Matador

1967 W Burnside St Portland, OR 97209
Phone: (503) 222.5822

Located in: Northwest Portland & near Southwest Portland - Visit Website
horns upair conditionedWiFipoolvideo pokerlate nighthappy hourmeat markethipstersdivesportsliquorDJ
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BarFly's Review of Matador

The Matador's stuttered through peaks and troughs during its forty-year tenure on Burnside, but these days it's high flying for this grande dame of the dive scene. Its bar, one of the longest rails in town, is still a regular belly bump for Portlanders of all walks, though by 10pm, twenty-somethings in super-skinny junkie jeans, and ironic mullets, crowd out the dayshift's remaining lifers.

A must-do for visitors and newbies: peeing in the Matador's altar-like urinal - it's become a veritable rite of Portland passage, and not just for boys. Despite the infamous bartender, Lady Laura's recent retirement, drinks are still among the strongest and cheapest in downtown. Every night of the week features a local deejay (hair metal prevails), or the very occasional live band (the annual Halloween show by PDX super-group, The Edgar Allen Poesers, is not to be missed).

Never a cover. Pool x 2, plenty of video crack, and a stand-up punch bag boxing game. NOT to be confused with "Casa del Matador" a chain of semi-upscale tapas bars that's opened a couple of Portland outposts in recent years.

Matador's Happy Hours
Monday12-7pm $2.50 Wells, $1 PBR
Tuesday12-7pm $2.50 Wells, $1 PBR
Wednesday12-7pm $2.50 Wells, $1 PBR
Thursday12-7pm $2.50 Wells, $1 PBR
Friday12-7pm $2.50 Wells, $1 PBR
Saturday12-7pm $2.50 Wells, $1 PBR
Sunday12-7pm $2.50 Wells, $1 PBR
Reader Reviews of Matador
decorum

one can only wonder why the guy who tends bar there at night has a job working with the public. He ought to work as a prison guard. Little big man Rob has sent so much business down the road how can he justify his salary ?

Reviewed Anonymously by g on October 11, 2009, 10:56 am
cougars

The grand dames, Laura and Rebecca, have gone widening the field for all you man hungry babes out there, but be careful of the manthers who prey upon budding cougars...we still serve the best drinks in town and I even give free banjo lessons.

Reviewed Anonymously by casey on August 25, 2009, 9:45 am
Aw, butt hurt banjo player

Got an issue? Get a tissue. You awesome banjo players sure are sensitive. If I see you at Matador holding a banjo, if I can get past all the groupies, I'll buy you a Whineken. You should write a song about all the pain this has caused you.

Reviewed Anonymously by G on July 30, 2009, 9:50 am
inconsistency

I think you ought to censor cross talk between respondents...why would you publish one and not the other ? Unless, that is, you have a motive for skewing the facts and that makes your site a bit useless and political doesn't it ?

Reviewed Anonymously by decason@gmail.com on July 29, 2009, 10:13 am
Meat? Banjo?

I'd like to "meat" Rebecca, Amanda and Ellyn too. A banjo serenade? You're sad, dude.

Reviewed Anonymously by G on July 23, 2009, 10:09 am
great party place

great place to meat people for a stiff one. I especially enjoyed the blonde bartender, Rebbecca...she was more than accommodating as were Ellyn and Amanda. They all were so kind I wanted to take them home and serenade them with my banjo.

Reviewed Anonymously by decason@gmail.com on July 22, 2009, 1:49 pm
my 21er

my first legal drink was at the matador 17 drinks later i did my first legal stummble home i've been stumbling home from this bar for many a year since.

god bless the matador!

Reviewed By BarFly User saddays on April 18, 2009, 4:13 pm
home sweet home

To me it's much like being in my living room with a reveling festivity round the clock. It is so clean I would eat off of the floors...It isn't so much a bar as it is an experience. The girls are some horny little devils and the music they play stays in my head for days...I wish that I could live there.

Reviewed Anonymously by ddogrdog@gmail.com on January 12, 2009, 6:03 pm
Not bad

I'm from Clearwater, FL and have many friends who live in Portland and had nothing but good things to say about the place. My lasting impression of The Matador is the enourmous urinals. Thats my thing. I'm all about the pissers. I could have camped out in the thing. Awesome.

Reviewed Anonymously by Dr Balls on January 5, 2009, 7:04 pm
matawhore

I like this place enough to keep going back. I always meet a few women (even got in the photo booth with some), the beer is cheap, the drinks are stiff, and for the most part people are nice there. However, its a total divebar aka shithole. I stayed too late, it was closing time and they turned the lights on and its a dirty ass bar.

