Matador Pizza & Steak House

This restaurant is getting 1star right as I seat in. The receptionist asked me «what do I want?» What am I a beggar. You don’t ask that to a customer. Rude. You asked them how are you and and how many to be seated. That’s what I think the right question is.
I ordered the Italian wedding soup. Came in good, broth was tasty. The meat was tender, but the macaroni was over cooked (too soft to my liking) 3 stars.
For the entrée I ordered the 8oz AAA striploin, medium, with baked potato on sour cream. The plate also has mixed veggies and a pickle. The steak was medium as ordered. Was not really at par compared to the steak of other ‘better’ restaurants. It was juicy, yes. But the taste lack the sweetness of being a nicely prepared steak. It did not wow me. 2 stars. Of course you have to have a high expectation on this meal considering it’s the most expensive item on the menu.
The waitress (with piercing on her nose) was nice, does her job well. The deal breaker was the receptionist (the fat lady). I would not recommend the place. Sorry.

A neighbourhood favourite! Good beer, awesome pizza and a friendly atmosphere. They have a pub side that has vlts and a family resturant side. The pizza is pretty pricey but it is the best thick crust pizza with lots of cheese and toppings I have ever had. The servers love their jobs and have fun which makes dining or partying a pleasure.

The pizza here is so disgusting!
The rest of the food is pretty much mediocre to say the least!
The desserts on the other hand are amazing!
The creamy rose sauce on the tortellini is so watery they might as well bring the noodle without the tasteless sauce!
The pork ribs are nice & I love that they have half price bottles of wine on Tuesdays

My family has been coming to this place for years (probably over 20) and it is always consistently excellent. Though it has switched owners over time, it has kept most of the dishes that have earned it a deserved loyal following.
Everything we ever eat, most of it repetitive, has come out as good as the last time. Part of my family prefers the pizza, I tend to order the Alberta beef steak and sometimes we add on some salads or appetizers.
All I can say is, while Matador may not be an ultra fancy steakhouse, by eating here you are trusting a decades old business that continuously brings in a good crowd every night. In fact, most Friday and Saturdays generally have a lineup for a table. People of the neighborhood love eating here, and with good reason. I feel this is as good as it gets for reasonable priced, excellent quality food.

First time here, visiting from New York with my boyfriend. We decided that we wanted to go to a good steakhouse and it was good. The steak was well done just the way I like it. The whole wheat penne with Alfredo and oven baked cheese was good but I shouldn’t have asked for the cheese because it overpowered the dish. The sweet potato fries were good as well. And we especially liked the baked potato that came with the steak, that was really good. Overall, not too bad of a place to try.

Delicious food, good vibe. Took them a long time to greet me understandable for Saturday. the food was delicious just a tad over priced. I have been to many pubs just as tasty half the price. The ⁴⁄₅ star rating is reachable. Overall I’m happy with this pub!

The hubby and I were looking for a place to eat in Calgary that was not a chain. We drove around, hoping that we would find something to catch our eye.
Not much jumped out at us so we decided to check in on Unilocal and see what restaurants were close by.
In order to do this safely, we had to pull into a parking lot to read our phone (please practice safe Unilocaling people).
Low and behold, there was a pizza and steak house — in the same parking lot we were parked!
We sauntered over to see what it was all about. I knew it was going to be a good choice when the sidewalk sign outside said long island iced tea was on for $ 5.
Imagine our surprise and pleasure when we sat down and looked at the menu only to discover that they had gluten free pizza!
The pizza was scrumptious — both the gluten free and the regular. The crust is sure to please most people as it was neither very thick or too thin — it wasn’t doughy or crispy and thin. The cheese was plentiful and good quality.
I splurged for dessert and tried their banana caramel cheesecake. it is a creamy banana cheesecake swirled with rum sauce baked on a banana bread crust, topped with cubes of banana bread and caramel sauce. It was incredibly rich and decadent!
The menu is much more extensive than just pizza so I would love to come back and try out more of it next time we are in Calgary. They have steak, seafood, pasta and some more great sounding desserts.

