Jaleo
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street, Garage
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: No
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Full Bar
34 Reviews for Jaleo
The white sangria is amazing! It takes like the most delicious champagne with fresh mint and strawberries and something else I can't put my finger on. I tried the mushroom dish and the beet salad. It was so incredible. The olives and bread were awesome too! It's very pricey though, get ready to spend some money. A pitcher of the white sangria is 27.00. It's so worth it though:)
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I went here for my NIH interview with a couple grad students. I am not a big fan of tapas since it never seems to fill me up. As we had finished our first round of tapas, my mind started to wander to the stores across the street where I could finish off my appetite....however, I placed an order for paella (slightly pricey though) and found that it quickly filled me up.
Great paella, great seafood tapas and good red wine sangria.....
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Jaleo is a tapas place that was a tapas place before there were tapas places. I remember taking dates here in high school. I was here again last night, and I told the waitress about being forcibly ejected when I was 18 or so, because I was hammered and I took off my pants to pee on the bar or something. My female companion had to drive me back to her place, pants draped around my shoulders like a cape. That's what she told me, anyways.
The sangria is not good, and if you think it is, you haven't had good sangria. The best sangria I've ever had was in a little bar outside the Duomo inn Firenze, Italy. This is the same bar that led to me being almost deported, carbinieri aiming their machine guns at me, and me and my friend accidently defacing a national treasure. I digress.
The tapas are fairly good, but I have definitely had better - the croquettes were good if oily, the skirt steak was cooked a bit too rare but the sauce was delicate(a bit salty though), and the cheeses were okay.
The olives/pearl onions were not good, and the bread was so hard I was ready to drill a hole and plant thermite to break off a piece of it.
Jaleo's food hasn't gone downhill so much as my tastes have gone uphill - while I can appreciate the croquettes, for example, I know that i have had much better at several other tapas places. Baltimore's "Tapas Teatro", for example, has tapas that blow this place out of the water. For a place like bethesda, where I once saw a Mercedes, followed by a Bentley, followed by a Rolls Royce Silver Phantom, I expect a hell of a lot more, even from a chain place located in a high rent area.
The service was good, and there is outside seating, but given the price, I would say avoid this place unless nostalgia is dragging you here by the nose, a prickling, pear shaped invitation, the turning doorknob of memory.
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This used to be one of my and my husband's favourite restaurant; however, the food has gone downhill. The best menu item (the calamari a la plancha) was taken off the menu about a year or so ago, and we pretty much have stopped going.
The sangria is good (not the white or sparkling, though), but you can do as well at home by looking up Bobby Flay's recipe on the Food Network.
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Under the new rating system, two stars stands for "meh. I've experienced better." I had previously thought of two stars as "bleh. No way!" Jaleo in Bethesda was mostly a "bleh," but overall I'll say it was "meh" so two stars it is.
In the 90s, I was a huge fan of the Jaleo downtown. When Jaleo Bethesda opened up, I liked it, but still preferred the original DC location. After dining at this restaurant on Wednesday, I have to say that I went from mildly pleased to downright disappointed.
I tend to order the same tapas anywhere I go and this visit was no exception:
1. Gambas al Ajillo. The shrimp marinated in garlic and olive oil was as wonderful as I remembered. The shrimp were large and tender, and the sauce was the perfect garlic to oil ratio. We finished every last bite and actually wished there was more;
2. Patatas Bravas. This dish traditionally consists of roasted potatoes with a tomato sauce and mayonnaise aioli. It's a great mix of textures and the tomato usually has a bit of a kick to it. The waiter said that the Patatas Bravas are crispy now. I figured that meant that the potatoes might be roasted longer. I didn't realize until they came out that they were potato CHIPS! Why didn't he just tell me they were chips? I enjoy homemade potato chips, but my expectations were for the Spanish version of this dish so it was tough to switch gears. As chips go, they were good, but I would ask for the sauce on the side because it was way too strong in amount and consistency for the lightness of the chips; and
3. Tortilla Espanola. I love the blend of potatoes and eggs in this omelet-style dish and how onions and herbs are used as accents. When I ordered this, the waiter asked, "Would you like this runny or well-done?" HUH?!? I reached for my menu because I thought he had misheard me. He hadn't. I chose well-done, but the three of us at the table were baffled. We've all lived in Spain and ordered this item often. None of us had ever heard of a runny Tortilla Espanola.
