On a mobile device? Try our mobile site, optimized for faster browsing.
Loading...
ill second HC L.'s review.
paella was really good.
tapas were not so hot..and i LOVE a my small plates.
tapas:
-Gambas al Ajillo (warm shrimp in garlic parseley and dry sherry)
-Champinones and Salteados con gambas a la Catalana ( mushrooms and shrimp sauteed in sherry vinegar and spanish paprika)
both tasted as they were described, no surprises.
my boyfriend and i split the Paella Mixta Picassos
the paella has per person pricing so even if you 'split' the dish..its similar to paying two entrees. its a good size tho, filling with the saffron rice and not too dry.
we also had a pitcher of sangria which was good, maybe a little on the weak side. i like my drinks a little stronger? ha
the restaurant itself was bright and fun, so even if the food wasnt amazing, you tend to stay and sit and sip.
In 1492, Europe was evolving rapidly. It already had amassed amazing architectural achievements, advanced weaponry, laid the groundwork for democratic thinking, and engineered some of the best boats the world had seen up to that point. But the food freakin' sucked.
This is the main reason Cristoforo Columbo (a.k.a Christopher Columbus) set sail to reach east Asia. Sure, he had the chance to discover new lands, be given the rank of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and appointed Viceroy and Governor (of all the new lands), and be entitled to 10% of all the revenues from the new lands in perpetuity. But the real reason for his trip was to find a quicker way to transport awesome East Asian spices back to Europe that did not involve long travel through dangerous desert lands filled with Muslims (who were not happy with how the Crusades went).
He never did make it to East Asia, but he did discover new lands. This lead to more European explorers, notably from Britain and Spain, coming to the "New World" and discovering even more new lands filled with intriguing people, valuable gold, and new exotic food and spices.
While the Spanish and English brought back some new and exciting foods, such as the chili pepper, potatoes, and corn; they did not implement this into their cuisines very much. They looked at chili peppers and especially, potatoes as peasant food. However, the Irish, Italians, and even the far off Chinese quickly adopted the new flavorful ingredients into their cuisines (and improved their dishes in the process). These days, the English and the Spanish have some of worst cuisines on the planet. Clearly, scoffing at those "New World" spices had something do with it.
For whatever reason, even though their cuisines suck, English pubs and Spanish tapas joint spring up in the Bay Area. Apparently, English food should taste better if you've had a few pints of Newcastle. And well, I guess Spanish food should taste better with a few glasses of sangria in your system. Right?
Wrong. The food at Picasso's is terrible and overpriced. Here's the breakdown of my meal:
Albondigas con Picada de Almendra: This is your average Spanish tapa (appetizer). These are seasoned meatballs with almonds, parsley, and tomato sauce. All I tasted was ground beef and (canned) tomato sauce. This appetizer did not look appetizing, lacked any flavor, and wasn't worth the time or trouble. Basically, they were like all the guys La Novia dated before me.
Albondigas con Picada de Almendra rating: 1 star.
Paella de Pescado y Mariscos: I was actually excited to try this dish. It looked appetizing and had cool presentation. It was basically prawns, scallops, mussels, clams, calamari on top of saffron rice. Sadly, it was super bland as well. All I could taste was the stinky seafood. As a seafood lover, I know that when seafood stinks it is usually not fresh. [Insert dirty female anatomy joke here.]
Paella de Pescado y Mariscos rating: 2 stars.
Sangria: It was red wine filled with fruit. Fairly hard to screw up.
Sangria rating: 3 stars.
As for the service, it was decent. It was probably the best part of my experience here. They checked on us periodically and kept my water glass filled.
Service rating: 3 stars.
Overall, my meal was mediocre and the prices do not hurt their cause either. Visit their website and please note that they do not list prices. Their prices would scare people away. If not the prices, the food would surely do the trick.
In the end, the place lives up to their name. (Pablo) Picasso was a crappy Spanish painter.
Apparently, the guy can't cook either.
I stopped by Picasso's last night as we were downtown and it seemed like an interesting place to try. And, by a miracle, there was an open street parking spot nearly right in front of the restaurant, so I thought it was a good sign.
Anyways, the place was deserted except for two couples of guys, which seemed weird for 7pm on a Friday night. We went in anyways, based on the printed Yelp reviews that they posted up.
