Casa Del Matador

I actually like this Matador better than the one on 23^rd, although I really like that location as well. I’m truly not a tequila fan **at all**, but I love the margaritas here and can have quite a few, because they’re very tasty. The happy hour menu has a great selection and great prices as well– the nachos and quesadilla are my favorites.

Very Cool Tequila bar across the street from Screen Door. Street tacos are delish and oh so cheap, especially at HH. Long inventive list of Margaritas are a must to explore for anybody coming here. Very nice atmosphere is punctuated with a table that has a fireplace in it. Next time I’m bringing marshamallows.

Sometimes you just want a pile of warm chips. And salsa. And guac. And a margarita menu that goes on for days. Call it Tex-​Mex. Call it Gringo-​Mex. Just call me if you’re going, because I am so freaking in.
Look, don’t hate me Casa Del M, but you’re kind of an upscale Chevy’s. And that’s fantastic! Brilliant, really. The food is approachable, familiar. And there is lots and lots of it, so come hungry. Or thirsty. Or both.
And seriously invite me — The Bud has finally taken to asking me, «Where do you want to go and no don’t you dare even say it because we were *just* there.»

The atmosphere was inviting, cozy and the staff were friendly but the food was underseasoned. Had the carne asada tacos with rice and beans, brussell sprouts and jalepeno poppers appetizers. If your going for drinks and atmosphere its your place. If you want good mexican food, try somewhere else.

This is a great place! But there seems to be an inconsistency between the 2 locations.
The one on burnside (verses the NW location) gives half of the serving for the same price and it’s not ready when they say it will be.
Granted, it was a Saturday night but they weren’t as busy as the NW location.
I went to the burnside location because the NW location was packed wall to wall.
It was my first time at the burnside location so maybe it was just that night but I hope this doesn’t become a thing

Tequila bar fantastica! Drinks are really yummy. Really fresh and tasty with good portion size. This place is a staple of mine

I don’t generally frequent chain restaurants, with the exception of Casa Del Matador! Incredible value at happy hour which they have from 3pm-​6pm and also late night starting at 10pm. Good Tex Mex food, fantastic tequila selection and always consistent. It’s always super busy but I’ve never had to wait long for a table and I usually just snag a spot in the bar. I’m completely addicted to their chips and salsa and I always get a side of their habanero sauce too (it’s super spicy and delicious). I don’t generally order from the main dinner menu, but the happy hour is where it’s at. They are also open until 2am, so it’s a great late night option. Try the happy hour steak tacos!

Drinks and service were amazing. Food leaves a lot to be desired.
Good luck trying to find parking.

To be honest I was looking forward to this place but it led my tastebuds into a spirolling disaster. I am not sure if the people who wrote good things about this place were drunk or had little knowledge on mixed cultured mexican food. In a scale of 1 to 10 i give it a 0 just for trying even though –1 wasnt an option and because i felt bad.

OH MY GOODNESS!!! Absolutely fantastic!!! The décor and vibes of this place is sooo awesome!!! I don’t feel like I was in some annoying hipster joint with rude service and overpriced food. THIS PLACE WAS PHENOMENAL. I started with the house margarita. (so good and pretty strong too) I got my monies worth. We then got the calamari and guacamole!!! BOTH SO GREAT!!! The calamari was breaded perfectly and came with a yummy dipping sauce! The guac was really good and came with a yummy green salsa!!! So good! I ordered the two grilled chicken tacos and they were super flavorful… I also ordered another margarita! Our waiter was Sooooooo friendly! He talked to us about different types of tequila and seemed like a genuinely nice person! So happy we found this place! Wish it was right down the street from me :(I WILL BE BACK THE NEXT TIME IM IN PORTLAND!!!