This dish was served and it was so flimsy that my friend said, "I'm glad you didn't order it runny." This item should never be pancake-thin. It should be at least an inch and sometimes two or three inches thick. This tasted like I went to an omelet bar and asked to have potatoes and onions thrown in. Eew! I had maybe three bites.
Service was friendly, especially the hostess, but not enough to save this meal. Jaleo used to be the Gold Standard for affordable tapas in the DC area with Sabores in second place and La Tasca a very distant third. Now, I don't know who's on -- or in -- first. I think I'd just rather pay the money and go to Taberna. I have admired Jose Andres since I met him in 1997, but what is going on at Jaleo, Senor? I might come back here for drinks and the Gambas, but more than that and my response would be:
I'm sorry, but no way, Jose!
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The competition is always between whether Jaleo is better or if La Tascua is. I'd have to say La Tascua is way better all around.
The prices at Jaleo range from $5 to $8 for tapas. Pretty reasonable prices. Too bad the tapas aren't very good. I thought they were super salty. and then I had to drown the salty taste with bitter sangria. yuck. Whatever you do, don't bother with most of the potato dishes. We got two of them and they were not what I expected. The patatas bravas ended up being potato chips with a red sauce and globs of aioli sauce on top. The other dish was suppose to be chrizo with potatoes. It ended up tasting like those little sausages [smokies?] with a potato chip wrapped around it. The calamari we got was salty and it came with the same aioli sauce that the potato chips had on them. The boy really liked the shrimp which I thought were alright. Not much flavor to them. Weird since it was suppose to be the "favorite".
I gave it two stars because the place was nice and the serves was pretty good. But that was about it. I'd rather go some place else for Tapas.
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Sangria please! Of course; make it a pitcher.
I have never had a bad experience at Jaleos. Whether it's this location or the one downtown, the service is always friendly and fast and the food is so delicious.
I actually enjoy the chewy bread with the olive oil and spices.
Our usual order consists of these tasty treats:
Gazpacho
Patatas bravas
Pimientos del piquillo rellenos de queso
Buuelos de bacalao
Salmn a la plancha
Dtiles con tocino (sinfully delicious- dates wrapped in bacon oh my)
Bocata de jamn y queso Manchego Classic
On my last visit I took my daughter before her first trip to Spain.
She loved it too. I enjoy coming here with a small group. Sharing is the best!
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I had heard about this amazing tapas place in Bethesda, so when a friend was in town for business we decided to try out this place. The nice thing about tapas is that you end up feeling satisfied by the end of the meal without feeling like you've gorged yourself with food. Or at least that's how I feel about tapas. The small plates were tasty and they have little olives for you to snack on as well. It is definitely on the pricier end, so be ready to have a slightly lighter wallet on your way out.
Jaleo serves the worst tapas I've ever had in all of my life. Granted, it may be unfair to compare this place to the restaurants I've frequented in SF, NYC, and Houston, but I figured Jaleo would be decent given it's high ratings. It didn't meet my (already low) expectations.
