Itapas & Wine Bar
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner, Late Night
- Happy Hour: Yes
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: No
- Coat Check: No
53 reviews
Fremont, CA
"My sister, husband, and I came here on a Friday night a couple months back. We absolutely loved it! We had a comfy couch near the fireplace…" read more »
79 Reviews for Itapas & Wine Bar
5 stars for Happy Hour, 4 for dinner. It's especially nice on Wednesdays with the band. I find it to be a relaxing spot with a very nice bartender. Good oysters and calamari.
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3.5 stars, actually.
We went here on a whim of a friend of ours - she made a reservation, and off we went. The decor was what you would expect from a Palo Alto tapas place - trendy, downplayed, psuedo-sophisticated. Pretty chill.
There were 10 people in our party, so we all got lots of small plates to share. Everything tasted great. The things I can remember being especially good were the roasted potatoes, the garlic shrimp, some sort of chicken dish, the lobster and avocado spring rolls, ahi/avocado tartare, and a rib dish. It was all quite good - flavorful, pungent, unusual for traditional tapas. Nice.
I have to take a star off for the terribly overpriced sangria. Seriously, $34 for a pitcher? $9/glass? For that stuff? Yikes. It was like someone poured Costco box wine in a pitcher, added ice, a couple of blueberries and raspberries and called it sangria. A shame. I also have to take off half a star for the music. For a while I thought we were at a wake for someone. Either no music or fun music, please.
Overall, 3.5 stars for the food and simple, decent decor.
I really love this place. Since most of the time my eyes are bigger than my tummy, the small portions were right up my ally.
Perfect for sharing... here's what we got-
Garlic potatoes (deeeeeeeelish)
Spring rolls
meatballs
and some vegetable thing i can't remember.
I also had an AMAZING pomegranate martini with lime juice... ah, so good.
I walked out of this restaurant feeling content/full-- as opposed to omg i ate way too much full.
I'm finally getting around to writing a review for my favorite after work hang out in down town Palo Alto, I Tapas & Wine Bar. I started my relationship with ITapas, John Lee (owner) and Virginia (the hot bartender) several years ago. I was planning an exhibition opening for the Palo Alto Art Center and I decided to serve Tapas. ITapas had recently opened and I created a dialogue about this special event, first with John Lee and then with Vergina. Virginia was wonderful making suggestions, offering tips and guiding me to make the right food choices / paired with the best wine options. The reception was a big success, and I've been a loyal customer ever since. Try the quail eggs if your feeling adventurous and don't forget dessert. And for all you ladies, this bar is a good place to hangout, alone or with your girlfriends, Virginia will take good care of you and you'll feel very comfortable. Oh, if you are there on a Wednesday night you can hear great live music too.
We had a most enjoyable evening at itapas! The sea bass and garlic shrimp were outstanding, and the service couldn't have been better. However, The Wednesday band was the highlight of the evening. People, you must come on Wednesdays to hear the talents of this group. You will not be disappointed. My only suggestion is that the band should not be partially hidden in the back. They are too engaging for that.
We went here on a saturday evening and got seated right away. service was prompt. The menu was easy and the atmosphere was nice. great music. My wine was good and my friend's sangria was good (i thought it tasted like cough medicine). I had the garlic shrimp- delicious! And he had the paella- scrumptious! So if you're looking to just have a great meal and great atmosphere... try this place!
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Went here with our friends on a Wednesday night.
The food started out good with the asparagus soup, garlic spinach, veg rolls and eggplant roulade turning out really good. Plus they served warm bread which is always a great thing.
From here, the quality was just okdokey with the seared scallops turning out to be pretty average (I dont eat meat, so I picked on the vegetables) ..but the sauce was too tangy and over poweringly sour. Followed by their Hamachi which turned out quite gross, and my carnivorous fellow diners had one bite and sent it right back. It smelt too fishy, and wasnt fresh at all. And the plating was pretty disgusting with a chopped tail served on a plate.
