Made a reservation and when we showed up we were told the people at our table were just paying and we'd be sat in 5 min., 5 min later we were sat at a high table in the bar area, tucked behind a pillar. We didn't see a waiter for about 5 to 10 minutes, and that was a pattern throughout the night. He did apologize at one point for "taking so long", but then continued to do so. Food was ok, but nothing really amazing in my opinion. The classic dish Queso de Cabre was more tomato than goat cheese, and our other dishes (ceviche, duck confit, and beef tenderloin) were fine, but nothing I was blown away by. Overall, not a great experience. We received a Groupon as a gift for this place and will likely not be going back. read more

Still yummy: octopus, bacon dates, calamari. Not recommended: beef tenderloin, potatoes. read more

Charming setting in downtown Evanston. Very crowded and vibrant scene. My wife and I sat outside on a wonderful summer evening. The server arrived 15 minutes later and told us things were slow in the kitchen. Ok. Nice to know. We ordered 2 draft beers and 3 small plates to start. The beer arrived 15 minutes later - warm and flat. 20 minutes later the first small plate arrived. A tapas standard is Spanish olives. These were not as good as the ones they sell at Trader Joe's. It took a half an hour for our 3rd plate to arrive at which point we gave up. The food was so disappointing. No attention to detail. Tapas should not be flavorless and boring. Hope this place gets its act together. What a shame. read more

Tapas, tapas and more tapas! If you are up for a date or want to get real Spanish tapas with a small group of friends that's the place! The sangria is a bit heavy compared to its refreshing Spanish original, but Evanston weather isn't Barcelona's summer anyway... Always ask for the day specials! Everyday there is something new that's not in the menu! read more

Tapas Barcelona - Spanish Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

What tapas restaurants run out of bread? They ran out and still expected people to not complain

By far one of my favorite restaurants in Evanston. Such a relaxing atmosphere inside and on the patio - great for sunny Sunday summer sangria sessions (like what I did there?). I always get the Gambas al Ajilo (garlic shrimp), Patatas Bravas, and baked goat cheese. Tonight, I also tried the Pollo al Whisky and the garlic sauce is delicious! Paired with a nice glass of Chianti, Tapas Barcelona makes for the perfect lunch spot. read more

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Great service and nice atmosphere. The tapas lacked flavor and were a bit smaller portion wise than what I am used to back in Boston!

My friend and me ordered cabrillas, albondigas, patatas bravas, and catalana paella for dine-in. Albondigas and cabrillas tasted good. However, both of us felt stomach discomfort after the meal, with a strong feeling of nausea and vomiting. We suspected that the seafood in paella was not fresh and thus led to food poisoning. Very terrible experience. read more

This was an amazing experience! The prices are so reasonable and the food was delicious. The staff was very kind and offered great recommendations. If you go please try the dates wrapped in bacon, they were the best! read more

Tapas Barcelona - Dates wrapped in bacon - Spanish Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

Great food all around. Nice outside area.

Just. Don't. Take the extra time and money to Cafe Ba-Ba Reeba in Lincoln Park. Completely worth it. My friend and I had two dishes from Tapas Barcelona that were very very salty, the shrimp had no salt at all, the paella was watery and I ended up finding a hair in the dish soon after tasting. It also was not a properly prepared paella. This seemed like it was more of a rice and veggies dish vs a traditional paella experience. Very disappointing. The best part of the meal was the $3.95 sangria. I'm not sure I would I return. read more

I heard that this was THE place to go for Tapas! I heard that my battle for finding a solid Tapas place was over! I heard that not only was the food amazing but the staff was beyond excellent! I heard this place was constantly packed and it was hard to get a seat! I heard wrong!!! Maybe back in the "day", but which "day" is unknown to me. I won't go into too many details but the service was bad from the very beginning before we even sat at our table. Our actual waitress was just ok, I've had worse but she did forget about us a lot. Then one of the servers lied to me. I asked if something had beef stock in it (because my date is allergic and can get very sick), he said no but I could tell that he was lying. So I asked again explaining that it's ok if he didn't know but if he said no and she ate it, she could die. He was clearly panicking and looked around nervously but then still gave me another unconvincing "no". My frustration went sky high, why couldn't he just say I don't know. We finally got our server who asked the kitchen after she said she didn't know. As for the food, I don't even know where to begin. More misses then hits that's for sure. I would describe it all but I'm telling you there is so much better out there so don't bother. Pisto Manchego, Esparragos Con Tres Salsas, Vieriras Con Salsa De Azafran, Patatas Bravas (worst I ever eaten), Champiñones al Jerez, and some sort of stuffed chicken. Disappointing!! Can't say I'll be back. read more

Had a great dinner here. Not too expensive, lots of delicious vegetarian options, and incredibly friendly waiters and staff.

