Based on waitress's suggestion that 2 taps per person, 4 of us ordered below 8 tapas plus Pitisu for dessert. Filete con Patatas $17.50. Grilled rib eye served with potatoes and onions, drizzel with red wine sauce. Salpicon de Mariscos $13.50. Southern Spain-style seafood ceviche. Aguacate Con Cangrejo $12.00. Fresh crab meat with avocado, cucumber and tomato. Jamon con Pan de Tomate $12.75 Serrano ham with Catalan style tomato bread, olive oil, manchego cheese. Gambas al Ajillo $14.25 Casserole of garlic shrimp, olive oil, and chiles. Empanadilla de Cordero $14.00 Puffed pastry filled with lamb, and chorizo, drizzled with honey mustard mayo. Farfalle con Pollo, Setas y Tomate $11.75 Bowtie pasta with chicken, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, tomato cream sauce. Pisto Manchego $11.25 Slow cooked seasonal vegetables with garlic, olive oil, served with or with out egg. We loved all tapas except Pisto Manchego because my wife did not like eggplants. Wish better quality of beef in Filete con Patatas, but the sauce was great. All others tasted awsome. read more

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Came here with 4 friends on a Sunday evening right when they opened at 5 PM. It was quiet for half an hour and then groups started trickling in. Attentive and friendly service. The men's bathroom is straight ahead, the women's bathroom is on the right. There's not clear signage so it caused some confusion for my friends. We ordered a variety of dishes but the stars of the show: - Cabrillas Barcelona - Pulpito a la Plancha - Mero con espinacas al Limon The patatas bravas has a small kick to it. This was my first time having this dish smothered in the aioli. I prefer the aioli on the side so I can dip my potatoes. read more

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Had a great birthday celebration. Food was good although pre-ordered paella came out first so they need to plan better. The food was great but due to it being so heavy, lets my stomach upset. Not sure that's the food's fault or just my tolerance. I liked the food but didn't love it. The server was great and exceptionally helpful with an outside dessert. read more

I remember dining here years ago, and if you fancy a colorful and lively atmosphere with Spanish plates for sharing, you'll get an authentic taste of Barcelona at Tapas Barcelona. We returned again recently and met up with friends, for a convivial evening of sangria and small plates. Of course we ordered Paella Valenciana, and also, well, what didn't we order? We enjoyed: Alcachofas a la Vinagreta, Aceitunas Alinadas, Datilles a la Sevillana, Queso de Cabra con Tomate and Patatas Bravas and many others. Followed up by Bizcocho Borracho. Fun to share, lively and fun, veg plates available, parking challenging, a nice place for friends. read more

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This tapas restaurant in Evanston is great! They have a variety of cold and hot dishes, all with good prices. For a party of 4 we shared 6 or 7 dishes as well as a pitcher of white sangria. The food came out really quickly and was brought out as it was ready. Each dish that we ordered was good but I think my personal favorites were the octopus and the grilled squid! The texture and flavoring of the octopus was so good and the sauce with the squid was delicious. I can't wait to come back and try some more dishes. read more

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This is a very cute place to have lunch. Nice sit down tables enough room for a good conversation with a little bit of privacy. The entrees were good, thoughtfully done portions were not gigantic but they were enough. Service was attentive without being overwhelming. It was overall a very good experience and a place that we would like to visit again. read more

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Yummy food and great service. We will surely come back if in Evanston. We ordered Paella Valenciana as well as the seafood only paella, Bacon Wrapped dates, Gambas, Octopus Plancha, Calamari, Patatas Bravas, Rigatoni Pasta for the younger ones, the Feta cheese dip and pitchers of Sangria, and several desserts. Ice cream, Banana, Tiramisu. Everything was yummy, orders arrived at a reasonable time. read more

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We have been here a couple of times. Food is good with tapas sized portions. If you arrive for happy hour, all food is 10% off, which is great! Definitely standouts are salmon with asparagus, salad, and chicken with pasta. Some of the others are hit or miss. Black bean soup was barely ok and quite salty. Service can be hit or miss, but really cute interior with good seating. read more

We are there the other night and it was fantastic. Our waiter was amazing and he made the experience even better. Great food, atmosphere and really well priced. It's got a really cool vibe. read more

Came here for an impromptu date night with my husband. I've been here many times over the years. I'll be honest that it's decent tapas but it's not the best tapas. They have the advantage that they are the only tapas restaurant in the area so when in the mood and we don't want to go downtown, we come here! The complimentary bread is very tasty and I ate it with the queso de cabra because the dish only came with 4 skinny pieces of bread! The datiles are delicious and definitely worth a try. The bravas aren't spicy, nor are the potatoes crispy which is typical for other tapas restaurants, but good flavor nonetheless. read more

