - Redmond, Washington

Great food and service. Large portions, good tasting. Nacho order great. Fajitas amazing. Carne asada very tough and chewy, wouldn't get again. Jalapeno margarita very bland, wouldn't get again. Definitely think enchilada and fajitas best meals of the table. Just didn't get any thankx rewards. Bummer - no free nachos, server didn't apply. Service ok, not busy on a Sunday night. read more

Came here for lunch on Saturday and had a lovely experience. The beginning was a bit rough as parking proved difficult to find. We ended up parking at a paid parking lot across the street as Matador's lot was not only full but people waiting for spaces to open. It's not a big enough lot for idlers. When we entered we stood by the host station for several minutes before someone greeted us, but that really was the end of our problems. Once seated our waitress cheerily greeted us. She was wonderful - prompt, efficient, cheery, and lots of personality. Not saying anything against all my professional waitstaff but I immediately find relief from someone who puts me at immediate ease and gets me smiling. I ordered the habanero chicken enchiladas with black beans, the deep fried ice cream, and the bartender's margarita. Everything was great! The habanero enchiladas were wonderful - I particularly liked the sustainable heat. It was nice and spicy! The ice cream itself was great - I think I would have preferred a caramel sundae over fried ice cream again, but that may just be me. The drinks were solid. Great time! read more

Matador Redmond - Habanero enchilada with chicken - Mexican Near Me - Redmond, Washington

I have been able to dine at Matador on a few business trips to the Seattle area, and for my money there are much better Mexican restaurant options. The drink selection if you don't want to drink tequila or mescal are almost non-existent which is disappointing to those of us that don't care for hard liquor. The service has always been a little underwhelming as well. Their apps are good and the food is decent, but portion size and cost are not favorable. From an ambient standpoint it has been loud and crowded every time I have visited as well. TL:DR - Good food, limited drinks that aren't tequila, severely overpriced read more

We two stopped by for a drink on a hot Saturday in August. Service: 4.0. Both the greeter and waitress were friendly and helpful. Drinks: 2.5. We ordered two different cocktails. Only positive was that they were cool. Really odd, bitter taste. Could barely taste and feel alcohol. Ambiance: 4.0. We sat outside. Pleasant and shaded. read more

Nice house margaritas. Always a good place to go to on weekdays to catch happy hour for a quick and cheap bite.

My partner and I (sometimes with friends too) frequent this place primarily for happy hour. The food is great. Especially anything with pulled pork. The service is mostly good, though they can be slow to get to us at times. Recently, my partner and I were sitting next to the fire on the stools which are in the middle of the place. Our waitress had small talk with us getting us our drink orders in, then didn't come back. We waited for her to come back before seeing her clock off, then proceeded to sit at the bar directly in front of us. She can do what she wants on her own time, it was just confusing and disorienting for that to happen is all. We eventually called another waiter to order our food. Thanks for reading, have a good day. read more

I mainly go for HH. I would say the food is really good for a good price. I recommend the Baja fish tacos the most. They are only two tacos but are surprisingly filling. I've gone multiple times and service used to be hit or miss but lately it is great. As for ambiance the place has a nice and it is a nice for drinks. read more

I love eating at matador especially during happy hour. Their happy hour is full of low prices and delicious dishes. I usually order at least 2 entries so I can take one home for later. read more

When it comes to Mexican food, it's easy to be copy and paste. I feel like Matador does enough to separate themselves when it comes to food. Good quality from everything I had. Got seated immediately and service was quick and helpful. Highly recommend read more

This review is mostly for Happy Hour. With the exception of a time or two, nearly all my past visits to Matador have been during Happy Hour. Needless to say, though not fully intentional, their Happy Hour is pretty awesome - if you are there to eat, not to drink. They only have HH food discounts, no drink discounts, which seems to be unusual but suits us non-drinkers perfectly fine. Our server was very nice, especially thank you for refilling our salsa bowl multiple times. It wasn't busy when we were there, 4-ish pm on a Saturday, so there was plenty of seating and spacing between occupied tables. The wait staff all wore masks. Thanks for doing so. The Food: HH Grande Nachos $6, add Marinated Steak $4.50 - 5 Stars This pile is a beast, and it's my hubby's vice. A cra-cra mountain of chips, cheese, beans, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, and optionally add a protein, such as marinated steak. During HH, this is a steal at $10.50. Hubby absolutely loves this and will polish off a plate as his meal-of-the-day. Add salsa for even more flavor. HH Baja Fish Tacos, $7 - 4 Stars Menu: Panko crusted and fried mahi mahi with serrano slaw, chipotle mayo, cilantro, lime in a flour tortilla This is my first time ordering the fish tacos (2 per order), and the fish is tasty, crispy, and rightfully meaty, as mahi mahi tends to be. My ding is that the flour tortilla needs more grilling or warming. It tasted a bit too out-of-package. HH Crispy Brussels Sprouts, $6 - 3.5 Stars Menu: Fried brussels sprouts, peppers & onions, lime, agave, cotija These brussel sprouts are tasty - well seasoned and sautéed. My biggest problem with this dish is that it's very oily. I tried dunking it in the salsa to thin down the oil and ate a few pieces that way. Alas, I decided to just bring the bulk of it home and lined a box with a napkin to help absorb the oil. Chips and Salsa, Included - 4 Stars I don't normally talk about the chips and salsa, but I wanted to say that I like the texture of their salsa a lot. It's a blended tomato and have that fresh look to it. I thought the flavor is quite good too, not too salty. Thanks for providing chips and salsa during happy hour. Side note: From one of the previous visits, I had a shrimp salad from the main menu. The shrimps were freshly grilled, and the veggies were deliciously fresh. I would easily recommend that again. read more