We consider ourselves to be pizza connoisseurs, having eaten the best stuff offered up in Naples, Florence, and Sienna Italy… not to mention every other pizzeria between Calgary and Fredericton…
Matador’s is not the traditional Italian fare, but rather Greek pan-​style, which seems to be very popular here with; Spiros, Grecos, Paul’s Original Pizza, Manies, Dover Pizza, Nicks, Odyssey Pizza, Inglewood Pizza, Bella Roma, Georges Pizza, are but a few examples of Greek pan-​style. But currently Matador is our favourite!
Fantastic service, friendly attentive staff, despite being their busiest time of the day after 5pm, which is when we tend to go. Highly recommended if you can handle loads of high quality toppings, and service with a smile!

I love Matador! I always have the Matador special pizza which is so delicious & tasty and filling.
I like the atmosphere, one of my favorite pizza places in Northwest Calgary!
Lots of other great food too!

I came here on a Tuesday afternoon with hubby. We were seated promptly and our server was very friendly and attentive during this fairly busy lunch rush. My hubby ordered the burger and fries special. Where can you get a nice juicy burger (not those flattened ones from McDonald’s) and crispy, crinkle-​cut fries for $ 5? I had the soup of the day (cream of broccoli) and a pound of the salt and pepper wings. Very hearty soup and nicely seasoned wings (However, their half-​price wings special only applies if you sit in the lounge/​bar. Hmmm, it didn’t mention this in the flyer…) We also ordered a large Hawaiian pizza to take home to our ravenous teenager. Overall (if you check in thru Unilocal,you get 20% off on regular priced menu items) the bill came to $ 32. Pretty good deal!

Stopped in for lunch with my Sweetie and ordered the $ 5 burger + fries lunch special. It was tasty and generously sized! On top of this, they had a 20% discount for regular menu items if you first checked in on Unilocal.Bonus! Service was friendly and attentive.

I came here during the weekday for lunch and it was pretty busy. I tried the ham & pineapple pizza and the salt & pepper wings. The pizza was pretty good and the wings were average, nothing special. Instead of ranch dressing they had a house dressing creamy dill, which was actually a nice change from the usual ranch dip.
The décor is a little dated. As for the service it was adequate. When we walked into the restaurant side we waited at the front for a few minutes but didn’t see any staff. When looking for a table to seat ourselves, most of the tables were dirty and had used empty glasses on so we went over to the lounge side. The bartender was also serving the tables and she greeted us fairly quickly. The food seemed to take quite awhile but it was pretty good. Overall this is a good place to stop in if you’re in the neighbourhood but I probably wouldn’t come out of my way.

This is a locally owned business that has been around for a long time. I really enjoy the traditional-​style pizza and have never deviated from that menu choice. I really like the thick slices smothered in cheese.
The rest of the menu, like décor, is a bit dated and needs to be freshened up. Having said that, it’s a comfortable place with nice booths. The staff are friendly and it’s a good little neighborhood joint.

pizza was good. it’s not thin crust and it’s not deep dish… it’s how pizza was before thin crust haha… if i were to compare, i might say the crust is like pizza hut crust in the 90’s when people ate at pizza hut restaurants. I liked it.
veal parmasean was meh… hence the 3 *.
atmosphere is old school 90’s family owned restaurant. The night we can it was super busy! lucky we went early and got the last table in the lounge.
I saw other people getting spaghetti and steak.

This place reminds me of the pizza joint we’d go to in vancouver when I was a little girl every Friday night. Family oriented, shirley temples and pizza that is packed with toppings and lots of gooey cheese. Love it… I would argue it’s the best traditional pizza in the NW.