So if you are up for a little more rowdy crowd its a decent place. Last nite I got to see a guy have to be carried out of the bar after he puked all over the bathroom floor and stall, I saw a woman pretending to stand up piss in the mens urinals, and had some woman's thick ass on my lap.

Reviewed By BarFly User JohnnyCastle on February 2, 2008, 2:50 pm
I just love it

I am not from Portland, I am a Brazilian guy who lives in Georgia, and I Think the matador the best place ever.........beer is cheep, pool is cheep, nice people............ I JUST LOVE IT...........

Reviewed Anonymously by ricardo on January 25, 2008, 7:04 pm
drunk

yeah.... anything goes at this bar. iv'e seen mike piss on the tables and i puked on the floor once right were i was sitting. needless to say. i couldn't make it into the bathroom... with the new owners though, i'm sure they cleaned the atmosphere up a bunch. GREAT people work there and also the regulars. i'd know. i used to be one! CHEERS!

Reviewed Anonymously by rebecca on January 10, 2007, 11:38 pm
DJ action

Last Thurs night there was a great DJ at the Matador, I never got to tell him, but he was playing great stuff. The Shangri-Las' "Train From Kansas City" was a sweet closer for the evening. No, I'm not some ghost pimp for this guy, he really did have great taste, great enough that I noticed it from the bottom of a deep well of jack & coke.

Reviewed Anonymously by Butterbun on June 12, 2006, 4:12 pm
it was

Actually it was some old drunk slut's dog who kept coming up to me and trying to sniff my crotch when I was shooting pool. I'm pretty sure service dogs are trained. And on leashes.

Reviewed Anonymously by actually on April 8, 2006, 5:45 pm
Nope

Service animals are allowed in bars and all public places for that matter. It is against the law (federal) for the barhelp to ask what the diability is. Federal law always supercedes the State regarding rights to people with diabilities (visible or not). They can only ask if it is a pet. They can however require it be leashed. I know this because I own a bar and had to deal with some issues due to this type of thing. Service animals can be for invisible conditions such as medic alert dogs that alert to the presence of a medical condition.

Reviewed Anonymously by Matthew on April 7, 2006, 12:36 pm
dirty but fun

I know its an s hole but I keep going. Mostly to have some drinks before baseball games to avoid the pge park prices. Usually a free pool table as well. Barmaid is strange but nice. But yeah, they totally overserve and its gross and with dog piss (isn't against health code to have animals in bars?)

Reviewed Anonymously by matt on April 7, 2006, 9:17 am
hi there

HI THERE,

some of u may know who is writing..so let me say hello to everybody who´s ever been to the matador.. most of the times i liked it cuz most of the girls who work there rock! some of them are a little fucked up but isnt the same old thing? The Matador isnt the cleanest place and one special doorman isnt always in his best mood nevertheless he is a lovely guy . the owner´s sick.. but it was always funny to chill at the matador.

greetings to the italian girl alex to dager .(damn)..brooklyn...susi.. . charlie.. amber.. destiny.;)..ranch dressing ..lol ... ginger of course! .. my littel phillipine girl from the bitb. ;)

Sarah

made_in_rheinbach@web.de

Reviewed Anonymously by German girl on January 14, 2006, 9:54 am
Fun Times

There's just about always a good pool game to be had (bring your skills), The DJs mix up the genres and crowd is pretty diverse.

Reviewed Anonymously by Minger on November 24, 2005, 8:02 pm
Holy Crap! Thats enough!

One of the best dive bars around. Some of the stiffest drinks ever served. Almost to strong (if thats possible). Bartender chick is a bit odd..sniff...sniff..., but seems to be nice.

Reviewed Anonymously by Non-"shirt" guy on October 25, 2005, 1:40 pm
Visorboy

by far the rudest doorman/server/visor-wearer I've ever encountered. If I weren't such a wuss, I'd waylay him after he got off work, then do something painful & unwholesome to the bastard (probably incorporating his namesake hat). but seriously, folks: unless you dig abuse and sitting at tables that have been routinely cummed upon, then he and this bar are not worth putting up with.

Reviewed Anonymously by bert on September 20, 2005, 10:45 pm
Matador-whore

I regular the Matador on an almost nightly basis. The drinks are stiff, if ordered from Laura, the beer is cheap, the tables are decent, and the music is always rockin'

The crowd is friendly, and drama free, despite the many "cliques" that have developed.

The food is so-so, I try not to touch it too often.

All in all, one of the more comfortable bars in Portland.

Reviewed Anonymously by Sarah on August 29, 2005, 10:40 pm
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