Tapas Barcelona

I really liked the bacon wrapped dates. They had a balanced blend of sweet and salty flavors. I was a little disappointed in the paella. It was good for Chicagoland but lacked some of the crispy goodness I’ve gotten from paella from elsewhere, 7 out of 10. The empanada in the picture was very tasty, 9 out of 10.

Tapas Barcelona — the food is absolutely delicious with bold, vibrant flavors. I really loved the pasta sauce, and the ribeye was grilled to perfection. I paired it with Spanish beer, which made the whole meal feel super refreshing. The prices are reasonable, the food comes out quickly, and the service is great. I’ll definitely be going back!

ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!! This used to be my favorite restaurant when I was in college 14 years ago and I still remember it being such a treat to eat here on a Friday evening. After nearly 15 years my husband and I were finally able to come back to Evanston and the food here was just as delicious as I remember! The baked goat cheese is one of my favorite dishes of all time and the sangria is fantastic! I wish we lived closer because this would definitely be my “go to spot”.

It was a great experience. I had a blast with my friends. Everything is delicious

I finished three tapas and a glass of sangria, and I have been recommending to everyone who might be going to Evanston. I’m definitely going again if I’m in the area. Grilled octopus and beef meatballs are must-haves. 2nd visit: As said before, I got the opportunity to come to the area again and I went to the restaurant for the second time. The grilled octopus hasn’t changed a tiny bit and I just LOVE it so much. Grilled baby lamb chops were cooked to the best texture. The dessert Bizcocho Borracho was amazing.

The best way to sum this place up: an authentic experience from start to finish. The staff was fantastic and the manager even better! Each dish was a unique experience of flavor, perfectly sized for 2-3 people to share. The wine selection was great, along with the manager's knowledge of all the wines. When you want a large variety of flavor, this is the place to go!

Awesome tapas place! All the food was really good and fresh and the sauces on all the dishes are amazing for dipping bread (the bread is free!). A good number of vegetarian dishes as well! We also got a pitcher of sangria which was really good and gave 3 of us 2 really full glasses.

From the bacon wrapped dates to the meat balls everything was outstanding. The one that I thought was unbelievable was the Paella. It was so tasty that we finished the entire skillet. Highly recommend, I almost forgot the sangria in the best in town.

We have been here a couple of times. Food is good with tapas sized portions. If you arrive for happy hour, all food is 10% off, which is great! Definitely standouts are salmon with asparagus, salad, and chicken with pasta. Some of the others are hit or miss. Black bean soup was barely ok and quite salty. Service can be hit or miss, but really cute interior with good seating.

Tapas Barcelona isn't good nor terrible. Is the service good? Yeah it's fine. Food? Depends on what you get but it doesn't blow your socks off. I found the Patatas Bravas to be TERRIBLE -- inauthentic sauce and super small, soggy potatoes. This dish is one that should be crispy and not wet breakfast potatoes. For this dish alone I have to reduce their rating. I also thought the bread was sort of stale last time I went. The sangria is good though and I enjoyed a chicken thigh dish. In all honesty, without the bravas disaster this place is probably a 4, maybe leaning closer to a 3.5.

* Really good food. Best dishes are the salmon con esparragos, pasta catalana, patatas bravas, gambas, and the chicken skewers. * Sangria was great. * Good service. * Spanish ambiance.

I don't give a lot of 5 stars, but this place deserves it. We dropped in around 6:30 and luckily they found a table for three of us. We had the pitcher of sangria, which they did right. No ice in the pitcher just in the glasses. pieces of apple, citrus in the glasses. We ordered an emapanadilla. A large empanada filled with lamb and chorizo. comes with spinach leaves and tomato. Wow a great decision on our part. Really good with a honey mustard mayo. We had the Valencia paella. It was perfect for the three of us. We had a small amount of leftover. Fresh mussels chicken chorizo and chewy rice. So yummy. There's so many dishes to choose from. We'll be back often.