When we walked in, we got a very cold reception from the waiter, who was just standing around. He gave us a look like we weren't welcome or something. We stood there for a few moments while he gave us a stare down. It was very awkward, so I just decided to pick a table and sit down. While we did, he looked at us like we were crazy for just sitting down. Finally, he grudgingly gave us menus. Ok, that was a bad start.
When we looked through the menu, we were surprised by the prices for tapas. $10-11 each seemed pretty steep based on other tapas places I'd been to. I'd only been to one tapas place that charged that much and it was in LA. Given the small portions that I saw on the two tables next to us, I passed on them. I ordered the seafood stew entree for $20, hoping that it would at least put a dent in my hunger.
I was wrong. When our food finally came after 30 minutes, it was just a bowl of stew, with no sides or anything else to make up for the inconsequential portion. I had to scam off my wife's platter for some solid food. She also had a sangria, which was pretty plain, but ok for $6. My stew was heavily seasoned and salted to cover up the canned tomato paste base.
When we got the bill, I noticed that they just randomly added $10 to the total, which was quite insulting. I'm thinking, "sorry pal, I'm not that drunk or confused or stinking rich to just throw money around like that." I suppose this trick probably catches the bigger groups off guard. Anyways, they corrected it and didn't bother to offer any apologies, as if they were annoyed that they got caught red-handed.
In summary, yes, you can get an "ok" experience with tapas in a great location downtown, but you'd better come packing some heat, as in at least a fiddy per person. As for me, I won't be back, unless somebody else felt like treating.
Go Picasso for the Paella, not Tapas.
Best Paella I have had in the whole Bay Area and limited experience in Barcelona. The downside is it doesn't have Vermicelli Paella. Price is fair, ingredients fresh, portions good.
It's tapas are decent, but nothing special and a bit on the pricey side.
Service is on par.
Pros-
Crab cake
Shrimp
Bread
Local Beer
Music
Cons-
NO sauce with Crab cake :-)
Overpriced
Parking
One of the best things about having a birthday is that everyone wants to take you out to celebrate. My friend let me pick a place to have dinner and I chose Picasso's in downtown San Jose. The restaurant is small and with the dim lighting feels somewhat cozy. The bread they brought out at the start of the meal was cold and a little on the stale side. I felt that the tapas menu is quite pricy compared to the quality and quantity I've had at other tapas restaurants. I tried the stuffed pimento peppers and the patatas bravas. I loved the spicy sauce on the potatoes and the seafood stuffing in the peppers was delicious.
I would have given the place an extra star but the restroom was really smelly. You know that bathroom smell at the beach bathrooms? Yeah......................
Bottom line, if you want an average tapas experience and don't mind overpaying or you're not the one paying cause it's your birthday, go to Picasso's.
Me and a friend were in town on business and wanted something different than the usual chain restaurant fare so we rolled the dice and chose Picasso's. Boy are we glad we did! The food here is excellent - along with the atmosphere and the very good selection of wines - our gamble paid off handsomely!
I'm only sorry to say that we didn't try more tapas (we were full!) The gambas were cooked perfectly and brought to the table sizzling hot, the patatas (patatas bravas) had a nice crunch on the outside with a soft and just perfect middle. The brava sauce packed some heat but was not too hot - was flavorful and delicious. The croquetas had the perfect amount of jamon and chicken and again, homemade with the perfect crunch on the outside! A nice glass of Rioja, a basket of bread to soak up all the sauces, followed by crema catalana for dessert and the evening was complete! For a minute I thought I was back in Sevilla!
The portions are generous and the prices in line with downtown. I'd recommend Picasso's with my eyes closed.
Pretty good! They're on the pricey side of Tapas, probably because they are located right in the heart of downtown.
But if I were to eat Tapas I would totally go to a more local place.
As far as the food goes, it was pretty decent.
The crab cakes tasted extremely artificial though, and for the price of nearly 11 bucks, I would totally pass next time on those.
The calamari tasted like fried calamari usually tastes, deelicious! & The potatoes were good too. It was a nice quaint little place & maybe I would come back if I were in the neighborhood.
Really cute homey atmostphere. The cute old German lady was the greatest part of the restaurant. It was so sweet how she would come up to us and say "eat eat, finish finish!"...haha, I felt like I was back home in my parents house.
I felt the food was A-Ok:
-yummy sangria although a little too sweet
-patatas bravas were a good, simple dish.
