With 70 tequilas, 17 signature cocktails, an incredibly fresh menu of specialty tacos, burritos, fajitas, burrito bowls, and appetizers to choose from it will be hard to resist “charging” back for more at 3 Matadors, West Ashley’s newest Mexican-inspired restaurant.
The hottest selling dishes right now include lemon-pepper Mahi tacos with jalapeño ranch, El Capitan shrimp with mexi-slaw, and their namesake plate, the Matador. It’s a tortilla stuffed with fresh pork, topped with housemade pico de gallo and queso. The hottest selling cocktails are the mango margarita, cucumber margarita, and the sangarita. The sangrita blends a frozen lime margarita and house-made sangria.
The concept for this Ashley River Road eatery was created by local restaurateurs Travis Glen, Doug Allison, and Jason Marques. Glen and Marques grew up together in nearby Rockville. They met Allison working at his restaurant, Southside 17 Bar and Grill; the three bonded through a shared love of basketball. Glen has worked in restaurants since his teens, and Marques is an alumnus of Trident Technical College’s Culinary Institute and a seasoned bartender. They opened to a full house, just days before Cinco de Mayo weekend.
It’s a casual atmosphere including an over-sized bar, tall comfy booths, and a front deck that features live music Friday, Saturday, and Sunday evenings. Reggae Sundays features local favorites Equal Rights and Fridays showcase an array of acoustic acts. Weather permitting, when the deck’s garage door is open, the restaurant’s design allows the music to float through the whole space. It took about three months to transform the former Penachio’s Italian restaurant into an open concept, casual tequileria. Takeout is available, but there’s a lot to be said for unplugging and really enjoying the food and ambiance in-house.
The menu, like the rustic-styled logo, has a hand-stamped quality all its own.  Glen says it took a lot of trial and error, experimentation, and taste-testing to concoct a variety of modern Mexican plates. Freshness and quality are key themes; the fruits and vegetables are from Limehouse Produce on Johns Island, the shrimp is from Rockville, and the pork, beef and cheeses are North Carolina’s best. All the food and cocktail ingredients are prepared fresh daily, and patrons can taste it.
In addition to the food, there’s also an emphasis on the tequila selection at 3 Matadors with more than 70 different tequilas to choose from. In the last ten years, tequila’s appeal and demand have expanded way beyond the occasional shot. Glen says they look forward to offering “tequila lights” in the near future, where patrons can sample several varieties in one brand’s tequila line.
There are plans for tequila tastings, and roping off the front parking lot for special events like Mexican Independence Day in September and Day of the Dead (Dia de Los Muertos) in October-November. Check out 3 Matadors social media for mouth-watering food shots and updates on special events. Their Facebook page is at www.facebook.com/3MatadorsTequilaria, their instagram at “/3matadors”, and twitter is”@3matadors”.
 

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