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Food was delicious! Valencia paella was outstanding. Crab, avocado, cucumber cold plate was delightfully refreshing. Chicken Empanada, steak skewers, snails, pizza, roasted seasoned potatoes, were all wonderful! Creme brulee for dessert - yum! Red sangria and chardonnay for beverages. We had an amazing late lunch, highly recommend. Or server was informative, excellent service! We ate outside, delightful breeze. read more

Tapas Barcelona - Tapas Barcelona - Spanish Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

I don't give a lot of 5 stars, but this place deserves it. We dropped in around 6:30 and luckily they found a table for three of us. We had the pitcher of sangria, which they did right. No ice in the pitcher just in the glasses. pieces of apple, citrus in the glasses. We ordered an emapanadilla. A large empanada filled with lamb and chorizo. comes with spinach leaves and tomato. Wow a great decision on our part. Really good with a honey mustard mayo. We had the Valencia paella. It was perfect for the three of us. We had a small amount of leftover. Fresh mussels chicken chorizo and chewy rice. So yummy. There's so many dishes to choose from. We'll be back often. read more

Tapas Barcelona - Valenciana Paella - Spanish Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

My darling daughter and I came for dinner ! We had been wanting to come here for a few weeks already . Guess what ? Best decision ever! The food was so delicious and uniquely spiced. Every dish and something special to it . We ordered the Patatas Bravas, Fettuccine, Scalloped Pork and Eggplant with goat cheese!! Wow wow wow! Highly recommend and service was great ! Make sure you reserve your table in advance because they get really full. Great customer service and quality! read more

Tapas Barcelona - Spanish Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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They have very few gluten free options. No bread or corn tortillas or anything. Their sangria is tasty and made in-house. The stuffed mushrooms were delicious. The skewers were just okay. Not super flavorful and the sides of onions and whatever else was on the plate was mushy and not my favorite. Their ceviche was terrific and recommended. Most of the dishes that sounded delicious are not available gf. read more

Came here for a family dinner. Its one of the few places that can accommodate a big group. I was actually so surprises that not more restaurants could do this. Anyway, the food was really good. Their Paella was very tasty, seafood is really fresh. I dis like my Ceviche but it wasnt what i expected. I thought it would always come with chips to dip it in but its a very dofferent kind of ceviche, nevertheless i did like it! We alao had their Ribeye. The portion is a bit smaller than what you expect a ribeye would be but taste wise it was delicious. Its served on top of potatos with some ribeye sauce. The grilled octopus was my favorite. Must order! These are small portions, i guess its what Tapas are. Small appertizer options. But still worth a try. Happy Eating! read more

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Food was at best mediocre and the service was dreadful that they don't tell you that if you order 20 minutes before closing the kichen wants 30 minutes to cook or you're out of luck. Little Madrid on Clark may be a little further up on Chicago Av. is better and doesn't treat customers like garbage with shifting hours and unpublished "rules" we were told by the manager after wasting 10 minutes talking to the useless staff. Never going back and par for what you can expect from another overpriced substandard Evanston restaurant going out like Reza's. read more

Good service, lots of food options, decent food. Particularly liked the grilled octopus.

I've always loved the food here but I met my parents from out of town last night and all three of us got violent food poisoning. It was the only thing we ate together so I know it was from here. Very disappointed, but at least it tasted good. read more

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We didn't particularly love Tapas Barcelona... We did not have a reservation. It was a Tuesday night and we just checked into our hotel down the street. We were exhausted from our travels and after some research (and convenience) decided upon Tapas Barcelona. We walked in and the girl up front wanted to seat us but the gentleman (if you could call him that) was upset that she wanted to seat us without a reservation. Looking around, there were a few empty tables...but we get it. After they hemmed and hawed for a few minutes (in front of us) he threw his hands up and walked away. The friendly girl then sat us at in the bar area at a high-top and after that, things went OK. Our server was good - no recommendations - just there to take our order. We ordered some sangrias - they were ok. We ordered a few things to get us started... First, the ceviche (if you want to call it that) was unlike any ceviche we had ever had. It did not have great presentation and though there was a steady amount of food on the plate, not one bite stood out. We actually combined the ceviche with a salad we had ordered (if that doesn't tell you what you need to know...) There was a highlight - the grilled mussels were very tasty. read more

Visited on 4/13. We ordered about 6 items and not one was good. The salad was turning brown and the paella was so wet and flavorless, you could make far better rice from a packet. Very, very subpar food. Try La Tasca Tapas in Arlington Heights. The service was not great either. Wouldn't return and unsure how this place stays open. read more