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So this place is just okay. This was my third visit and here's the brief. Visit (1) I got food poisoning, (2) was a mom's night out so I eat before hand and just enjoyed some drinks, and (3) I got avocado skin WITH the grocery sticker (pictured) in my small portion of guacamole as a part of the drip flight appetizer. ALSO for (3) the service wasn't great BUT I'm giving the benefit of the daughter on this being a COVID stimulus check problem. THE MATADOR IS A 21+ ESTABLISHMENT!!! Do not bring your baby, your kids, your teenagers. Matador has a small outdoor seating in addition to their indoor dining. Matador also has a small private parking lot but otherwise you have to find street parking. There isn't a waiting area, so don't expect to get your name on the list then enjoy the bar or have a seat before dining. Because this is 21+ only, everyone coming can sit at the bar. And check in is the small stand as your enter. I won't go back with hanging with my friends. After my first time I've only gone because of friends and The Matador had yet to win me over. read more

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The matador Redmond used to be my favorite happy hour spot. Actually for about 10 years now. The nachos were always soooo amazing and especially for the price, loved the Brussels sprouts and they used to have an amazing grape and goat cheese salad...wings and habernero shrimp. Unfortunately they have gone down hill. Maybe new chefs since covid I dunno. The nachos had no melted cheese throughout, the smallest amount of beans and the beans didn't have that yummy bean sauce they used to put all over the nachos. We are the top layer that had toppings and were left with just stale pile of chips. The habenero shrimp must have changed recipe, I do like spicy but it was way too spicy and didn't have the butter base like it did before, we asked the waitress if we could order something else instead. She was actually really nice about it. Asked about the "wild" mushroom skillet, I said I'm hesitant on ordering this because I don't want a bunch of button mushrooms, and asked what were the wild mushrooms in the skillet... she said oyster mushrooms and that she didn't know the other two or the ratios but that it was good. The description said compound butter and cotija cheese. The mushrooms arrived and not even joking there was 1 oyster mushroom in a skillet full of button mushrooms. No cheese, like come on. Just label it as mushroom skillet if that's the case. So the food was just not the same hopefully sooner than later they can get it together. Service was good and the manager took off the mushrooms, and left them on the table which was nice. They weren't bad tasting just not wild mushrooms for 10$ like we thought. read more

Matador Redmond - "Wild" mushroom skillet - Mexican Near Me - Redmond, Washington

We went for Sunday fun day lunch. We started off with mango margaritas and chips with salsa. The salsa was a 10. We each ordered the coconut shrimp tacos. They were fabulous. We each order a second margarita. This is was fabulous Sunday fun say. The service was really good. We love the ambiance of this restaurant. read more

Kids aren't allowed, so it is definitely not a family place (which we realized on a cold winter night). They do not take reservations as well. And the walk-in wait time really varies. The quantity is more than ample sized, so sharing is recommended. The service is good. A bit noisy for my taste, but if you like it, go for it. read more

Tried this place again during happy hour. They have added more vegan options. Both the Beyond picadillo tacos and the crispy brussel sprouts that I got were yum! Although, the cocktails were not as great as I remembered from before. read more

Matador Redmond - Crispy Brussels Sprouts - Mexican Near Me - Redmond, Washington

After a team event we found ourselves at the Matador for the first time in my experience. I thought service was great around lunch time and had a wonderful lunch deal that was hard to beat. Skinny marg was great and refreshing and had some great tequilas on the menu. Service was great and couldn't complain about the attentiveness of the server and bartender. The lunch deal with tortilla soup, salad, rice and beans, and two tacos for $20.... Get outta here. It did come with a refreshing strawberry Fresca drink which was very good. I did taste it only because of my marg but I would definitely go back. Menu had only a few options but looks/tastes like they do them well. You will not find a menu like other Mexican restaurants, so if that is what you're looking for don't come here. Place was decorated well and clean. I would really enjoy a happy hour here as well. Plenty of TV's and nice bar to watch a game. read more