Celebrated my birthday here, ended up being a huge mistake. Mentioned it was my birthday on my online reservation, no acknowledgement from staff. My reserved table was not ready on time and the salmon con esparragos I ordered had very little flavor and salmon was undercooked. Menu prices have gone up in recent years and food quality has declined. When my girlfriend mentioned it was my birthday to the server, he blamed ownership for removing any celebrations. Our server didn't even wish me a happy birthday. Very disappointing and as a former loyal customer, I won't be going back.

My darling daughter and I came for dinner ! We had been wanting to come here for a few weeks already . Guess what ? Best decision ever! The food was so delicious and uniquely spiced. Every dish and something special to it . We ordered the Patatas Bravas, Fettuccine, Scalloped Pork and Eggplant with goat cheese!! Wow wow wow! Highly recommend and service was great ! Make sure you reserve your table in advance because they get really full. Great customer service and quality!

Well the last I went tapas Barcelona was in the winter of the covid era 2020. I learned about this restaurant from fellow childhood neighbor I've decided to give it a try since most spanish cuisine restaurants and they're very expensive this one was reasonably priced.. this time they serve guspacho soup and It was delicious just like how I remembered it back in 1999 . The cured salmon tapas was just the way I also remembered it too for cold tapas. I usually order the bacon wrapped with dates but I went to try a pasta base hot tapas which was okay. The main course was of course paella valenciana eating shrimp what you should but just didn't have a great evening for shrimp. It was delicious. I finished dessert with bananas. Service was at ease or was someone slow. Ambiance was pretty busy and vibrate versus when I went here starting the winter time of 2020. Also since this is Evanston parking is a little challenging despite that I came in a motorcycle after work because I had a real big craving for true Spanish cuisine and most of the Spanish restaurants like Emilio's, Cafe baba ba bee ree and meson Sabika breaks the bank

Came here for a family dinner. Its one of the few places that can accommodate a big group. I was actually so surprises that not more restaurants could do this. Anyway, the food was really good. Their Paella was very tasty, seafood is really fresh. I dis like my Ceviche but it wasnt what i expected. I thought it would always come with chips to dip it in but its a very dofferent kind of ceviche, nevertheless i did like it! We alao had their Ribeye. The portion is a bit smaller than what you expect a ribeye would be but taste wise it was delicious. Its served on top of potatos with some ribeye sauce. The grilled octopus was my favorite. Must order! These are small portions, i guess its what Tapas are. Small appertizer options. But still worth a try. Happy Eating!

The ambiance and the service was outstanding. Food came out staggered and quickly, waiter was quirky and attentive. However the food was incredibly subpar in flavor. Fun ideas, but one note amateur tastes. I felt like 80% of the dishes we had I could have made myself at home and that's not a good thing...but all that matters is my brother had a wonderful time for his birthday. Highlights: the goat cheese stuffed eggplant rolls: superb! Tasted how I expected the entire menu to be. Fried calamari was delicious and the spicy marinara was great. Bacon wrapped dates were good, brother never had them and was blown away lol Terrible: the ceviche. It was NOT. Ceviche. It was frutii de mare with raw bell peppers. No thank you, we barely touched it.

Great food huge variety to choose from and shoutout to Josh for the great service and recommendations he made our night!

This was our 3rd time here and the service, food and drinks was excellent every time. Last week we sat outside on the small sidewalk dining area. We have had the paella each time and it was delicious! It was served in a piping hot skillet with a large spoon to dish out to everyone. It serves about 3-4 people. We tried so many of the tapas small plates- all were fresh and the sauces were so flavorful. The Spanish Margarita and the MaiTai were strong and sweet, perfect! Reservations online showed they were full, but when I called we were given a reservation no problem.

Came here with my daughter and her roommates and had a fabulous time. Maybe it was the company, but the food ambience and service were all great as well! We shared 9 tapas and 2 desserts. Standouts for me were the squid, garlic shrimp, and octopus. The banana dessert and flan were really delicious too.