They had live music (on Wednesday nights) that sounded good. However the artists were placed in a semi hidden spot with a partition inbetween!, so one didnt get the full effect of a live band.
Would I go back? I dont know..it was a hit or miss. I might head a little further north to Ramblas at SFO. Their small plate tapas is as delicious as can be and have been consistently so.
meh. food was ok, but WAY overpriced. The calamari was fine, and the mushrooms were good, but I didn't find the hamachi ceviche to have any flavor whatsoever- and that was the dish i was most excited about. Service was ok. Everything about this place was just- ok. Done and done.
I couldn't decide between 3 and 4 stars... maybe it was the good company, but I had a great time here, so I gave Itapas the credit and leaned 4. We had the meatballs, chips and guac, hamachi with avocado, lobster spring rolls, pulled pork, duck tacos, garlic mushrooms, mini churros... I think that's it. Haha! I highly recommend the garlic mushrooms and the churros. A little on the pricey side, and some of the dishes were great, but some were just okay. The guys shared a bottle of wine, and the girls had the "Chef's Favorite Whites" and "Master Reds," which were 3-glass wine samplers.
We also met the owner of Itapas towards the end of dinner, and chatted with him a bit. A friendly guy, who obviously cared that we were satisfied and encouraged us to try his other restaurant, Three Seasons. Overall, it was a pleasant experience. With good company, it's a pleasant atmosphere to have dinner and chit chat.
On another note though.. "iTapas?" C'mon... you can be more creative and less played out than i-Whatever! ;c)
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Yum, on a Monday night, this place was decently filled but our server was prompt, friendly and hungry, drooling while describing the dishes really makes you want to try them.
We had a green salad (BIG and tasty), duck tacos, garlic shrimp (YUM dredged in sauce, ooooo), calamari (super crispy), lamb skewers(flavorful but sea salt would have been nice), and ahi tuna(good but was hoping for spicy).
Everything was really good and I had the chef's choice wine flight which didn't really go with what we ordered but was tasty nonetheless.
I would definitely come back here again and would come here before going to Iberia or Cascal.
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1 Star for the Service, 1 for the Wine. Otherwise the food was not impressive (we ordered 5 different types of tapas) and overpriced, in my opinion.
The Spanish tortilla, for instance, was loaded with potatoes, which is not good for people with diabetes.
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love their raw oyster, very tasty. Not so sure of their ahi tar tar, i think that got me sick afterward. Their sangria is really good too, not the rose one(too fragrant), but the others are good.
ITapas may seem confusing to most at 1st I agree. Take some time eat the Chilean Sea bass and you will understand everything after that. I could eat the Sea bass everyday, make me so so so so happy.
Service works and the decor is fun and what better location than downtown PA.
pretty good - that's my three stars rating
the wine flights are great, good way to get your date drunk. hopefully it won't go into a drunken screaming match from there, this is not the best venue for that kind of night.
setup is a little tight - there's a standup bar area and a kind of set off area for parties, of which there was one that night. talent pool was rather small/meager. no eye-popping hunny bunnies to feast your eyes on. alas, you'll have to settle for the food/wine. tv at the bar, not quite a match. dropt he tv guys, and try to attract more talent. just some advice from total l.
i will now launch into a more formal, structured review of this food b/c i think that's what ppl read the comments for.
-- start:
- wine flight, spanish reds. really good, 3 half glasses.
- cheese and fruit plate. good too. its hard to get this one wrong
-- tapas
- seafood paella - 10" pan of paella. pretty good. shrimpies, squiddies, and clammies
- crab cakes- very good. rich crab flavour, they used the higher end pre-cleaned stuff fo' sho'. nice mango salsa base, creamy, slightly spicy sauce. saucy!
- garlic butter mushrooms. a classic tapas dish. if you can't get this one right, somethings wrong. very good, the preparation here is tart - loads of vinegar/lemon. but the sublime flavor of the slightly toasted garlic lilted upward through the acidity like a finely arpeggiated chorus of flutes rising from the pre-dawn fog of battle.
