The squid paella was delish. It had that umami taste and just seasoned well. I do wish they had bigger prawns though as small prawns do not offer that meaty texture and does not soak the broth as well. The tomato-based seafood paella was a tad salty and "just ok" to my taste. Six of us went in and we ended up paying a pretty reasonable tab given that we had about 6-8 other appetizers (roughly with tax and tip appx $40-50pp, no drinks tho). If one combines the appetizers and some big dishes to share, there is more value to be had than ordering only appetizers. Having said that, calamari and chorizo were delicious - not oily at all. read more

Bodega On Main - Squid paella - yummy umami and well balanced in seasoning - Spanish Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Hola! A family friend I haven't seen since 2005, popped into town from T.O. - Go Raptors! One of his families favourite restaurants in Vancity - Bodega which I'd only ever been to once, when it was located on Howe St at Drake. That was over 10 years ago & to my recollection I found the plates small (I know it's tapas but honestly they seemed real tiny back then!) & just ok as in meh - hence I never went back. So this visit was going to be really interesting! Apparently the same owner is still running things so let's hope the experience years later is better!? Located in a not so 'high end' locale, this joint is completely classy inside. Very impressive comfy chairs, large bar area, lighting, great music & positive vibes overall. We had Patatas Bravas (potatoes), Gambas al Ajillo (prawns) & the delicious Paella Mixta Safron (yellow rice with seafood mix). The potatoes were tasty indeed - great sauce mix indeed! Prawns were succulently awesome!!! Paella was different to other Paellas I've had - but good with plenty seafood in it. There's 3 options of Paella - we choose option #1. Apparently the black rice option is popular as well - next time. You will come here, eat & clear out of this area heading towards downtown or further up south on Main St past Broadway. Science World is also not far from here. There are other restaurants nearby along with older run down pubs & a pizzeria (Farina). There's not really much worth hanging around for here. If you're considering Spanish tapas & flavour, do make reservations! You won't be disappointed! Gracias read more

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We decided to try this place for happy hour and it was exactly what we needed it to be. $4 highballs, decent priced appetizers and the perfect atmosphere. Jameson shots were on special for $4 too so that was the icing on the cake (Tuesdays). Break down on some of the appees: -montaditos de lomo (grilled pork on toast), it was average and a little to the dry side -patatas bravas (potatoes in a tomato sauce), delicious and creamy sauce with soft potato cubes -calamares fritos (calamari), fresh and light - probably the stand out item for us The thing they needed some improvements on was the service. I felt our server was impatient when we asked her what each item was on the happy hour menu. There was no translation or English so we didn't know what they were. It also took 5 minutes trying to flag someone down to get water when we first sat down. Overall, they still maintained friendliness and the speed of the drinks/food flowed, so most is forgiven. read more

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I love this place. Ok, enough positivity, I was a little disappointed with the delay before the server made first contact. However, from that point forward, this place is the bomb. Plate after plate arrived with the most delicious food I could have imagined for a Monday late evening meal. Just what I needed. The Vina Pomal Rioja was the perfect pairing for our food and our night. Couple that with the excellent eclectic mix of music and you have a fun night out. I recommend this restaurant for a fun night out with your daughter (my night) or a cool night out with a date. I will be back. read more

Bodega On Main - Spanish Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

This is the best restaurant for tapas. I have been a customer since the 90's when it was La Bodega on Howe St. They have done an outstanding job with Bodega on Main. The atmosphere is so cozy and inviting. The drink menu is decent, the Sangria is must and the food is a flavour bomb in your mouth. We ordered 7 dishes between 2 of us and we were full! One item that is a must order is the patatas bravas. Signature dish that is so so good. Steak skewers were cooked perfectly. Prawns were in a yummy butter and garlic sauce that you want to dip everything in! You will not be disappointed! The churros for dessert were delicious! Fantastic service as well and you can reserve now! We will be back for sure! read more

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Doesn't look like much as you walk past, maybe I weren't looking for some paella we wouldn't even have gone in, but wow am I glad we did! The bartender was great and gave us some good insight on drinks plus awesome service even though he was quite busy with a full bar and restaurant to attend/make drinks for. You pay for the quality of food you get which was awesome and great atmosphere. Will definitely recommend! read more