-I would have liked the stuffed peppers had I not lovved the ones at Alegrias...although the sauce was great with bread (a tip that old german lady gave us)
I think they forgot one of our dishes and finally brought it out after we mentioned it to them, half way into our meal. All in all, I would come here again if I was in the area.
I held back long enough.... since December 2008.
One star to the bullshit manager and owner of this place!
Here's my story....
Tetsu organized our one year group celebration here back in December 2008. The owners did not prepare for such a large group of 30 people. Upon our arrival, they had internal communication problems and did not get our group reservation. I gave them an opportunity to accommodate our large group by putting tables together and bring our more chairs.
Instead, the manager or owners told us to dine 10 people at a time (meaning only 10 people can sit down and dine while the others wait).
Well..... SCREW THAT!!!
I asked the manager if he would be offended if our group left.... and he said... WELL LET ME SHOW YOU THE DOOR!
OH HELL NO.....
HE DID NOT JUST OPEN THE FRONT DOOR FOR US!
F---K YOU PICASSO!!!
My wife and I just stopped in and had dinner here before going to the Performing Arts center for a show.
We really enjoyed ourselves. The server was friendly and, despite being the only waitress working, pretty attentive. The atmosphere was a little fancier than casual, but still pretty laid back. We definitely did not feel like we were rushed through the meal like I have at some restaurants.
We enjoyed most of the items we ordered. The stuffed peppers and the smoked salmon were both really good. Would definitely recommend those. The deep fried ham and chicken were, well, deep fried ham and chicken. Not bad, but nothing too note worthy.
We got 5 different items and split a desert. With a drink, the total came to about $90.
All in all, we had a good meal and would go back.
Great tapas all around, the food keeps coming and so does the tab so be careful when you order and order! But the food is good and the sangria is decent. The place is kind of small and gets hot, even when its 58F outside. The place smells really good but it did not impregnate our clothes. There was 10 of us and the food was coming at a good pace. We also had 3 different types of paellas and they we all great. It's a good place to visit! Crab cakes were awesome too! The bread is as well. Must use the bread to absorb up all the juices! It was about $50/person and we left stuffed!
I came with my boyfriend and a couple of friends. They greeted us with:"We only take reservations," but then someone else stepped in and gave us a table anyway. FYI: the place was empty except for a couple and by the time we left, only one more couple had walked in.
For whatever reason, we decided to stay. The waiter was very offish and inattentive. The food wasn't really good. We each ordered several tapas and the only thing that was good were the patatas bravas (potatoes.) I've had real tapas in Spain and tapas in the United States, and these were by far the worst. Even the sangria wasn't good. Plus the lighting was overly dim and it made it depressing to eat there.
Verdict: Bad food and terrible customer service.
Came here once with a couple friends for dinner and we thought it was simply ok.
Pros:
*Atmosphere
Cons:
*Virtually NO vegetarian options! Come on, it's the 21st century and Silicon Valley, you've got to accommodate to us vegetarians too!
*Slow service
*Overpriced
Bottom line, I'd check out Cascal's in Mountain View for Tapas over this place - definitely won't be returning
Wonderful atmosphere along with great food! The tapas dishes were a little small but I was very pleased with the overall taste. Picasso's is fun, clean and very reasonably priced. My girlfriend and I will be back for sure.
The 69 year old German waitress is amazing. She's super friendly and is a Tapas expert. The owner was extremely nice as well and sat with us after our meal. I love it! It's in the details and this place despite it's smaller dining area gets it. Treat yourself :)
I was craving some paella and it had been years since I'd been back to this quaint resto so we decided to stop in for dinner. Started with the ensalada picasso's and gambas al Ajillo estilo Don Julio. The salad was OK but the shrimp tapa was soo good! For the entree, we decided to split the Paella negro a la cazadora. Still my remains my fave spot for paella in the bay :)
Service was good but come early as it does get crowded on Friday night.
went to picasso's with my bestie because I was particularly feenin for some good ol tapas. Although I'm a huge cha cha chas fan from SF, this place did do justice. I have to admit, it is a lot pricer than most tapas bars, but it's a really cute place. The service is above average & it's great to know we have places like this in san jo
Nice little place, pleasant staff and owner. Had various seafood Tapas and was all excellent. I have had the paella before in the past and remember it being very good.
Owner was very chatty and made sure we were well taken care of. It wasn't busy at the time so I don't know what it's like when the place is full. Don't forget the Sangria!
This place is pretty cute. Small and nicely decorated, although it could easily be missed from the outside considering I walked right passed it without noticing.