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Ok, gotta tell ya, this place is the BOMB. Well, VIRGINIA is a great bartender, so cool, so attentive, so smart, and fun. The food is great also. Garlic shrimp? Oh get the F OUT, its soo good. If you have fussy friends, the menu is SO diverse...how can you NOT find something that everyone likes. I have now been here 3x, and just met the owner as well....he is very cool, and even when he is not w/i earshot, the staff still speaks highly of him (well, Virginia does). That alone says a lot to me. Having been in the biz, thats amazing. PA can be a bit stuffy or boring at times (yea, I can say that, I GREW UP HERE), but this place is not!!! This is one of the only places I will deal with downtown (plus, if you are worried about parking, use Evvias valet across the street....BONUS!!)
Having eaten in Palo Alto a lot and being a fan of both wine bars and tapas, I'm surprised it took me so long to try out Itapas. I guess skepticism from Yelp reviews had turned me off. And after my first visit I felt like Itapas perfectly fit the Yelp reviews, though I'm still compelled to go back.
Its a nice setting with an extensive menu and wine list with generous tasting pours for $5-$7 and reasonable, though not great prices on food. A few of our dishes were great and a few left a lot to be desired.
We started with the asparagus bisque and 4 small skewers ($6). The soup was terrific with a buttery flavor that didn't overwhelm and wasn't too rich. It seemed like a soup I'd generally only find in a much better restaurant. The skewers on the other hand were pretty disappointing. They were rather tiny, maybe 2.5" long, and had a mix of good, dull, and unappetizing options. The onions were too pungent for my taste and the cheese and bread were rather blah. A few of the meats were tasty, though the anchovy was unexpected and unpleasant - though admittedly I don't like anchovy.
We followed this with the duck tacos ($13) which had four small corn tortillas with well cooked duck cut into strips and a side of mango chutney, guacamole, and an orange salsa. The condiments added to the dish, but it they weren't a match made in heaven. While it was tasty, it wasn't a great value for $13. The melon and prosciutto was also a let down, as the melon was rather tasteless (and I think out of season) and the balsamic and prosciutto didn't make up for it.
I tried the '03 Jade Mountain Syrah ($5/taste) and really enjoyed it. It was only slightly fruity with a strong flavor of kalamata olives. The '02 Spanish grinon summa syrah/cab blend lacked character and made me glad I hadn't finished my Syrah before moving on to the summa.
I think I'll be back here for the wine bar and expect good things from it. Maybe if I explore Yelp reviews closely enough to feel help choose the best options, I'll be satisfied with the food. But even with some careful exploration, I expect the wine will be the only thing keeping Itapas from 2-star-ville.
---- Update 2/18 ----
Came back tonight and am starting to think that this won't be my last visit. I came for happy hour and got a terrific $4 (happy hour price) white sangria which was better than any of those super fruity concoctions I've had other places. I got a $5 taste of the syrah/zin blend that was enjoyable and well priced. The food was better than my last visit. We got an eggplant dish ($4) with cheese that was very enjoyable. Didn't trascend bar food, but still a nice accompaniment to wine. The tortilla dish with aioli ($4) was also quite enjoyable. It was a small flat pizza shaped dish with a fried dough and aioli on top and not as heavy as I expected.
One thing that really bugs me (in general) is the TVs being on all the time. While I can understand that some people are more interested in sports game than I am, in this case, it was just some random show on mute that kept diverting my eyes, despite that I was totally uninterested in the TV. Kind of a useless buzzkill for people coming here for a date. Definitely doesn't have the nice vibe of the Wine Room on Ramona, but then its a much easier place to drop in without dropping $16 on a glass.
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Had an unexpected but very romantic date here. We wanted a nice evening out in downtown Palo Alto but hadn't made reservations anywhere. After being turned away at two places that were booked, we stumbled upon iTapas & Wine Bar. As we were checking out the posted menu a woman leaving the restaurant said, "The food's terrific!" Ray and I thought, why not?
