Matador Ballard

5410 Ballard Ave NW, Seattle
(206) 297-2855

Recent Reviews

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Xiaoke Tong

Very bad and rude attitude from servers and manager, remember to bring your physical id or you will take responsibility for a 5000 fine 🙄

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Hana “Ash” Cooper

I like going after ten o'clock because then the food's a little bit cheaper, I can feed myself and a friend for under thirty five dollars. Also, they have fantastic tacos.I always get the street tacos.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

A W

In luv with their shrimp tacos, some of the best salsa I’ve had too!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Dragos ILINCA

They claim it’s a ‘tequila bar’ and minors are not allowed. When pushed about ‘all restaurants serve alcohol and it’s not a problem’ they said well we are a bar that serves a bit of food. That’s fine, but you can’t have it both ways.

Tom Gavin

Excellent food! Will be returning.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Nicholas Liu

We were asked to present ID to eat. Not drink. Eat. And they didn't take drivers licenses either for international students, only passports. As an international student, who does not want to carry around a passport, this is obscene. At the very least, please inform people before they sit down and try to order food, instead of after they want to order! And why can we not eat food without a passport? I hope you lose all of your business from non-Americans.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Douglas James

Ridiculously cheap and tasty street tacos on their happy hour
We have been very happy each visit

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Pedro Zamora

Bartender didn’t offer a second drink but the check . I believe she was in a hurry. Food was great as always

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 1

Nickolas Valkanas

Karen just gave us 5 star service. She was seriously reading our minds and making sure we were totally taken care of , even as it was a busy happy hour. She made us feel like royalty - MVP Karen!!

Service: 5

Pat McCormick

We were a table of 7: parents, adult children, their adult children. Service was prompt—the waitress didn’t forget us after we asked for more time to decide.
The nachos were plenty for the 7 of us and very good. We added ground beef.
We had a variety of things. I had the chicken quesadilla—a nice surprise to learn it was a happy hour item, so $6, I think! It was really good (I was the only one who cleaned their plate!)
The only fail seemed to be the black beans: nobody ate theirs.
Wish we’d gone to the Redmond location more often when we lived there. ☹️

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

riley O

21 and over only, wish this was clear on the website before we drove an hour here

Atmosphere: 1

Service: 1

Mark Fitzsimmons

The food during Happy Hour (4-7) is delicious! The quesadillo's and the nachos are an amazing deal. I've had the steak quesadillo a few times and it's been consistently excellent. The nachos are packed with toppings and will be perfect for a group of 3 - 4. The ambiance inside is beautiful or you can sit outside and enjoy things there.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Andrew Colpitts

Large portions and very tasty

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Michail Clutter

I may be jaded because of the location change but it feels like they aren't as good as they used to be. The happy hour menu is pretty decent if you can find parking within walking distance.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 4

J T

Update: If the truth about how people are treated makes you uncomfortable, direct your discomfort at the behavior—not the person exposing it!
Tried calling multiple times to place a takeout order, but no one answered. I love the food here, but the lack of phone service makes it hard to support regularly.

So I came in person to order. After waiting nearly an hour for a simple salad order—placed at 10:24 and promised within 10–15 minutes—I returned at the exact time it was supposed to be ready, only to find no receipt, no food at the table, and no communication from staff. I had already been seated for 20 minutes without being offered water or acknowledged. When I finally received the order, it was missing to-go silverware—basic essentials for a takeout meal. This experience reflects a complete lack of professionalism and courtesy, especially toward a solo diner who came in ready to be a regular customer.

After a long day at work, I was really looking forward to my Chop Chop Salad. Unfortunately, when I got home and opened it, I realized there was not nearly enough dressing to cover the salad. As you can see from the photos, a large portion of it was left dry—even after using the entire container provided.

I’ve enjoyed your food in the past, but this was a disappointing experience after a long day. I hope in the future more dressing can be included with to-go orders, especially with full-size salads like this one.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

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