Bodega On Main - Paella Negra - Spanish Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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I recommend 3-4 people share the Paella Negra. I love beef tongue, so soft. Will come again and try the brunch read more

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Family owned business located in downtown before, but the last 5 years they moved to this location in Main street. It is a big place that serves Authentic Spanish cuisine.The location is not very nice for me, parking is limited and theres few construction going on.The other thing is its a bum infested area, well no serious crime recorded with this place so i think that is not really a problem...just saying.... The interior design is European inspired, upon entering the place, theres this great feel of Europe touch.Huge paintings, high ceiling and dark brown furnitures.. I was greeted by the server, warm and friendly.They observed the covid-19 precaution and protocols that includes contact tracing.,neat place huge sanitizer by the entrance...kudos guys.... If i am not mistaken theres another floor by the basement reserve for party and utilize when gets busy...huge place can accomodate around 40 heads on one level, i was not able to see the basement because it was close when i came. Prior to visiting i know already what to order, so i dont need to look at the menu. I had the paella mixta its a saffron rice with seafood, chicken and chorizo, the waiting period for this dish to get ready is roughly 32 minutes... It was serve on a hot skillet pan, and the serving can feed 2-3 persons. The smell was so good that i am really salivating, the presentation of the dish was so nice that alone is 5 star to me.Large pieces of shrimps and slices of squid, the shells i mean the mussels and other seafoods in it, with big chunks of chicken and chorizo, cooked in saffron rice with green peas and grilled red bell pepper. The blending of flavors and the smell is perfect.Rice is not overcooked, the squid is not gummy, fresh crustaceans i can tell it from the smell and the quality of taste. In regards with the taste....well....i can say that this is one of the best paella i ever tasted in lower mainland, it can actually rival the best paella i had when i was in Italy. They serve alcoholic beverages, and according to the server they have few seating outside when the weather is good. The music playing when i was there is a classic Spanish ballad, wifi is free.noise level is average but it can be noisy on dinner time. Good for group and family(not now that theres a lot of restriction from health Canada). the paella i ordered is more than $40 plus tip but just like a i said i can feed about 3 mouth, a bit expensive on first glance but every penny worth in this place. I highly recommend to all, to come and eat here specially those who enjoy Spanish cuisine. I can not wait for my next visit, i wanna try other dishes from their menu. i loved Spanish foods because i grew up in the Philippines that has Spanish culture up to this date, we were colonized by Spain for so many years. cheers to all read more

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Bodega on Main is a lovely treat. We always order the tapas and they are always so tasty. The food is superb and the service is very good. The ambiance is very nice. The only complaint I have and it's not really a complaint is that we had to ask for bread. read more

This is a charming and beautiful spot. I loved everything about it. I started with a cocktail: the brilliant "Smoke On the Water," created by bartender, Daniel ("Danny"). It was a beautiful combination of flavors: citrus, sweet and smoke. Server Ana and Daniel too were wholly accommodating to my varying requests and always with smiles. At Daniel's recommendation, for tapas, I dined on grilled octopus, boquerones en vinagre and--what ended up being my personal favorite--the mouth-watering pollo riojana. It's a very attractive place inside--fun things to look at on the walls and a lot of just plain old-fashioned looking classily beautiful. High recommended. read more

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I quite enjoyed the meal we had here; good Spanish tapas aren't that common in Vancouver, and obviously due to Covid-19 I'm barely going out to eat, so it was a nice treat to come here and enjoy a good meal! As usual at any tapas place, part of the fun is getting so much variety. From salads to cheese spreads to braised sausages and desserts, I enjoyed everything I had, though in a few cases things might not have been quite as tasty as I'd hoped; the octopus and the patatas bravas were a little too soft, for example, but I still enjoyed them. And given the circumstances, I'm sure things weren't running completely smoothly behind the scenes, so that may well not be their fault! The setting of the place was really nice and the staff were admirably kind and friendly; it's worth remembering that they often need to work these jobs because government support during these times (and always, frankly) is lacking, so tip and tip well. I'd like to come back to Bodega when times are better - the menu was full of interesting things, and I don't doubt you could come here several days in a row, never ordering the same thing twice, and come away satisfied. read more

