Matador Greenville — Restaurant in Greenville

A bit of good news overshadowed by a considerable amount of bad. The good news was the chips were light and crispy, the house salsa was bright, spicy, and the perfect consistency for balancing upon one of the delightful chips. And our server, Meghan (I'm taking a shot with the spelling) was very personable and efficient. That's the end of the good news. Now for the bad. The dip flight (a trio really, but I'll give that a pass) scored one for 3. The guacamole was velvety and nicely seasoned, but the black bean puree was a muddy mess, and the 'queso' was flavorless and had the consistency of bad pimento cheese. The entrees were worse. The fish tacos consisted of two tortillas and a few nuggets of fish that belonged on a children's menu. To be fair, the black beans and rice that accompanied the underwhelming tacos, were well-seasoned and yummy. The worst part of the meal was the second entree, which was stupefyingly dreadful. The 'Roasted Chili Rellenos' were a texturally indistinct, liquidy goo. Two flaccid poblano chilis lay drowned beneath the soupy mixture. The dish was covered in fried tortilla strips in an attempt to crunch-ify it, but they quickly turned into soggy ribbons. Why didn't I complain to the aforementioned, pleasant Meghan? The music was playing at a pile-driver volume and by the time the entrees arrived, I would have paid a hefty ransom to escape the place. I tipped 25% on an $80 tab despite the kitchen's shortcomings. I never stiff a server because the food is bad. In this...

Hopped over around 12:45 Friday afternoon. I was seated at the bar for about five minutes without being acknowledged. There were no other patrons at the time. Two male employees walked back and forth, stocking and working, but never once acknowledged me. Shortly after, two men approached the bar and were immediately greeted with, “Hey guys, how you doing?”

Instead of leaving, I decided to move to a table. Maya, the server, asked why I switched, and I explained that I hadn’t been acknowledged at the bar. She apologized and said she would “get on to them.”

When placing my order, I asked for no cilantro. Maya asked, “Because it tastes like soap?” I was surprised — I had never thought of it that way, but she was exactly right.

The black beans and rice were served barely lukewarm, and the tacos were also not very hot. However, • The Baja Fish taco was very tasty with a nice little kick. • The Steak taco was served cold, but it was still flavorful — although it came sprinkled with cilantro. The salsa was amazing. After asking for to-go containers, I paid my tab and left a tip. Maya came back and said she felt bad about the cilantro situation, so she comped my tacos. That was a very nice gesture.

Before I left, the manager stopped by, apologized for the cilantro issue, and shared an interesting fact: studies show that disliking cilantro can be genetic. I thought that was pretty cool.

Maya and Kay were both...

Where to begin??? Visiting friends in Greenville, they brought me to The Matador because I love tacos and great Mexican food in general.

First walking in it’s moody and a little dark, I like it! We were greeted everyone was nice. It took a few minutes to notice the skulls in the fire pit… great touch!

We sat our server, Gabriel was quick with the drinks and free chips & salsa. He was also very knowledgeable with the menu and ok with all of my annoying questions since I can never make up my mind.

We shared most everything he recommended, the dip trio, Mexican street corn, fish tacos, carnitas tacos, carne asada steak dinner oh, and a Ceasar salad. Everything was delicious! I’m definitely coming back for those fresh fish tacos I love that they use real fish, Mahi so yum! Carnitas steak was delicious totally shareable portion. Street corn was messy good fun, as it should be. Next time I want to have the watermelon salad, but since we were sharing I didn’t get to choose that.

They have a ton of tequila but I’m a tequila fan but I did taste the watermelon margarita, it was good. Next time I’ll get something other than beer.

Come early beat the crowds, I’m not sure if they reservations but will check next time as it was packed when we left about 6:30.

I was told this is a new restaurant I just wanted to leave a review to support it and say great job to the team...