Place was nice. Service was good. It's just the food was okay. I think our favorite Tapas place is still the one up in Northfield (you can Google it), so that is my benchmark. I think the tapas here just lacked some imagination maybe? Here's my hot take. 1. Bacon wrapped dates in sauce - excellent and hard to mess up but you'd be surprised at some places 2. Cheese pizza - was for kids, soft and had ok taste, but really thick bread/crust and not my thing. Almost like cafeteria pizza. 3. Lamb chops - excellent. Was it lentils or cous cous? Idk but it was good! 4. Salmon and asparagus - it is what it said it was, but also expensive. 5. Patatas bravas - ok. Small potatoes and doused in spicy sauce. I would have preferred larger potatoes with texture and light sauce coating. I've had it other places this way; I think it's my preference. 6. Pan de tomate + jamon - laughably small pieces of crusty bread with tomato. Real thin cheese slices. Ham was ok. I was more excited than I think I should have been. 7. Lamb and chorizo empanada - again ok. My wife and so enjoyed the chocolate mousse. The arroz con leche was my dessert. Real shallow bowl and shallow serving. I get it is meant to be soupy, but it was presented the wrong way imo. Felt like when you're near finishing a bowl of cereal. Wife and I both had the same thought when we left which was we probably won't come back. For $155 it was not what we could get at our other favorite place for almost the same price. Sorry Evanston. It had ambiance tho! If you're into that.

Amazing food, consistently. Wonderful, friendly, attentive service. Great outdoor dining option. We've had almost everything on the menu. Our favorites include the olives, Tortilla Espanola, Pollo Al Whiskey, Parilla de Vegetales, Pincho de Pollo, Pincho de Solomillo, Chipirones, Catelana Paella, and Tarrina de Chocolate.

The only thing that was good was the desserts . The service was good too. The food was so mediocre that it was painfully. What is so hard to add some taste to the food that comes from Spain. Use your spices please!

We really enjoyed our visit to Tapas Barcelona. The Food was so good, the round table was just perfect for our party of 7 and Miguel, our waiter, was awesome. We love the Spanish ambiance here and will come back the next time we are in town!

Tapas was delicious! The small plates give you an opportunity to get many different dishes and try so many more flavors. The bacon dates were my personal favorite and the grilled octopus was so flavorful. The paella was the perfect amount of salty and had a lot of great aspects to the dish. Would highly recommend!

3 stars for service and atmosphere and 1 for food. Service was amazing - food was not. Goat cheese was bland. Beef was fatty and covered in tasteless gravy. Shrimp looked it belonged in school programs from my youth... Profiterole and tiramisu were unexpected on a tapas restaurant menu but they were ordered frequently (we were seated my kitchen). Did not try. Very lively atmosphere and people were enjoying their time. Maybe we just pick poorly?

We're back!!! This time we had a reservation for. Sunday night for a group of 8 - two vegetarians and 1 gluten-free diner. My favorites were the goat cheese and the bacon-wrapped figs. Again, we were not rushed. We had a few hiccups - one cocktail had to be remixed and a featured cocktail was no longer available, and one of our chairs literally fell apart as one person got up to use the restroom. (That's why I took off a star from my last review.)

So yummy the bread the olive oil was great. I really enjoyed the ribeye. The waiters were really sweet. The empanada was ok, the puff was great but I'm not a fan of the goat filling(personal taste).

I still will go here occasionally. But for a tapas restaurant, it's Forsure bottom of the barrel. Food is all pretty mid compared to cafe ba-ba-reeba and others.

Good tapas in a lively cute atmosphere located in the heart of downtown Evanston. This place has been here for over 28 years and was absolutely packed on a snowy freezing night when most of the other restaurants in the neighborhood looked empty so they must be doing something right, Good sangria. Tapas were solidly good. Not outstanding but good. I enjoyed the spicy kick from the patatas bravas and the tortilla española and the pulpo a la plancha. The bacon wrapped figs were excellent too. Artichokes we're ok and the queso de cabrá was a little bland and muscles fine but nothing special so I might skip those. Service was good. This place had a nice positive energy and was fairly priced. Good choice if craving tapas and don't want to drive all the way to the city for them.

