For Matta’s, boom is not new

Manuel Natividad Matta (1918 – 2002) was a prominent American restaurateur known for his significant contributions to the dining scene in Mesa, Arizona. He is best remembered by long-time residents as a successful businessman who built a thriving restaurant empire from humble beginnings.

Matta’s journey is often described as a “rags to riches” story. He started his career earning just $1 a day and eventually established Matta’s Mexican Food, which became a staple in Mesa. The restaurant was well-known for its authentic Mexican cuisine and became an integral part of the local community.

Matta’s Mexican Food, originally located at 919 E. Main St, Mesa, was a family-owned business that played a significant role in Mesa’s history. The restaurant was founded by Manuel and his former wife Mary Lou Garza in 1950, and it remained a beloved dining spot for many years. However, the restaurant at its original location closed on June 24, 2023, marking the end of an era for the Matta family business.

Despite the closure, the legacy of Manuel N. Matta and his contributions to Mesa’s culinary landscape continue to be remembered and celebrated by the community.

A-9 The Tribune Friday, September 14, 1979

Ole! Mattas loved Mesa’s early charm

By PAT McELFRESH 

Tribune Lifestyle editor

When Mexican Independence Day rolls around this weekend, for the first time in many years Manuel and Mary Lou Matta will be celebrating along with other Valley residents of Mexican-American heritage.

That’s because the observance this year is on a Sunday, when the popular Mesa restaurant is closed.

“We’ll go to Legend City and see the Folklórico Dancers, enjoy the food, music and dancing,” said Mrs. Matta. “We consider ourselves Americans, but we love our culture and heritage.”

Their love for the Mexican-American traditions in food, décor and music was evident soon after the couple moved to Mesa on Oct. 12, 1950, with their first-born, now Gloria Tuchman.

“We came from North Hollywood, Calif., and were on our way to settling in Safford or Tucson,” she recalled. “We liked the looks of Mesa, the smallness, particularly the wide streets. It was so beautiful and it appealed to us.”

They noticed that there was only one Mexican food restaurant, El Charro, and began thinking about opening another. ‘‘So we went back to Pecos, Texas, and learned about the business from Manuel’s brother, Ben. We were there for a year, then opened our restaurant here in 1953.”

The first Matta’s was across Main Street from the present one, where Bishop Glass now is located. It had six booths and four tables and the couple did everything: ‘‘Manuel did most of the cooking and I was the cashier- waitress-bottlewasher. Both of us did it all. The children helped out in the summers after they were older.”

The present Matta’s, 932 E. Main St., was built in 1958 and seated 100, “just a little bitty place.” It was expanded with an indoor patio in 1970 and seats 230 for dining, 50 in the cocktail lounge plus a 50-seat banquet room.

Mrs. Matta planned the décor for the new place, making the colorful paper flowers herself. Their niece’s husband, Tom Bowerman, made the stained-glass windows in the lounge.

Their son, David, was manager until he moved to California to open his own place, Matta’s of Napa.

Nations Restaurant News August 19, 1985

For Matta’s, boom is not new

Family has served Mexican food since prairie days

MESA, Ariz. — After viewing the recent surge in popularity of Mexican food and the resulting start-up of so many Mexican chains, David Matta, owner of the 350-seat Matta’s here, said he has just one question: Why did it take everyone so long to catch on?

The Matta family has operated a Mexican restaurant of one type or another here since the days when Arizona was nothing more than a sprawling prairie.

The menu for Matta’s, the family’s most recent Mexican venture, is basically the same as the one David Matta’s great-great uncle used 120 years ago for a saloon-restaurant he opened after immigrating here from Mexico.

“Everyone who comes in here wants to see my father,” Matta said. “Or they want to see me or my brothers. They want to know there’s a Mr. Matta here. They want to know there’s a family member watching.”

The Matta’s of today—a pioneer in East Mesa when it opened in 1953—is a $1.3 million-a-year enterprise, feeding young families, old-timers who remember it as one of only two restaurants in the city at one time and young executives fueling the Sunbelt’s energetic growth.

“Garcia’s [a 35-unit Mexican dinner house chain] started. here,” Matta said, “and they were very good. But once they went national, they lost who they were; they lost their ‘familyness.’ We basically stick pretty close to ourselves.” Sticking pretty close for David Matta includes having his wife, six children and two brothers working with him in the 8,000-sq.-ft. restaurant.

(See MATTA’S, page 127)

Matta’s builds tradition

(Continued)

He himself started working there at age 12 for his father, who is now retired.

Grandfather Sebastian Matta ran a mule-drawn chuck wagon in West Texas. His older boys, Manuel and Ben, helped with the chores Ben went back to Pecos, Tex., 50 years ago to open Matta’s Spanish Inn. Manuel, David's father, opened Matta’s with his new wife—whose parents also operated a combination saloon, hotel and restaurant in West Texas.

The restaurant, which had only four tables and three booths when it opened, now handles as many as 1,000 covers a night on weekends. With an average tab of just $4 to $5, the restaurant yields a yearly net profit of about $130,000.

The traditional Mexican Colonial décor is simple, not gaudy. An extensive menu, the

same for both lunch and dinner, includes American entrees, such as a steak sandwich, $4.95; pork chops, $5.75; and breaded jumbo shrimp, $5.25. Charbroiled steaks and sandwiches are also available.

Mexican specialties include chile rellenos for $5.75, flauta dinner (beef or chicken, with albondiga soup, guacamole, beans, rice or salad) for $6, tacos, tostadas, burritos, enchiladas, tamales, combination" plates, soups, salads and special egg dishes. Several items are available a la carte. Liquor is not available.

Lunch provides about 40% of sales, Matta said, and tables are generally turned twice. They are turned two or three times at dinner. Food costs remain relatively low, at 25% to 30%. Sixty full- and part-time employees bring labor costs to about 30% of sales.