Stopped by for HH around 4:30pm and received some of the worst service I've experienced in a while. Walked in and had to wait a few minutes to even be acknowledged, even though no other guests were waiting and the servers were in the back corner just chatting and laughing. Got seated, ordered some food and drinks. The guy delivering our drinks slammed them on the table and walked away before we could ask for straws - we had to flag down the hostess to get some. The food arrived and a different server put the nachos at the end of the table and didn't give us any warning that the plate was scalding hot. Of course when I went to pull it closer I burned my fingers in the process. Finally, our assigned waitress was difficult to get a hold of so we had to yet again flag down someone else to pay. He acted as if we were doing him such a HUGE inconvenience and huffed when pulling out his handheld POS system. We were ready to tip despite the earlier hiccups but that was the last straw and we changed our tip to accurately reflect the abysmal service we received. read more

Love the Matador! I always get a carne asada quesadilla and it never disappoints. I gave 4 stars only bc I literally never order anything else so can't attest to the range of their menu. I don't go very often but when it does pop in my head I start craving it! Their margaritas are FIRE, no matter which kind. Also shoutout to their staff- not just this location but but Ballard and W. Seattle as well (I haven't been to the Tacoma location). From host to manager to waitsaff, they are always so nice! Anyone I've interacted with is not only patient and welcoming, but personable. I definitely recommend for dates (would be great for a first date), girls night, and friend group get togethers. The lighting gives it that Friday night feeling and the decor is interesting but not distracting. Thank you Matador for existing :) read more

It has a fun atmosphere and the service was friendly and quick. The food was just so-so. We ordered the pork tamales, which were light and good flavor but unevenly cooked so one end was underdone. We ordered poblano shrimp, which was the best dish we got. We ordered the Baja fish tacos, which were okay. We ordered a dip flight-do not recommend. The queso was terrible, black bean dip okay, and guacamole-ok. Margaritas decent but not greet. read more

Great prices for the amount of food you get and happy hour prices can't be beat. Service can be hit or miss. Not great for groups larger than 4. We went here for the first time on a Friday night at 5:30 with a group of 4. No reservations but you can get on a waitlist and they text you when it's your turn. The person at the door was very nice and we waited at the bar since it was still happy hour. Tried one of their January special Mocktails and it was very bitter. The old fashion was very good. Mojito was good but very little alcohol I. It $7 grande nachos were good and much larger than expected. Bar staff were great and quick service. Menu is only available via QRCode and some people had a hard time getting it to work. Big hits: street tacos, dip flight and mahi mahi The burritos were good but not a lot of steak in it and too much rice. Our server was terrible, never around and pushy to get us to pay (removed a star). Overall a good night and plan to be back for happy hour in the future. read more

Matador Redmond - Grande Nachos (happy hour) - Mexican Near Me - Redmond, Washington

Great atmosphere and must be busy every night! Without a reservation we waited about 30 min on a Thursday which wasn't too bad at 6pm. Food was good to great. Salsa not spicy at all and even though I'm a wimp to spice, I'm even saying it could use a little more. I had the Ribeye steak tacos with chimichurri mayo... so good. The black beans were fine, the rice tasted a bit like curry which was odd. My ice tea which had been freshly made tasted funny kind of like curry. The waitress told us they sometimes use the same pots as the food to make the tea in. So when I received my food and tasted the rice, I knew it was made in the rice pot. Yuck! My husband had the habenero steak burrito and said it was excellent. If you go for the food you'll enjoy it, just don't get the tea. read more

Matador Redmond - Habenero steak burrito - Mexican Near Me - Redmond, Washington

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Love Matador. The food is always so unique, large portions and a great ambiance for drinks and a fun dinner. Our service was quick and for such a large table, our drinks came out quickly. The highlights are always the bean dip, burritos and tamarind margaritas. Check it out but be sure you can handle some spice! read more

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Consistent quality and a great vibe. There's only a few things on the menu that I order due to my own preferences, but all the things I order are some of the best I've had. The wait can be a bit tedious depending on the time of day, but it's typically worth the wait. Definitely my favorite nachos out there! I only enjoy mezcal, but their selection and choices are fantastic. read more

Jay was outstanding as our server, food was so delicious! Had this carne asada and shrimp flour tacos, perfect!

