I came here on a Thursday night with my daughter and one of my girlfriends from the city. It was my first time trying Spanish food and now I'm hooked! We ordered a variety of small plates ranging from grilled salmon to the roasted potatoes w/ spicy aioli sauce. (I swear, everyone in the place had this dish at their table.) Absolutely delicious! The food was extremely flavorful, light, and comforting. The service was excellent. The ambiance was cozy and festive. I can't wait to bring my husband here...the next time I come back, I definitely will be ordering a pitcher of their sangria! read more

it sucks that i'll never go back to this restaurant as i had high hopes for it....the place was packed, and the service was very fast- when we eventually got any after being seated for 15minutes. i do give them credit for managing millions of nagging customers with only 2 waitresses (staff better at peak hours?) Nonetheless. The food was absolutely horrid. Sorry. if you go here, whatever you do, ask for the "AIOLI" on the side. it is like gallons of fat mayonnaise covering every dish. i feel like fat molecules are floating around my blood stream from last night. if i wanted to eat fast food, maybe i could have just gone for a triple bacon cheeseburger with extra large chilli fries. if you want a spanish meal, this isn't it as every single dish is bathed in oil. The paella i did not try but everyone's review doesnt sound too poetic. the bill for 2 people for a handful of tapas dishes and a bottle of cheap sparking wine= $65. sooooooo many other options in this city! read more

Yay! I found a new favorite place in the city that will not bankrupt my wallet. Came here last weekend to celebrate my girlfriend's 50th bday. We had the lobster paella for $28. If there's 4 of you, get the size that's good for 2 because it's actually really for 4 -they lied! It's their specialty. We also had the ropa viejo - it was so good that we ordered another one! We also had the kebabs - very tender and juicy. I also loved the sauce of the patatas bravas - a little spicy but I couldn't stop eating it and we ordered another one as well. The leche flan was firm and semi-sweet which is exactly how I liked it. They also sell authentic chorizo (not cured) from Spain & I bought the one with garlic for only $9. And before I forget, I enjoyed the musicians who came in and played Spanish music for tips. They made our birthday girl feel so special! All that for a whooping (hold your breath) $89 - for four. They definitely give ChaChaCha a run for their money! read more

Great food, fast service, and not too expensive. I have to say the garlic shrimp and omlettes were my favorite. The chicken croquettes were kind of wierd. You coudln't tell that it was chicken inside. Just a bunch of white mush. read more

i've wanted to try this place for a while. finally gave it a try last friday. the lady and i were seated almost right away. for a friday night, i was pretty impressed. we sat in this cozy little alcove in the back. the sangria here is very good. the pitchers are large too. beware! between my gf and i, we had 2 pitchers and we were on our way to getting pretty drunk! probably the best dish was the spicy potatos. the garlic shrimp was so so - but it provided for a nice dipping sauce for our bread. i'd definately come back and try some other stuff off the menu. the service is a little slow, but it didn't really bother me a whole lot. i actually like taking my time while drinking/eating. besides, it's spanish - not american ... this is how they do it in europe. dinner is not mean't to be inhaled in 5 minutes. read more

xiringuito escriba on the beach on barcelona -- that's what i am comparing all paella experiences to from now on. unfair? hmmm...once you factor in the the location next to the mediterranean, the gorgeous catalan people walking by, the sea of hot, tan beach bods frolicking in the sand, and the off the charts seafood paella that oozed with complex flavor and umami? yes, i might be being unfair. but whatever, if you're going to serve something, you should make it the BEST...or at least TRY! we walk out of the garage on 22nd and mission and are on our way to beretta when we get distracted by the crowd in front of esperpento. i am in the mood for italian, but think that having tapas and cava would bring back memories from my trip. i imagine i will be able to close my eyes, take a bite of paella, and be transported back to the beach in barca. "let's just try it...", I say. kevin is surprised I suggest such a spur of the moment change of plans. i NEVER do that. once i set my heart on something, i'm focused and will not be happy unless i get it. i'm a brat like that, i guess. oh well...there's a first for everything. but now i realize why i never change plans... ordered a rioja while we waited for our table. $5.50 a glass? off to a good start. we get seated upstairs. barely any ventilation, kind of stuffy -- that's fine. it's cold outside. and it was hot, hot, hot in spain. we're still ok. the reminiscing isn't ruined yet. ordered the patatas bravas, gambas ala plancha, and the special paella with lobster, calamari and clams. a bottle of brut is only $16! one of those, too, please. prices seem super reasonable, so i'm still a happy camper. then, the food comes. we get the potatoes and the prawns first. the only notable thing from these two dishes is the sauce for the potatoes which tastes exactly like the red sauce from la vic's in san jose, so nothing mind-blowing there. the prawns are tasty. they cook them whole, so i am able to enjoy the shrimp heads, but still...doesn't compare to bar pinotxo at la boqueria market where the gambas was as big as my hand and there was so much fat in the heads of the shrimp that i was able to soak my bread in it. i am hoping the paella is better. it isn't. there is absolutely NO FLAVOR in the rice. NONE! it's like they cooked the rice in chicken stock (with no salt)...and that's it. uh...where's the garlic? where's the saffron? wth? at least the lobster isn't overcooked. i'm so disappointed with the paella that kevin orders something else -- spanish sausage with white beans. dude...this tastes like fried spam. yes, SPAM! (maybe it's short for spanish ham, i dunno.) anyways, kevin likes the beans since it's flavored with spam. he's thinking of making this at home now for breakfast the next day. eh, at least he got an idea out of it. bleh...by this time, i'm over the whole thing. i'll just have to find another $450 roundtrip flight to barcelona and go back to escriba to satisfy my paella cravings. but now i'm getting drunk from the rioja and brut and nothing seems to matter. ah well, live and learn, right? in hindsight, i guess i should've known better. one look at the crowd of kids eating here with their pitchers of sangria and forever 21 'fits, i should have realized that none of them have probably eaten good food...and, more importantly, never eaten good spanish food. BUT...yes, there's a "but"...if you're looking for cheap food, cheap drinks, and a decent ambience, might as well check this place out. it's less crowded than cha cha cha (which i cannot stand), the food is marginally better, and it's walking distance to the rest of the hot spots in the mission. read more