The food:
Quail with apple, pork, and foie gras stuffing: inadequately described on the menu .. I didn't taste any pork and definitely NO FOIE GRAS in the stuffing .. false advertising much? instead the quail was stuffed with walnuts (?!) and apple .. they didn't mention that there would be nuts in the stuffing .. the stuffing was basically ALL nuts and some apple (and the sweetness was overpowering and did not complement the quail) .. i could not discern nor taste any meat at all in the stuffing .. the breast meat was pink and raw and tasted horrible compared to the parts that were cooked .. when I made this complaint to my waitress, she said "oh it's just really, really tender because of the apples" ... does that make any sense? tender meat shouldn't be mushy and foul-tasting.
potatos: the cafeteria at my hospital makes better potato wedges (I'm dead serious) .. they got so wet from the tobasco sauce, and I spit out the aioli in my napkin because it tasted like a big hunkin' heap of fat .. which is a shame because i love aioli
chorizo on top of garlic mashed potatos: this was good .. but sadly something we could've made at home
pork and foie gras cannelloni: again, lies ... where was the foie gras? this didn't taste bad (like the quail), but wasn't worth it at all.
The service: A complete joke. The service was terrible! I don't want to be a snob but I've had better service at hole-in-the-wall joints where the waiters have at least tried everything on the menu and can describe the food well. It was obvious that our waitress had not tried much of the plates that I asked about and could not give even a single recommendation as to what is good or popular. I should've taken that as an early warning sign. I try to keep my reviews objective and try not to insult or disparage anyone, but the hostess was a miserable idiot. In a restaurant with NO OTHER diners, she seated us by the kitchen where we could see everyone working, and we had to get up and remove ourselves and sit by the window .. we had requested a booth (there were at least 3 in the restaurant), and the hostess said that it was reserved .. well guess what?! during our entire meal at Jaleo, no one took that booth! what did we do to deserve such treatment?
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Another pitcher of Sangria just for me? Oh, that's awfully generous of you, but I don't need one to myse.....Ok, I'll take it!!
Is this the place with the great Sangria? I'm not sure if I remember eating here....I kid, I kid. That was some great Sangria. I really do think I polished off at least one pitcher by myself - boy was I friendly that evening!
I have to admit that some of the tapas here are a little weird, but it's Spanish cuisine, and there are so many normal ones, you picky eaters have no excuse! My non-epicurious (I made that up) husband even ate enough to be satisfied.
We had some really delicious tapas and since it was my friend's birthdays, so there was like 15 of us and we all shared our different dishes. I suppose that was a big-time perk.
Gambas al aijillo, pimientos del piquillo rellenos de queso, and espinacas a la Catalana were some of the really good ones that I remember (as in remember eating, but I had to cheat off the menu). The octopus ink & rice one wasn't really up my alley and I found that the paella was a tad too salty for me.
We thought we were all a bit too stuffed for dessert, but then we left and we all got icecream around the corner....I'll tell you about that one in another review :)
Overall, this place is FANCY and the food is good. No, not like Fancy Ketchup, not like "here's your one chance Fancy, don't let me down...", but NICE. It is pricey so bring your big wallet and a medium appetite.
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Tried out the Bethesda location a couple of nights ago. Everything we sampled was from the seasonal menu. We tried the following (in order from best to worst):
Pimientos del piquillo rellenos de queso de caa de cabra a la plancha (4.25/5.00): These red peppers generously doused in olive oil, lightly garnished with cilantro, and stuffed with goat cheese were amazing. The only problem is that they barely make a dent in one's stomach and the plate runs $7. I could eat 50 of these plates and not be full. Regardless, they were tasty and I would recommend them.
Canelones tradicionales (4.25/5.00): Tiny pasta rolls stuffed with pork and lavishly basted in bechamel sauce. Yum. A little more filling than expected given the inordinate amount of bechamel sauce used in this dish.
Codorniz rellena de frutos secos con granada (3.75/5.00): Quail stuffed with sausage and pinenuts. This dish came in a sweet sauce decorated with pomengranate seeds. Our waiter (very nice) stated that his two favorite seasonals on the menu were this quail dish and the aforementioned pork rolls. Having said that, he also warned us that the quail is only a 1/2 quail and runs $9. Although the portion is minute, it certainly is an interesting combination and worth sampling.