Tapas Barcelona is the best "tapas" style restaurant you'll find in evanston. And the price is not too bad either. I went with 3 other people, ordered 7 plates, and we were all very satisfied. Queso De Cabra Con Tomate Datiles a la Sevillana Filete con Patatas Chipirones Plancha Pollo al Whisky Albondigas con Tomate Mejillones Plancha Queso De Cabra Con Tomate: Baked goat cheese in tomato sauce, nicoise olives, garlic bread. You can't go wrong with baked goat cheese in tomato sauce and garlic bread in ANY restaurant. But I really love how the garlic bread is cut into bite size pieces so I don't have to stretch my mouth to eat it (trust me, this happens a lot with this dish in other places). Datiles a la Sevillana: I came here for this, and it has never disappointed me. It's quite small, and doesn't even LOOK that appetizing in its messy plating and toothpicks. But put one in your mouth, and the bittersweetness of the dates with the salty, crunchiness of the bacon really compliment each other, and is one of their best plates. Must have. go. now. Filete con Patatas: Grilled ribeye! I wasn't expecting much from this dish, but it became one of my favorites. Wow. The ribeye was very very tender and perfectly cooked to medium (even though i like medium-rare), and the sauce was not overwhelming so you could really taste the MEAT instead of the SAUCE. I hate it when restaurants drench their meat in sauces, and Tapas Barcelona did a great job with the balance in this dish. Chapirones Plancha: Grilled squid. Very very tender and a good balance of saltiness and acidic vinegar(?) seasoning. Great bite to have in between the more "heavier" dishes. Pollo al Whisky: Okay. DONT GET THIS. The waiter told us that the kitchen was closing so we asked him for a recommendation for one more dish. He IMMEDIATELY said pollo al whisky, so we went with it. Total disappointment. I'm now thinking maybe he wanted to get rid of it in the kitchen or something ahah. The chicken was very salty and looked terrible. It looked like it came straight out of a freezer and someone BOILED the chicken? Anyways. The potatoes that came with it were good. Not the chicken. Albondigas con Tomate: Beef meatballs. So good! I was a little sad that only 3 meatballs came out when we were a group of 4, but the sauce and the meatballs were very good, and the sauce went really well with the bread that came in the beginning, so if you're not planning on ordering a lot, get this plate, and ask for extra bread and dip dip dip away! Mejillones Plancha: Grilled mussels. I have no idea if its related to the season, but the mussels were the size of my pinky nail. The nail part, not the finger. It was TINY. I had like two mussels, so that equals the size of my thumbnail, right? Ehh, it was alright...I guess, I can't tell because I ate so little ahha ALL IN ALL, the food is good, but the one complaint is have is the presentation of the food. Seriously, if they just put in a LITTLE more effort into the plating, this place has so much potential! I don't understand why they have to use the most unflattering plates, and just throw the stuff on there. I understand that its tapas, but you eat your food with your EYES first!! read more

Delicioso! This is the best restaurant in Evanston hands down! When the weather's nice it's definitely worth it to sit outside. But if you don't get a chance, the inside decor is really pretty. It's a cozy little restaurant right by Kaffein and it has the best tapas in Chicago. Yes, better than Cafe Iberico. The best tapa on the menu is, well, ok there isn't just one. But the tapas I would recommend are definitely the goat cheese and tomato dish -- it's like a dip and it's yummy -- the pincho de pollo and the pincho de solomillo -- mostly because they come with really amazing dipping sauches -- and the crab croquettes. But those are just a few... you should try everything on the menu once because everything has it's own flavor for every different mood. The deserts are phenomenal but my favorite BY FAR is banana with ice cream. They cover the banana with pistachios and caramel and although it's really simple, it's certainly the best. I'm a huge fan of tapas for the food, the service and the great ambience. And if you do find yourself at this wonderful place, ask for Gerardo as your server :o) And PS -- If you are going on a Friday or Saturday night you must make reservations -- otherwise your wait will be 30-60 min, easy, and it's almost impossible to find a seat at the bar. So you will have to wander Evanston until your table is ready and if it's ready before you get back, you'll lose your place.So it's definitely worth it to MAKE RESERVATIONS! read more

