The ambiance in the place is very nice. For a small town, it's a very nice and "fancy" place for an anniversary, date night, or night out.The food though was pretty disappointing. The panini was dry and lacked flavor. Our waiter was pretty knowledgeable but items were forgotten that was forgiven and taken off our bill later. read more

See all

Great vibes here in Dekalb great Tapas, delicious drinks very friendly staff, the servers are so sweet the prices are not bad at all and you can enjoy great food with live music Very nice and elegant. Rachael is so friendly and cute thank you for serving us read more

See all

Had some pretty good tapas from this classy but casual restaurant in DeKalb. It may be the nicest restaurant in town considering most places are full of loudmouth NIU students. Tapa La Luna is a place for those wanting cocktails and small bites to accompany these. Prices aren't bad. You can get a pretty good amount for a lunch. Chill place with a pleasant atmosphere. It's one of the nicer restaurants around here. There's a bar and quite a few tables. Has pretty simple drink and food menus. Seems like there's not a whole lot of choices but that keeps things running smoothly. It's about $8 for a cocktail. There's also specialty ones that cost more. It's about $8 for one of the tapas on average. We got the Thai Spring Rolls. In these are carrots and soy marinated cabbage. You can add a couple bucks to get portobello mushrooms. A few other things on the menu include pizza if wanting something more filling. There's many things that are meant for sharing. Good place to have a pleasant meal and conversation. It's one of those restaurants that closes between lunch and dinner, and it's closed on Sundays. The menu has a lot of variation among the options, and there's a few things okay for vegans and vegetarians. read more

Tapalaluna - Gin And Tonic With Thai Spring Rolls - Tapas Bars Near Me - DeKalb, Illinois

Busy on a Friday evening around 7:30pm, for a table of 4, we lucked out and slid right into a table though! A very large, everything looks so good, menu, it was so hard to choose what to eat. Sadly everything was hit & miss. The bacon dates were pretty burnt, & charred, our friends said that was not normal. Peanut Chicken, OMG, that was so so good, highly recommend! The mixed & matched bruschetta plate, sounds fun, they were the planest bruschetta I'd ever eaten. The goat cheese appetizer, we couldn't finish, the tomato sauce was sooooooo acidy it didn't get finished. We ordered 3 sushi rolls, and only got 2. We ordered 2 different sets of sliders, the flavors were good, but the meat sliders were DRY DRY, wow, probably the worst sliders I've ever had. I ordered the sliders and the server asked if I wanted fries, and I asked if they were included, and he said yes, and they were not, they were an additional $5, and it said not included on the menu as well, so that was disappointing as well. Our friends took us that live in town, they mentioned it's always hit & miss unfortunately, and we definitely had a missssssss night. read more

See all

Love this place! Went for dinner after a business meeting in town, and will go back just for dinner even though I live a hour away. Great vibe inside with occasional live music. Menu is varied and unique. Beef and asparagus is great, and the bruschetta is insane. Good wine and beer, and they make a good mixed drink. Service is friendly and helpful. read more

Menu changes but some of their new items are very good. I miss the previous salmon dish though. The service is always good and they sometimes have live guitar music. read more

The food was tasty although there wasn't a pinch of chorizo in my entree. Excellent service and such an amazing ambiance. Prices are very reasonable with the portions and drinks are magnificent and not over priced. read more

Tapalaluna was an experience! We had the best waiter and enjoyed live music! Bacon wrapped dates are to die for!

Great food ! Luv the cook with that black hat on!! Kudos on the mushroom soup!! Cory thank you I will be back read more

See all

Tapaluna is a really fun experience. I loved the variety on their menu, from sushi, to flatbread, and more. We tried the goat cheese roasted red pepper dip, it was soo good. Then we had the peanut chicken skewers which were also delicious, then the crab cake stuff mushrooms, which were our favorite. Then we ended the night with the the bread pudding which was okay, too artificially sweet in my opinion. Overall a great experience. read more

See all

Best short ribs I have ever eaten . They were savored at every bite and the service was incredible. I'll be back!

I would say one of Dekalb's best places for a date night! The perfect blend of innovative cuisine but with enough comfort options that it doesn't feel intimidating. I have had great service here and their cocktails are really fun! read more

Butter chicken soup was fabulous. Highly recommend it Very clean - Brianna was very helpful.