The woman who served us (I'll call her Senora) was sooo cute and sweet! She was the only service in the place, but service wasn't slow. She really made a positive part on the experience.
I'm not sure of everything we ordered, because we asked her for recommendations and we just said we'd have whatever she said. From what I remember, we ordered the croquettes, a sliced steak dish, a mushroom dish, a dish that resembled bruschetta but with chorizo, clams, and a few others. (Sorry, for the poor descriptions!) We later on also ordered the Paella de mariscos. All the food was really good and flavorful. Oh and the sangria was yummy. We had a few pitchers of those.The only downside I would say is that it's pretty expensive, but my group and I had a pleasant time.
This place ROCKS! Super friendly service and food that is crazy tasty. I went here with some girl friends last weekend and it was great. Authentically Spanish.
My crash on Spanish food started from my visit to Spain 2 years ago, but I never have had tried Spanish food in US until last Friday when we decided to dine at Picasso's. The moment we stepped into Picasso's, we already felt a little bit Spain by the small but cozy setting. We ordered few tapas, which came out all nicely, especially the pinchitos murunos (grill chicken) and salteado de champinonesy setas (sauteed mushroom) are awesome. Till then we all felt very Spain.
The more delightful part is our German waitress invited us to the Oktoberfest in Teske's a couple blocks away after the meal. We got to talk and drink with the Picasso's owners, a very warm couple. With some real German beer and Bavarian music, we were totally in a great mix of Spanish and German party sensation.
What a perfect ending of delicious food!
I am new to the Downtown SJ neighborhood and was looking for a non-generic place to eat. The reviews on Yelp did not disappoint! The place has a quaint atmosphere and actually very amiable service. We came here on a Wednesday night, and it was relatively quiet, but the food was still excellent. Upon the urging of other yelpers, we tried the stuffed peppers, which were indeed delicious. For those of you who are allergic to shellfish or seafood (as were 2 of my dinner companions), the mushrooms were excellent, as was the garlic chicken and morcilla. Everything was full flavored and I was amazed that we polished off 3 baskets of bread, lapping up all the delicious sauces. We didn't try the paella, as I admit, it was a bit overpriced, but wouldn't mind to try it if there were at least 6 of us there. Since it's tapas, I don't really justify eating a whole serving of paella -- that would be your entire meal (it should be for almost $19/serving...).
Funny, since the day before, I went to Cascal and was not as impressed as I was with the food here. Glad to have found a neighborhood eatery that isn't some generic chain.
I give it 3.5 because of the over priced paella
This place is small, cute and nicely decorated. Good Spanish music, dim lighting, can be dimmer for me. Walls are painted with vibrant colors. Old wooden chairs, not very comfortable but adds to the look.
When seated they bring you fresh bread :) Owner is also the server.
I had the tostada de salmon ahumado with capers and black olives $10.55. Well priced, generous portion, 4 filling tapas, bread was crunchy, salmon was fresh. Good choice
I had the seafood paella, it was good but nothing extraordinary. It was okay but it came out to $20 per person for the paella alone.
DONT HAVE THE PAELLA, COME HERE FOR THE TAPAS
************Support the mom and pop shops*************
2 words: Seafood Paella.
On a recent night, the stars must have aligned in Picasso's favor.
My pal had just gotten back from Spain. I had been craving paella for ever and ever. I was looking to walk, not drive for my food. The cube and I were on one of our "explore downtown on your feet" kicks.
The smell seduced me. From across the block, it seduced me. Although I am not the biggest fan of high priced, small portioned food plates, I do enjoy things with flavor. The cube and I shared some green beans, paella, and chicken dish. The flavors were simple and not overpowering. The chicken was crock pot moist. The paella was sinfully good.
We were happy. If you go to Picasso's get the Paella and support the mom and pop joints!
The capacity sign hangs above the door leading into the kitchen. It states "MAX CAPACITY 48."
It…
Read more »
Truly a gem amongst the dining options of downtown San Jose. It's tough to find and a bit further off from the main downtown core, but it's a worthy walk!
I came back here with a friend to sample the tapas and desserts. We were both impressed with the quality of the food and care put into its preparation and flavorful sauces. For all new Spanish tapas folks (such as myself), hands down, the Pimiento de Piquillo is a great dish to start with. Sweet red pepper stuffed with seafood and swimming in an ultra creamy, lobster sauce. Eat alone or dipped with bread for a delicious treat.