The most tender and fresh tasting meat. Great ambience, staff is always friendly and checking in with you, you can also find parking. From their Croquettes, patatas bravas, salmon with asparagus beef tenderloin with caramelized onions and horse radish, garlic shrimp and more..! Everything was perfect!

I enjoyed this restaurant. The ambiance is relaxed and decor is cute, it reminded me of the places from South of Spain that I know : Malaga, Torre del Mar, Velez. I feel is the first Spanish tapas restaurant in US where they are generous with the tapas. We ordered octopus, squid, tortilla española which came with fresh Aurugula salad, we also ordered croquetas, patatas bravas , a glass of nice shiraz wine, and lamb empanadas besides crema catalana. I liked all of it, and I specially I enjoyed the dessert. We paid $85 dollars for all of that for 2 people and left pretty full. My favorite was dessert, creamy and delicate. I dont post more pictures cause we ate quickly, mostly devoured everything and did not take pics that I was proud of. I recommend the place and next time would like to come for paella which is around $25. I think for the price, the cuteness, the food and the service this place is a nice spot. Good for a romantic dinner and for groups, if you want to invite friends from abroad to a nice place with a tasty menu without breaking the bank. Give it 5 stars!

Love this amazing tapas restaurant located in the heart of Evanston. Outside seating has a great atmosphere and feel. It also has indoor seating options. Both come with amazing service our server was super knowledge and helpful. The Tapas selection was large enough that any pallet could find something they like. They also have a large beverage selection which is a plus. Lastly the price is very reasonable given the cuisine and location

We loved our food. Tried lots of good things. Service was chaotic. Don't know if that's ordinary. Would definitely go back.

Met up with girlfriends to celebrate December birthdays. It's been a while since we all had tapas and one of our friends suggested Tapas Barcelona. Evanston is a bit of a hike for me from the NW side of Chicago but I was game. Quick note about parking, there is a public lot a block from the restaurant where you can park for a few hours for $6. Good deal. We had both white and red sangria. Both were OK. Some of the stand out dishes for us were the grilled octopus - very tender and I loved the lemony/tangy flavors; the spinach salad - crisp and fresh with the pears, pecans and goat cheese; and the platanos dessert - delicious and tasted just as good as the platanos at Iberico. There were a couple other dishes that were OK. The shrimp was pretty small, the lamb chops were slightly gamey and the pincho de pollo was a little bit dry. 1 extra star because the staff was very attentive.

It was a good meal, but just not superb. They have complimentary bread and oil on the table but the bread was close to stale and the oil had an odd flavor. My friend and I each had a glass of sangria which, again, was just ok. It tasted like a cheap red wine and didn't have much fruit topping. We shared the patatas bravas which were way different than what I've tried in the past. The potatoes were cooked perfectly and were tender and were tossed in an extremely spicy red sauce. Our favorite dish was the farfalle pasta with vegetable and a cream sauce. It was cooked well and the sauce was luxurious! Last, we had the beef skewer with horseradish sauce and caramelized onions. The beef was pretty tender and went well with the horseradish sauce which had a little zing/spice. The onions were served cold, which was a bit off-putting and would have been better served warm. Server Lupita was prompt and super friendly.

I wanted to like Tapas Barcelona, especially after hearing so much about it, but unfortunately but unfortunately our time there was not a pleasant experience. We were seated outside in 40 degree weather about 6 inches away from roadside traffic, and despite asking several times to be moved indoors, we were not allowed. The food wasn't all that great either. I enjoyed the free bread and olive oil- it was probably my favorite part of the meal. I did not enjoy the paella. I can only compare it to the obscure vegetable medleys that would be served in a dining hall or cafeteria. For that price point, I would not recommend trying it.

Everyone in our party really enjoyed the food and the ambiance. The service was also excellent. We will be returning for sure!