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I will definitely be writing an updated review as I came in for dinner and slowly realized that the covid I had a week prior had eliminated my sense of smell and most of my taste. The atmosphere is super cute and we were there when the sun was starting to set so it was shining in the windows beautifully. We ordered a bunch of items - goat cheese stuffed peppers (oh my god the one thing I could taste- SO GOOD), ceviche, calimari, chicken wings, patatas bravas, and churros. Even with my taste buds working at 10% I really enjoyed every item. I'm excited to come back and give everything another go! The service left a lot to be desired. We were waiting for quite a while before we had anyone get us water or drinks but the server did apologize so at least they recognized it. The food came out really quickly so there was no waiting. Getting the bill was a bit painful. We eventually had to flag down a server. Overall I am excited to go back and try the rest of the menu with a glass of sangria in hand. read more

After complaining, I got a $5 coupon to use IF I ordered from them again. Not likely..... Recently at work and personally we have been been ordering from a Restaurant called, Time & Place. We also regularly order a charcuterie board from the new place we order from now. It's $25, and just look at the picture, it's normal sized, good meats and quality olives. read more

Bodega On Main - I used a loonie as a size reference of the 'finest meat' portion size for the awesome price of $32.00. - Spanish Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Enjoyed dinner for four at Bodega on Main on a Th evening. We were seated near the basement bar, where the attentive and personable bartender acted as our primary server. We found the food, drinks, and service to be excellent. We loved every one of the many tapas dishes we ordered. The grilled octopus was a highlight. We also loved the Don Pablo and La Chispa cocktails. One of the best tapas meals I have had (better than several in NYC, where Spanish tapas is abundant). read more

Came here to celebrate my birthday with a large (17) group on a Friday night. GM was extremely flexible throughout the whole process-- even offering a set menu for us and accommodating for fluctuations in guest numbers. We opted out of the set menu even though this meant we might have to wait longer for our food but this was not the case at all. Despite having a full restaurant, our food was brought out in a timely order. Food was absolutely delicious--keep in mind the paella is "for 2" but portions are large enough for 3-4. They had a potato appetizer which was absolutely divine--if I could, at my next birthday I would just lie in bed eating those potatoes. Overall, a great experience, the environment was lively and fun, and while we weren't particularly rowdy, a 17-top would cause anyone to transcend, but our server held her ground. She was prompt to fulfill any drink orders or requests for napkins, boxes etc. and was accurate and quick in bills/payments-- I don't think we even had to correct any of the bills, everything down to the drinks was split accurately per person. The picture doesn't do the food justice but it's all I have of the evening ‍ read more

Bodega On Main - Paella for dayyyyyyyyyyys - Spanish Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Sending our daughters next week! Great service and wonderful tapas! Parking right in front but I wouldn't want to sit in the outside street area. We felt like we were back in Spain ! The wine choices were great too . We will also come back ! read more

I was craving some good old iberico ham on this visit! Cool place, I liked the atmosphere, layout and vibe. However I didn't like our table that was right by the stairs, going upstairs to the main floor. Didn't get too much foot traffic but in hindsight, we should have mentioned something. Anyways, the food was good as I expected. I wish Iberico ham didn't have to be so pricey. It's so good! However my wife won't let me buy a whole leg and stand to place in our kitchen and I don't really want to wait 3 years to source the right pig and cure my own ham. Wanted to try so many things as it was our first visit here so we definitely over ordered, but knew the paella would be a take home dish. Tough cuts were cooked well like the octopus and tongue. Nice portions of lamb chops and taste. Paella was ok, probably didn't need to go the squid ink route, as it doesn't really add anything for taste, just dark coloured teeth and lips lol. Would love to come back for my Spanish fix! read more

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We had an unreal dining experience here for my sister's birthday. We love Tapas and everything we ordered was unreal. The service was great and the drinks were amazing. Definitely would recommend checking this place out and we will definitely be returning soon. read more

