As hybrid cuisines go, pan-Latin is pretty likable, with oceans of interesting, complementary flavors at its disposal. Chefs like Douglas Rodriguez have done remarkable things at the high end, but in the middle tier of restaurants, where pan-Asian cuisine enjoys ubiquity, there’s a relative scarcity of pan-Latin cooking. Matador, a new West Village restaurant, takes a casual, unpretentious approach to Latin cooking that pleases the crowd, if not always the individual. The space, which used to house the convivial Dew Drop Inn, has been fitted with evocative little design touches, like cast-iron lamps and salmon-orange paint. Local couples throng the long, comfortable bar and clustered tables, which become unpleasantly cramped as the room tapers and bottlenecks toward the kitchen. The young restaurant’s operation isn’t the smoothest. Servers, of which there never seem to be enough, struggle to keep up with orders: their demeanors range from friendly and overtaxed to curt and overtaxed. The kitchen, too, can lag, causing painfully protracted waits at busy times.

Cuban-born chef Gloria Catala produces a streamlined menu of fairly simple dishes with a palette of vigorous flavors drawn from Latin America and Spain in equal measure. She serves full little links of chorizo in a mild broth with cannellini beans ($7) as a full-bodied, satisfying starter, the spicy sausage and mouth-filling beans marrying nicely. Argentine-style skewers of grilled steak ($7) have a delicious charred exterior and beefy savor; a drizzle of garlicky parsley puree offsets their slight dryness. A pair of big grilled sardines ($8) dressed with lemony olive oil are not quite succulent, but satisfying nonetheless, with crisp papery skin and firm, oily flesh. The plate is piled high with ordinary stuffed green olives, which offer little to the dish, especially in such overabundance. A napoleon of thin-sliced potatoes ($8) is layered with white beans, soft roasted tomato, and occasional bits of salt cod, but a slippery mass of sauce, heavy with the flavors of roasted pepper and onion, dominates the dish, drowning any subtleties and diminishing even the potent cod to a salty ghost of what it should be. A large, savory tamale ($6) incorporating the rich Mexican tastes of roasted corn and pumpkin receives a dose of sophistication from a delicate, dark mushroom sauce. An attractive lime-dressed salad ($8) of seared magenta squid slices and big chunks of fresh avocado makes a lighter, refreshing alternative to the cooked appetizers.

Main courses work a similar territory; a couple of them differ from starters only in portion size, as with the plump and sweet seared shrimp ($14.50), served in a cazuela with a classic backdrop of garlic, parsley, and white wine. A loose molded dome of rice, tinted green with parsley and salted without restraint, accompanies this and most other entrees. Flank steak ($17) is tenderized with a spicy, garlic-rich adobo marinade, and then grilled thoroughly, resulting in a yielding and highly flavorful steak. A marinade of tamarind and brown sugar doesn’t work quite the same magic on a thick-sliced pork loin ($16): the too-lean meat gets excellent flavor from the tart-sweet marinade (and complementary tamarind sauce), but its moistness is thin, with none of the mollifying, lush effect that fat provides.

Conversely, a stuffing of chorizo and Manchego cheese gives sliced chicken breast ($16) the simple, satisfying vibrancy of abundant salt and fat, if little complexity. A winy sauce provides the requisite dose of roasted peppers, a potent ingredient whose favored status here borders on excess. Perhaps the best entree is a filet of hake ($18).The lean, delicate fish is roasted to a firm consistency, served in a white wine sauce (with roasted peppers, again), and topped with thin slices of potato and shreds of hard-cooked egg, which provide a wonderful, sweetly earthy foil to the tart sauce and mild fish. The effortless, elegant balance of the dish shows what Matador can achieve but often falls short of: not just bold flavors, but finely tuned ones, interacting well.

Desserts have some of this fine structure as well. Smooth, mild-flavored Kahlua flan ($7) is a standout, as is a variegated bread pudding ($7) rich with chocolate and raisins and strewn with cooked banana rounds and caramel sauce.

With its accommodating bar and neighborhood audience, Matador is as much an evening hangout as it is a restaurant; an arsenal of fruity cocktails keeps the atmosphere loud and festive. A “flaming martini” ($12) is the flagship: it has the candy taste of a Mai Tai, and floats a flaming lime slice. Mojitos ($11) come in such diverse variations as peach, pear, and “classic”; all taste primarily of nonpremium rum. A selection of sangrias are likewise unremarkable. A couple of Spanish wines, notably the sleek and spicy Ramon Bilbao Rioja, cap a short, unprepossessing wine list that also features Sutter Home’s acclaimed white zinfandel.

Matador’s casual air and vibrant cooking has amassed a following for the restaurant in the few months it’s been open. Its prominent corner location helps, certainly, but the rest of the formula seems to satisfy as well, despite some flaws.

Matador, 57 Greenwich Ave., 212-691-0057.