I went to Tapas Barcelona at the spur of the moment on a Friday night. Without reservations, the wait was an hour. This restaurant must be a favorite dining spot among large groups, and it shows. "Two-top" tables were almost non-existent. I strongly recommend that anyone, regardless of couple or an entire office staff, - make reservations -. (I did not have much luck finding seats at the bar, and it was also difficult flag down the bartenders to order drinks.) Finally, I got a table and immediately ordered three tapas and the vegetarian paella. Patatas Brava: This simple, lightly spicy potato dish was surprisingly delicious. Shiitake Mushrooms with Rioja Sauce (Special): A cold tapas dish with meaty shiitake mushroom caps topped with light tomato "salsa". It falls short on flavor, but overall a decent dish. Berenjenas Con Queso y Avellanas: The combination of goat cheese and pepper cream sauce made this dish too rich for my tastes. The hazelnuts add a delightful texture. Vegetarian Paella: While it consists of numerous vegetables (bell peppers, carrots, zucchini, squash, onions, peas, et cetera) and made with vegetable stock, it was bland and poorly seasoned. The server was almost non-existent, but I didn't experience poor service overall. I must nitpick though. After eating the eggplant tapas, my utensils and napkin needed to be replaced. Sometimes I prefer having new utensils for an upcoming course. Overall, Tapas Barcelona is an average tapas restaurant. It is a good choice for vegetarians and those on a budget. I shared the paella with my boyfriend, bringing the total to less than $35. This restaurant would be a unique destination for casual dates as well. read more

My friend and I were in the mood for sangrias, so we went here. Didn't bother to make reservations since they open at 5pm and we were meeting at 5:45pm, bad idea, all tables were completely booked until 9pm. We sat by the bar and the bartender was very nice and attentive. We really enjoyed ourselves. I would love to come back and actually try their hot tapas. We only had 2 salads, Jicama & Mango & a pear as well. Make your reservations & parking is hard to find. There is a lot on the corner, but of course additional cost. read more

I want to think that we caught them on an off night, but I suspect our experience was aligned with the norm. I'll keep this short and sweet: Reservation: They "lost" our reservation. As a result, we got to wait another half hour for a table. They also lost the reservations of several others who were being seated at the same time we were. (7PM on a Saturday evening.) Service: Brutal. I don't know what else to say. We understand small plates. They sort of come when they come, but 20 minutes between plates for a party of two? Please. Food: Honestly? I thought that this would be the saving grace for the establishment. It was not. The "spicy potatoes" were something akin to Ore-Ida flash frozen potato quarters in leftover Chef Boyardee sauce. (Actually--I think I've uncovered their secret.) The pork tenderloin was swimming in grease. The bacon-wrapped dates? Pleasant. That said, they were bacon-wrapped dates. I'm not really sure how you screw that up. (Even this place couldn't manage that.) Ambiance: Everybody around us was progressively taking off layers of clothing. It was around 80 degrees where we were seated. The table next to us asked them to turn on the A/C or turn down the heat. They replied with a "sure" and turned up the ceiling fans instead. That didn't cut the mustard. Drinks: Watered down and generally unpleasant. I get now why this place seems to always have a wait...the suspect service makes it difficult to turn tables over in a timely fashion, and their inability to reserve tables with any degree of efficiency only compounds the problem. That said, it's pretty much the only option people from Evanston or the surrounding communities have if they don't want to venture into the City. This place is an unfortunate disaster. The plastic garlic hanging on the wall should have been our first clue. Avoid like the plague. read more