Rape con pur de berenjenas (3.75/5.00): Finely cooked monkfish lying atop eggplant puree. The puree expertly matched the supple monkfish. A good amount of the puree remained after we devoured the monkfish, and I used it to finish off the bread that came with our meal.
Trinxat de la Cerdanya (2.50/5.00): An absolutely forgettable mishmash of cabbage, bacon, and potato. Jaleo deserves points for creating this odd dish, but it just didn't deliver in taste. Regardless, I was still happy we ordered it because at least it was filling.
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The bread that comes with one's meal at Jaleo is an overly chewy disaster served only with olive oil. I was absolutely stunned that a restaurant that administered overall excellent tapas started the experience so carelessly. The olives they served were pedestrian, at best. They could take some tips from Mendocino Grill by serving their olives slightly warmed after being doused in olive oil.
The service at the Bethesda location, unlike the reviews for the DC location, is commendable. Our server was friendly, polite, and made pleasant observations regarding menu choices.
I think Jaleo is a nice place to go if you are on an expense account. Also, since tapas are inherently romantic, it can be a good spot to take your girlfriend on a moderately special location (or, if you are like me, in the middle of the week because you happen to be in Bethesda and Mon Ami Gabi won't seat you without reservations). This is NOT a good place to take a first date simply because it is cavernous, the tables are a bit too close, and the place is loud (then again, I think one should NEVER go to an expensive restaurant on a first date, but that's beside the point). Overall, Jaleo is worth a visit, but be prepared to drop some coin.
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I went there, thinking that the dishes listed on the menu looked shockingly cheap for downtown Bethesda. I had no idea that tapas are small, appetizer-sized dishes. The food was pretty tasty and I liked it. The meal ended up being pricey because you need to order a few tapas for each person.
They offer a wide variety of tapas dishes - for the adventurous you can try the rabbit stew, blood sausage or duck confit. On the safe side, lots of cheeses, vegetables or beef dishes. For someone who loves to try different types of ingredient - this is one of those places. Portion is small enough so it won't overwhelm you but when it's good, it's perfect leaving you wanting more. I've tried the paella it's excellent with fresh seafood. One of the rare find is the white gazpacho soup served cold with muscat grape, lump crab and toasted almond. They also have good sangria and cava with strawberry. Excellent flan to finish off the dinner. I always enjoy a great meal at Jaleo.
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I love Jaleo! I prefer the Bethesda location because it's right on the corner where there's lots of downtown Bethesda traffic. The one in DC is a bit empty when I went. It's a good place to start out the night if you are hanging in Bethesda because of its central location
The tapas are the best! (Better than La Tasca.) The patatas bravas are my favorite - I usually order 2 because I have to have a whole one to myself. Endives with goat cheese, oranges and almonds are a must! The white cava and red sangria is yummy . (I prefer the red.)
I recommend Jaleo for any occasion.
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I had gotten two giftcards for here and wanted to use them before my friends and I all graduated and we all wouldn't be around to go here again. It was our first time having tapas and we were very excited.
I made my reservation on opentable.com and we were seated promptly. There was a live band playing that evening - we elected to sit further away from them because it would have been hard to hear each other.
Oh also - at the time they were having this Spanish wine and cheese tasting so we also had the option to get up from our table and do some tastings.
Anyway - we had no idea what we were doing; thankfully, our server was very friendly and eagerly explained how the whole thing worked. We each picked 4 dishes...I think we only didn't like 3 of them. One of the calamari dishes was definitely one of them. But everything else was amazing. The patatas bravas, the lamb chops (SO GOOD), the chorizo, the garlic shrimp, and the mussels. I can't remember what else we had - but it was all so good. We were too full for dessert but that menu also looked really good.
Will definitely be coming back :-)
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My date and I show up at 8 on a Saturday night. There is a 30 minute wait, but first come first serve at the bar. We're seated in T minus 2 minutes!