We walked in and the atmosphere was just right- dark and candle-lit, we were seated in a cozy corner at the front. Something old like the Laurel and Hardy was being broadcast on the back wall- I love the effect of movies being played on walls in restaurants, a la Foreign Cinema.
They have wine flights which we love and order. Turned out my menu was missing a page so I didn't realize they had a sparkling flight- my favorite! The waiter was so nice and gave us both the red flight I had ordered and the sparkling and only charged us for one.
They have more than just Spanish tapas which I enjoyed- one page is dedicated to Spanish while the rest are international, particularly Asian. We shared several dishes- the most memorable: the tortilla espanola, a potato omelet with a spicy sauce; crispy sweet potato fries, my favorite!; four mini duck tacos, Ray's favorite dish.
A memorable experience, and I'm sure we'll return someday.
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Updated 4/23/08: Note: I've been back several times and actually don't care for the wines so much--and I've tried a bunch--but still am a big proponent of their food.
__Original Review__
I've been here twice and really like it. I visited initially because of the wine selection but went back because of the food. I like the variety of Asian, Spanish, American, etc. small plates.
We got everything from sashimi to bbq to potato omelet to sea bass, etc. and I liked the taste of it all. Nothing complex, but good none-the-less.
For drinks, I had a wine flight last time and sangria this time and both are good.
The atmosphere is low key and relaxed with live music on some nights. I'd come back here for a regular evening out away from the college crowds that sometimes fill up downtown PA.
Yummy!
This is tapas in the sense that it is a bunch of small plates. Some people may not like the lack of any real Spanish theme.
I loved this place! It is great for a birthday.
They have good Sangria and awesome pulled pork. Try the green bean tempura and the spinach Catalan style.
Okay, I was borderline between 3 or 4 stars but I'll be honest - I really just wanted to get out and celebrate a good Tuesday so I went on the lenient side, I read the reviews, all seemed fairly positive. My boyfriend and I got there around 7:30, not too crowded. We sat at the bar and maybe it's me but I have a thing about bar seats - they need to be height appropriate and unfortunately, these were definitely not. You sit down and feel like a 4 yr. old at the adult dinner table.
Anywho, we ordered an array of stuff. Appetizers oysters were pretty good - fresh to say the least. Tortilla is def. not as good as in Spain, (but duh, that's too be expected) strawberry and fennel salad was refreshing, paella was waaay overpriced and not very good overall, but the superstar of the meal was the eggplant appetizer. Granted - my bf and I are pretty close to vegetarians so I may be bias but it was quite delectable.
I had an excellent Spanish wine, and my bf enjoyed his chilled cab. Overall, I liked the place - would def. agree with fellow yelpers that it's more of a snack spot than dinner but c'mon - "tapas" is in it's freakin name !
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Mediocre, not-fresh, pre-fab tapas... 'nough said.
This place seemed a bit odd to me. Tapas are Spanish style appetizers right? So why are their spring rolls with lobster and rice vermicelli? And especially at $14 for 4 measly pieces?!
Oh well at least there's a big wine list and sangria!
The menu says they are part of Three Seasons (Vietnamese) and we actually saw the owner/chef there hanging out.
The bar seemed like a good spot to chill and have a couple of drinks.
Other appetizers were just alright. Unique to try but I still feel they were overpriced.
It was a mehh on the dessert though. Everything tasted a bit funky. I wouldn't recommend the dessert taster though.
Service was friendly. Everyone greeted and said thank you's.
SEE PICS!
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Easy place to pass by - never looks open. Dark restaurant and not really welcoming, except for the bright green awning. Staff seemed tentative. Good place for those like me with ADD. So much going on - Michael Buble on the sound system, Cal game showing on the TV screen above the bar, and Charlie Chaplin (a la Foreign Cinema) playing on the back wall. An extensive and a bit overwhelming small plates and wine/sangria menu. We enjoyed our food - seeking light fare - grilled asparagus, hamachi & avocado ceviche, and duck spring rolls were all fine and dandy. 3.5
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When iTapas opened last year, I was super-excited to try it out for after-work drinks. Well, it took nearly a year to actually visit and after my first trip, I was rather happy and I kept telling people, "Go there for happy hour it's great!" I also kept telling myself, "You need to write a review for Yelp." At that point, I thought of it as a three-star kinda place--decent, but nothing special.