We used to like this restaurant -not certain what's happened to it- the food was over cooked, overly salted and the sauces had indistinguishable flavour. The patatas bravas were lukewarm and soggy; paella was bland and lacked depth; the service was ok. Needless to say, we will choose to eat elsewhere... a shame because I love tapas. read more

This is currently my favorite Tapas place in Chicago - too bad it's not actually IN Chicago. Wish I lived closer. Every time my husband an I are in Evanston, we have a hard time going to any other restaurant - this one is so good and so reasonable. First, the food: I've loved every plate I've had, with the exception of the croquets - too much mayo. The potatos bravos are not the best I've had, but still good with a kick. The queso de cabra is solid, although they could provide more bread (this is common at most tapas places). The spinach salad with walnuts is a must, as is the gazpacho if it is in season. Overall, you can get a lot of good plates without breaking the bank. Second, the atmosphere: I actually like the decor, even if it reminiscent of how a chain restaurant might decorate. The tables are spaced far enough that you can easily converse with the persons at your table without shouting (unlike most other tapas places I've been to). And the service has always been acceptable. It is beyond easy to get a table for lunch or an early weekend dinner. read more

Great service, ambiance and food! Such a great selection of tapas and drinks! I highly recommend the jicama and mango salad. Delicious!!! I also had the Queso De Cabra Con Tomate. Also very good! As others have stated, it needs more toast served with it. The Sangria was very refreshing as well. The rest of my party had the black bean soup and the ham & cheese croquets along with a selection of olives. They were very satisfied. read more

Tapas Barcelona - Jicama & Mango Salad! Yum! - Spanish Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

This place is so good, our office food-snob considers it delicious. The prices are pretty reasonable for Spanish Tapas, but I've eaten here so often, I almost fell into the trap of knocking off a star because it seems so common now! I'm not kidding when I say our company reserves at least three tables any time we take on a new hire, and everyone orders two tapas plates to pass around the tables. And everything is very tasty. Crab Croquettes? Check. Beef skewers? Check. Goat cheese? Check. Crab stuffed avacados? Double check. Bacon wrapped dates? This is the company favorite, and we often joke of building a machine to somehow generate them, and it's all thanks to Barcelona! read more

Tapas is a recent discovery of mine. I must say it's a perfect way to have a meal out on a warm summer evening! Tonight I tried: Calamares A La Plancha (calamari) -- very good, and the tiny whole squids are the perfect thing to munch on to weird out your friends who can't believe you're *actually* eating '_THAT_' !! Datiles Con Tocino (bacon wrapped dates) -- As many others have said, VERY yummy!! I can see why my son loves the bacon wrapped dates, his fiance joked he'd eat bacon wrapped bacon if they sold it. Quesos con Membrillo (cheese plate) -- I'm kind of conflicted about this ... on one hand, I liked it, on the other, I was underwhelmed with the serving size & it's presentation. it was like "gosh, this is all we have left , how can we arrange it on the plate to make them look like they're getting 'something' ?" (one star removed) Overall, the food was tasty, not too heavy. I'm sure I'll be back, it's close enough to the theatre & train stop, that if I wanted to hit them up after a show, I could do that, besides, there's more to their menu that I want to try!! read more

I really like this place. The dishes are all very good. The sangria is good and the food comes out quick. Mussels, rib eye, and bacon dates are some of my favs. I love the variety. Prices are decent and the atmosphere is fun and romantic. read more

My absolute favorite spot for tapas. Classic, unpretentious and as authentic as you can get. You know how they have swanky sushi places but you wonder why you keep on going to that one who doesn't try to charge you $20 for a fancy roll because after all, what you want is fresh sushi? Ok I'm babbling but my point is this place takes me back to España because it's simple yet romantic. Classic dishes to try include tortilla española, queso de cabra, datiles con tocino, fritura de mariscos, and for dessert- plátano con helado! Try their specials and if you're an avocado fan, the avocados con cangrejo will teach you that avocados have more to offer than just being smashed for guacamole! read more

Asks for vaccine card and claims to be putting safety first but then sets tables less than 2 feet apart and seats everyone next to each other. There were 5 of 6 tables all with guest sitting right next to each other with the entire rest of the restaurant empty. Then they proceed to sit us at the one empty table right between two other full tables. Seriously? The tables are so close together the waiter can't even fit between them to serve guests. read more