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Really enjoyed the atmosphere and service at this inconspicuous gem on Main St. My wife and I do not often get out for a date night (babies, am I right!?!?), happy we chose to send our time here. We were seated on a high top table near the bar, enjoyed that we had a comfortable bench seat to sit at. Due to distance restrictions (thank you!) there was no one else near us, the first gift of the night. Having the perceived privacy was perfect for out special evening. The second gift was our server, who was just amazing, funny and understanding...my bad for not remembering her name, but wow, thank you! She helped us out with the order size, order pacing and knew which plates would complement each other, taste wise as they came to the table. Bodega Owners: Monday, Jan 24th around 6:30, give that staff member a high five and a raise! We slowly ate our way through six plates; my personal favourite Chipirones; sautéed little Squid heavy on the Garlic. My wife was blown away by the Berenjenas Con Miel; sliced, lightly breaded and fried Eggplant drizzled with Honey, way to impress someone that is always on the fence with the Aubergine. Our Chorizo a la Parrilla was a little overdone and the Patatas Bravas was sauced too heavily for our taste, neither was sin enough to send back. The stuffed Piquillos Rellanos was the dish that hit the least, however, the Ceviche was perfect. The Tarta de Queso is one of the BEST desserts of its kind we had ever had! The décor is brilliant; lots of Picasso prints, Dali and Hemingway photos. The room has exposed architecture of old floor tile and matte painted steel beam, an amazing wooden bar set up and beautiful high ceilings. Great place for a date! 4.5/5 Stars, will be back soon to try the Paella! read more

So this place used to be over on Howe Street downtown. Iconic Spanish tapas really! The calamari, the meatballs, a few pitchers of sangria... well you get the idea. I'd love to get my hands on the recipe for the patatas bravas - no joke. Ideally go with friends and share so you can get a taste of absolutely every dish. read more

Noticed this place awhile ago, but took a long time to finally dine here. Then suddenly, I've been here twice already. The food is good. Mostly tapas style, and some great looking paella. I don't believe I have seen a lot of Spanish restaurants in Vancouver, so it is great to have this restaurant. I feel this place really captures that Spanish feel, which is fantastic. Definitely worth checking out. read more

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A festive work lunch turned into an awkward event as we tried to politely smile through incredibly poor service. Our server mixed up drink orders, took forever to serve up food that we could see sitting on the pass, and completely failed to manage our bills. At one point, she insisted one diner had received his beer order when he was clearly sitting there, empty-handed. Dirty dishes crowded the table, while she took away a half-full plate that we were not finished with. And when she couldn't figure out who had what, one of the diners saved the day by paying for the entire table, to be sorted out back at the office. The greatest offence - the automatic %18 gratuity she tagged onto the bill. Bodega has lost our business. read more

Bodega On Main - Dirty dishes not taken away. - Spanish Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Another hidden gem that only locals know about. The décor is truly funky yet very inviting. There are beautiful pictures of matadors and their families. There's even the head of the bull on the wall. Ole! The food is the real reason why this isn't is so frequented by the locals. Go there early or call up for a reservation. Otherwise you can get turned away. We arrived early and saw several tables with the reserve sign already placed on the tables. They have happy hour from 3-6 pm. We chose only their meatballs from that listing. We ordered assorted Spanish cheeses, fruits and nuts, meatballs, short ribs, grilled octopus and finally rice pudding to conclude our dinner. Everything was cooked with love and care. Would be a great way to describe everything. They know they're good and the entire establishment still doesn't rest on their laurels. They want to keep earning the love of their customers and will not short change their customers loyalty. Now that's amore! read more

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Amazing food and drink. Cannot say enough about this gem hidden on Main Street. We loved the Piquillos Relleños. The Chletillas De Cordero (lamb) was cooked to perfection - Juicy, perfect temp. Can't say enough about the Albondigas... divine. Only issue is they use a subpar olive oil. Rancid but probably to the taste of a musty Frenchman. Lol. Finished with Apostoles sherry and Crema Catalane - one of the best crème brûlée I've ever had! Oh, and don't forget the perfectly balanced Old Fashioned. Truly worth visiting. The service was superb, excellent advice, always making sure we had what we needed and creating a perfect experience. Thank you Sofia for a wonderful meal. read more

I loved the variety of dishes that are seasonal and authentic. I also loved the variety of drink options, which includes a sharable sangria. I like it is group friendly atmosphere. read more

