Matador Meridian — Restaurant in Meridian

Came in around 4:30 on a Friday, wasn't busy at all, plenty of open tables inside. Wasn't warm enough to sit outside, but they do have very nice seating outdoors, which we'll make sure to eat at next time. This was my second time eating at this location. Last time I missed out on Happy Hour (4PM-6PM), so I wanted to come here during HH, just to see how the specials are and if they're worth the money. I've included pictures of all food we ordered, just so you guys can see a picture of what some of the food & drink options look like. Just some quick pros right off the bat: great atmosphere & decorations, great lighting (if you get a window seat), small candle at tables (nice lil touch), CLEAN BATHROOMS ;)

During Happy Hour, the Frozen Lime Margarita is $5, and the Frozen Mango Margarita is $6.Honestly, the drinks were tasty, but for a Happy Hour, I think they drinks should cost $4. If I had to choose between the two, I'd recommend the Mango one, for $1 it's worth it over the Lime one (better taste). We also ordered a glass of Ruta 22 Malbec wine, which was $7.50 a glass. PRICEY (I can get a Ste. Chappelle big boy bottle at Winco for $11 and have a GREAT NIGHT ;)), but this is what I'd recommend over the margaritas if you're planning on having a serious entree here, especially if you're ordering something spicy, just because the wine is dry and matches up perfectly with a spicy dish.

Now, on to the food. We ordered the Happy Hour Steak Tacos, Happy Hour Mushroom Quesadilla, and Happy Hour Tortilla Chicken Soup. I really enjoyed the Steak Tacos, the burnt flavor on the outside of the steak pieces was very tasty, but for $6, it felt pricey (again, this will be the main theme here). The Mushroom Quesadilla comes in at $5, and was really good as well, I'd say it's a fair price, if anything, maybe should be a dollar less, but not a big deal. The Tortilla Chicken Soup was just alright, I'd say skip that, unless you're craving a bowl of soup. I believe the soup had avocado in it, which actually was a good surprise. Out of the 3 Happy Hour options we got, I'd recommend the Steak Tacos, just because of how tasty the steak was.

For entrees, we ordered Verde Chicken Burrito, Carne Asada, and Carnitas. All 3 tasted GREAT. I'm not sure if it's because we were all hungry, or if the alcohol was kicking in, but I literally can't think of any complaints in regards to how the food tasted and was presented. Even though our entrees took a while to get (same goes for the appetizers in the beginning AND the drinks), the food was HOT and tasted great. I saw others complained about getting cold food, that wasn't the case with us, I was really satisfied.

The Carne Asada had that same burnt steak taste as those steak tacos earlier, which ya'll already know how much I liked that flavor. You get Garlic Mashed Potatos with the Carne Adada, but I really didn't taste much garlic in there. But still, the whole package of meat, potato, and corn was G.A.F. The amount of meat you get with the Carnitas is really a good value, and if I remember correctly, it had a little sweet taste to it. The Verde Chicken Burrito was VERY good as well. I'm just looking at the pictures I took and it's making me hungry again. If you had to make me choose 1 entree out of the 3, I'd say go for Carne Asada.

There are 2 reasons why I'm NOT giving this 5 stars, and that's because of the slow service & the overall pricing. Our waitress was very nice to us, the issue I had was just waiting around for our drinks, appetizers, and food. They weren't even that busy, so I'm not sure why it took so long. And the pricing, well I just feel like the prices are higher than they should be. The food was GREAT, but if the price was perhaps ~20% cheaper (ex Carne Asada for $17-$18, Carnitas around $15), I'd be all over this place.

Overall, I'd say this is a SOLID 4, will be back. If prices were a tad lower, I honestly would say I'd go out of my way to come here at least once a week. I really had a...