The wine was fantastic. I loved the lamb empanada and the creme brule. Cappacino was delicious as well. Thia would be a great, romantic place for a date. read more

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Came here for lunch for the first time. We got seated quickly. Water and bread was brought fast as well. We ordered 5 items. The dates and bacon was excellent. The ribeye was tasty and good size. Lamb chops could have been a little thicker. Eggplant was okay. Will try other items the next time. Price is not bad for items ordered. read more

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I like this place!! The tapas selection is awesome and the food tastes remarkable! We sampled quite a few items and all were worthy of ordering again. The ceviche was really tasty as was the patatas bravas. But the true winners to me were the Datiles Con Tocino (dates wrapped with bacon and a great bell pepper sauce), the avocado con cangrejo (stuffed with crabmeat salad!), and the queso de cabra con tomato - an amazing baked goat cheese in tomato sauce with olives and garlic bread.. Total yum!! Worth a visit! read more

The only thing that I ate here was the Bacon Wrapped Dates, which were pretty good, but not worth the horrid service that I encountered with my girlfriend. Let's see if this sums up how bad the service was - I went with a $30 Groupon, only ordered one thing (they didn't have the other thing we ordered), and left 15 minutes after we arrived. So basically, I cut my losses and decided to just leave because the service was that bad. I showed up with my girlfriend on two separate occasions at around 5:15. The first time, the restaurant was half full and the server spent 5 minutes looking for a table for us. Unfortunately I didn't have my ghost goggles on at the time so I couldn't see that the restaurant was "actually" full, and she said it would be a 30 minute wait. We left without using the Groupon, completely flustered. The next time we made a reservation in advance. Showed up at the same time to a half empty restaurant with plenty of two-tops open, and the hostess STILL made us wait 5 minutes because she was looking for a table. When we were finally seated, in a half empty restaurant mind you, we were put uncomfortably close to two adjoining tables and I couldn't even hear my girlfriend talk. The waiter brought us some bread - sans olive oil or butter, just plain bread. I ordered a Coke, which was the most syrupy Coke I've ever had. We ordered two things - Chicken & Bacon Wrapped Dates. He came back after 5 min and said they were out of Chicken, but "you could have Bacon Wrapped Dates if you'd like", forgetting that we already ordered that. 5 min later, baffled by the terrible service, I said we had an emergency and needed the check ASAP. Yeah, the little amount of food we received was pretty good, but you couldn't pay me to go back to this place. read more

Pretty decent tapas! I've tried quite a few of the tapas here, and all have been quite good. If you're an olive fan, you should definitely check out the olive plate...there's something unique about them...I keep going back to figure out what it is, but I can't quite put my finger on it. In contrast to the food, I haven't been overly impressed with the drinks here. They serve sangria, but it's not great. I'd rather just have a beer if that's what the sangria is like, but their beer selection isn't very good, either. And finally, sitting at the bar is somewhat hit or miss...sometimes I've had very good service and other times it's been quite poor. Apparently the bartenders would rather watch soccer than earn that additional tip. read more

I spent over a year in Spain, living with a local family and my "señora" made homemade paella every Sunday, hence I became spoiled and accustomed to a good paella. Tapas Barcelona doesn't have good paella. No vale la pena ordenar la paella. They don't even use saffron, which is the key ingredient in paella! This was my third visit here and the first time we ordered paella. I was so disappointed I won't return. We were a large party and ordered two paellas, and when both came out with white rice (it should be a deep yellow if one uses saffron), I inquired as to why a Spanish restaurant wouldn't use saffron in the paella. The waiter said he would check with the chef and the response was they ran out! If so, then they should have let us know this in advance or offered to take something off of the bill. I believe this restaurant is just skimping, since saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. (But all you need are a few threads for each dish.) In the future, I'll skip this deceptive practice and go with the tried and true Cafe Iberico, on LaSalle St, in Chicago, where they don't cheat the customer. read more