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We used to love going to La Bodega years ago and were sad when they closed. But didn't realize until this past trip that Bodega on Main was opened by the original owner's son. We were thrilled to discover this and absolutely loved dining with you guys. The food was just as amazing as we remembered La Bodega to be. Unfortunately we live in Seattle so we can't visit frequently but we will definitely come dine here every time we're in town! read more

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Dinner for 4 people at this restaurant. Interesting place. We had gambas, octopus, mussels, olives, vegetarian paella. Personal favorite is the mussels... but I wish they would serve some bread with some of the dishes so that we could dip in sauce read more

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Yes the place has an eclectic mix of clientele and yes it's fun to people-watch here but getting charged four bucks for six slices of stone cold bread 'to go with the tapas' is absolutely ridiculous. Speaking of tapas they range in price from just under $10 to over 30 for pork that's aged 48 months. So no you don't come here for value, except maybe if you just order the paella mixta to fill yourself up. read more

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Authentic Spanish cuisine with lively atmosphere. Delicious menu items - perfect Lambchops and Tortilla and Churros! Service was great and we sat at Bar and Bartender was dilligent, humorous and informative. Don't miss this place for a a quick drink and Tapas or for a longer romantic meal. read more

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Pretty decent restaurant for happy hour, but their service is mediocre. We were not greeted when we entered until about 5-10 minutes after arrival. Service after was average at best. The waitress seemed rushed and it definitely came through in her service. She was not rude but we would have loved a bit more attention rather than feeling like we had to be as on the ball as she was. We came to this restaurant for a good sit-down dining experience. If I wanted to feel rushed, I would have gone to a fast food restaurant. Despite all that, the food did taste good. Although it was not worth the price being charged. The place aims to be "high-class" or something similar. The food did not match that standard. All in all, service makes the food. The food can taste great, but without excellent service to go along with it, the food alone is not enough to make me want to come back read more

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We were a large group here for brunch. The food was all good and no complaints except my dish with shrimp had no shrimp and my husbands had tons (maybe they put mine on his plate?) but in fairness to the restaurant, I did not mention this so they had no chance to rectify it. We all liked our meals but found the service to be mediocre. We were a large group but the restaurant was not overly busy. It wasn't that the service was just okay but it wasn't overly friendly. With all of that said, we would probably give it a second chance and try it for dinner. read more

Stopped by after getting off the train a couple blocks away. We were decently hungry, and wanted tapas, so we were lucky that Bodega on Main was so close by. There is a good variety of dishes, so we tried a lot of different things. Overall, good taste but nothing to write home about. The place has a nice vibe and appropriate decor, and really good music choice. We were jamming our way through the food. read more

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This was my first time at Bodega. Everything about this restaurant is outstanding; the decor, the atmosphere, the food, the service. We ordered a variety of dishes and I could not fault a single one and when we got our bill we could not believe how reasonable it was. Service was quick and our server was genuinely friendly, down to earth and attentive. Also found out that every Monday they donate 15% of their food sale profits to Rethink breast cancer research. I am currently 9 months pregnant, exhausted and constantly uncomfortable and I still left the restaurant on cloud 9 after such a wonderful experience. 10/10. I can't wait to go back! read more

Bodega On Main - Interior - Spanish Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Got a bunch of dinner items to go for my family. Big dinner. It was our first time getting food at Bodega on Main. I imagine the experience would have been much better had we eaten there but even as take out, the food was delicious!! There was a nice range of items to meet all of our particular likes and dislikes. read more

I was really excited to find a Spanish tapas place, because I really enjoyed my time in Spain and thought this place might be good based on 4 star reviews. I ordered an expresso shot which should have been the red flag. They gave me one of those expresso shot mug with 1/4 of it filled!! WTH! When I ordered an expresso drink from Spain, even in the US, I expect an expresso shot, not a taste of expresso. The funny part is that on the menu, they have another drink that describe as expresso with a little milk on top. That drink was 3x my expresso cup, which means it's probably mostly milk with a little expresso. Then, I ordered some bread as appetizer, because I was starving. The tapas items are on the expensive side. I expected fine dining delicious tapas. I also ordered their patatas bravas and chorizo a la parrilla. I tried their chorizo dish first. It was very salty and not worth $18. It was basically sausages I buy at the store that pretty salty, then cooked on a stove till completely cooked with a red oil on top. The patatas bravas was decent but when I saw the fruit fly landed on my food, I felt disgusted to eat further. This means their kitchen is probably dirty to have fruit flies in their restaurant. Top it off, besides from getting my order, I was ignored by the servers. I had to try several attempts to get their attention to get the check. I would be more understanding if it was busy and understaff but it was a slow day based on number customers and empty tables. Why did they ignore me? Maybe bc I didn't order enough and I was a solo customer. I don't know but their customer service can be improved. The owner looks like he just goes back and forth supervising and talking to the waiters. If he's not helping, then he should be seeing how the customers are doing and get their feedback or stay in his office... It was a bad experience that just kept getting worst. I would recommend it if you want to come for the atmosphere or rather the nice decor. The atmosphere was okay... read more