We were looking for a good place to visit a great late night happy hour and this place, is pretty dang good! Going in on a Friday night at 10pm it was pretty busy, we were almost thinking we would wait to get a seat, but we were able to have a booth. After about an hour, it died down so if you would rather go later, you definitely could.
It’s modern mexican food, not the most traditional, but so dang good! For their happy hour we got a quesadilla and $ 5 Super Nachos! Omg their nachos were sooo good! SO So good. And you get a heck of a lot for just $ 5.
They have a large selection of brews and their own drink menu. And a very very large tequila menu! Yay Tequila! They have so many different varieties that even if you are a tequila expert, I bet you would find one you hadn’t tried and love on their menu.
Staff were very nice, a little slow to check in on us at the table, but that is okay, they were busy! When we were ready to pay and get outta there though… they were a little hard to find? Not the biggest deal though.
The décor is awesome. Ornate, big, and pretty inside!
Oh and very warm for those cold fall/​winter nights that are upon us!

My boyfriend and I had made plans to go to one of our favorite Italian places for Halloween dinner, so we were very disappointed when we arrived to discover they were closed for a private party. Since we live in the neighborhood, we decided to walk down Burnside and see what we could find. We stumbled upon Casa Del Matador and truly, our night of horror began. It was a weird experience from the start. The gentleman who seated us gave me a long, lingering stare as he walked away. Then I happened to glance at the booth across from us and the man at that table was also staring at me for a prolonged amount of time. Since I wasn’t bleeding, don’t look like a male model and don’t have green hair (even on Halloween), I’m not sure what was going on.
Our server then arrived. She was very friendly and cute. Then she brought our drinks and brought me a drink I didn’t order. I pointed this out and she was very nice about it and brought me the correct cocktail. We ordered chips and salsa. This is one of those places that charge you for the chips and salsa, which always pisses me off. Chips are extremely inexpensive to make or buy, it’s a cheap move on the part of any restaurant in my opinion. They did give us a very generous basket of chips but a very small dish of salsa.
The server asked if we wanted more salsa, we said yes, but she never brought it.
We began noticing the clientele was very odd, not your typical Portland scene. Not that there is a typical PDX restaurant crowd, but this crowd just seemed very different. The nicest way to put it would be to say that they seemed like stereotypical suburbanites who had somehow made a wrong turn on their way to Chili’s. We were imagining scenarios where the regular clientele here call each other and say, «We finally found a place in inner Portland for people like us! It’s like a Tex-​Mex Applebee’s!»
A lot of people had on very poorly done Halloween costumes. My guy laughed and said, «It’s like these people’s costumes are only one degree away from who they actually are as people.» We also kept seeing groups of people walking outside, including some of the employees, then suddenly they would be back inside. Were we in Purgatory? If so, it wasn’t our time yet, as we did manage to escape. The restaurant does have a very attractive interior, but it is very reminiscent of a chain restaurant and gives off that vibe.
Then our food arrived. I had the steak torta, which is like a Mexican steak sandwich. I knew for sure I was at a chain style restaurant when it arrived with a mountain of fries on the plate. Sadly, this was quite mediocre. The steak itself was very charred tasting and very fatty, not qualities I enjoy. The bun was like a Wonder bread white bun. The chipotle mayo and slaw added some flavor, but not enough to save the sandwich. The french fries were good, but those are hard to mess up.
My boyfriend wasn’t feeling well and so had a salad and a side of brussels sprouts. He said the brussels sprouts were really good but the salad was average.
I’m only giving two stars because the service was pretty good and the food was edible, not appalling. We were both amused by our bizarre evening, but agreed we would never go back. You’re best off avoiding this place.

This is one of my favorite places to eat. Great place for date night or night out with friends. Be aware in advance there are no children allowed at any time. The verde enchiladas are fantastic (the fresh cilantro lime sour cream is the perfect compliment) and I love their salsa, which is the perfect amount of fresh with a little spice. The bartenders margarita is fantastic, just a tad sweet, which the salt balances perfectly.
The atmosphere is quiet, but not so quiet you can’t have a private conversation without whispering. The staff is always great. We only had a bit of a wait for drinks one time when they are unusually slammed. The only downside is you cannot make reservation in advance. Although we go frequently around 6 or 7 for dinner and have never waited to long. You can usually grab a drink and seat at the bar to wait.

