Merry Christmas!!

From all of us at Matta's 

we wish you a 
very Merry Christmas!

New online Matta's shop

Our NEW online shop is up and running...just in time for holiday shopping. Cases of hot sauce and salsa are available for shipping to loved ones out of town. And gift cards can be either mailed to you or the gift recipient. It's that easy!

 We now also offer payments using paypal.

Right now we have a limited supply of our Ghost Pepper sauce so get it while it's HOT! Pun intended. 

Visit our shop: Got Matta's?

SALE on Matta's Sauces!

New Menu Specials at Riverview Location

We have NEW menu specials at Matta's in Mesa Riverview 

(see our full menu here) and there is a free concert series happening on thursdays. Fun for the whole family!

Happy Hour Prices All Day!

Don't miss out on these great specials Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays!  Our normal Happy Hour Specials were from 3-6 pm but we have decided to be abnormal and offer these deals to you all day! 

It's SUPERBOWL time!

To celebrate the Superbowl we are having happy hour prices all day! So come cheer on your favorite team and watch them win in HD, on our Cantina tv's or on our NEW patio tv.

If breakfast is your thing, remember you can have our delicious breakfast burrito or our NEW breakfast tacos all day!

Here's a list of our Fiesta Happy Hour specials:

Domestic Drafts $2

Import Drafts and Coronas $3

Matta's House Margarita $4.50

Well Margaritas $3.50

All Appetizers $3 off

Combination Plates 1-5 $1 off

Matta's Chimichanga $1 off

Who's going to win the Superbowl this year?

Is Matta's your favorite?

Is Matta's Grill & Cantina your favorite restaurant? If so, vote for us on the East Valley Tribune website! They are having a 'Best of East Valley 2011' voting until February 13th. There are many categories (Best Breakfast Restaurant...have you had one of our breakfast burritos?!mmm, Best Restaurant for a Special Occasion, Best Mexican Food Restaurant...oh yea!, Best Restaurant with Arizona Vibe for out of towners, Best Family friendly, Best New Restaurant opened in the past 12 months, Best Bar food, Best Happy Hour, etc) And you can vote in as many as you like, so if we're a favorite of yours...then please share your LOVE of

Matta's Grill & Cantina.

Many thanks in advance, we appreciate all of you!!!

Here's a link: http://bestof.eastvalleytribune.com/2011/vote/food_and_drink

It's all in the detail

Ok, so we missed out on Cinco de Mayo, we'll catch up. It's hopping at Matta's Grill & Cantina! There are so many different things going on, all the details are being addressed now. Let me start by saying that we finally have front doors and they are BEAUTIFUL! The tile work is nearing completion, those guys are knee deep into detail and they are very talented. Al from Tanner Materials is overseeing all the flooring, look them up if you are looking for some fabulous tile work!

Allen from Web Plastering has done the most beautiful job on the stucco, inside and out! We wanted the stucco on the inside to match what the old Matta's looked like inside and he has done exactly what we wished for. Call Allen at 602-376-3829.

Our painter Neil needs some recognition too, he is the man to call when you need a painter. I bugged him to get a website up to show off his great work, but says he's not ready for modern technology so call Neil at: 480-227-6852

We would like to also tell you that you can get a taste of Senor Rio tequila at one of their many tequila tastings, check their website for info on locations. (Their Anjeo is my favorite) Ask for Senor Rio when we open!

If you follow us on twitter then you get to see photos minutes after I take them with my phone. I have been instructed by the big boss, my husband Peter, to not put many more pictures up on here, sorry. We want you all to be surprised by the attention to detail that we've put into our new Matta's! He has been the mastermind behind the design of the dining room, kitchen & bar. I do take credit for coming up with the 2nd floor, restoring all of the old Matta's light fixtures and restoring all of the old decorative pieces & repainting them. I am working on some artistic collages of old photos of the history of the Matta's restaurants so you'll have something to look at in our new waiting area.

Almost forgot, we now have 2 signs up on Bass Pro Drive! Our building sign should be going up soon. Also, our patio walls went up today.Enjoy the pictures!