My excitement ended with my visit earlier this evening. Once again, thanks to the Margarite shuttle, I missed my train...so I decided to go have a quick drink and a light snack while waiting the 45 minutes for the next one. Last week when I'd missed my train, I had intended on going to iTapas, but became distracted by Junnoon--I should have gone back there tonight. I ventured down to Emerson to make good on my intended visit--and to get some happy hour oysters and a glass of wine.
I made my way to the bar, where there were several other customers waiting. I had just got off work, and was still feeling cute, despite being hot and sweaty. I ordered a glass of chenin blanc and three of the oysters, and went to wash my face in the restroom. When I opened the door, I was confronted with the most horrible musty/mold odor that I have ever experienced in a restaurant--I think the drain in the floor was clogged and I told myself that I would discretely tell the manager (?) before I left.
When I returned to the bar, my glass of wine was waiting for me. It wasn't cold enough, or maybe the glass was hot when the bartender poured the wine into it...regardless, it wasn't altogether pleasant. In fact, I wasn't entirely sure it was even the chenin blanc that was described on the menu...the sweet, syrup taste did not conform to the "dry" expectation that I had. At this point, I was still fine and not particularly bothered.
Moments later, a member of the staff put a plate of garlic broccoli in front of me and mumbled something that sounded like, "For free." I started grazing on it, when I noticed the bartender look at me strangely. Then I heard the manager-person loudly telling the cook--several times--that he needed to make more broccoli because it had been taken to the wrong place..."oh, I guess it wasn't for me then." About that same time, a different staff member tried handing me a tray of spring rolls--free steamed broccoli is possible, free spring rolls is not. I stopped eating the broccoli and went back to my book and resumed waiting for my oysters--not because I cared that it wasn't intended for me, but it wasn't that great. After a few more minutes the oysters came, and they were perfectly acceptable happy-hour oysters priced at $5 for three.
By this time, it was almost time for my train, so I asked for my check...when it came, they had charged me the $9 for freaking broccoli! I told the bartender that I wasn't paying for the broccoli since I didn't order it. How was I supposed to know their service was bad enough to take food to the wrong person (twice!). He begrudgingly agreed to remove it from my bill.
By then, I didn't even care enough to mention the stench in the restroom. I hope that I can remember everyone that I told about iTapas, so that I can tell them about my latest experience there. Good thing that I'm moving next month...that way I won't be temped back by the oysters.
Overall, iTapas is ok, but I won't be back there. I'm picky, and there are plenty of other places to eat downtown. Next time I want oysters, I'll go down to Zibibbo. Next time I want a decent glass of wine...I'll go pretty much anywhere else.
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I came here with a friend for drinks and snacks solely based on the fact that they were having Happy Hour and Nola wasn't.
This place takes the idea of Tapas and turns it into global fusion. Their normal special is a 3 course meal, which by the way is pretty huge, for about $19 a person. Happy Hour is from 6-8pm on weeknights and all well drinks are $4, beer is $3, wine is $4, and specialty cocktails are $5.
There are also food specials during Happy Hour, which gives you a small, but generous amount of food for under $5. My friend ordered the Tortilla a la Espanola (a Spanish potato omelet) with chipotle aioili, a margarita, and a Newcastle. I had the grilled asparagus wrapped with Serrano ham and a margarita--a total of about $20. I should also mention free baguette and butter basket!
The atmosphere of the restaurant is pretty relaxed: low lighting, dark wood furniture, etc. They were projecting a Charlie Chaplin film on the wall, which was pretty swanky and a fun idea.
