There's not much going on in the town of Tres Cantos, Spain, at 7 pm on a Sunday night. But some colleagues and I were here at just that time, fresh from the airport, and we were hungry. None of the places we could find on Yelp appeared to be open, so wandering ensued. We passed may shuttered doors and dark windows...
But at about 7:30 we came upon La Coleta, and it looked open. We grabbed a table, and asked immediately for menus (which amused the waitress to no end; sooo early for dinner!). Beers were ordered first (a local, decent brew whose name I forget).
I was excited to see Paella on the menu for 8 Euro. Being my first meal in Spain, it was a no brainer. Unfortunately it didn't quite live up to expectations: 90% rice, with a few chunks of chicken and a few slices of pepper. The tomato-infused flavor was good, but in the end it seemed overpriced for what I received. But at least they fed us on American time (sort of).
By the time we left (around 9:00) the place was really starting to fill up with locals. Everybody seemed to know everybody; the waitress was even helping care for a customer's baby. It was then we realized that La Coleta was the local version of "Cheers". I didn't stick around to see if the Spanish version of Norm ever showed up. read more