My out of state mom came to visit and wanted Mexican so we took her to the Matador. When leaving she left her purse sitting on the chair next to where she was sitting. She did not realize until later in the evening so we called first thing in the morning on Saturday and left a message. By the time the restaurant opened no return call. My husband called again and got someone on the phone who barely spent 30 seconds to tell him they had nothing and hang up. This is my out of state mother who has to be on a flight on Sunday morning to return to her home state so we drove to the restaurant. Instead of being helpful the staff was literally PISSED that we had bothered them by coming in to the restaurant to double check. I’m quoting, “One of your husbands ALREADY CALLED (this was yelled at me) we looked then so why are you here? Go ask at security for the Village we aren’t responsible if someone stole something.” Listen, I’m not upset that they didn’t find the purse. I am well aware of how dishonest this world is what I upset about is the mistreatment of the staff at this restaurant. They never offered to take our information and see if maybe when the manager came in they would know more. Perhaps the people who worked the night before would come in and have thoughts. It’s a brightly colored floral mini back pack there is no way someone did not notice it so where is it? For a staff to go from zero to pissed that we came by to ask about it makes me feel really suspicious that they have something to hide. Why else act so unhelpful and angry. You are service facility where was your customer service in even trying to understand the issue. My mothers drivers license was basically the only thing in that backpack of any value, the back pack itself isn’t even valuable. It will matter when she tries to make her flight tomorrow morning.

That said our dining experience was AWFUL as well. We were seated after waiting 45 minutes and the table was next to the walkway to the bathroom - we had passed other open tables of the same size and my husband requested to move to one of those and we were told ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! VERY firmly and it was rude. The server took over 15 mins to even come take our drink order and our drinks were another 15 mins from arriving. Then we finally got to order after being seated for close to 45 minutes. Our order came in what actually seemed to be a reasonable amount of time and the food was fine. Not fantastic, certainly not the value of the price charged but fine. We paid and left.

Will I return? HELL NO!!!! Do I recommend them? HELL NO!!!!! I wish I could find out who the owner is and request every single person be fired. Perhaps they should have to take a class in how to offer customer service or at least care. You have a lot to learn in order to even get the standards that Fast food restaurants demand for customer service, much less a restaurant where we paid so much to be abused at.

One last thing, we went to the mall security to see if anything had been turning in and they told us they would go over and ask questions. Get this, they took our information and told us they would call us to let us know what they found. Read that again, they took our contact information - something the staff at the restaurant refused to even ask for. On top of that the comment made was, “right now the staff there is afraid of security”. Hmmmmmm, makes you wonder why the staff is afraid of security?! Perhaps the suspicions I have as to why they were so pissed are...

Well after years of coming here I have to change my review. I have came here for years but recently in the last year the service has gotten worse and worse. You walk in the girls are all very snooty and bothered making me feel like a burden by even walking through the door. This last time really was the last straw I came in for my birthday and we got seated but no one came to greet us at our table for 25 minutes & that’s only because I had to stop someone who works there finally letting them know we had been waiting for 20 minutes or so and no one had helped us. For clarification on how many were seated at the table it was 2. Sad part was this time the place was pretty much empty. I got pictures this time of the faculty just standing & talking which is okay but don’t forget about your customers I mean I’m willing to pay extra if that would make my service better. As you can see our drinks are just sitting there we waited 15 minutes to receive those after sitting up there I almost wanted to go grab them myself to not interrupt their very important conversation after our 25 minute wait to even get greeted at our table. Usually this place is packed and sometimes there is a wait time which is understandable. These last couple of times all the workers there seem bothered, and unhappy making me feel like I’m a burden to come eat at your restaurant. I loved this place so I am sad and disappointed to be leaving this review. Their chips and salsa have never been very good chips always have tasted stale & the dip tastes very watered down def not authentic. I always came here for their salsa verde chicken enchiladas they are truly one of my favorites! Also the best margarita place ive been to! I always get their strawberry margarita its my favorite. For that ive even tried doing door dash to avoid the terrible service but unfortunately the kitchen in the meridian location lacks on following instructions through the app but the downtown location follows instructions and shows they pack the food with care as well. Im beginning to wonder if they are owned by the same person since the menu is the same but the name of the restaurants look alike but are different. One is called The Matador and the other is Casa del Matador. Anyways if you order online downtown location is recommended! After my last terrible experience I went over to SIDS garage also located at the village and they made my day so much better. It’s crazy what the atmosphere can do in a place. I would recommend walking over to sids garage for a refresh on customer service. I couldn't believe the difference in being greeted with a smile before you even set foot in the door there. The matador downtown also has way better service almost makes the longer drive worth it. Sad this place was definitely me...