Greenville’s West End will see a new Mexican food restaurant and bar in the coming months.
The Matador will be located in the former Husk location at 722 S. Main St. Founder Zak Melang said the restaurant will offer a diverse selection of tequilas and mezcals along with Mexican-inspired cuisine.
The restaurant chain has nine locations across the West Coast. Melang, who was born and raised in Winston-Salem, recently brought his restaurant concept to the Carolinas and opened a location in Charleston in 2023.
His sights are now set on Greenville.
“I couldn’t believe how awesome Greenville looked,” Melang said. “I hadn’t been there since I was a kid.”
The new West End location will have a rustic, soulful atmosphere designed to be warm and inviting for patrons. Along with dining seating, the restaurant’s ground floor will include a designated bar area with metal archways, a custom-made stained glass artwork and the Matador’s signature curved bar, handcrafted by Melang.
“We put a lot of effort into the detail of the restaurant. I buy a lot of the lights and just cool things that I find in my travels through Mexico to bring back and put in the restaurant,” Melang said. “There’s no two lights that really match. There’s no tables that really match. It’s just all handmade, really cool stuff.”
Additional dining seating and a bar will be found on the restaurant’s second floor along with a rooftop patio. McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture designed the new patio which will include casual and dining seating, a fire table, outdoor lighting, umbrellas and custom-made ironwork handrails.
Design plans for the rooftop patio are expected to be reviewed by the city of Greenville’s Design Review Board April 18.
Renovations for Matador West End will include reconfiguring the ground and second-floor dining and bar areas along with constructing the rooftop patio. Melang said the kitchen, which was put in by the previous tenant, won’t need to be redone.
“Matador usually costs around $2 million to build out and that’s with us doing a large portion of the work ourselves,” Melang said.
The renovation timeline is expected to take around eight weeks. Melang said it would be great if the restaurant could be open in August.
