The Icon

Stopped at The Icon when I noticed the Tapas Tuesday menu as I was walking by. Staff was welcoming, but it was very quiet inside. I tried 3 of the 4 on the $4.95 tapas Tuesday menu. They were ok. Definitely skip the mozz, tomato, basil flatbread - it didn't have good flavor and the sauce was not good. The croquettes were fine, but only 3 slightly above bite size balls. The empanada was pretty good, just hate that I had to spit out a couple grizzly bits, that's something I can't stand. The crust was more flaky then any other empanada that I've had.

The $3 margarita was good on the tapas Tuesday menu! The sangria was just ok.

I'm not sure how the rest of the menu might be but the tapas Tuesday menu unfortunately didn't do much to pique my palate.

The Icon fell far short. Although the a decent space and the staff was very nice.

Oh my goodness, you need to come here and meet Drew & Tom. I am very picky on everything I ordered and they nailed it. I mean nailed it!! I have nothing negative to say, just come here

Update: The stars from this review are purely from the server's stand point. We had a great server! Other than that, the experience could not have been more different than our previous visits. And not in a good way. We often get their Paella, and have loved it in the past. This time around, the Paella barely had any rice, the pork in it tasted like barbecue pulled pork, the "chorizo" seemed more like hotdogs or pepperoni, and overall it just tasted like spaghetti soup. The tapas we had did not live up to its previous expectations. They seemed microwaved. I'm left wondering what happened. I suspect a change of management or chefs? I hope they turn it around, but for this price, I would be hard pressed to come back.

Great Tapas bar. Check out their Paella date nights on Wednesdays to get a free bottle of wine with your drink! Their Paella is made from scratch and is well worth the 25-30 minutes wait that you are forewarned before ordering it. I suggest ordering and trying their different Tapas while waiting for an overall great experience! Their half-off tapa and sangria nights are also great deals! My personal favorites are their Beef Empanadas, Seared Duck Breasts, and Stuffed Peppers.

This review is for brunch. They started doing brunch a couple months ago and have not worked out the kinks. They had 2 for 1 mimosas so we tried it.

They do not have coffee.

The menu was limited but enough to choose from. They had chorizo biscuits and gravy on jalapeño biscuits. They had sandwiches and dessert on the brunch menu. The bread pudding looked good but was chewy and tasted microwaved.

They did not have soap in the bathroom. When I asked for soap they said someone probably stole it. Gross. Where are the employees washing up?

There is some patio seating. I would not come here.

The visit was average for me. We came before a show at the overture because it was a convenient location and they had a tapas special. We didn't know the special was super popular and didn't make a reservation. Luckily there was room for us at the bar for full service of food.
We ordered:

A pitcher of sangria - pretty good! Not too much to say about it.
Zucchini Frittes - these were super good. The aioli was delicious.
Baked goat cheese - I wasn't expecting it to come out the way it did, but it was super good. If you're a goat cheese person, I recommend it. Plenty of bread to eat with it as well.
The mussels with brandy cream sauce - eh not a fan of this. The sauce was runny and I wasn't impressed.
Fried calamari - this was good but the jalapeño aoili made the dish. It was so yummy. (okay maybe there's a trend of me liking aioli...)

As for service, they were really busy so it was pretty slow. Pretty sure the people at the bar near us got one of our orders before us (we got there before them) but the waitress was apologetic about it.

I understand now why most reviews are 3 stars. It's a perfect place to head to if you are thinking you want to go grab a bite/drink before a show at the Overture Center. Well, that's if you come at the right time. For sure the earlier the better.

We went about 1.5 hours before our show was set to start and the place was packed. It was a Tuesday. We waited about 5 minutes before getting seated. We were greeted at least twice saying, "It will be just one minute." 5 minutes later --- we get two spots at the bar because there are no open tables.

Then we wait another 10 minutes before we are able to order any drinks or food. Then it's about another 15 minutes before we get our first tapas. We think that our food was sent to other folks who sat at the bar after us.

There is not much organization. Anyone who orders from the bar gets their food too early or too late. The food runner kept saying, "where does this go? the ticket just says bar." We knew that we would probably not get all of our food.

We were right. We had to tell our server which foods were ordered were not received yet. It's not anyone's fault except the system they created to send out food is not organized. Plus they need to hire more people. It seems like there were only 3 servers who were also food runners for other people and bartenders all at the same time. Who knows---maybe they were prepping food too.

The food was okay. It's was not the best, but were were hungry and thirsty. The white sangria (we got a pitcher) was sweet. It was also a great deal. Apparently, Tuesdays have great deals: $4 tapas and deals on their sangria (pitchers).

We probably won't go back right before a show. I would not mind going back for a drink.

Good luck. You need a lot of patience to enjoy your experience.

I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to eat here, but long row two table seating makes it a good space for a date night. We ordered the zucchini fries and patatas bravas...not a great pairing, way too fried and bland. I wasn't thrilled with the tapas menu options.

The decor was a little kitschy for me too. It's somewhat confusing to market being a Spanish tapas restaurant with silver screen decor, but maybe I'm too traditional in my tapas restaurant expectations.

Out waitress was attentive and pleasant. Nothing really stood out for me about this place, apart from proximity to other cool places on state street. I'm sure the outdoor patio seating would be nice.

The Icon is a great spot to get a pre-show dinner. You are offered small plates, flatbreads, and paella which are all great for sharing. Tuesday is a great night to go because several of the small plate tapas are only 5 dollars. The sangria is also discounted that night.

I have always found the staff to be helpful and personable. They can be understaffed so getting a refill or a new fork was slow. The bar is impressive but I have never ordered anything but the sangria or a glass of wine.

My favorite things to order is the paella, the empanadas, and calamari.

I hadn't been to the Icon in a few years, so I decided to check it out for Tapas Tuesday. Never again. Honestly, I should have just walked out right at the beginning when I was immediately struck with a dirty rag smell upon walking in the door (perhaps their dishwasher sanitizer has run out?) Instead, I opted to sit outside for reprieve and ordered one of everything on the tapas menu. The ONLY thing even close to worth the $4.95 was the zucchini fries. The croquettes tasted freezer burnt, the "empanada" was a sore excuse for a meat turnover, and the flatbread was soggy with grainy tomatoes (in the middle of peak tomato season). All four items was not enough to feed two for dinner, so we left and dined somewhere else. I could have made better food by tossing things into my toaster oven at home. Sorry Icon, I'll not be returning. You've lost my vote.

Walked in here and it was about 5:30 and pretty empty. The place filled up pretty fast. It could be due to the comedy show next door. The bartender Drew, was a bit preoccupied, but he warmed up after a bit. We ordered their baked goat cheese. It was delicious. The only issue I have is they state that if you need more bread, they charge you for it. I figure, if they write on the menu you need more bread, they shouldn't charge you for it.
We enjoyed gin martinis and they even had anchovy stuffed olives.
The crab stuffed mushrooms were good. I am not sure what orange sauce was on it and I feel ike it took away the scrumptiousness of the crab in the mushrooms.
Also got the cauliflower, very good.