Very comfortable and cute inside! Really lovely staff and live music. Wouldn't get the calamari. No seasoning and the tomato sauce was really thin and bland. Potstickers were really well filled, crispy, and good dipping sauce. Goat cheese was delicious! Tempura pork tenderloin made the pork dry - but really crispy and great sauce! Very good. Sliders and fries were excellent, super tasty read more

See all

We made reservations for a Saturday night and we're happy we did. Our waitress, Abreia, was great and very friendly. The place has a very cool vibe and had choices for tapas, sushi, and regular American fare. My husband and I stuck with tapas which we were very pleased with. Our friends added paella and a chef's roll to the 2 tapas they ordered. Everything was delicious and much better than I expected from a small town establishment. It could've easily been a place in downtown Chicago. The plating was beautiful and the pairing of food creative. The scallops with wonton and pickled cabbage was unusually delicious and unexpected. And while I loved everything, the dates were probably my least favorite. The small dates seemed slightly overpowered by the smoky bacon. That just may be a matter of preference though, and I would certainly try them again. None of us could believe the beers were only $5. The husbands were very happy. Lol. Our waitress recommended the creme Brule Martini which was soooo good and that marshmallow was no joke - I had to finish it with my fork. They also had a cherry cordial Martini that I'd go back and try. read more

See all

Had a wonderful dinner here tonight! Loved my drinks and the food was excellent! We did have a bit of a wait as they were short staffed; however, our server was kind enough to apply a discount to the bill. We enjoyed the ambiance and live music as we waited! I want to go again for ladies night!! read more

The price of drinks here is really high. I took away one star for that. The area has reasonably priced drinks so if you're coming here for drinks expect your pocketbook to feel it more than your other options. I like that they had music. The food was good! Service was reasonably fast. Good atmosphere overall. I would come back again, but likely as a starting point for an evening out. read more

Brook enjoy your new chapter. Jim keep jamming on the Axe. Hannah and team, Thanks for always having great food and drinks. read more

What a gem of a restaurant in Dekalb! The menu is very extensive and varied - from a cuisine variety point of view, no one will be disappointed. The goat cheese appetizer was perfect for 2 as a starter. I ordered the sliders (2 didn't feel like it was going to quite do the job, so I ended up ordering the 4, which were more than ample). My wife had the steak salad, which was a perfectly moderate size and very well prepared (steak was a perfect medium rare and the red peppers on the salad were a great compliment). We went on a Saturday night and were seated at the back bar without a reservation immediately, but they were busy and service times were pretty lengthy. That said, we had a front row seat to the kitchen and the ENTIRE staff (front of house and back of house) were working incredibly hard as a team to take care of customers. Kudos to the team at Tapalaluna! read more

Second time. First was okay but maybe a little expensive although good variety. This time was about same but service was poor. It was moderately busy but they were slow and understaffed. Probably the other. read more

Amazing tapas and the Kobe beef sliders were amazing. We enjoyed the ambiance and the selection of beer and cocktails. Highly recommend the Grilled Cheese and the Cuban Sandwich. read more

Tapalaluna - Tapas Bars Near Me - DeKalb, Illinois

I was so compelled to write this review. Everything here is so lovely. The service is excellent and cheerful. There is a live piano player! They have a delightfully varied menu with talented chefs who you can watch perform their work. And the place is set up so nice in an older downtown brownstone. I love this place. Highly recommend for a date night or just a great place to get a glass of wine. read more

This was our first time trying Tapa La Luna and we were thrilled. The ambiance is relaxing and welcoming. We went early in the evening to enjoy the music and it was perfect. Our waitress, I believe that her name was Dina, was exceptional. We'll beyond just taking our order and making recommendations, she spent the better part of 30 minutes over the course of our stay engaging with us, learning our names, and making the experience unique and pleasant. We had a few of the appetizers and two entrees. All were very flavorful and the portions were just right. I do highly recommend the bread pudding. Even though we were both full from our other food, we ate the whole serving and loved it. We will definitely be back, for the atmosphere/music, the food and the friendly staff. read more

Great service! Live music was a little loud, but it was nice that they had it (on Fridays).

Food was fresh, service was great, and they had live music that was not too loud. The atmosphere was very nice and we really enjoyed our dinner! read more

Great food. Great service. Cool, calming, fancy vibes. Was working at Northern Illinois University and stopped by after work and was pleasantly surprised with everything. Would totally come back! Highly recommend. read more

Tapalaluna - Tapas Bars Near Me - DeKalb, Illinois

This was my first tapas experience and it did not disappoint! Between two of us, we shared the Seared Scallops, White Bean & Artichoke Hummus, and Crabcake Stuffed Mushrooms, and we each had a side salad. The tapas were perfectly sized for two to share and even the salads were big enough that they could have been split. I think the scallops were my favourite, but everything was excellent, and even the side salad was memorable. For dessert, I had the Creme Brulee, and my companion had the Turtle Cheesecake, but ended up doing a bit of sharing on the desserts too. The desserts were also really good, I liked the inclusion of the strawberry reduction with the creme brulee and loved all the flavours and textures going on in the cheesecake. Tapas can get expensive fast just by nature, but these prices are manageable, and on the other areas of their menu their prices are really on the lower side for this kind of place. The building is also really nice. They've got a sophisticated but lived-in aesthetic going and we were fans of the big moon light behind the bar. It's also always great to see live music. It was a little hard to hear each other but we were also seated at the table closest to the performer so that was probably unavoidable. Service was good. We got there at about 7 on a Saturday night and it was almost full but they had a table for us right away. A larger party might have had to wait longer. read more

See all

Just meh. Greasy calamari with bland sauce. Mussels were too salty. Main entrees were forgettable. Live music is a plus but it's too small of a space for that big of an amp. Acoustic would have been perfect. Service was outstanding but we won't be back again soon. read more