High expectations for this place on the basis of the other glowing reviews. Most importantly, the paella was mediocre at best. I don't remember all of the dishes that we ordered, but none of them were particularly good. The potatoes were fine, but then again it's kind of hard to really mess up potatoes. read more

i been coming here for over 5 years now and it is one of my fav spanish spots to eat...good menu good food good vibe...perfect for dinner with friends or date nite...dishes under 20$ and a lot better then most over price places...ill keep coming back till something fails...hoping it never happens... read more

I love this place. The food is delicious and a great value. The service has always been ehhh but where else can you feed a family of four, eat seafood and only spend a little over $40? Granted the bread is filling and you can end up eating a lot with all of the delicious sauces but I haven't experienced what another Yelper commented on that they're now charging for bread? That's whack. But that won't keep me from going there. Mussels are delish and so are the patatas bravas. read more

I love Picaro! The food is so good that the horrendous service doesn't matter. Unfortunately I can not say the same thing about Esperanto. They have an identical menu to Picaro, except each such is at least a dollar or two cheaper. Clearly the same recipes too. The cook really makes the difference. The gambas al ajillo only tasted of cooked wine. Morcella was bright red in the center. My husband really wanted the all meat paella and it was also not good. In fairness I have never had paella with meat. It's not paella with out seafood and I'm not even a big seafood eater. The rice tasted of tomatoes and was very mushy. The liquid was really greasy too. The worst part was the meat. Pork ribs need to be cooked for a long time. You can't put a raw one in with paella and expect it to be edible. For chicken they give you a flavorless chicken wing and only one. The whole dish had no flavor and looked really gross. I know it's a thing in the States to over cook rice but this was not even close. At least the morcella was cooked through. It still wasn't good though! We also got the potatoes aioli. They were good but could not salvage this meal. Service was nonexistent. They never cleared a plate or refilled a glass. The guy with the curly hair darts around purposely trying to avoid his customers. Most people seemed to be ordering the lunch special so maybe those are better. FYI Picaro is a bit more expensive for tapas but they do the sangria for 10 bucks a pitcher. If you plan on drinking at all you'll save money going there instead, plus the food comes out much better! read more

Hmm never mind not so good anymore. Ordered some sausage and it was clearly just spam. Can't pull that trick on me.

Truthfully - it's just spicy potatoes and a little sangria, right... Wrong! For some reason the cozy little warm yellow dining room of esperpento, complete with the mariachi band trolling for tips and the waitresses getting overworked just makes me happy (and hungry). It has all the typical tapas dishes (from a veg standpoint at least, it was pointed out to me last time that there is no ceviche on the menu, so beware) - and they are really tasty and the sangria is REALLY strong. good times. read more

They've been out of gazpacho the last FOUR times I've been there. It must be amazing or so embarrassingly terrible they won't let anyone try it. read more

very good food. small dishes for cheap which add up but if you're like me and don't need copious volumes of food to satiate you it's great. good sangria. try the salad (kind of like niçoise but spanish) and the garlic shrimp. the third time i was there they had mexican mariachi, not spanish but nice nevertheless. read more

very decent place , service is ok, not too friendly but quick if you're hungry , had the milanesa with cabbage and potatoes which wasnt bad , meatballs didnt taste good at all but the sauce under it was really good , my friend had the garlic chicken barely taste the garlic ,i think i will stick to vegeterian options next time , just an okay place read more

