Where nostalgia meets consistent quality and friendly staff you get a place that stands the test of time and is more busy than ever after 70 years in operation. I recently visited on a Sunday night after 8:00PM and found Matt’s to be more crowded than I have seen it in some time. There were many large tables of family and friends celebrating good times and special events. Despite the crowds, our party was sat quickly and had margaritas in hand within minutes of sitting. Also good to note that even with the large crowd, we were able to easily find parking for two vehicles. This is because Matt’s is not just built on quality, but also has the capacity to service a very large audience, plenty of parking and tables available. The food is high quality classic Tex-Mex with great enchiladas and burritos amongst other classic dishes. This visit, I tried Matt’s Chicken Fried Steak for the first time and was pleasantly surprised that it also lived up to the same quality as the other standard fare. Overall, Matt’s is a great dining experience every time I have dined here. One downside is that the large dining areas are very loud and difficult to have a conversation without raising your voice, but this also adds to the overall atmosphere so its hard to complain too much. Everyone I know always starts the meal with a large bowl of Bob Armstrong queso. Another note for nice weather days and lazy afternoons, Matt’s has a really nice courtyard garden that helps bring the diners into the feeling of a interior Mexican hacienda. If you have never been to Matt’s - get there as quick as you can.

I've been here twice now. The first time was okay, a bit underwhelming. Got the enchiladas which were dry and mostly flavourless. The second time I got their burritos, which were basically just slightly larger enchiladas. The second time was better and had more flavour, but it was by no measure anything particularly great, and the fajita meat was very over-salted. It's decent Texas Mexican food, but really just average at best. Definitely an overrated joint. I really do love their chips though, almost worth going just for those.

Great food in general. There are some items that are lacking, such as the Chile Relleno, pork tamales or beef taco. However, they have some great items as well such as the Matt's spicy fries and Matt's queso dip. Nice atmosphere and great service usually.

No trip to Austin is complete without a visit to Matt’s! We use to live I Austin in the early 2000’s and I really appreciate that it has not changed a bit. The food, the drinks, the salsa, and the service is the best. I indulged on the Deluxe Dinner. I’m just glad I got 10 miles running on the greenbelt before the feast.

I had such high hopes for this place, and I was completely let down. The salsa was too spicy and liquidy. The chips were either way too hard or just stale. The nachos were not even nachos since they had zero flavor, and it looked like a toddler made it. The tacos were extremely bland, and the only flavor I got was from the taco shells. All in all, the food was basic, bland, and underwhelming. Also, the waitress was never around. She only checked up on us once, and that was for a refill when they brought over the food. We had to flag her down for the cheque, and that was after waiting 10+ minutes just awkwardly sitting around since we ate everything. Once she came and gave it to us, she just left even after I had my card already out. It took another 15 minutes for her to actually come back and take it. At this point, I was just planning on leaving the cash on the table and just leaving. I don't think I will ever come back to this place again, even if a friend says that they will pay for my dinner.

Not only the best Mexican restaurant in Austin, probably the best restaurant in Austin!! I've been going for 30 years and every single time everything is just right. The service, the atmosphere, the drinks, and the food. Always on point. A 70 plus year old Austin institution, and a must go for locals and visitors alike.

Oooold school Tex-mex This is a resto straight out of the 80s (or maybe earlier), huge portions, retried beans, not terribly seasoned, etc Unfortunately, portions only don’t suffice any more. That said, it’s worth coming here to people watch, and remember how things used to be…

Delicious food, as always! It had been a while since I last ate here, but I was as pleased to discover that the food and ambience was as good as ever. The guacamole was flavorful and creamy, perfect texture. The chips were crispy and stood up to the salsa and guacamole. The brisket taco accompanied by charro beans made for a hearty and satisfying lunch. Staff were helpful and friendly and attentive. Ample parking in the lot. Great atmosphere!

