El Matador plates up another owner

Andrew Edwards

The future of Costa Mesa’s El Matador restaurant took another turn

Wednesday when a new buyer claimed the Costa Mesa dining spot after

the winner of a recent auction decided not to finish the deal.

The Orange County Public Administrator/Public Guardian’s office

identified the new buyer as Greg McConaughy, who was the third-place

bidder in the May 19 auction.

McConaughy lives in Corona del Mar and is the former owner of

Shooter’s Sports Bar in Costa Mesa. The bar, which was also known as

McConaughy’s, was at the corner of Bristol and Baker streets.

McConaughy said he sold the bar last year after being its owner for

26 years.

A past customer at El Matador, McConaughy plans to keep the

restaurant’s employees and do some cleaning. Otherwise, he doesn’t

expect any major changes.

“I just like the food, and it kind of takes you back to going to

Mexico,” McConaughy said.

“We’re leaving the menu and pretty much everything the way it is,”

he added.

El Matador was initially auctioned to Newport Beach resident

Xavier Bengoechea, who bid $535,000 for the restaurant. Bengoechea,

who lives in Newport Beach, did not return phone calls seeking

comment Wednesday. El Matador would have been his first attempt in

the restaurant business.

McConaughy agreed to pay the same price as Bengoechea and made a

$15,000 deposit for El Matador on Wednesday, Acting Assistant Public

Administrator/Public Guardian Nancy Padberg said.

Bengoechea did not tell county officials why he changed his mind

about the restaurant, Padberg said.

Before McConaughy stepped in, Public Administrator/Public Guardian

John Williams had planned a second auction for El Matador. McConaughy

has until Wednesday to close the deal.

El Matador was founded in 1966 by Marcial Gallardo Sr., who

immigrated to the United States from Zacatecas, Mexico. The

restaurant’s founder passed away in 2003 and willed the restaurant to

his sons. After family troubles erupted, Gallardo’s estate was placed

in the county’s hands in 2004.

The Gallardo family never intended for the restaurant to be

auctioned to the public, and the family tried to buy the restaurant

back from the county before and during the auction. Family members

could not be reached Wednesday after the new buyer was announced.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at [email protected].