We also enjoyed the sauteed clams with dry sherry and an explosive amount of garlic. Pile on the garlic! I can't get enough of it! The croquettes (chorizo and another with ham & chicken) was also tasty - a nice baked shell oozing with the stuffing. I smothered it with the slightly spiced aioli sauce. Yum.
If I thought the tapas were amazing, I wasn't prepared for their specialty flan - the caramel and the coconut flavored one. The caramel flan, the original, has the expected silky texture with just enough hint of caramel sweetness coating the top and bottom layer. My favorite was the coconut flan - with glazed bits of coconut creating a crumbly "crust" on the bottom of a dense layer of flan.
You can't help but make ridiculous faces while eating here; when food is good, you just don't care what you look like. The owner Edwing was incredibly gracious, attentive, and super friendly - chatting it up with us and even taking in some feedback on bringing more customers. They've been in business for eight years and I only found out about it this year! If more folks knew about this place and gave it a chance, I would not be surprised to see it become the next go-to restaurant of choice for the downtown area. Great ambiance and vibe for dates, intimate groups, catching up with friends, and overall, appreciation of good quality food.
3.5 ** an apologetically SANGRIA review only!
Te amo, Sangria. You make my heart pitter-patter with…
Read more »
My Yelp adventures aren't always successful. This time I hit a home run. Everyone in my 4 person party was happy.
I wasn't so sure I'd find something I'd like on the menu. I'm not a beef or chicken eater, I do enjoy fish. So when the waitress of ten years informed me that the fish and red pepper fish dish was her favorite I was reassured.
OK so this dish, sweet red peppers stuffed with a white fish mixture that reminded me of mouse. The real kicker was the lobster sauce... it wasn't just another creamy sauce. So I involuntarily hummed (ummmmm) when I tasted the sauce, so lovely umm, umm, umm! We quickly learned that everything tasted great dipped in this lovely sauce. We dipped our bread in it, a no brainer. We dipped our calamari in it, crap cakes, fingers...
The food second only to the hospitality! Everyone was friendly, helpful, funny.... like my lovely family! What more could you ask for, well I could think of one more thing ...
Great food, wine, conversation, cherry brandy, thanks Picasso's! The ultimate question would I go back!!! Absolutely, every time I'm in San Jose. Peace!
My fiance' and I just relocated to Nor Cal last month and was in the mood for some Tapas. Now, I was raised in Chicago and let me tell you....there were so many tapas restaurants to choose from and so I was not new to this cuisine.
I was very shocked when I saw how small the menu was. For a place that calls itself a tapas place, it should be ashamed of having so few items on the menu. Not only that....but the prices are insanely high. Tapas restaurants are supposed to be small plates restaurants where you would pick a bunch of plates and share. What's the point of choosing so many plates that are $10 a piece? If people were to choose several plates at that price....one could go into debt. So we ordered the pitcher of sangria, some seafood stuff pepper, meatballs and calamari and our bill was about $50 something without tip....and we weren't full.
The food was good, but the prices are way too high for a tapas place.
The place was not that busy at 7:30 on a Saturday night and so I can't understand why it took the server so long to come and check on us to give us the bill. Coming to this restaurant made me want to go book a flight to Chicago to have dinner a real tapas restaurant.
My friend and I decided to eat here after receiving from a Yelp! email blast noting the "best tapas" in the area. After going on-line and looking at the menu, we knew we had to check it out!
We arrived on Thursday evening a bit late (around 9), so can't comment on the crowds or noise per se, but naturally we were seated right away! The ambiance was immediately fantastic!
Being a huge fan of wine, we wanted to try the tasty-sounding Sangria, but I was concerned about it being too sweet (b/c how many times have you ordered sangria just for it taste like juice - ahem, Consuelo's in SRow). The owner came out to greet us and I expressed my concern. He gave us samples of it and it was fantastic! We got a full bottle of it and had no trouble finishing it off!
The tapas were fantastic. We got an array of crab-cakes, shrimp potatoes, -- all were SO GOOD! The owner, who came by often to see if we were doing well (which rocked), also provided us with smoked salmon tapas on the house! I was so full at this point, I didn't try it, but my friend loved it. It was a nice addition to an already great meal.
The owner, his wife, and two adorable kids chatted with us while the restaurant closed down (we were the last ones there). They were all super friendly and so much fun to talk to. I have to say, this really made the evening wonderful as they truly took our recommendations to heart (maybe having a Flamenco dancing show another night). I'd recommend this hidden to gem to everyone!