I had always been nervous to come here since I'm a picky eater and there is a lot of sharing required. Luckily I had a good date. So we had a pitcher of the white sangria... YUM... and after my date took all the strawberries the bartender cut me up another plate full. Two points for Jaleo. We had the Tomatillos con relleno de cangrejo -Cherry tomatoes stuffed with crabmeat for $9.00, Mejillones en vinagreta -Marinated mussels with cucumber, tomato and green peppers for $6.00, Calamares a la plancha con olivas- Whole fresh squid with green olives $7.50, Something vegetarian with goat cheese that was amazing, but I couldn't find it again on the menu, a salty lox cream cheesy one, and the oyesters. We also had the flan for dessert. The oyesters were just eh. Almost everything else was just fabulous. I was only sad to have such a small serving of it! Thats tapas though.
It was a great date place, but be prepared to lay out the wallet because if you eat enough to be full, it's gonna be pricey.
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I had an excellent experience of Jaleo, although I did go at the off-peak time of 4pm on a Friday. As such, the place seemed a bit empty. I prefer intimate spaces to such large halls as Jaleo anyway.
Nonetheless, the tapas was mostly exceptional. I went with my dad, and we ordered incredibly balanced endives with oranges and chevre. That somewhat spoiled us because it was the best of all the dishes we ordered. Also exceptional was the mussels cooked in their own juice, a mushroom dish that balanced the fungi taste with raisins, and nicely seared salmon with roasted vegetables. Less spectacularly, we ordered a dish of roasted vegetables that was kind of bland.
Jaleo has a huge menu of tapas, and you can nicely budget your way around the menu if that is your wish. The wine list also seems pretty chill.
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Overpriced first of all. Tapas were kind of strange...I will not return.
As my dad hates tapas, my mom always drags me to Jaleo for lunch when I'm in town (oh, pooooooor me), with last week being no exception.
As always, the experience was very good-- Jaleo's kitchen is remarkably consistant in their quality of preperation. This trip we particularly enjoyed the pork tenderloin and mussels with tomatos. I love their beet salad, which is spiked with cirtus, cheese and walnuts, and my mom and I both can't get enough of their potatos with cheese sauce (hello, classy cheese fries!). We were not so fond of the monkfish with eggplant and black olive oil, which was fine but not spectacular.
As other folks have noted Jaleo has some ass kicking sangria which I could have easily downed a few quarts of had I not, you know, been with my MOM (yes, I'm a grown up, and yes that is me caving under mom pressure. Like you don't :-) ). As it is I'm trying to figure out a time when I can go back for more sans parent, because the sangria is So Damn Tasty.
Jaleo's got a very pretty, spacious dining room that can feel loud when it's crowded and very empty when it's not. Since we got there well before the holiday-diminshed crowds it felt somewhat deserted, but this is the only time I've been there and felt that way so most likely it was a fluke.
For those of you who aren't familiar with tapas or feel intimidated by the menu I strongly suggest relying on Jaleo's waitstaff. Jose Andres has his staff trained well, and in my experience they make excellent recommendations. We always ask our waiter what he or she liked the best when they did the staff tasting and so far we've never been steered wrong.
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On a recent visit with a friend who lives at the edge of DC, we had a late Sunday lunch at Jaleo in Bethesda. It was a lovely day, so we opted for al fresco dining. We started with a 1/2 pitcher of white sangria, which was light and refreshing, with strawberries and fresh mint leaves floating in the carafe.
The tapas we ordered were all very good. We had the Pimientos del piquillo relleno de queso y setas (Sweet peppers stuffed with goat cheese and mushrooms) , Tortilla de patatas al momento (Classical Spanish potato & onion omelet), grilled baby corn in a smokey red pepper sauce, Gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp), and Calamares a la plancha (Whole squid with mashed potato and pimenton). It was all delicious, and we quite enjoyed ourselves. Jaleo's service was attentive but not overbearing. All in all, a great experience, and now I have a craving for tapas...