This is another one of those places that we have been meaning to go to but never had. My wife had a hankering for som tortilla soup and they had it… so off we went.
The décor inside is a bit odd. Kind of like a 1980’s fern bar… but without the ferns.
We were promptly seated and service was as good as it gets throughout the meal.
The server recommended the brusselsprouts. We like brussel sprouts. They were not that good.
But the food was … just in the ok to good range. The soup was good but not great. I got the 5 small taco plate. They were supposed to be 5 of their most popular tacos. They all tasted similar to me and the taste ran between…“i am not having another bite of that one… too… that was ok”. None were good. The chips were not that great and were on the verge of being a bit stale. The salsa was just ok.
Prices were good.
So… good prices great service. If it only had good to great food we would be coming back. But as it is… This will be our last visit.

2 things you should visit here for:
–steak nachos! (Worth full price but half price during happy hour)
–margaritas! So many to choose from.

I absolutely love the happy hour at this place, some of the best food and the drinks!
Love the ambiance and the service but the highlight is definitely the food!
Love this place I highly recommend it!

I love coming to the Matador. There usually isn’t a wait and if there is, it’s pretty quick. It’s nice that it’s 21 and over so you don’t have to deal with any loud children.
Their salsa is really good, perfect amount of spice!
I’ve had the burrito, the tacos and the enchiladas.
My favorite dish by far is the Al Pastor Enchiladas. I love the mound of arugula they put on top. The green enchilada sauce in really good and so is the pork. They are pretty spicy so beware if you’re sensitive to spicy food!

OK man, first off. There are THREE BARS in Portland with Matador in the name. I found this out when I was looking for Casa Del Matador and typed in the name in Google maps, which led me to the first two before ending up at the right one. Sucked.
Come for the drinks, not the food.
They have an impressive tequila selection and their bartenders are impressive to watch. The restaurant itself is pretty huge and they have a really swanky indoor fire pit with seating all around it. This table is ALWAYS occupied though. I’m assuming people show up at five on the dot and just camp out there all night or something because I’ve never seen an empty seat at the firepit.
The food is nothing to note. It’s really just edible, kinda pricey and the service is slow probably because it’s always super packed in here. Even at 10 at night.

8 of us converged on Casa del Matador last Saturday to celebrate a few birthdays. The service was excellent, I wish I had caught our servers name so I could give a shout out. Chips and salsa were free flowing and everyone in our party thoroughly enjoyed their meal. I especially loved the black beans. They were spiced just right and very, very yummy. Some of us had the Tequila flights and this is a great way to try out some different Tequilas and learn a bit more on what the difference is between Blanco, Mezcal, Reposado etc. are. Then you can try a shot or 2 of your favorite! I also had the red sangria and it was fruity and light and delightful.
The ambiance at the E. Burnside location is very pleasant and I love the open round fireplace bar section (sort of feels like a ski lodge).

I have now been here for almost nine months and good food doesn’t surprise me anymore. I came up here after living in Texas for 13 years. Texas knows it’s Mexican food, it’s Tex-​Mex and great BBQ. So when I started to find really good street tacos up here (Olé Olé), I figured the rest would follow. BBQ still hasn’t as of yet, but who knows. As for Matador, I use to live right down the street and would pass by all the time on my way other establishments. It’s spendy for Mexican food. A street taco should be like $ 1.25– 1.50. But I was sure the food was also good. I was correct.
Long time friends of my mother were in town on a trip through the northwest so my brother and I met up with them. It was burger week and the original plan was to go to Ate-​Oh-​Ate, but the line was too long and they had wandered down to Matador before I arrived. I ordered a Ninkasi beer and we had a table waiting. It’s always great to catch up with people who have known you since you were a child.
As for the menu? It was impressive and Braised Beef tacos were a good and spicy choice for me. Amazing tacos with avocado and a great side of rice and beans to go with it. The tacos weren’t overly spicy, but according to our server it was one of the spiciest items on the menu. Really good, really flavorful. I highly recommend them.
The place was busy and the space, inviting. I’m not sure how many more opportunities I will have to venture here, but I am glad I got the chance to eat some great, simple Mexican fare that I enjoyed.