If you go remember to:
Enjoy the tasty bread.
Ask your waitress or waiter to help you out. We found out about things that were not on the menu that were AMAZING.
Make sure you make reservations cause they get paacked fast and they are busy on weekends for sure.
Bring a lot of people and get ready to enjoy a tasty, unforgettable experience.
He said:
The sangria was very tasty and the tapas were good, but not excellent. My favorites had to be the pork and chicken cutlets followed by the croquettes stuffed with chicken and Serrano ham. The cutlets were a very simple dish cooked with very simple seasoning. Because there were so few ingredients involved, and because the meat was cooked to such perfection, the great taste that I experienced was a testament to the chef's grilling mastery rather than hiding behind masked flavors.
There were other items on the menu that I wanted to try, but alas, we had already ordered an abundance of dishes. The ambiance of the restaurant was exquisite once the musician strolled in, and I will definitely come back to try their other tapas offerings.
She said:
Food = only so-so... but that's probably because He is allergic to seafood so we didn't have any of the scrumptious-looking seafood tapas.
Service = so-so also. Maybe my expectations were too high, judging by the wonderful reception that all the other Yelpers received. It certainly wasn't bad service, just not overly attentive.
But the Music! Fernando from Venezuela and his non-descript keyboard were cramped into this tiny corner behind us. The setup didn't look like much, but boy, when he started to play solo on his little keyboard, it sounded like a whole band had just crowded into the restaurant. He started out the evening slow with some ballads and jazz, but soon spiced it up with a "guitar" solo from a Santana song and then got the whole restaurant clapping and singing along to rousing Spanish anthems. I would have paid for the performance alone, but the food and the sangria were a nice bonus!
We said:
Come for the food, stay for the (free) show.
I'm no tapas expert. But I thought this was a great place. It's good food when the portions aren't huge but you feel satisfied afterwards. The service was great. They take it to a whole new level to make sure that you enjoy your experience. Not just the whole make sure that the drinks, and bread are refilled. But truly taking the time to see how they can bring your visit up a notch.
The dishes provide a range of tastes that can't really be enjoyed anywhere else. And since they're tapas you really can't suffer from your taste buds getting bored. Crab cakes, and the corquetas are definitely on the hit list.
My boyfriend and I were looking for a paella restaurant and we stumbled upon this one on Yelp. We came here on a Thursday evening. The service was excellent and they were very friendly.
The paella was okay... Definitely not worth the price. The rice was still hard and I think it could have tasted a lot better. It needed more flavor. I've never had paella before and I must say this was a disappointment. My boyfriend loved the paella he had in New York and this one disappointed him too.
The search for paella continues....
I'm a small girl with an enormous appetite. Restaurants that specialize in Tapas or "small dishes" have never been my thing given my insatiable love of food and lots of it.
Picasso's changed my opinion of Tapas. Theirs are hearty, tasty, oozing with flavor,and GASP: quite filling!
This past Friday I had the pleasure of enjoying dinner here w/a large group of friends. Given the size of our party we ordered many dishes, and I happily sampled many items on their menu:
-Tortilla Espanola ( potato and onion omelet) delicious, and served w/a wonderful alioli. Note:only have a small slice though b/c it's a heavy dish
-Mercilla de Cebolla (tiny Spanish sausages) slightly sweet, plump and great tasting
-Pimentos de Piquillo (stuffed peppers) One of my favorite dishes that night. Seafood tasted great and the lobster sauce was super rich and creamy
-Spicy shrimp (my other favorite dish), the shrimp were a bit on the tiny side and could have used more heat, but the sauce was terrific and full of flavor.
-Paella: both types they served were very good, but I preferred the Negra a la Cazadora version (with Black rice) although it looked a bit scary (the entire dish looks like motor oil's been spilled on it) it's deceivingly delicious and a wonderful take on traditional Paella.
Overall, our dining experience (food-wise) was great. I did take one star off b/c the service was lacking, I felt they could have been friendlier and more attentive. Prices are also a tad on the high side, especially given the portions. It's a must you come here with a group so you can sample and share the dishes.
I can't wait to try more tapas at Picasso's, you'll find that big flavor is the star of all their "small dishes".