We were craving a good, homemade pizza in the NW, not too far from home and Matador is what we came up with via an on line search. A self-​admitted mom and pop restaurant, this place was built in 1976 and takes pride in staying the way it was and what it is meant to be. It specializes in pizza and steak and the owner will no undoubtedly come to your table and tell you that they are famous for:
Caesar Salad
Steaks
Pizza
Lasagna
The menu is wide and varied and had a decent drink list. My hubby’s beer was served super cold just the way he likes it and our water glasses never went dry. Service was good throughout and welcoming. Wow, they have fried zucchini sticks here! They have seemingly gone by the way-​side since my University days and I wish they were not so hard to find these days. I saw some come out on other tables and they looked fantastic! Next time…
We opted for 2 small pizzas — a veggie deluxe (the pineapple in addition to all the veg on it makes it deluxe) and a bullfighter which has veg and a ton of meat on it for the carnivore in our family.
It was tough not to get just 1 pizza to share and a lasagna but we will save ordering that lasagna as well for another time, as there will be one! The pizza, made with fresh dough was very good. No thin crust here however, it was light and flaky, almost as good as the best buttery pastry you have ever had! The toppings were fresh and I was so glad to see fresh mushrooms on pizza for a change — canned is a sin! I would have liked more sauce on my pizza but that is personal choice. I did ask for some on the side and sadly, it came cold right out of the fridge but we ate it. Next time I will ask for it warmed up. It was like an addictive, well seasoned tomato paste. Interesting and served the pizza well.
The restaurant was not too busy on a Sunday night, the music not too loud and I really liked the dimly lit ambiance. It is a really nice place and the pics on line did not do the place justice. That said, you would be just as accepted here in capris and t-​shirt than you would a nice dress. It is that kind of place, come as you are. I wish the tables had had linen napkins, the paper ones could have been eliminated but, that could be just our opinion.
There is a bar attached with some video poker games and some tables.
Matador was well-​kept, clean and again, very inviting. We appreciated the owner sharing with us points about the restaurant and some of its history.
LOVE the fact that this place is open until 3AM every night. PERFECT for a night-​owl like me! I want to try everything on the menu!
*Been back a few more times since this review — still just for the pizza which I still feel needs more sauce. Next time, I will ask them to make it extra saucy on the pie and see what the up charge is for that. The last time we went there last week, we ordered a half Hawaiian, half Deluxe Veg med. pizza. I understand totally that they would charge the $ 4 extra overall for the more expensive pie but to charge $ 2 MORE to make a half and half pizza because it is hard on the kitchen? C’mon! All that does is takes the server’s tip from 20% to 15% as something has to give. I hope they can change this double-​dip policy for the customers’ sake or I will not be able to recommend this place to friends when they ask where to go for amazing pizza.*

I live a few blocks away from Matador and I’m torn about giving this place a good review.
They have been around a long, long time, but they do not understand the difference between service and hospitality. I suspect that is because they are a glorified pizza «take out’ joint with an attached bar. Many neighbours phone in their pizza orders and drop by to pick them up.
So it’s an amusing, yet annoying scene, to be standing in their cramped entryway, thinking that you are waiting for a table, behind people who are waiting for their takeout pizzas, only to discover that you are expected to push your way through the throng to the front desk to get a table. The place is also usually full of local loyal regulars and crowded with seniors as their prices are very reasonable and their portions very generous.
While their menu is extensive, their food tasty, and their table service generally acceptable and prompt, they simply do not connect with me as they do not understand the fundamental notions of hospitality. This is unfortunate.
They never have the curteousy to acknowledge me as a regular customer, so I’ve stopped going there for that reason. Having said that, I would still encourage you to try the place if you are in the NW, instead of the going to the restaurant chains in Market Mall.

Maybe you won’t mind the indifferent service as I do. There’s lots of parking and they are now open until 3am in the morning.

We went here with my family for my little cousin’s birthday dinner. I dunno what it is about this place. but she loves it and it was her birthday!
The food fare here is comparable to an Italian pub. do they have those here? I would describe it as pub-​style Italian food. Nothing too upscale but then again the prices of the dishes were comparable to the taste and quality of the food. So technically, you’re still getting your monies worth?
Anyway, if you’re super hungry and live/​work in the area and just need a whatever to eat, go for it. Otherwise, maybe just make some pasta at home? Nothing really stood out for me.

Excellent service, excellent pizza (I like thick crust, and trust me, one slice will fill your boots!). But if you don’t try their Thai chilli shrimp appetizer, then you are missing out for sure. It is so delightfully crisp, delicious, and spicy. I will be back for sure.

The feel of this restaurant is a family restaurant where people have been coming for years to enjoy reasonably priced food. The look of the restaurant likely hasn’t changed for years and is a combination of booths and tables and chairs.
The menu includes pizza, pasta, and salad. I decided on ravioli with meat sauce for $ 13 and my colleagues had pizza. The plate of ravioli was filled to the edges with generous amount of sauce covering each pasta bite. The pizza had a thick crust and cheese covered the toppings. I liked the meat sauce and it added taste to bland ravioli.
The service was slow at times but the restaurant was almost full. This restaurant is ok and if you’re in the area you may want to check it out for the pizza as that seemed to be a popular choice by many customers.