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I love Jaleo! Great Tapas. You must try the dates wrapped in bacon. The sangria is to die for so make sure you order atleast a half a pitcher if you are going to drink more than one glass. Save room for the Chocolate Hazelnut Torte (which they did take off their menu, but is back due to numerous complaints it was gone).
***Update...I am changing my rating from 5 stars to 4 stars. I am a little disappointed with my visit tonight. They have changed one of their potato dishes (patatas bravas) which the potatoes use to be diced. Now they are cut very thin. So basically they are potato chips with sauce on them. Then there was a chorizo/potato dish I ordered which were little chorizo sausages wrapped in one of these "potato chips". I feel like I spent a lot of money on tapas. Please take the overpriced potato chips off the menu!!! I could have just gone to the grocery store and paid a couple dollars for a bag of Lays potato chips!!!!
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I had the pleasure of eating here the other night. Aside from offering an impressive wine list, their food had its moments too. My tapas choices were somewhat of a hit or miss, though. I recommend ordering a pitcher of sangria before starting on the menu. You'll enjoy that and then you can begin your exploration of the cryptic menu.
Be brave with your choices. If you pick right, the rewards are indeed EXCELLENT. Their Mediterranean style is top-notch. I don't remember the Spanish name, but what I really loved was the "chicken with green sauce." I should say, though, that a few of the tables' tapas were regrettable. The quail for example. Very interesting flavors, but its just didn't meet the risk it took.
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Decent tapas. What makes it fun are the sangrias with friends. Oh, and the figs wrapped in bacon with a pinenut aren't bad either ! I much prefer the Chinatown location, however. In Bethesda, you have too many teenyboppers walking around. And though Bethesda is very diverse and progressive, too many U of M alums with uber- fraternity and sororities social mentality , which is why I much prefer the downtown location.
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I went to Jaleo a couple of years ago during a business trip. Not only was this my first trip to D.C., but it was my first Tapas experience. And what a wonderful Tapas experience to have.
We happened to go on an evening when they had live dancers performing in the restaurant (I'm completely ignorant when it comes to Latin dances and what dance they were performing, but it was AWESOME to watch them swirling and moving gracefully and with such powerful emotion throughout the restaurant and between tables).
We had paella and the portion was HUGE and the flavors just exploded in my mouth - yum.... We also enjoyed a mushroom dish and calamari and I don't remember what else, but I just remember how much I enjoyed all of the dishes.
I also remember that the service was quite good. I went with two colleagues and none of us were really sure of what to order and the waiter was extremely helpful and accommodating.
I am one of those people who loves to eat a variety of foods instead of just one main dish, therefore tapas is perfect.
The decor was nice, the wait was a bit long, because it was a last minute decision to eat here, but if I am ever in the area again, I'm pretty sure I'd make a point of going back to Jaleo.
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Hit Jaleo this past Saturday, and I can say I came away impressed. The play by play:
I had reservations for 6:30 (yes, dammit I know that's early -- but take note they don't take reservations past 6:30, and I didn't really feel like hanging at the CROWDED bar with my date for 2 hours). Of course, my date is running late ... I talk to the hostess and let her know, she knowingly laughs at me and hands me one of those Christmas light coaster things and says no problem. Good, cause the place is packed. Plus one for good customer service.
Date arrives around 7:00, and we promptly get seated. Nice. Suckers waiting in line give us some nasty looks, I laugh at them. Sit down, chit chat and look at the menu. It's, uhh, extensive. Not Tolstoy big, but definitely one of the bigger menus I've ever laid eyes on. We end up ordering six dishes ... I can't remember the names much less spell them, but we had sausage, chorizo, potatoes, bread/ham thingy, pork and duck. All were excellent. We even got an extra order of a different potato cheese dish gratis (waitresses mistake), which actually ended up being one of the best dishes we ate. Plus two for the food and service.