Our bartender was a sweetheart. He was super easygoing, trying not to get in the way but still making sure we had everything that we wanted. He had some funny commentary on the Chaplin film as well as the Packers vs. Broncos game that was on mute in the back corner of the bar.
If I wasn't poor, I'd consider coming for the 3 course meal and dessert. The food is excellent--props to chef Hung Le! If anything, come here for drinks and dessert after a meal in Downtown Palo Alto, or perhaps for a pre-dinner snack.
absolutely horrible. Worst service I ever experienced. Waiters were disrespectful and never brought our food. When we complained, they basically told us we were wrong and we should shut up. Food sucked too. Go somewhere else
I'm of two minds about this place. Part of me loves it, since it has an extensive and interesting wine list (including wine flights), several kinds of sangria and a great selection of tapas, and almost everything I've tried here has been great. But then I remember how bad the service usually is.
Hubby and I came for dinner on Monday night, since they're doing the Dine Downtown Palo Alto prix-fixe thing. I have to say, I really prefer their tapas to the meal we had. The Caesar salad was good, but my short ribs were very fatty and the potatoes they came with tasted sort of like they came from a box. And now that I'm thinking about it, the sauce it came doused in kind of tasted like dressed-up canned gravy. Hubby's sea bass with butternut squash puree was really good, though, as were our desserts (chocolate torte with Tahitian vanilla gelato and cheesecake). The service, as always, was off. We sat there for a good 10-15 minutes before anyone came to get our drink orders, our desserts showed up before our dinner plates had been cleared away, and we weren't asked if we'd like a second drink until we were ready for the check.
But, I have to say that the times I've come here for a drink and a couple of tapas, I've been really pleased. My advice: Come for a snack, not dinner, and sit at the bar. And order the anchovy toasts, they're tasty.
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Mediocre food....cute place and nicer than nice waiters but mediocre food.
How does a tapas place explain having sake and tempura on their menu?
So weird. Tasty bites but nothing amazing....except the Ahi Tuna Tartare...that was yummy.
A long ass wine list, too! Three stars for booze!!!
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The first time we visited iTapas was pretty random. We went to Palo Alto because it was a Sunday and everything in Redwood City is either closed all day Sunday or closes pretty early. This place was right across from a public parking lot, and since the name has "tapas" and "wine" in it and we love wine and tapas and are pretty lazy about wandering around looking for something, this is where we ended up.
Our server seemed rather inexperienced. We enjoyed the wine flights and most of the tapas we ordered, but the service - eh.
So one day my bf says "you know, I've been thinking about that iTapas place...want to go back?" and it had never occurred to me that he might have liked it enough to go back instead of trying something new, but I was like "sure". That second time, about a month after the first, we had that same server but she was really good! And she remembered us!
A month goes by and we go back again. This time, that server is still there, but we end up with a different server and...I dunno, maybe he's new/inexperienced or something, it's like his rhythm was totally off and he was trying to get us to order dessert when we just wanted to order more wine, and asking us how our food was then not giving us a chance to order more wine when it's obvious we've finished what we had. Maybe if we go back again in a month (and we probably will) he'll have found his rhythm like our first server. I hope so.
I decided to give this place four stars because the wine flights are interesting, and some of the tapas are pretty good. The guacamole is great. The sweet potato fries are too skinny. You can't go wrong with the nuts/olives/cheese sticks plate. As long as it's a leisurely Sunday evening and we get a seat by the window, we're quite happy with this place, it's food, wine and ambiance, and can overlook the occasional awkward service experience.
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Great restaurant for groups! They are good about combining tables and the crowd is not too loud. Plus, really good food. Highly recommend checking this one out. Good for dates too.
The prix fixe dine about town menu was a good value, but the food wasn't great. The chilean sea bass was good, but the sweet potatoes were cold. I enjoyed the dessert but didn't taste freshly made.
However, the service was very good, and I liked the ambiance.
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Went here for Dine Downtown Palo alto and their menu was a terrific value! For $20 I got 3 courses!