Mattas.com

Just wanted everyone to know that I published our NEW Matta's website today. Go take a look around, there's lots to read...family history, history of Matta's food, menus, customer stories on why they love Matta's and see old photos too!
I will still be working on the website adding info & photos so you will see some changes. Keep checking back. If you come across a link that does not work, please let me know by emailing this blog.
Hope you all enjoy & have a great weekend!

Plastered

Hi everyone! There's a lot of construction debris flying around at Matta's Grill & Cantina. Here are the photos to prove it!



This is the north side of the dining room with windows at every booth. The arches will be covered in smooth plaster.


















This is a view of our curb side pick-up area. It has it's own entrance on the south side of the building, so there's no more going up to the front of the restaurant to pick up your order. When we are up and running, the phone# for take out is: (480)964-TOGO
(Write that down!)







This is a view from our kitchen. To the left is a stack of walls that make up the huge fridge with a freezer inside. To the right is where the servers pick up your orders. Beyond that is the stairway to go up to our office.










All those wall pieces stacked up...well they're all put together now.


You think a 10 foot high refrigerator is big enough?










This is our waiting area. We had our carved wood benches and chairs restored that will once again be used in the Matta's waiting area.
There will be one beautiful ceiling in this area, so be sure to look up!










This is part of the dining room. Styrofoam and chicken wire wrapping the arches and some of the walls to prepare for plaster.














This is the other side of the dining room. To the right, the booths will be covered with a tiled roof and wood corbels. Straight ahead under where the Mariachi's will be a beautiful carved wall fountain.











And finally the smooth plaster that will resemble the old Matta's on Main Street. The guys are doing a superb job! The man in the photo working on the plaster said he had grown up eating at Matta's and can't wait till we open.





We hope you all enjoy the pictures!

New pictures

Here's the latest photos of our construction zone.

1.The dining room just insulated. 2. Booths that just had drywall.

3.A drywall mess in the dining room. 4.Kitchen wall

5.Bar area 6.Bar wall getting ready for stained glass.

Hope you all are getting excited! We sure are!!!

"When are you going to open?"

I know it's been a while, but there's lots going on behind the scenes here and it's more time consuming than anyone realizes. If you are following us on twitter then you know that we passed our inspections for electrical, framing and plumbing. And we did our walk through today with TAP electric, they have done an awesome job! So next week the drywall should be going up (this is where you are supposed to cheer). So...that means it's getting closer and closer, but still we have no dates set yet. That seems to be the biggest question everyone has, "When are you going to open?" As soon as we know, you'll know.
Some of the staff members from Main Street are anxious to come back and we will be glad to have them!
Also, had another meeting today with Tanya from Burdette (so many details), just wait till you all see the amazing furniture and cabinetry this fine company is making for us! They are building the chairs, benches, tables, all the cabinets at the server stations and the most beautiful bar!
I also have to brag about Senor Rio tequila. We met with Debbie & Jon the owners, and we couldn't be happier with having not only a terrific tasting tequila, but them, their story and the fact that they are a local business is a great thing.

Detail, details, details

We are really into the details now, there is way more to building a restaurant than people realize. Whew! Sorry for the delay between posting here, the holidays slowed things down for a couple weeks, so there wasn't much to show. Although having Christmas fresh in my mind helped me realize that we needed lots of extra outlets in places for next years Christmas lights. Got to think ahead! Also, putting lots of hours in working on the new menu, it's kind of tough sometimes because it makes me hungry typing the descriptions.

It can be hard to get a visual in your head from looking at the construction photos, so below is a small picture of both levels of the floor plan.

lower level

upper level

kitchen- looks like an alien ship is landing! / kitchen stairs going up to our office

entrance - dome ceiling / dining side looking at entrance

dining room stairs / booth arches

kitchen hoods, pretty huge! / installing the ceiling...way too much detail!

electrical panels / you think we have enough light switches here?

We're being framed!

Busy, busy, busy! All the guys are working hard and things are looking good. The framers have just about finished their job, so if you have good imagination you can visualize what it might look like from the photos below.