We ate here on a recent Saturday night and had a great experience. We tried eating here a few years ago when we were last in town and couldn't get a seat. I tried making reservations this time but they're walk in only so we decided to go early. Well showing up at 5:30 worked beautifully because not only did we get in right away but they had Happy Hour on! Their Happy Hour is a bit different in that no drinks were on special but the food is such a bargain! The romaine salad is not quite a Caesar but similar and super tasty, like really good! The fried Brussel sprouts were also good but a bit too greasy. Each one of these dishes was only $6 and they were surprisingly large portions, we assumed they'd scale back the portion sizes for happy hour but apparently not. We also got the Nachos Grande which had to be the deal of century at $7 and it was only $5 to add a huge amount of absolutely delicious Chile rubbed steak on them. Seriously, I'm not sure how they make money off the food! (Maybe they don't and it's all about the drinks?....) Speaking of which, we tried a variety of margaritas ($12 to $15 each). They were decent but certainly not the best I've had, in fact I'd say they were the weakest part of the experience which is kind of a suprise since this is actually licenses as a bar not a restaurant. Don't get me wrong, they were good, just not great. I did like the fact that they were tall and not done in 5 minutes. From the look of the place I expected tiny single gulp hipster margaritas. Service was great and attentive and the atmosphere is really nice, it's located in a heritage building. read more

Matador Redmond - Mexican Near Me - Redmond, Washington

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Really good happy hour menu, good quality and quantity of food. Good service and good atmosphere. I'd come back! My favorites were the Baja fish tacos and the salsa. read more

Horrible service and the hostess is very rude and unprofessional. I won't go back again.

Popped in on the 4th of July because the restaurant we had intended to dine at was closed. To our surprise the experience topped our anticipation of our previous expectations. Beautiful interior, friendly service and the food was above and beyond. Happy accident! read more

Matador Redmond - Interior - Mexican Near Me - Redmond, Washington

Great in-house made nachos with salsa - both hot and mild. Food was good. Some utensils were not clean and had to be returned. Drinks were good but not cheap! read more

Overall had a wonderful experience. Staff were friendly and attentive. The tequila flights are excellent and the cocktails are very good, you won't go wrong. The food is good but the drinks make this restaurant stand out. read more

We used to be regulars at this location of Matador when we lived in Redmond and get there less often now. We decided to get dinner from here this week. We got Goat Cheese Jalapenos, Matador Quesadilla with grilled chicken, and Enchiladas with shredded chicken. We loved the Goat Cheese Jalapenos, the bacon wrap was perfect. Quesadilla was good, loved the taste of the combination of grilled chicken and cheese, I wish there was more chicken. The enchiladas were okay. read more

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Oh my gosh!! This exceeded our expectations. Everything was so good. The service was awesome- the food was delicious, and the place is super cute and cozy. Highly recommend and honestly can't wait to go back. It's nice that it's adults only, but I liked it so much I wish we could bring our kids to enjoy it more often. Haha. :) read more

Big portions and good Mexican food! Atmosphere is fun and lively with good drinks and happy hour. The parking can be kind of a hassle, but no issue on a weekday for lunch. Lots of margarita options, and they are yummy! read more

Good friendly service and solid nachos. We were craving nachos and Matador nachos are definitely reliable.

I finally got around to visiting The Matador and overall, it was a good experience. Contrary to some of the other reviews, I found the service to be pretty good (it was lunch time on a Saturday). As soon as we were seated, we got drinks and complimentary chips and salsa to munch on while waiting on our food. Baja Fish Tacos - I don't usually like fish tacos but these were really tasty. I thought that two tacos for $17 was a little pricy though (especially as I don't think that mahi mahi was used as the fish) Grilled Carne Asada Surf + Turf - The steak was cooked well to a medium rear. We chose the poblano sauce for the shrimp as that was suggested as the medium spiciness option but it didn't live up to its recommendation. It wasn't spicy at all. I would have happier without the shrimp to be honest. Heads up: you need to show proof of ID (international licenses or ID cards don't work) to enter the establishment. read more

Matador Redmond - Carne Asada Surf & Turf (with the poblano sauce) - Mexican Near Me - Redmond, Washington

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Food was blah. We came for HH and ordered habanero prawns which had absolutley no flavor, baja fish tacos that were fried and dry, brussel sprouts, grilled stuffed jalapeños and street tacos. The only tasty item was the brussel Sprouts. Everything else was not good. Service was poor. We had asked if they had a spicy salsa and 2 small salsas were brought out with an extra charge of $7. We were never told that there would be a $7 charge for such dinky side salsas. He could have offered Tapatio or told us there would be an extra $7 charge. Neither salsas he brought out were good. Then we asked if for his opinion on whether the $7 steak tacos or $7 street tacos were better and was told by the server that street tacos would be better. Again the server never said there would be an added charge for the street tacos if we chose steak. He added $6 extra for the steak option so our $7 HH street tacos ended up costing us $13. We could have just ordered the steak tacos for $7. It felt really shady when he rang us up with out an itemized receipt. He simply told us the amount and rang up my card. When I asked for a copy of the receipt, I saw all the extra charges. This whole experience felt dishonest/shady. The manager was unprofessional when we brought this to his attention. Be ware. read more

Matador Redmond - $7 charge for the dinky salsa. - Mexican Near Me - Redmond, Washington