¡Ole! El Matador Eatery Survives Auction Intact

With the bang of an auctioneer’s gavel, a landmark Costa Mesa restaurant changed hands from the family that ran it for four decades to a 33-year-old Newport Beach engineer who had been a loyal customer.

The county auctioned El Matador after its owner, Marcial Gallardo, died and management was turned over to the county by a probate judge amid a family squabble.

With a high bid of $535,000, Xavier Bengoechea bought the restaurant, saying he would keep the cook and its staff -- some of whom have worked at the tiny Newport Boulevard eatery for 18 years.

“It’s kind of a baptism by fire, but it’s a great place that’s been there for many years,” said an excited Bengoechea, who said he chose the restaurant over buying a house.

“I was saving my money and had a nest egg,” he said. “And I chose to buy a business.”

Bengoechea, who grew up in Reno, has lived in Newport Beach for more than 10 years.

After hearing about their new boss, veteran staffers Jose Antonio Herrera and Chila Pollok shared a chuckle. Pollok told Herrera that it was good Bengoechea was keeping them because, “we know where the good recipes are kept.”

“Yeah,” Herrera chortled, “they’re in my head.”

Herrera has been cooking at El Matador for 18 years. Pollok is a longtime waitress.

The popular Mexican restaurant opened in 1966. Under Gallardo, its chile verde and other meat dishes earned a loyal following.

But after the patriarch died in June 2003, the family squabbled over the restaurant’s management, and the dispute spilled into Probate Court. A judge ruled El Matador had been mismanaged and removed the executor, one of Gallardo’s sons. Since July, the Orange County public administrator’s office has run the business.

Documents in the case show an ongoing legal battle among family members over the estate’s assets, accounts and control.

In interviews, some family members said the public administrator’s office had failed to provide account records, failed to accept an offer of $120,000 to reclaim the restaurant and offered inflated management costs.

“We didn’t pursue this. It was assigned to my office by the court,” said Public Administrator John S. Williams.

One of the sons, Marcial Gallardo Jr., 40, owner of California Wraps in Costa Mesa, did not attend the auction. He wanted to keep the restaurant as part of his father’s legacy, he said.

“Being there would have been too painful,” he said.

Marcial Gallardo recalled washing dishes at the restaurant as a young boy. “My father used to put two big tomato cans on the floor. I would stand on them to reach the sink to wash dishes,” he said.

But his brother, George, owner of the Blue Agave restaurant in Yorba Linda, attended and bid $300,000.

After Bengoechea made the highest bid, George Gallardo said he had made peace with the outcome. “This means we cleared about $300,000. That’s good,” he said.

Bengoechea has seven days to finalize the sale’s details. He said must negotiate a lease and apply for a liquor license. But a big perk is that he can order his favorite plate, the Combo No. 3 -- a cheese enchilada, chile relleno with rice and beans -- and not have to pay.

“Ha! I’m the new owner now.”