11/09/09

too pricey not the quality you expect

by eupelia

The food was good but WAY too expensive for what it was. Yes, it was unique but get ready to spend about $50 per person and not even be full and the quality wasn't there in some items. For example, the tiny bowl of beef stew tapas had chunks of fat and tendon in the meat($9.50), me and my friend were so grossed out we couldn't eat it and there were only 3 pieces of meat in it. The tiny plate of shrimp in the garlic and butter was overcooked($9.50) but I was able to dip my bread in it which was yummy because it was garlic butter.

The 2oz of steak on toast tapas was good meat but it had no flavor at all($10)

The goat cheese was great, but the sauce it was in tasted like prego pasta sauce. Kind of pedestrian. ($9.50) The 3 little lamb chops were good, they did not taste gamey ($10.50). My favorite was the chicken balls (don't remember what they are called?) but they were SOOOO tiny, I couldn't believe they cost $10! It was literally 4 bites.

honestly, the quality was just not there for the price. Tasca tapas in Brighton is way better quality and is more affordable.

Also, they are kind of rude here. i ordered a cup of cider at the bar while waiting for my table and they charged me $6 for it and when I asked them why it said $3 fruit juice in the menu the guy said "oh yeah, well, we kind of count it as a virgin drink". What bull. he changed it when I brought it up.

The ONLY way that this place is AT ALL worth it is if you go for the $5 tapas at the bar. THEN you are getting a GREAT deal because of the experience of tapas, but that is still pricey for some of the dishes, but it's the best way to experience things. Plan on spending $50 for two people if you do the $5 tapas, otherwise plan on spending $40-50 per person, not including any drinks. It was the birthday of one of our party, so they brought a small piece of (very tasty!) cake but then charged us $9 for it. nice.

Finally, our server was not good. he kept forgetting to get things we ordered and he brought us tapas we did not order and then acted dumb when we said something, like, "oh yes I brought that, that was the other thing I gave you" and we would say "no, we ordered such and such ( totally different sounding name). it's like he confused us with other tables and couldn't even admit it.

The drinks are way overpriced. nothing for less than $8 and it's tiny and wasn't even good. They are even cheap with their wine portions even though it's $8 a glass. The beer was $5 and it was about a 10 oz glass. Essentially, I just felt like they were trying to rip you off at every opportunity to help cover their expensive Newbury street rent. Tasca in Brighton is waaaayyy better both in taste and prices --AND service, and even has flamenco some nights.

Dali in Sommerville is also the BOMB. mmmm the best!! pricey too, but their food is sooooooooo soooooo worth it.

• Pros: location
• Cons: the food, drinks and price is not comparable to Dali/Tasca

10/09/09

overrated, overpriced, and bad service

by chasubaoyum

Was given a gift certificate ($65) to this place and finally went and checked it out. To my surprise, the prices were higher than other tapas places I've been to. My gf and I ordered about $55 worth of food and when I paid with the gift certificate, the waiter said he couldn't give me change. WTF?? He kept saying, "No, I CANNOT give you change." At first I thought I misheard him, but after a couple of minutes of him INSISTING he could not give me change, he suggested that we order another dish to make it closer to the $65 amount of the gift certificate. WTF?? I kept asking and calling him out on it, basically saying, "Uh...WHY can you not give me change??" But he kept going on and on, but not really saying anything different...just kept saying he couldn't. This is the first time I've experienced this!! I've never been to a restaurant where the waiter got into a heated discussion on WHAT I should do with MY money!! I was trying to actually reason with him and kept asking him why it is that he could not give me change. He kinda looked around, and kept repeating the same phrase, "I cannot give you change." Oh, he also finally added that I should pay CASH for the meal and save the gift certificate for another time. Are you kidding me?? I've never been to a restaurant where the waiter got into a heated discussion on WHAT I should do with MY own money!! Why the hell would I want to save the gift certificate for another day??? That's why I went to the restaurant in the first place, so I can USE the gift certificate!! The waiter kept arguing (rather forcefully) his "point" for a good 15 minutes!!!

Unbelievable. So after much hesitation, I did order another dish (about $9.00); we promptly ate it and left WITHOUT leaving a tip. Well, actually, he got a tip of exactly a $1.00, which was the balance of the gift certificate. I hope he feels better now...that his ridiculous insistence on not being able to give me $10 change actually COST him a much more substantial tip I was already planning to give him in the first place.

This was truly unbelievable and left the worst impression of the restaurant as a whole.

I will never go back to this place. And besides, the food was just okay, seriously overrated.

09/20/09

The best Tapas in boston:)

by greatexpectations72

Whenever I visit Tapeo I feel like I have made a quick trip to Spain. Wonderful food, a relaxed atmospere.....and a super friendly staff. I highly reccomend.

• Pros: yummy food, friendly staff....atmosphere!