Despite being prepared to be all, "Spanish tapas in the Midwest, yeah right," I actually like this place! The best tapas we tried was the patatas alioli. GET THIS DISH. It's just heavily garlicked potato salad, so simple... but the flavors were at perfect intensities and worked together beautifully. It was also a big plate and only $4. Sangria was decent, and a $17 pitcher was enough for 6-7 glasses. I really wish they'd come and refilled the ice, because the last dregs were lukewarm. What NOT to get: - tortilla (a slice of potato torte served alongside a small salad, also about $4): disappointing, way too salty. And that in itself is disappointing, since it is THE ubiquitous tapa. - paella: what a disaster!! It was just unpleasant and texturally off and coldish and flavorless and nothing seemed to work right. Not worth the extra wait time, at ALL. Looking past the hit-or-miss food, the nicest part of Tapas Barcelona is actually the atmosphere: dim, busy and loud at dinnertime. And CROWDED. We made a reservation earlier in the day for 8:30pm and were brought to our table immediately upon arriving, but the place was still pretty full despite its being a Tuesday. The decor is bold, two or three touches shy of being tacky. Once people began clearing out around 9:30pm, the management cleverly turned up the music a bit. Even with only 3 or 4 tables filled at that point, the end-of-day feel was relaxing and never awkward. The first time I was here, 4 tapas + sangria + tax + tip came out to just under $50. The tapas format of dining (with requisite wine) is obviously pricier than my usual "$9 entree each, the end" ideology of eating out, but I am looking forward to another fun night here in the future! read more

Blergh. Let's pour some tomato sauce on a variety of carb-heavy foods, serve it in small portions, and call it tapas! Even better, let's forget the last part of your small tapas order and have you wait 20 minutes for it--a small wedge of melted feta floating in more tomato sauce! When they lost that nice patio, they lost me. I left hungry--everything was unappealing, save the sangria and mussels. I won't be back. read more

True story: My friends and I were hangin' out here before the Illinois/Northwestern game last night. We all drove separately, so we decided to carpool to the stadium. Therefore, we all needed to feed our respective meters. But, being us, we had no change. I asked the waiter if he could break four dollars and give us quarters. He gladly obliged. However, when he came back to the table, he explained that no one went to the bank that morning and they had no change. So, he gives me back the four dollars. BUT, get this, he handed me (probably his own) two quarters! How genuinely nice of him! Shout-out to the waiter! ;) As for the food, we were pretty pressed for time, so we only ordered a dish apiece. The lamb empanada ($7) and the sangria ($4) were pretty solid, albiet a little pricey. I'd be willing to stop by again if I was in the area! read more

My friends and I came over Memorial Day weekend and even though I've been to the area about 1000x's (i.e. many times spent at Kaffein in high school), I never realized this tapas restaurant existed. The food was pretty good but nothing spectacular. We ordered 6 tapas and I liked the grilled squid but the grilled sea scallops was bland. My friends ordered food like the bacon w/dates (thought it was gross but I don't like bacon so don't listen to me on this) and grilled sirloin. What I like about the place is that there is a nice outdoor seating area while the inside is pretty dark. The service was good but our server was really horrible at the end of the meal. He forgot a dish and was very slow too. Overall I don't think I would make another trip out here but it is nice to have a tapas restaurant in Evanston. read more

Mmm... Experience started ok... Tapas were a 50/50 hit or miss... I was rolling solo n they brought me this HUGE basket of bread that was just eh. I thought that was weird... Anyhoo, I had the ceviche, meatballs, croquetas, jamon y tomate pan and the flan. The ceviche was a little hammered, they prepoached it a little too hard. The jamon was a little deceiving the description said it was tomato bread when in reality it was toasted pieces of that eh bread I mentioned before with chopped up tomatoes on top. The meatballs were the stunner and made the okay meal into a way better one. So much so that I only ate 1 of the 3 so I could eat it later. This is where it gets sad... :( apparently instead of packing up my food the busser threw it away! D: They said they would make me one to replace it! :D But when I got home I discovered they only gave me one little meatball with zero sauce or the potatoes or peas it had come with. Wtf am I going to do with that?! And a huge container of that God awful bread!!!! Seriously stop it with the bread. I would have come back after the hit or miss meal just for the meatballs but after that final #@! you with messing up my food I doubt it... I left him a nice tip too! Bleh whatever... read more