On Friday my mother, cousin, aunt and I got together for dinner. We ended up at Picasso's. We were immediately impressed by the warm décor, and wait staff. Our waitress had a great sense of humor, and treated us like family. She was very knowledgably about the menu, and suggested we order the Pimientos de Paquillo (sweet red peppers, stuffed with seafood in a lobster sauce). It was love at first taste, a romantic encounter for my taste buds that even in retrospect leaves me speechless.
As if the food was not enough, the owner is gorgeous. An absolutely beautiful man, with a fantastic personality, and even more importantly fantastic taste.
If you have yet to visit this restaurant, do yourself a favor and go immediately (and bring all your friends, they'll thank you).
The Picasso pictures on the walls, the Spanish guitar music softly playing in the background, the warm glow from the candle on the dinner table transmits a cozy intimate atmosphere that make this joint perfect for a date night.
Ordered up their signature Valenciana paella, the rice soaked up a nice subtle saltiness from all the sea creatures in there. Clams, mussels, shrimps, you name it. I felt like it had the whole Monterrey Bay Aquarium up in that Spanish iron pot.
Since the paella dish takes about 40 minutes to prepare, ordered up their Alamejas in Salsa Verde (Sauteed clams in this garlicky, parsley, Spanish sherry broth) to help pass the time. I needed two loaves of their fresh warm bread to soak up all that broth. While their Sangria was delicious. F it, just refill my sangria glass with some of that broth and I'll drink it strait.
Being just outside the epicenter of the downtown club/bar scene make it perfect if you want to keep the date low key or kick it up a notch.
Chivalrous
Came here for dinner and the service was great. Ordered a couple of items meatballs, shrimp, scallops, etc. The flavor was okay, nothing unique a little bland for my taste.
Ordered the Sangria too, that wasn't too bad good.
For its quality of food and price I wouldn't go back.
went to picasso's for the first time for my birthday. i realize i was taking a risk but it was totally worth it. i got to try all types of tapas and marinate my soul with sangria. brilliant birthday. thanks for inquiring
walking in from the windy outdoors my friends and i were welcomed into a toasty, garlic aroma-ed room. maybe not attractive to all, and even a little much for me at first. but i realize now it only left a lasting memory and feeling about this place. the dim lighting and seating arrangement is romantic in an-im in europa-kind of way. our waitress is, who we later found out, referred to as "the german." she was great, didnt understand what she was saying a 1/4 of the time, but it only added to the subtle greatness of the place.
i'd go there again in the same scenario--four friends. or on a date with a steady boyfriend who i could be garlicky with.
great place-TRY IT!!
try the ham with fresh fruit and cheese (sounds uninteresting, and we hardly ordered it by choice-- but at the end of the meal, it was my fav)
We had our group dinner here. I am so glad I made a reservation! We had a party of 9, and I didn't think that I would need a reservation. We got there at 5:30 and the place was already filling up! Throughout the whole night, the place was packed.
Everything that we had was really good. We basically ordered a bunch of Tapas (appetizer type dishes) and we ordered the paella.
Good food, good decor, and live spanish music.
After getting a good buzz on at Vault, we headed across the street to have dinner here. I was not involved in the ordering process whatsoever because basically, I couldn't focus my eyes on any words. I think I told the server, who was very nice (and tolerant), to just order some of the favorites for us.
What we had, and what I remembered, was very tasty: fried calamari, sauteed scallops, sauteed mushrooms and paella. It didn't help that we also ordered sangria, and so I barely managed to eat more than 2 bites of any dish. I know that my dining companions enjoyed the meal immensely because every dish was polished off.
I also know that we were probably the loudest table in the small restaurant, but instead of having the couple who was sitting 6 inches apart from our table move further away, they actually butted their table right against ours. I think that was the funniest part of the evening. Even more lovable when intoxicated.
Pimientos de Piquillo! The sauce was so goodI was tempted to pick up my plate and clean it w/ my tongue. My husbands lamb was perfectly cooked. I've been talking about to my friends all week.
San Jose, CA
Category: Mexican
San Jose, CA
Category: Italian
San Jose, CA
Category: Moroccan
San Jose, CA
Category: Latin American
San Jose, CA
Category: Latin American
Here's a list of good places I've found thanks to…
Max the carbs, max the fats, max setting on your…
My local dry cleaner, watering hole, deli, cafe,…
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
Where these Bay Area drinks take center stage with…
if we aren't... and more importantly if I'm not...…
Some of my favorite dining destinations in the…