Great price if you go there during happy hour. We were a group and ordered everything on the happy hour menu, a few dishes from the regular menu and some pitchers of sangria. Get a basket of bread. The calamari was good from the happy hour menu. My favourite was the chistorra a la sidra. Chipirones was too squidy for my liking and bland and bitter. We were stuffed and didn't order the paella so I have to go back to try it out. For dessert I tried the bread pudding and crema Catalana. They were both okay. Good food, great price, good vibes. Mediocre service. Getting a reservation is a pain as they don't use open table etc. Many tables are kept for walk ins and I was lucky to be able to get one. read more

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I went to Bodega for my friend's birthday, our first restaurant outing in months. I was a little nervous but did feel more comforted by how far the seating was spaced out (every other table) and the high ceilings. There were only maybe a handful of seated tables and the staff all seemed to be wearing masks. We ordered a bunch of tapas and although all of them were tasty, I did also find them slightly bland and underseasoned compared to other Spanish tapas around town. For example, I was disappointed with their iteration on patatas bravas, which heavily relied on the sauce for flavour, rather than a deep fry or seasoning on the potatoes themselves. I did really enjoy the salad though (and I'm not really a salad person) with it's diverse topping of applies, Spanish almonds, cheese, and dried dates. Since it was my friend's birthday I had asked if they did any birthday promotions and like many other restaurants around town, they offer a free dessert. What I wasn't expecting was two free desserts! And both the churros and cheesecake were delicious. I'm not sure if I would come back for more tapas but I would like to give their paella a try! read more

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Came here for a girls' night as recommended by one of the girls and it was a pleasant surprise. I can't believe I've never heard of this place because I love Spanish tapas so much. Romantic atmosphere with dim lighting and flickering candles. We ordered the Paella Mixta right when we got seated because it takes 30 minutes to prepare. The saffron rice was mixed with generous portions of chorizo, pork, chicken, shrimp, mussels and squid. I enjoyed it but it was such a large portion we were regrettably unable to finish it. On the side my friend and I decided to split the champiñones, which was the sauteed mixed mushrooms with garlic, sherry and finely grated aged manchego. However, I didn't really enjoy it because the garlic was very strong, overpowered the mushrooms and drowned out the rest of the flavours. For drinks, they have an extensive selection. I liked my cocktail so much I ordered two of the same: the La Gitana with rotating gin, dry curaçao, lemon juice, rotating pazzo chow tonic syrup and egg white. A great option if you're into sweet, fruity and light cocktails like me. After finishing eating we headed downstairs, a small basement filled with bumping music, a separate bar and several tables. There is also a separate entrance if you don't want to go through the restaurant upstairs. I had a good time and it was nice not having to travel from point A to point B when it was all in the same place. All you need to do is grab a drink and head on downstairs! read more

Bodega On Main - Spanish Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

The food is okay but the service was bad. The waitress were not attentive and after an hour they told us there was a reservation and they needed our table. The restaurant was almost empty and after I complained they said we could stay another hour. After we left, the restaurant was still empty and no one claimed our table. I'm not going back there, ever read more

Such an inviting atmosphere with delicious tapas. Visited Bodega on Main to catch up with a friend and it was such a treat. The staff was attentive and timed their check ins perfectly. We ordered patatas bravas, chipirones, pollo riojana, chorizo a la parrilla, and their sangria. My favourite were the chicken and sautéed baby squid. The dishes were perfectly cooked each layered in flavour. Would highly recommend a visit with friends or for a date night. read more