Mike from TAP & Sons Electric (480-507-2900) is installing all of our electrical needs. And Steve from Maricopa AC (480-941-3945) is making sure that we will keep cool in those hot summer months! Lets not forget Ron from Allen Co. Construction (480-2892722) who is making sure that all the jobs are done perfectly. Thanks to all the guys, you're doing a terrific job!!

Our first construction photos

It was loud and dirty but who cares! Our NEW Matta's is under construction!

A few words from MaryLou...

"WOW! Gretchen, what a wonderful slide show video you have produced,including our song,"Mucho Corozon".
I Mary Lou Matta, the Matriarch, tip my sombrero to you and Peter for all the work and promotion you have undertaking. I do declare,you and Peter are the epitome of success and Mattas Grill and Cantina will be a great place to go visit and enjoy great food and nice and friendly atmosphere when it opens. Congratulations and many thanks to all groundbreaking participants, our special Dignitaries, family members, friends, customers, employees and new prospective customers. Thank you all for your presence and support.
Lets not forget the Matta Teens, who were so gracious passing out Mattas T-shirts with Mattas Logo and Mattas hot sauce to everyone. What a wonderful gesture. I am looking forward to the Grand Opening!"

Groundbreaking Video

A big thank you to all of our friends for joining us at the much awaited groundbreaking ceremony of Matta’s Grill & Cantina!

Below is a list of family, employees, friends and customers that celebrated with us. Some customers had been eating at Matta's 50 years, some 30 years, some their whole lives and some 2 years! Employees that were there ranged from 27 to 5 years working at Matta's...and we truly care about and appreciate all of them!

Our thanks to: MaryLou Matta-Garza, David & Carlotta Matta, Stan Sanchez, Marty Derito, Mayor Scott Smith, Kyle Jones, Bill Jabjiniak, Sylvia & Harry Saffell, Jeremy, Ted, HC, Jeff, Andrew, Dominic, Joseph, Sandy, Chris, Kim, Shelby, Elliot, Todd, Emma, Sean, Steve, Beth, Joe, Amy, Miranda, Jennifer, Michael, Thom, Johnny, Helen, Milena, Carol, Reuben & Ofelia Lopez & Family, Monique, Marin, Raquel & Quirino, Sandra, Josie, Michelle, Linda, Debbie & Mike, Vicki, Sally Harrison, Leigh White, Frank & Marge Tau, Helen & Lee Degroff, Gloria & Don Traicoff, Edward & Larry Schwab, Doreane and Geiselhart, Rita Faulstick, Irma and Les Wagoner Sr.,Tonya Collins, Judd Borrmann, Allen,Connie & Darin Chisholm, JoAnn and Les Wagner Jr., Patsy Johnson, Cynthia Brummett, Jan and Jonathan Johnson, Kathy McDonald, Gary Gaines, Jessica Wilson, Sue & Alex Brown, Heather Gearns, Patsy Johnson, Ruth & Guy Buckley, Ken & Kathy White, Stephanie Wright, TJ, Jean & Bob Szeman and our Mariachis: Mario & Heriberto.

Matta's on channel 5 news

Wanted to share the news clip from channel 5 KPHO of Matta's Groundbreaking.

We have lots of people to thank for supporting us and I will do that as soon as I get the photos sorted through so you can see what a great time it was!

Special event

Great news everyone, very soon we will be having our GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY and we would love for you to join us!

The date is set for Tuesday, October 13th at 9am. I will post more details here as I get them.

Busy, busy, busy

There are so many details involved in planning a restaurant, but we are doing it all! Meeting after meeting, details gone over and over, all to make sure everything is done just right. The floor plans are almost out of engineering and will be in the hands of the city next. In the meantime we are working closely with the fine people at Burdette's to create our new tables, chairs, benches and cabinets. They will also refurbish some of the original Matta's wood pieces that we will be using. Brought home a sample chair today...so awesome!

There have been many people asking about when they can buy hot sauce and salsa online...not ready yet, we are working with a bottling company and I am still working on the new website.

We are also working on a fun new Matta's t-shirt that should turn a few heads.

Here's a picture of Peter, Jeremy (Allen Co.) and Gary (Burdette Cabinets) at a recent meeting. (sorry for the poor quality photo, I took it with my phone)