Our group of 24 (plus our tour manager and coach bus driver) sat on the upper floor for dinner…read more We were served family style of fresh baked bread, crispy pork belly, croquettes, pimentos de padron, a tomato salad (thinly sliced) drizzled with balsamic vinegar, grated cheese and olive oil, and lamb shank with potatoes. We were served with copious amounts of red and white wine. Dessert too, but I didn't take a photo and don't recall what it was. Overall, a great dinner with friends. I cannot comment on the price because it was part of our tour package.

The wines we had were all less than exciting but the service, food and ambiance more than made up…read morefor it. There wasn't an English menu so we pointed and hoped for the best. The first dish that came out was a butternut squash soup with a poached egg and truffle oil. Solid and tasty. The waitress didn't speak any English but she went the extra mile. I pulled up Google translate and she explained the wines we tasted via the app. Huge kudos. The next up was a large entree style Cuttle fish and risotto. The risotto was very nice, but the Cuttle fish was a bit to fishy and overpowered the dish; as usual Marie ate based on what I preferred and I was able to polish off the risotto (and she ate the cuttlefish) without offending the staff. An unexpected bonus was how well it paired with my wine. If I lived here I wouldn't come back for the food, but the drinks could certainly draw me in. Last but not least they handled an impromptu tasting seamlessly (nod to Google Translate without whom none of this would be possible), so don't be afraid to ask.

I've been on many wine tours in my time - Napa, Tuscany, Bordeaux, etc. - and I must say, this tour…read morewas truly something special. Inma, our guide for the day, was the best tour guide I've ever had; yes, THE BEST. She's truly an expert when it comes to Rioja - we found she often knew more than the wineries' own tour guides! And, importantly, she caters the experience to each client (and I should mention she speaks absolutely perfect English). Sure, she'll take you to the bigger, more commercial wineries like Marques de Riscal & Bodegas Ysios, which are both visually stunning and worth going to - but, because she takes the time to learn your tastes she'll introduce you to wineries right up your alley that you'd never otherwise know about, many of which aren't open to the public. And thanks to her local roots & connections, the vintners quite literally give her the keys to their private operations (Gontes comes to mind). Inma caps the day with a delicious late lunch in a private wine cave at Castillo de San Vicente - again, not something you can just go and do; only the locals have access. The cherry on top: her tortilla de patatas is absolutely delicious. All in all, one of the best single days I've had on vacation my entire life. A fantastic experience that I'd recommend to absolutely anyone.

Incredible Rioja Wine Experience with Inma-…read more My boyfriend and I did the Unusual Suspects private tour with Inma. This experience was the highlight of our trip to Spain and a huge part of that was Inma. She taught us about Rioja wine and the region without overloading us with information, made us feel so comfortable, and the experiences at the incredible wineries were due to her relationships with each of the owners, which is a testament to her as a person. We visited three different wineries and had the best lunch that Inma prepared herself with fresh ingredients from our own garden. My boyfriend still talks about her Tortilla de Patatas. We had an additional day in Logrono before heading to San Sebastian and Inma sent us a detailed list of recommendations and even helped us book a bus to San Sebastian, which was a much better option than the train we had booked. I cannot praise Inma and this experience enough.

Beautiful breads in Basque style. Stiff donuts for coffee. Tasty cookies. There are two on this…read morestreet near each other. The other has great croissants!!! Go to both! Neither have coffee...just breads

Wonderful little restaurant in Concha y Toro. Great attention, amazing food and spectacular…read moreambience. Close to the bus terminal, stayed a couple hours on a Saturday night and was so impressed.

This restaurant is owned by the winery next door. We decided to try it out since it was right next…read moredoor and we were hungry. What a GREAT choice!! I was so happy with the food. A very elegant and classy place with high quality food and GREAT service. The potato and chorizo stew was excellent. The lamb rack was exceptional. Yes! Yelp Now that I have been yelping for a while, I realize what a cool application this really is. Yelp has become my "go to" site whenever I go to a new city around the world. I've also been able to communicate with yelp friends from around the world whenever I travel to a new city in order to get advice of where to eat and also for business information. Yelp is also a great way to keep track of your past experiences and it has become a digital record of where I have been and how much I enjoyed those locations. Yelp is also really great place to connect with people in your own town to see what is going on and what is fun and which restaurants are new and exciting. Try it, you may very well enjoy becoming a yelper also.

Rioja is perhaps one of the most famous wines in Spain. It is a ubiquitous red known the world…read moreover. How often do you see a white rioja however? Though they make a whole array here, the Erre Punto is one of those rarer examples of a white rioja. Strong in stone fruit and citrus, a great by the glass by itself or paired with food that is rich in salt and/or fats.

The Palacios name in Rioja is famous for the wine. One of the sons of the family also makes wine in…read moreGalicia. I guess there's another Palacios family in food? They are mainly in the preserved meats business, making all forms of Spanish chorizo. However they've branched into deli foods, sandwiches, pizzas, baked goods. very diversified for an originally Spanish focused food products at first. The chorizo is decent. I think after having so many good local artisans all over the country, it's hard to have something that is semi mass processed and have it compare. However in a pinch it's still tasty enough.

There's a lot of good wine available in Spain and at very reasonable prices both inside a…read morerestaurant and out. During our recent trip to the Iberian Peninsula, Gayle and I enjoyed finding a wine shop, chatting with store staff, and buying a few bottles for later hotel relaxation. Vinos Castro is located on the Camino de Santiago (aka the Way of St. James) and within a block from the Cathedral of Santo Domingo de la Calzada and a nice Parador. We were actually staying at the other Parador in Town (Bernardo Fresneda), but its all an easy walk. Did I mention that this is the Rioja region? That means lots of good reds in the general categories of young (Joven), older (Crianza), and Reserva. We picked out a nice Reserva for about $18 and added a nice White and Rose for good measure. The guy working the counter knew his wine well, even though our Spanish and his English weren't perfect. Gayle loved the conversation (at her self-described fluency of a bright 4 year old - lots of present tense). And when we were done, it was all boxed up nicely for travel and just hanging out.