The best seat in the house is on the patio - it is next to the fish pond in the far back right hand side. A perfect table for one or two. The view is outstanding and it is perfectly in the path of the misting fan. Matt’s has been an Austin Tex-Mex icon for over 70 years. The Bob Armstrong Dip is exactly the yellow / orange color and cheeses buttery flavor Tex-Max queso should be. I had “the Bob”, the guacamole salad (a house staple), and the “Mexican style”smothered Texas Red Fish. Make sure to ask for Josh B as your server. He is a delight. They have a dedicated parking lot that is always packed. They have paid valet as well.

This TEX-MEX classic done well a couple of vegan choices and my flexitarian partner assures me the nachos with chicken Al carbon are excellent. Vegan fajitas really good grilled veg. The ambience is good I stopped and helped sing Happy Birthday to a grandmother the parking easy

I can not believe I have lived here since 1994 and did not know about this amazing GEM! The food was just beyond delicious, dare I say better than mom's... Do yourself a favor. Go eat here. Located on S. Lamar, where there's so much to do and see, the crowd was diverse, and everywhere you looked, there was a smile. This is now our new favorite place to enduldge our homemade Mexican food!

I have a lot of mixed thoughts about our dinner experience. First of all, we showed up on a Saturday night at 7:30pm after a UT win against K State. The wait was 2.5 hours (I guess to be expected) so we were ready to split, but then we were pressured to experience the endeavor. So, we hung around and had a few drinks while waiting. Luckily the drinks kicked in before we were seated, so the wait became more tolerable. The atmosphere was fun and lively, and the drinks were ok. It was super loud and packed. We sat down for a table of 9 after about 1.5hrs. The wait staff did a great job of accommodating our party and all of our various orders. I was disappointed that there was not a Mole sauce option at all. My chicken enchilada meal was just ok - very run of the mill. I tried a bite from several other plates, and it was the same. The brisket nachos were the best thing that I tried. The guacamole and queso were just passable. However, the salsa was great especially considering it was one of the more spicy salsas that I have had when served to the general public...risky. The Knock-Out drink was tasty and necessary to enjoy the experience. Basically, it was too loud, too crowded, and the food was just ok and not worth the time or expense. I don't think that the restaurant did anything wrong, but it was not worth the price of admission. I am willing to try it again, but not after a UT win, and not on a weekend night.

This is a tough one because this place is an Austin Institution and you can't knock 70 years of success. That being said..... Food - 4 Stars.....good, but nothing exceptional; Service - 3 Stars......Food was really slow coming out, never checked back for water refills or other drinks. Server was OK but not overly friendly; Parking - 2.5 Stars......Large lot but still difficult to find a Parking spot. Would definitely eat there again, but only if I was in the neighborhood. Not a place I would drive an hour to go to.

Always great! Service in dining is great. Food is amazing. 5 stars for that. Today, not so good in the bar. 2 stars for the bar. One bartender ignored me, then the female bartender said only enough to get the order. No smile, no words. Just made drinks, slid the CC machine over and kept working.

The Al Pastor plate was outstanding. The meat was tender and full of flavor, rice and beans good as well. My son and husband got enchiladas and liked them as well. Overall good Tex-mex food restaurant. The only downside are the bathrooms … they were not clean at all 😒

Best steak fajitas I ever had. Went for lunch. Very reasonable. I also had a cup of tortilla soup which on a chilly rainy day was perfect. I really enjoyed Matt’s.

Terrific experience. Menu has an abundance of tempting choices. Food was lovingly prepared by a kitchen of craftspeople, delivered by top notch servers and runners. The ambiance, to me, felt nostalgic reminding me a bit of the fancier Mexican restaurants growing up in Texas ~ 50 years ago, yet diners were casual and comfortably dressed largely, with a spattering of trendy fashionistas/os scattered around the various dining areas.

This restaurant has amazing reviews and amazing seating outside the staff is friendly and the service is fast and weekend. The food was OK. We did not enjoy it as much as we thought we would because mostly everything was bland. Contrary to Mexican cuisine. The chicken had less to no flavors. It could’ve been much much better & margaritas was OK. The only thing good was chips and salsa and salsa was pretty good. It can be pretty busy and it’s hard to get a parking spot.