In a nutshell: let me do my best Joey from Friends imitation... Bread? Goooood. Rib? Goooood. Pizza? GOOOOOOOD! ----- With festive Spanish-infused music playing in the background, colourful displays of art and posters around the walls, and spirited servers who oscillate between Spanish and English, a meal at Tapas Barcelona almost whisks you to Barcelona itself. My parents and I aren't that familiar with Spanish-style foods (in fact, this marked our first time at such a restaurant), so I'm not really able to evaluate how authentic the dishes are, but I will say the overall atmosphere created seems like what one would expect from a vibrant, dynamic city like Barcelona. I really liked the free crostini bread appetizers that came with each table, and definitely appreciated that you could refill your bread basket with no extra charges. My new discovery of the day is that just one brush or dab of olive oil on a slice of toasted crostini can make THE difference. It's like piping frosting on a cake or adding tomato sauce to potato fries. I don't know how I've been ever eating bread without olive oil! My dad ordered the Filete con Patatas, a plate of grilled rib eye with roasted potatoes and onions well-complemented by red wine sauce, which he preferred dipping the crostini in rather than the olive oil, to my weary, feigned horror (my father regularly enjoys what he calls "culinary creative experimentation"). I, for one, liked the potatoes for their crispiness, though the rib eye had a stretchiness to the meat that was a bit odd. I also wish the overall presentation was stronger than the recurring shades of brown, beige, and bronze. My small party of three also shared the Miro pizza, which is your classic cheese pizza spread with tomato sauce on the crust with sprinkles of basil overtop. Since the kitchen staff bake the pizzas in the oven once you place an order, our pizza arrived with that undoubtedly and satisfyingly homemade touch. Once you sink your teeth into the admittedly large slice, you're transported on a vivd, gustatory adventure, from the crunchy, buttered, firm crust to the fresh, sweet tomato spread to the cool hint of basil to the stringy, delectable cheese that brings all the ingredients together until you have a pizza that puts Dominos and Pizza Hut to shame! (Guess which dish I liked the best???) My family wasn't that hungry so we opted for a smaller dinner and unfortunately didn't get to try much of the tapas, but I can definitely see Joey Tribbiani stuffing himself silly here. So you should get over there and stuff yourself too :)

Came here with a group of friends for some tapas. While my group was mixed (vegetarians and no veg), I only can speak to the things I ate (vegetarian): Baked Stuffed Eggplant was easily my favorite thing on the menu - super creamy and flavorful We also tried the veggie paella and the patatas bravas which were just ok. Ambiance is nice and a decent spot to go with friends, but food is just ok

This is the place for Spanish food if you're in Evanston, and it seems to be a favorite for many students, but the food is honestly on the lower side of mediocre. I suspect this partially has to do with what we ordered (I would definitely have ordered a paella and different tapas). Dined: April 7, 2022

Amazing food, patient staff, good environment Would recommend to a family or friend

Always reliably good food and service, and a high-energy environment great for groups.

Great place and atmosphere for tapas and desserts. Food and drinks have an authentic aura about them with a price that can't be beat.

Food was decent, my favorite was the shrimp in butter sauce. Pallela was ok, have had better. Drinks were great: Sangria, Margarita and the Martini were amazing. One and only reason for rating with 1 star, their overall service. Our server was extremely rude, was rushing us to place order, would not answer our questions regarding food suggestions and seemed so irritated. Just ruined our whole night and dinner. Definitely would not be returning here for sure!

Food is awesome. Come with a group, and order many small dishes. Any 2 items on the menu will go great together! Staff also courteous, great service. Easily one of the best restaurants in town.

Normal Spanish restaurant. Not the most authentic place, but hey, it's in Evanston. Nothing great. Overall, pretty meh and standard.

This place was fantastic! It's warm and inviting. All of the staff was kind and attentive, especially our server Josh. We are in town for the weekend at Northwestern and this place was so good we will go back before we head out! Standouts were the chicken in whiskey sauce, the baked goat cheese, the pork tenderloin and the grilled mussels. Everything was just amazing! We had the flan for dessert which is also not to be missed. This place is truly a gem!