Heading into the final leg of dinner, we ask for the dessert menu and recommendations. The waitress at this point is being VERY friendly with my date, leaning in a lot closer then normal, hand on the shoulder, whispering sweet dessert nothings into her ear ... HMMMM. No gents, the night didn't end like a typical letter to Penthouse Forum - sorry to disappoint. But, the chocolate mousse and basque cake was good. Plus three 1/2 for dessert and the additional "waitress service" not offered on the menu.
So all in all a very nice place -- never rushed, good service, good food and a nice atmosphere. Oh, and the sangria everyone raves about? Pretty good ... but it gave me flashbacks to college and Boone's Farm that all the ladies used to drink. Too sweet for my taste.
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This was my first time having tapas and they were all really delicious. It's a great place to go with friends and for everyone to share a little bit of everything. My favorite were the potato pancakes and the duck with poached pears were amazing. The paella was ok, a little too saffron intensive for my taste. The downside to this place is that because it was tapas the portions were really small, yet still cost $5-8 for each. It would be cheaper to dim sum.
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Jaleo in Bethesda is definitely unlike any tapas bar in Spain, but that's ok because the atmosphere is excellent and the food is top notch.
Upon entering the restaurant, you are overwhelmed by the warm tones that permeate the place and the massive murals on the wall. The huge bar at the center of the restaurant gives homage to the roots of the tapa. Be prepared to wait, because there's usually a crowd. I suggest a drink at the bar, though the sangria is ho-hum.
Service here is generally attentive, but fairly brusque. The waiters are pretty no-nonsense and are more interested in getting the food out than being friendly (fine by me).
The food is wonderful and really keeps with the tapas from Spain (side note, I spent a lot of time in Spain a few years ago and ate at many a tapas bar, so I'm a bit of a tapas snob, but probably for no real reason).
You must order the tortilla espanola, pan con tomate, pulpo de gallego, and the patatas bravas. Everything else is up to you, but you should try anything with anchovies and basically any seafood dish that they have.
This is a great place to go with a group, but beware your wallet because you will spend a lot here, even if you do not think that the bill will be that high.
******UPDATE*******
So, my wife and I went to Jaleo last night, and we were somewhat disappointed. It's possible that they were having an off night, but the overall experience was not very good.
We had a reservation at 8:00, but the people at the host stand seemed frantic in trying to find us a table, and the one that we were given was not that great. Our waitress was completely out of her mind and it took her nearly 10 minutes to even take our drink order. We were ready to walk out.
The most disappointing part was the food. Gambas al ajillo, a staple tapa were TERRIBLE. There was no garlic flavor and the shrimp was barely warm. Pulp de Gallego, one of my favorite spanish dishes, had way too much paprika and was not hot.
Overall, I'm going to have to reduce my rating down a star for last night's experience. Hopefully Jaleo will work to get its act back together, until then I will visit other tapas spots in the city.
so my first experience in a DC tapas place was at Jaleo's and let's just say that when you come here pre drunk, after brunch, on a sunday, around 4... this is not the place to be.. and quite frankly.. they definitely didn't hit HIGH expectations..
TRAVEL LOG
3:45pm:
walked into jaleo with chang w. , his coworker and wife, and someone else i believe but i was too drunk to remember. went straight to the bar and asked if we could get a table.. the bartender laughed because he saw we were wasted and directed a waitress to seat us.
4:00pm:
sat down atta table near the window so that we could people watch. other patrons in the restaurant were giving us the stare down because it's in bethesda and they can't believe that people could be drunk on a sunday afternoon.. waitress gave us the menu and asked for the drink specials.