Service was great , and the food was to also amazing. Would definitely recommend to anyone trying something new read more

See all

Wonderful experience at Tapalaluna!!! We loved the Asian chicken salad, parm waffle fries, and the sushi. Great ambiance and service was super nice. Live music too! Will totally be back! read more

Tapalaluna - Tapas Bars Near Me - DeKalb, Illinois

Tapa La Luna has a warmly inviting charm and upscale vibe. The menu is ambitious and modern, with flavor profiles that are interesting and give you an appetite. We started with the tapas. My crab cakes were overcooked and the dark brown crust over-powered the delicate flavor of the crab. The mango salsa was nothing more than unripened mango chopped into little pieces. My partner ordered the fire roasted pork tenderloin. It was burnt, rubbery and not edible. We returned this tapas. My entree was the seafood paella. They served all of the shell fish in the shell. After scraping the seafood and rice out of dozens of shells the dish, although flavorful, was cold. My partner ordered the tuna tataki. The tuna was perfectly seasoned and cooked. The vegetables mixed with the rice noodles were raw and the sauce was little more than soy sauce. The dish lacked flavor and was little more than an ahi tuna appetizer. Our waitress was excellent but once your appetite and your date night is ruined, there is no way to make things right. Bottom line...Tapas La Luna offers overpriced promises that are not kept! read more

Wanted to love it. Environment great at first, then it got out of control packed. Not their fault but it ruined the service. Food was okay, but tasted as if each plate ready at a different time. Might try again. read more

Great food and atmosphere Great bar and excellent service Have been going for years, Wednesday's is jazz night with very good music. read more

This was the first time we've been here since the unfortunate passing of the previous owner. It was full up and boisterous with a music act. Awesome! We checked in for a table and agreed to the 30 min. wait. Sat at the bar and ordered. My wife got her glass of wine straight away. 15-20 mins later our table was ready, nice! I asked the host/server if she could bring the cocktail I had ordered 15 minutes earlier to my table when they finally made it. Oops! It came and it seemed to be a double, maybe for the inconvenience. We got seated in the very back away from all the fun atmosphere. Also away from all the service. Lots of waiting, waiting, waiting. I like a leisurely pace for a nice dinner, and my wife and I enjoy ourselves talking and holding hands across the table. But after a while the conversation turns to wondering if the server went home. All three tables in the awful back tables were often leaning out, looking over their shoulder towards the front looking for servers. Empty cocktail glasses and water glasses on the edge of the tables. We ordered three plates and decided that more cocktails would over tax the situation. That made me very sad. 45 mins later the first plate arrived. Seriously, we were starting to get up and pay for the drinks we finished nearly an hour ago and leave. Two tables away, they had to shout out to get the servers attention to bring them silverware. The food was just ok. Nothing like it was before. The Tempura fried pork was over cooked Chinese buffet quality with a seemingly bottled sauce. I'm pretty sure the cook is unfamiliar with actual tempura. The crab stuffed mushrooms were a travesty. WAY over cooked, dried up and over saturated with cheap cheese. The mushrooms were either ruined during cooking or they were very old. No idea if there was crab in it. It was very disappointing. The Bruschetta was great. The ingredients were good. The two kinds we chose were very good. I'm guessing because there was no cooking involved. The place was busy, it was a Friday evening, and it was noisy in a great way. We had a kidless night and looked forward to a nice grownup evening out. By the time we endured our time here we went home. This place needs some grownups to keep things in order. The bar is really cool looking and they make nice drinks. The bartenders are slow and easily distracted. There is too mush chaos at the front end, and the back end is slow and the cooks are not making the food that is anticipated. We will try again, but probably not soon or with guests like we used to do. read more

Really enjoyed our experience last night at the restaurant. Party of 11 for a graduation. Live music was good volume so we could hear it, but still talk. Very good singer/guitar player. Food was excellent. Service was friendly and attentive even with our large party. Thanks for a great evening! read more

Love the grub and attentive service I received at Tapalaluna! Definitely looking forward to paying them a visit next time I'm in town!

We have enjoyed eating here over the 14 years we lived here. I even threw my husband's surprise 40th party here. Staff is top notch every time and the food is always fantastic! When I live out of town this is one place I will really miss. read more

A large menu! Fun atmosphere, often with live music! Great food! Definitely will be returning again soon!

Tight squeeze but super cute. Great menu. Sushi is limited but good. Small plates are always the way to go. But I hate when they have live music because the place is so small you can't hear people at your own table. read more

So happy they are open again! Met up for lunch here and they always have great food and great service! We ordered the cheese board and stuffed chicken skewers, as well as some cocktails. I had the house sangria and my friend had the margarita. This place does not disappoint! They are great for lunch or dinner! They do however close from 2pm-4pm before reopening again for dinner hours. Love this place! read more

Tapalaluna - Stuffed Chicken Skewers - Tapas Bars Near Me - DeKalb, Illinois

See all