My husband and I went here today for lunch. It was great. I spent some time in Spain and it totally brought me back. The food was very authentic. I make some mean sangria and no place we ever go ever seems to compare. But, I met my match today. We tried the rabbit soup to be a little daring and it was great too. We will go back for sure. Nice staff, very friendly and comfortable. read more

Great tapas, good prices, staff a little confused but OK. Went with wife and two friends. Had about 12 plates total bill with tax and tip $50.00. Good deal. Must try the blood sausage when you go trust me its great. read more

I don't know how this place gets 3.5 stars. The food and service was great. I recommend the grilled artichoke, anchovies in olive oil, yellow rice and spicy potato. We will be back again! read more

came here a few times already. can't get enough of their paella and sangria. bear in mind, this place gets really crowded and busy, so in those times i came in it was after lunch or before dinner, otherwise i'd rather pick another tapas place. just cause service gets lacky by that point. food is yes a-ok. not bad but nothing spectacular either. price was average just like most tapas places in the mission. read more

They have the best Sangria in the Bay Area. The Mucilla , Griled Shrimp, Artichoke are the also awesome.

We had our company Christmas dinner here for the second year in a row, and it was again fabulous. The large sized paella's are perfect for a big group of hungry people! And the tapas we ordered for appetizers were equally delicious. We tried all of the different paellas, and they were all extremely tasty with generous portions of seafood and meat in them, even lobster tails. The service was friendly and prompt. We love the atmosphere here- very laid back and european feeling. Couldn't find a nicer place to celebrate the holidays at! read more

Fun vibe and great paella, but terrible service. If you prepare yourself to ask for your drink 3 times before receiving it, you'll probably really enjoy Esperanto. read more

Went here for a birthday day dinner... The food is great.. Really reminds me of eating in SPAIN. If you have been to Spain and like the food you will like this place.. You cant go wrong with a place that serves rabbit for dinner. We had a bunch of TAPAS. I think they were all great (did not help that we had two big pitches of SANGRIA) The wine is GREAT.. The dessert is great as well.. Go here if you like SPANISH FOOD! read more

1st of all let me say that this is the 1`st time I've written a review on Yelp. It's just not something I do but I left sooo mad that I came right home and signed up. There were 5 of us and 3 wanted paella. I asked the owner (I assume she was the owner) if the paella for 2 would be enough for 3 if we got tapas and she said no. That didn't make sense and I didn't want to spend $46 for paella for 4 so I said we'll just take the 2 serving paella and ordered other things. My daughter and her friend were going to share it. We got 3 tapas (they were excellent) and the meat and veggie platter, shared by the 3 adults.The meat was dry and the paella (that I tasted) was tasteless and it did not seem to be indiviually made since it came out in about 15 minutes, not the 30 minutes as stated. When the bill came and I saw that we were charged for a 4 serving portion, I asked the waiter about it and then he got the woman/owner. She agrued with me and said my 17 yr old daughter told her that we'd take the 4 portion. So she takes orders from a 17 year old when the adults clearly gave a different order? I would NEVER go back-EVER!!! To have an owner argue with a customer not to mention having to pay alot for tasteless food is irritating and a waste of time and money. There are too many excellent restaurants in SF to go back to a bad one. I read some negative reviews on Yelp about Esperpento but ignored them-wish I had saved myself $$$ and time! read more

Had a return visit here on my birthday. Still my favorite tapas spot so far. I like the many veggie options too.

Really..cognac glass for sangria..spicy chicken can't be more sweeter, where is paella- maybe some other restaurant will serve it..check please.. read more

Hands down, my favorite restaurant in San Francisco. I've been frequenting Esperpento for over 7 years now, and every time I am met with consistent quality, friendliness tand the BEST service ever. Whenever I go, I almost feel like I'm a part of the Esperpento family (can't help but love being surrounded by Dali and Almodovar posters and artwork as well -- so this is my kind of place). This has also become our birthday spot -- and just an FYI, the entire restaurant will sing to you (beware if you get embarrassed easily...), but we love it!! Carlos is one of the best owners, and many of his staff seem happy and to have been there a long time which is a strong testament to a good business! Try everything on the menu, but must haves are: patatas bravas, alcachofas a la plancha, chorizo, gambas al ajillo, asparagus ala plancha, seafood paella, and lots of SANGRIA! The bill is always very reasonable which is also a plus. This place gets five stars to the max. read more

Bomb ass Spanish food and sangria. Plus live music! What more u want? Highly recommend the garlic shrimp and patas bravas. Idk why these other reviewers hating, especially about the burnt paella, if it was a big deal then tell them. Not their fault u didnt. So stfu. read more