4:10pm:
chang's coworker orders a screwdriver for his russian wife, and we order a pitcher of sangria for the table. waitress tries to be friendly with us "roughin's" and chang's coworkers says a raunchy joke.. to which we all laugh.. but not because it was funny.. but because we were drunk
4:25pm:
the sangria is placed on the table, and it's strong so we're downin' it like water.. the 2 bloody marys and 1 guiness i had before is still making my head swirl.. i decide to forgo the bathroom because i'm afraid to trip.
4:35pm:
we laugh and joke about all topics.. conversation flows very well... other patrons, mostly 65 and older, shake their heads and try to cover their ears. waitress politely tells us that she won't be serving us anymore... to which we were disappointed, however, the new waitor a big 6'1 guy comes over to ask if we need anything else.
5:00pm:
conversation continues and then we get some free tapas.. we think we hit the jackpot however, the manager comes by to politely tell us that after we finish these potato fried thingies that we will haveta pay the bill and leave. confusion sets in, and we ask why.. and he states that we've offended our previous waitress.. and we were being too loud... realization sets in as we remember that the coworker said something about being naked to the waitress.. we give him a dirty look since he's the one that got us kicked out now..
5:10pm:
we're officially kicked out.. and those potato thingies weren't that good either.. HA! .. we jump on the metro to finish the nite in dupont.
MORAL OF STORY:
don't go to jaleo if you wanna have fun, go there for a dinner date or something, because it's not really set up for the 'lounge scene' and 'lounge convo' ... tapas weren't that great and kinda expensive.. and since it's in bethesda you can get some pretentious people in there.. also, don't make jokes with the waitress about being naked when your wife's sitting next to you.. you can get you and your party kicked out..
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Jaleo is the best place to go for...sangria...dinner with friends...a first date...just about any occasion. The sangria is the best I've ever tasted (except when I make their recipe a little stronger). They really capitalized on the tapas craze, but the DC location has been around for a long time. The owner, Jose Andres, is a fixture in DC, with 3 Jaleos, Zaytinya, Cafe Atlantico, and Oyamel under his name. Each restaurant is special in its own way, but I think Jaleo is his best as it is true to his culture. Having studied in Spain, this is where I go to get foods you can't find anywhere else like "Pan con tomate y jamon serrano" (procuitto on tomato bread) and Gazpacho, but they also have tapas I never had in Spain like Manzanas y manchego, a wonderfully flavorful apples and cheese salad. I bring my version to about every party I go to and it is always a hit.
My favorite dishes besides the ones I've already mentioned:
--Ensaladilla Rusa - Potato and Tuna salad (sounds horrible but it's amazing, especially to soak up the sangria)
--Camarones al alijo
--Arroz con setas
--Lamb chops - they come with a rosemary sauce that is to die for
--Calamares - this is the standard for calamari
--Espinacas
--Patatas Bravas
Don't forget to start with the bread and olive oil and make room for dessert. The Hazelnut Torte is amazing.
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I normally do not eat Spanish food, so I can't rate the food accurately. All I can say is I enjoyed the food and the decor was great.
If you enjoy tapas than Jaleo is for you. Several locations around the DC Metro area provide a sampling of different types of foods. Order as much as you like as frequent as you like. Nice place to go for smaller portions if you want to try a variety but can also order a regular sized meal as well. Pretty decent sangria too.
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Best Sangria I've had hands down. Good amount of tasty fruit comes with the refreshing pitcher. Pitchers are on the pricey side, so if you dont want to spend $$ order a glass( but don't expect to get a buzz!). Tapas entrees are great...I recommend the duck.
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Tapas! Love the DC location for all the District has to offer but the Bethesa spot is closer!
food tasted pretty good. however, i actually did not know that tapas are small dishes so I was initially excited that a downtown Bethesda restaurant seemed to have dishes that only cost about $6 or $7. haha. a typical american will have to order quite a few "dishes" to feel even faintly full of food. wait was too long (about 45 minutes to an hour on a weekend night) and service was barely acceptable.
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