3-course menu started with the fennel salad which was pretty good. The strawberries and walnuts added lots of flavor. Then had the sea bass which was nice and buttery, excellent. It's amazing how many french/mediterranean places can mess up sea bass but this place cooked it perfectly. Finished up w/ a choolate torte and ice cream. We also had a cheese plate and ceviche to share as a group, which were both pretty good. Nice warm bread and they don't hesitate to give you refills.
Probably the only disappointing thing was that the sangria we got was expensive (~$30 for a pitcher!)...I was excited to see "Sangria de Cava" on the menu and I had hopes that it would bring me back to when I tried it in Spain, but it was watered-down and pretty disappointing, especially considering the price. Makes me wish I went for a some wine instead. It does seem like they make up for the cheap food by overcharging on the drinks. I can't mark them down too much for that though considering the food was so cheap and good, so it's more like 3.5-3.75 stars for me. They also handled our large group (of 9) very well and the service was pretty good.
I would go back again, though I'm not sure how it would be when they don't have the Dine Downtown promotion.
wary at first of coming here after the mixed reviews, but decided to give it a try . . . glad we did. Everything tasted good and they have an extensive variety of small plates. Seems like a fun place to go with a group of 4-6 so you'd get to try a few more. Prices are on par with Cascal but portions are noticeably bigger.
we ordered:
sangria and the spanish wine flight
beet salad
lamb skewers - a favorite
sweet potato fries - sweeter, thicker, and more "potato-y" flavor than those at "The Counter"
fried smelt
eggplant remoulade
chocolate torte with vanilla bean ice-cream
Probably not the best restaraunt in downtown palo alto in terms of presentation details and flair (ie: the eggplant dish was a little lukewarm) but everything tasted great, and we'd come back to try out the rest of the menu.
This is the second time I've been here and it has never seemed to disappoint. Once again my theory of having good bread justifies my reasoning of coming again. One thing you have to try is their duck wonton...the consomme that comes with this is sooooo good that I can drink two or maybe three bowls of this. The wonton is just a bonus. They also have this really good hamachi kama and their ponzu sauce is yummy....if you like veggies, you must order their brussel sprouts...cooked with perfection...and do try their lamb chops...and their mac and cheese....it is a good size portion. To finish it all, make sure you order their churros and hot chocolate...but ask them to heat the chocolate a little longer cuz it was cold the first time I had it.
(Me, on the phone): "Sorry Mom, I need to go. I'm heading over to a Tapas bar for dinner."
(Mom): "Topless bar? For dinner?"
(Me): "No, a tapas bar. You know, like they have in Spain."
(Mom): "I've never been to Spain, but I sure wouldn't go to no topless bar there either."
Ok, sorry to digress, now on to the actual review:
'i tapas' is a solid restaurant for tapas (little bites/samples), serving more traditional Spanish fare, in addition to some newer style, and more substantial offerings.
We started off with their Bandilleras/Pinchos, which are like little skewer appetizers. You have to order at least 4, and they are $1.50 each. They botched this order and gave us the wrong ones to start, but did fix that on their 2nd try. Honestly, I recommend skipping these little guys, since the tiny cocktail skewers (typically with a piece of cheese, an olive, a piece of pepper and maybe an anchovy) really aren't all that special or satisfying.
I did fine that the wine list and flight options were pretty good. I wasn't that happy with the actual flight I ordered, but the 3 reds in my wife's choice were all quite solid. The selection overall was positive.
We ordered the Spinich which was cooked in oil, with garlic and pine nuts. It was very good, and I highly recommend it. Excellent flavor.
The 'tortilla de espanola' is basically a potato pancake. I hear these are very good and popular in Spain, but I would say try something different. There's only so much you can do with a potato pancake.
The meatballs were quite good, with some nice flavor, and we also liked their lamb stuffed grape leaves. A good variety overall, but definitely hits and misses. Part of the fun is sharing and exploration.
