Solea Restaurant and Tapas Bar

03/29/2008 Posted by LindaNica

Where can I start, Solea's has to be the best Tapas Restaurant in New England. I lived in Europe for a while so I can tell you they are authentic. The restaurant is glam and beautiful. The location is marvelous, Moody Street is a jewel in the ruff, so many restaurants, so diverse and so delicious. The service at Solea's is always great, the food is out of this world. If you never had Tapas trust your waiter to give you a few pointers. Here are a few favorites from my list. From the cold menu, you must try the Palta Reina, that is an avocado stuff with crab meat, mango and cilantro. From the hot menu try the Queso de cabres montanes- that is baked goat cheese with tomatoes and basil. Duck in a berry sauce, and also the scallops with saffron cream. sauce The prices are reasonable not expensive at all. The food and the service are excellent. When you dine at Solea's you feel like you are in Costa Del Sol, once you step out of the restaurant you can walk to several local irish bars. I lived in waltham for a while and Moody Street is a wonderful street. You can visit Solea's first and work your way to the rest of the local restaurants. Moody Street is a wonderful street.

Pros: service is great, food is delicious,

Cons: must park across in public parking, unless you get there early.

01/02/2008 Posted by gbarry

We had a party of four for tapas this past Sunday. We were seated promptly and our hostess came and introduced herself and asked us if we were familiar with tapas. From there, we were treated with exceptional attention and concern (my wife has a gluten intolerance). She checked with the kitchen and produced a list of dishes to avoid. She suggested some moderately-priced Tempranillos, and suggested a step-up wine that she personally loved. We went with it and were not disappointed. They even decanted the wine to let it mature! All of the tapas were delicious, with some real stand-outs! The Lamb chops, Calamari, Steak with Chimichurri, Shrimp in garlic and the Chicken livers were tremendous. We got a second bottle of wine, ordered at least 12 plates and the bill came to $200! What a great bargain. When I spoke to the manager on our way out, he was very concerned that we had a good experience and was very pleased when I told him how happy we were. I highly recommend Solea for the food, service and the decor.

Pros: Food, wine list, service

Cons: Parking - no lot but municipals nearby

12/29/2007 Posted by ejc1980

My friend and I tried Solea for the first time last night. We LOVED it. We made reservations and were seated as soon as we walked in. The atmosphere and decor are fantastic. Our server was friendly and very attentive to us. The food came out FAST and each plate arrived at a different time, so we weren't overwhelmed with a lot of food at once. It was all delicious. I highly recommend the duck in the berry sauce...it was so good I wish I had ordered two plates! I will most certainly be back - this place was better than I could have imagined. PS. Don't worry if you have never tried tapas before and know nothing about them - I came in knowing nothing, but the menu makes it easy to order and the server was very helpful.

Pros: Ambience, Decor, Tapas, Service, Drinks

Cons: Nothing!

10/02/2007 Posted by sallydicarlo

I have been going to Solea now for years. We love to sip Sangria or their Espresso Martini. My favorite tapas are the duck with a berry sauce, the lamb chops with an apricot glaze and the pork tenderloin with blue goat cheese. I always try something new, then get my favorites. For dessert we share a flight of port and the cheese plate. It is lively and fun, at the bar or in the dinning room, I love spending my night out at Solea.

Pros: Great for a light tapa or a full night out.

Cons: Get there early so you don't have to wait as long.

09/24/2007 Posted by flunkamania

I've enjoyed Solea for about 5 years now. One of my favortie dishes is the mixed plata which had delicious variety of imported cheeses. The service is great and the decor is out of this world.

Pros: ambience, food

03/15/2007 Posted by lanajigglers

I am extremely disappointed in Solea. We have dined her for a couple years and initially were so impressed and recommended the restaurant to everybody. However after last evening I will NEVER go back. We had a very unpleasant dining experience here a couple months ago with a big group where we actually paid our $200+ bill and THEN the management asked that we leave, although we were doing so anyhow. We went back last night as a couple and sat at a table in the bar. The service was terrible and we waited for our tapas for an inordinate amount of time, and the place was not even that crowded. We both ordered margaritas but I got a glass of sangria. We then ordered a pitcher of sangria and I ordered my margarita again. And the waiter poured my dining partner's sangria into my USED sangria glass! We had to flag him down for EVERYTHING and although we orderd a good variety of tapas, we never received new side plates. He appeared frazzled and in the weeds, even though there were only a couple other tables sat. I will say that as usual the food was suberb, too bad the service did not match up. I can sadly say that we will never visit again. If you want tapas with good service, skip Solea and go to Masa or Toro in the South End. And if you wanna stay in Waltham, skip the hassle of this place and head up to Tempo.

Pros: great food, good drinks

Cons: TERRIBLE service, rude hostess,

10/25/2006 Posted by lovelymissb

Delicious! Having lived in Spain for two years, this is as close as it gets! The sangria is wonderful, and we always get the chliean sea bass, gambas al ajillo, and tortilla. The atmosphere in the bar area is lively and fun--great for after work, while the restaurant area is quieter and perfect for dates. It has been our go-to special event restaurant for 3 years. Love it! The only problem is parking can be a pain on the weekends, and the tables are a bit to close for comfort if you are seated along the perimeter.

Pros: tapas menu, specialty drinks, great service

Cons: parking, tables a bit close together

06/05/2006 Posted by lilt

I was here on business from Austin and decided to try something on Moodys. The bartender (who works on Mondays) was fabulous! He was very busy but found time to give excellent service, recommendations and tips on places to enjoy in Boston's nightlife. The food was amazing along with the Mojitos! Overall the selection, atmosphere and open setting (in the bar) made this a great hit of my visit!

Pros: service, selection, taste

Cons: none

02/05/2006 Posted by kristinem

Everything I've had at Solea is phenomenal. The decor is very nice, and their drinks are great too. The bartenders are nice and accomodating. Recommended.

Pros: delicious food, nice waitstaff, good drinks

Cons: expensive, not close to the T