Casa de Mateo

On a follow-​up, a couple of days after our disappointing dinner, one member of our group called to complain mostly about forgetting the 15% discount offered to Centaur theatregoers and was told that her call would be passed on to one of the owners. She has not received a response. In a city of very competitive restaurants, this does not represent good service. Pass it by — go to Stash’s instead.

The food was ok (nothing great) but the service was terrible. I would give the food 3.5 stars.

Great authentic Mexican food, great service. Loved the music and entertainment while eating. I would definitely recommend this restaurant!

Good food Large portions. Good value. Almost every time we go to Montréal we eat here. You won’t be disappointed.

Good Mexican in Old Montréal. Fun atmosphere… although for some reason they play bad pop instead of tex-​mex or Mexican

The owners/​operators are VERY, VERY nice people. If ratings were based on people, this would be a five star restaurant.
But, our experience was conflicted.
We knew there was a mariachi band that was playing in the large back/​side room. We choose to eat in the front (entrance) room because it was quieter. There were about 20 people eating in the same room and when the mariachi’s headed our way, two tables paid and left and a large third table wanted the band to leave them alone, but the band would not.
I don’t like loud anything restaurants and had I known that the band walked around, we would not have eaten here.
The food was interesting, but not better than good.
We ordered red sangria which was unlike my experience with tons of fresh orange, lemon and sugar, it had little fruit and what seemed to be box wine, not traditional heavy red.(rioja)
So, for us it was a disappointment on two counts.
The owner wrote to me to remind me that it has been voted the best Mexican Restaurant in Montréal for many years.
That unfortunately doesn’t alter my experience, nor my expectations.
And the owner is still a lovely woman.
If you want a rah rah lively band driven dinner: this is it.

Great liitle mexican restaurant in the heart of old port Montréal. Unique (this it has roasted eggplant in it) spicey salsa, good guacamole, and frozen drinks. We stayed at the hotel upstairs. Say hello to Fanny, she runs the place and adds a friendly touch to everything.

Had the yearning for Mexican food. All I can say is, «Been there, done that, don’t ever need to go back. »

Terrible

Très touristique, mais belle ambiance tout de même. Chanteurs traditionnels mexicains sur place quelques jours par semaine
À essayer: fajitas et quesadillas!

La enchilada estuvo bien, pero quizás algo caro. El servicio correcto!

It was A-​Okay.
A safe choice in a city where Mexican food might not be the norm
It was also very convenient for our stay in old Montréal, to walk a few blocks along the cobblestone streets and see the live music and band go table-​to-​table.
We were hungry and ordered the eggplant appetizer, which was tasy but VERY small, and overpriced… but IT IS montreal.
we also ordered shrimp fajitas for two and it was also very nice…
it was definitely fresh… guac was tasty
their salsa seemed very different… possibly because it came from a Oxauca (sp???) region, seemed FILLED with chipotle… but had a smoky taste my husband liked a lot…
we spent around 50 – 60 on dinner with tip for two… ended up not being so bad with the price.

nice location in old montreal, a bit kitschy with the mexican band that comes around (and quite loud). but frankly i thought the food was very average, bordering on bad. i would not eat here again. we had tacos and fajitas, two staples that any mexican restaurant should be able to do very well and they were pretty bad. not to mention the rice was very dry. nachos were decent, and the salsa was ok but it tasted like a grocery store bottle salsa. it wasn’t fresh. going by the quality of the food, this was a $ 20 dollar meal for two after tip and taxes, we paid $ 55 excluding drinks. for $ 55 i know of about 20 restaurants in montreal where we could have had a fantastic meal. no mexican is better than bad mexican, eat somewhere else.

My colleague, Steve, and I took a walk to Old Montréal looking for a restaurant for supper.
We decided on a Mexican restaurant called Casa De Matéo in Old Montréal.
Tortilla chips and salsa are complimentary. The salsa was tasty but the heat snuck up on you.
We split a litre of sangria. It was tasty but it was full of bitter lemon and lime rinds. The straw was too big to filter them out.
We both had Burritos Oaxaqueños (Two soft flour tortillas rolled around a tasty blend of spicy beef, traditional beans, melted cheese and tangy sauce. Served with rice). They were tasty and filling … the «tangy» sauce was quite spicy.
It seems to be an authentic Mexican restaurant. The food was good, the servers friendly but the service leisurely.

service was good; drinks were good and reasonably priced.
The food was not good at all; edible at best. If you live in the states, the chicken fajitas tasted like the chicken you would get at sarku japan at a mall.
Not worth the $ 100 dollar tab!!!

Table side made guac? Yes, please! Guac for two was more like guac for 6 – 8 (our table of three ate MAYBE half). Awesome, perfect amount of spice. I had nachos that were super yummy and service was perfect. Was able to speak Spanish in this French speaking country with my English speaking American accent, which was fun. Great ambience in great Old Montréal location. Awesome service as well. Highly recommend.

If you’re looking for the cliched Mexican restaurant with the Mariachis and frozen cocktails/​margaritas then this place is for you.
Personally I prefer contemporary Mexican cuisine with good premium margaritas (not that Jose Cuervo/​Sauza stuff).
Unfortunately, the food and service at Casa De Mateo were unremarkable as was the margarita.
I don’t know if we have much choice locally (would love to hear any suggestions), but I still think you need to head down south below the 49^th parallel to find really good margaritas and Mexican food.

I was looking forward to eating at Casa de Mateo. My friend and I were visiting Montréal and I mentioned the last time I ate at this restaurant was 12 years ago and it was totally awesome. We decided to have dinner one night and boy did things change.
I must say I have never been so insulted. First, I speak Spanish fluently but I decided to speak English. The hostess, did not host, no one greeted us at the door– let’s be clear Montréal closes early and when one decides to go to dinner at 9:30pm at night on a Saturday, it seems restaurants are not pleased.
Second, one of the Mariachi band members (the old, short one with long hair) was down right insulting and racist. He made fun of us the moment we entered the restaurant because we spoke English, then because we are Asian and decided to mock us by singing a song about an Asian girl and trying to saying Hi in any Asian language and laughed! They sang even when we told them we did not want to be serenaded.
The food was fine but I found a hair in the salsa. The general service was quick and efficient. Our waiter was friendly and nice. However, the distasteful Mariachi had made me lose my appetite. I will never go to this restaurant again especially if management/​owner continues to hire singers that taint the restaurant in this manner.
Coming from NYC where Mexican food is found at every street corner, from budget to upscale. This restaurant was a disappointment both in courtesy and ambiance with average Mexican food.

Another long day in Montréal but guess what, I made it downtown! This little out of the way Mexican restaurant with its attached quaint inn was just the thing to lift our spirits and fill our bellies tonight.
Dos margaritas por favor… rapido! They were perfectly mixed, on the rocks, half salt — yum. Next came the guacamole prepared table side… equally delish. Main dishes for our little crew consisted of enchiladas, soft tacos and seviche. All filling our desire for a bit of South of the Border fare.
The dessert, like we needed it, was a perfectly chilled flan. The bottom/​top was just soaked with the wonderful almost burnt sugar… Loved it!
I really liked the staff… they were attentive and made us feel oh so welcome. This is a nice change of pace from all the ethnic offerings we passed along our route today.

WONDERFUL fajitas-​for-​two. We had the filet mignon kind and were pleasantly surprised. Good salsa; quaint little place.