This place used to be the former home of Left At Albuquerque's, followed by a short Pasta Pomodoro run...I Tapas is the better restaurant of the 3. Ambience is decent and matches the intended theme of nouveau tapas. It doesn't feel to me like it's trying to be too cool.
Service was decent, but not special. Desserts looked pretty ho-hum, so we skipped it.
We'll head back and give it another shot.
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I wouldn't call this a wine bar; it's a standard restaurant with a bar in the back, and its wine list is more extensive than usual, but is nothing extraordinary. They do offer tastes in addition to glasses, but that's about as "wine bar" as it gets.
I liked the food, though. They offer small plates but the portions are decently sized so that a party of 4 can each have a satisfying sample. The mussels and clams were excellent as were the beef and fries. The Chilean sea-bass came in a fried chunk which was a little weird. The ambiance was OK, but with black and white tiles and a high noise level, was a little too "cafeteria-style" for my taste.
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Located on Emerson, within 1 block from University Ave, this place definitely looked promising from the outside. Stepping in, the interior decor and the ambiance was great, as long as you ignored the widescreen TV mounted on top. However, I have to say that the food did not stand up to the wonderful ambiance of the restaurant.
My friends and I ordered a pitcher of Sangria, the cheese plate, the guacamole and chips, and a couple of desserts. The cheese plate was truly the most disappointing of all three. I could have gone to Safeway and bought my own cheese and it would have tasted better than this. As one of my friends said, "I wouldn't put such a cheese on a cheese plate..."
For dessert, the espresso flan was pretty nice though, even though they didn't serve espresso in the restaurant. The sorbet was fine as well. The lack of satisfaction I had with the appetizers made me glad that I didn't go for the main dishes. Although I know that judging a restaurant by the cheese on the cheeseplate may not be too sound, but if they're planning to serve mediocre cheese, I'd rather they didn't offer it at all...
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We came here during the Dine Out Palo Alto on Monday night. Everything was very good. The mixed green salad was plentiful, and had a very nice dressing. For our main dish, the lamb was a tad bit too fatty, but flavorful. The ambiance was nice. The name of the restaurant is a misnomer, but they recognize this on their website.
My friend called me out of the blue to dinner tonight and while remembering there was a dine downtown event going on through the month we gave this a try. I had walked by it previously when I was in PA last and the menu looked intriguing.
Being a Monday the place was rather quiet with only a handful of other parties in the place. The old Left at Albuquerque has been modernized into a sleek, hip interior. The space is long, narrow, with dark colours and dimly lit. There's a decent sized bar that takes up half of the right wall with the kitchen being in the very back. Art depicting NYC, Venice, Paris and other places adorn the walls. Like the art, the menu is equally as varied with the cuisine covering the corners of the world.
Since the set menu from the dine downtown program looked pretty good, the three of us did that, each choosing a different entree and splitting them. We also each ordered one additional small plate to maximize the variety of dishes. The set menus we tried were:
1. Crab Cakes or Caesar salad plus puree of asparagus soup.
2. Lamb Chops w/ mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts - " Steak and Fries" - Chilean Sea Bass w/ puree of butternut squash and brussel sprouts.
3. Vanilla Cheesecake
The additional dishes:
1. Lobster spring rolls (Vietnamese style)
2. Shrimp and Chicken "Corndogs"
3. Salmon, scallop, shrimp fried rolls
It was amazing that we were pleased with every single dish. The one person who had the Caesar salad would probably say that was the weak point of the night (go for the crab cakes if you're going set menu( and the "steak and fries" is actually twist on beef chow fun (with the rice noodles replaced with potatoes), which iif that's what you're used to, is weird at first. Between the three of us the bill was $133 and that's without booze. The one odd thing is they don't give free refills on coke which is almost unheard of these days. The waiter we had was pretty good but being a Monday night it might not be a good judge of how they are under weekend style pressure.
Definitely worth checking out on a quiet weekday and their drinks looked intriguing enough for a return on a leisurely weekend meal too. Will return and give the rest of the menu a try.
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