Deceptive pricing practices! The food here is great and the service was very good but when we got our bill, the glasses of wine that were on the menu for $10.25 were suddenly $13.09. Weird amount, right? When we asked about it, the waiter said it was because we were using a credit card and that there was information on the menu about this. If there was, it was either in very small print or buried deeply. Plus, these prices were charged even before they knew how we would pay. Be up front about your policy!

Recently, several of us agreed to meet at Tapas Barcelona to catch up over dinner. I had heard and read some really good things about this restaurant, and I was NOT disappointed! Our friendly and helpful server suggested that if each of us ordered two "tapas" dishes to share, our dinner would proceed flawlessly - his advice was right on the money and our dinner was a delicious and totally enjoyable experience :-) We started the meal with Sangria for the table; it did it's job very nicely by both enhancing our appetites and stimulating conversation. Next, our food came - with four of us having ordered two dishes each, everyone got to try all eight dishes. Everything (mussels, beef tenderloin, chicken, goat cheese, shrimp, calamari, and chicken with potatoes) was beautifully presented and completely delicious. The food combined with spot-on, friendly service resulted in a great dining experience. While the prices were a touch high for the quantity of food we were served, we were all satisifed by the extremely tasty fare :-)

This is one of my favorite restaurants. The tapas are good. The sangria is great. And the service is exceptional. It's fun to order small plates and try new things. They always have a few specials. And they have a huge variety of hot and cold tapas as well as soups, salads, and pallea.

First- sangria, and Spanish margarita =amazing Second- meatball, goat cheese, octopus, Third- Miguel the server is outstanding. Sold us on everything and we loved it. Fourth- lovely location. And Maria the owner checked in on us- she is the nicest person ever.

The food is so good at this restaurant. The Catalana Paella was EVERYTHING. The atmosphere is great for families and friends that would like to enjoy laughing and talking while dinning. Lemon drop martini me again please.

Play it safe and make a reservation. Tapas Barcelona has a nice atmosphere inside and the service is very good. The menu has variety, but a lot of the dishes are just OK. The dishes gave me more the feeling of small bar snacks and didn't leave me craving to go back. Even though the food didn't wow me, I do appreciate having the option of a tapas restaurant in town and I think it was still worth the try.

Lovely place for a buzzing date night!! Loved this dinner. Pls call ahead for reservation.

We tried this restaurant for the first time last night and were very impressed. The food was wonderful, especially the Aguacate Con Cangrejo, avocado, cucumber and tomato topped with crab meat, which was fresh and vibrant. Another hit was the Gambas al Ajillo, garlic shrimp with olive oil and chiles. Quite simple and quite delicious. We ended with a trio of desserts that we all tried, and we loved the classic flan. Adding to the experience was the friendly and unusually attentive service. The decor was kind of country rustic, with a mix of Spanish film posters and reproductions of Picasso, Goya and Picasso, hung salon style. The only down side? The loudness. Because all the surfaces are hard, including the tile floor, it can be very difficult to carry on a simple conversation. Some sound-dampening panels would be an easy fix and it would be very welcome. Otherwise, this is a real Evanston treasure. We will definitely be back.

~Monica's T.A.S.T.E. Test~ Taste: We had so many different dishes as each person (4) ordered 2-3 tapas and we all shared (see Nathan's review for his take on each dish!). My favorites were the eggplant with goat cheese and hazelnuts (sweet and smooth) and the grilled vegetables with balsamic. However there were no bad choices. Atmosphere: Super crowded but the noise level was surprisingly medium. You could easily carry a conversation. The décor was Spanish with bright reds and oranges on the walls. And tables were far enough away to not hear the conversation next to you. Service: Our waiter was great. He allowed us to order each round after receiving/finishing the last, and gave great suggestions. Waters always filled. Tab: Each tapas was around $5-8, and 2-3 were needed for a meal. Reasonable for sure. Extra wow factor: So many choices! Does it pass the T.A.S.T.E test? Yes, no complaints here! When we are looking for a little Spanish flare in our cuisine we know where to go.