We recently dined here and got there shortly after opening (5PM). The minute we walked in I was overcome by a wet, moldy rag smell. I don't know if it was because they had just mopped the floor or something but it was gross. And the smell kept wafting through throughout our meal. Sangria I eventually got over the smell and ordered a glass of white sangria. Nothing special - just white wine with a couple of pieces of fruit. But for $4, can't really complain. Tapas To start off, I ordered a few of the hot tapas: (1) patatas bravas (spicy potatoes), (2) pincho de solomillo (beef tenderloin skewer), and (3) filete con patatas (grilled sirloin w/ roasted potatoes and red wine sauce). All in all, very disappointed in all 3 although the best of the group was probably the pincho de solomillo. The beef was well seasoned and juicy. The "spicy" potatoes were not spicy at all; it tasted like the sauce was plain tomato spaghetti sauce and they were drenched in it. Also, the tender grilled sirloin while plentiful and covered in a decent-tasting red wine sauce had significant fat in the middle of it and the "roasted potatoes" were actually french fries (which sadly next to the beef skewer was the only other decent-tasting item). After that disappointment, even though I was still hungry, I did not order anything else. At least after asking for a basket of bread (which every other table had except us) a couple of times, I just stuffed myself with that. The only saving grace of this dining trip was that we used a Groupon so had to pay next to nothing for our meal (and used it without any problems). Pretty sure I won't return here. Maybe I just picked some bad dishes? I don't know, but based on what I tried this place gives tapas a bad name. I will definitely continue to brave the crowds over at either Café Iberico or Café Babareeba for some great tapas and drinks. Sorry Tapas Barcelona. read more

Websters needs to update their picture dictionary. It is filled with outdated pictures that make no real connection to the words. Glutton could easily be redefined with a nice photo of my two friends and I sitting at Tapas Barcelona last night, and eating our way through 4 courses. Stacks of plates surrounded us. Empty Sangria glasses littered our table. It was obvious to any observer that we were enjoying, and defining the word glutton to a "T". More than 16 hours later, I am still not hungry, in fact, still exceptionally full! Eat... food, what did we have? Here is the low down... Mm mm.. Duck Sausage was amazing Cannelloni De Atun- ok- would not order it again, but alright! Es-cargo (something, something) was pretty good (even though I would not admit it at the time!) SCALLOPS were the best thing on the menu! Empandas - exceptionally savory Muscles- hot, sizzling and pretty darn flavorful Artichoke was a nice break from all the meat The crab was not worth it- and I LOVE crab normally Service was friendly- and awesome. The labeling on the bathrooms caused havoc with us (or maybe it was the sangria- who knows) ... but- as you can see- we certainly ate a TON of food. The pricing was exceptionally well done. All of this, plus a few gallons of beverages, for less than 130. To us, this seemed to be quite a deal. Now I realize why it came recommended by my guys! read more

I really wanted to like this place too since it's a convenient location but it's not my favorite. I've been here twice already within 3 years and recently visited in honor of my mom's birthday. She loves tapas so I decided I wanted her to try a new place other than our usual. On a humid Sunday night, the place was not busy, so reservations were probably not needed but glad we made them anyway because you never know! When you do make reservations however, they like to put you in the far back corner even though all the tables by the window are open. For four people, we ordered an assortment of cold and hot tapas and a paella. Some were better than others while the most consistent thing I noticed was the slices of bread were hard as a rock. They were not sliceable with a knife nor chewable with your teeth. I remember wondering why my teeth hurt the next morning. Many dishes came with a piece or two of that stale, hard, oil soaked bread. I did enjoy the Avocado con Congrejo (half avocado with fresh crabmeat salad) minus the bread, Fritura De Calamares y Gambas (fried calamari & shrimp), and this special duck dish that I forgot the name of. I usually don't eat duck but this one was pretty good and it was served with couscous. We also ordered the Valenciana paella with seafood, chicken, and chorizo. However, the chorizo was not chorizo, it was just Hillshire Farm sausage to me unless Spanish chorizo is different from Mexican chorizo and I just didn't know. Somebody please educate me! A pitcher of sangria will give you almost 6 glasses. It's a much better deal than a single glass if there are people to drink it but I've had better. I guess it does its job of making you tipsy. Overall experience was nothing spectacular... read more