THis place reminded me so much of Barcelona. Food was delicious, wine was well priced and the ambiance was charming and fun! Definitely going back :) read more

We went today with another couple and the four if us had a great time. We had the sangria (not sparkling but very good), loads of starters including the albondiga soup (yummy) and then we ended with paella with seafood and lobster. Our friends had just gotten back from Spain and said that it was very like the kind they had there. I'm keeping the name of this place handy for another day. On the down side, the service was slightly slow (but polite), which was actually fine since it was a holiday and felt more like Spain! :-) read more

I was really excited for this place but the most horrible service I have ever had living in sf for 7 years. We arrived at 8.30 and chose to sit outside even though it was cold to get seated faster. The waiter didn't arrive for 40 minutes . Then we ordered everything at the same Tim ( two dishes croquet sand pallea) and it didn't come out till 10.20!!!!!!! We asked them 5 x and still the same amount of time. That was around 2 hours waiting for food - wow. No comps or even a sorry once after reminding them 5x to bring the food. read more

The food is great, and it's reasonably priced. The only complaint I'd have is that the service is pretty slow (and they seem to run out of bread sometimes). It's a great place to go if you have some time to chat for a bit. read more

Maybe they were having a bad night. Maybe the chef just quit. But when we went there someone was phoning it in. The food tasted like it was rolled right off of a Sysco truck. Unimaginative, over-salted, overcooked. read more

Good variety, reasonably priced, cute decor. Try the grilled artichoke it was fabulous! I never had it served like that anywhere else.

This place is awesome! I don't understand why this restaurant is only getting 3.5 stars. Last night after shopping in SF, my boyfriend and I decided to have tapas for dinner. So we went on yelp to see which restaurant sounds good. Unfortunately, the wireless wasn't working really well, so we didn't really have a chance to see all the reviews for the restaurants to compare. We ended up randomly choosing a restaurant, which, apparently, is Esperpento. The parking was really hard to find, so we ended up parking on mission. So we got to Esperpento, and fortunately, there were 2 tables free. So we sat down and ordered the exotic chicken, spicy potato, grilled vegetable salad, ox-tail stew, fried calamari, and the special drink that everyone else is having. (forgot what that's called) All of the food that we ordered are really delicious, even my boyfriend who normally doesnt really eat vegetables liked the grilled veggie salad. He also said that for the red wine-lovers, they would definitely like that drink. read more

Yum. Love the patatas bravas, garlic shrimp and paella. It is almost always busy and if you're seated in the upstairs alcove be warned that it can get VERY warm up there-even in winter time. A great place to go with a group. read more

I went to Esperpento five years ago with a group of friends and we tried about 8-10 dishes, I remember they all tasted good. Since it was my first time having Tapas, everything seemed new and exciting. I was not uncomfortable despite the place being noisy and packed and lines of people standing outside. I had been wanting to go back, but I forgot the name. I kept looking for Tapas in San Francisco but went back to the wrong ones. Ended up at Ramblas. I finally came across it recently and grab my friend to go back there with fond memories. Everything is still nearly the same. The color of the walls, the noise. The hostess was friendly and fast in seating us, but the waiter was cranky. The food that came were all cold and undercooked. The shrimp was still gray and raw, I had to send it back to re-grilled it. The eggplant was cold and filled with grease, tasteless, my friend got a stomach ache later. After 4 dishes, I got frustrated and stopped ordering. Dinners were like going to the flea market, fighting to get table and waiter's attention, it is not worth the trouble if you want a relaxing evening. Parking also took a while. I do like a lot of dishes and wanted to try 10 of them, but after this experience, I don't know if I want the trouble again. I took off a star for the cold, uncooked food, the grumpy waiter who did warm up to me later. The place is just so loud it is hard for conversations. I guess I will wait another five years to go back. Perhaps they will improve. I really want to like this place since it gave me such good memory the first time. I believe they are a victim of fame from recently being on "Check please bay area." read more

My favorite tapas place in the city. Cheap, great food. Snobs can go to Ramblas down Valencia but real tapas lovers, come here!

when I want spanish food, definetely I go to sperpento. the food is good and the service is very friendly. it can get crowd though. wheather you are vegetarian or not, sperpento has something for you. recommended. read more

Food is okay, service needs work. I was there with a large party and some people were ordering a picture of sangria, which the waiter took and then ignored the rest of the table (as I had wanted a glass of wine). I had to flag down the waiter later and ordered my glass of wine, which never showed. Luckily it was not on the bill, but I was still disappointed that the wait staff seemed completely disorganized and unattentive. With mediocre food, I say go elsewhere where at least the staff pays attention. read more