The ambiance and the service was outstanding. Food came out staggered and quickly, waiter was quirky and attentive. However the food was incredibly subpar in flavor. Fun ideas, but one note amateur tastes. I felt like 80% of the dishes we had I could have made myself at home and that's not a good thing...but all that matters is my brother had a wonderful time for his birthday. Highlights: the goat cheese stuffed eggplant rolls: superb! Tasted how I expected the entire menu to be. Fried calamari was delicious and the spicy marinara was great. Bacon wrapped dates were good, brother never had them and was blown away lol Terrible: the ceviche. It was NOT. Ceviche. It was frutii de mare with raw bell peppers. No thank you, we barely touched it. read more

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Came here with my daughter and her roommates and had a fabulous time. Maybe it was the company, but the food ambience and service were all great as well! We shared 9 tapas and 2 desserts. Standouts for me were the squid, garlic shrimp, and octopus. The banana dessert and flan were really delicious too. read more

* Really good food. Best dishes are the salmon con esparragos, pasta catalana, patatas bravas, gambas, and the chicken skewers. * Sangria was great. * Good service. * Spanish ambiance. read more

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Great family dinner with three generations. The kids could enjoy their pizza and fried shrimp while the adults loved the beef, chicken, salmon, dates and goat cheese. Every recommendation from the staff was wonderful. (I chose the sangria which I won't repeat). So friendly so fast so good. A perfect dinner out. read more

ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!! This used to be my favorite restaurant when I was in college 14 years ago and I still remember it being such a treat to eat here on a Friday evening. After nearly 15 years my husband and I were finally able to come back to Evanston and the food here was just as delicious as I remember! The baked goat cheese is one of my favorite dishes of all time and the sangria is fantastic! I wish we lived closer because this would definitely be my "go to spot". read more

Tapas Barcelona - Red Sangria - Spanish Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

The food was delicious. Went with 4 friends for a birthday dinner. All of us are ex-restaurant and bar industry. So I would say we have an elevated pallet. We had the following items. Patatas Alioli (GF), Tortilla Espanola (GF), Berenjenas Rellenas con Queso (GF), Pulpito a la Plancha (GF), Pincho de Solomillo (GF), Pincho de Pollo (GF), Salmon con Esparragos (GF), Gambas al Ajillo (GF), Mejillones a la Plancha (GF), Chipirones a la Plancha (GF), De Remolachas (GF), Datilles a la Sevillana (only non-gluten free item so I stayed clear. The only dishes would not get again would be pincho de pollo as the chicken was dry and the flavor was over powering and the spices and the cause didn't mesh. The tortilla espanola was ok. There wasn't anything wrong with it but compared to other dishes it fell flat. The Berenjenas Rellenas con Queso was amazing. The flavor of the sauce with the eggplant and goat cheese was a perfect combination. Pulpito a la Plancha the better of the two octopus options. Very good. The tenderloin and the papayas Alioli along with the mussels were my other 3 favorites. It was very busy but cleared out fairly early. Our waiter was very nice and understood my celiac needs. But I would say the service after initial ordering wasn't the best. Trying to order more tapas or drinks and acquiring additional plates and silverware as well getting ice we always had to flag someone down. We were busy enjoying the evening so it wasn't ruining our evening or anything and we aren't shy flagging down a waiter. It just would have been nice for them to check on us once in a while. Will definitely go back. But deducted 1 star for the service and a few tapas that fell short. read more

Well the last I went tapas Barcelona was in the winter of the covid era 2020. I learned about this restaurant from fellow childhood neighbor I've decided to give it a try since most spanish cuisine restaurants and they're very expensive this one was reasonably priced.. this time they serve guspacho soup and It was delicious just like how I remembered it back in 1999 . The cured salmon tapas was just the way I also remembered it too for cold tapas. I usually order the bacon wrapped with dates but I went to try a pasta base hot tapas which was okay. The main course was of course paella valenciana eating shrimp what you should but just didn't have a great evening for shrimp. It was delicious. I finished dessert with bananas. Service was at ease or was someone slow. Ambiance was pretty busy and vibrate versus when I went here starting the winter time of 2020. Also since this is Evanston parking is a little challenging despite that I came in a motorcycle after work because I had a real big craving for true Spanish cuisine and most of the Spanish restaurants like Emilio's, Cafe baba ba bee ree and meson Sabika breaks the bank read more

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I had been eyeing this place for a while. Last week we tried to go and unfortunately they were booked, so I do recommend making a reservation. We were able to get in last night and luckily it completely was worth the wait. We were seated right away even though we were there 5 minutes early. The ambience is very warm and welcoming. A waitress came over right away. I got the sangria and it was delightful. We ended up ordering 5 tapas. The goat cheese, the meatballs, the chicken whiskey, bacon wrapped dates, and a beef skewer. It was all incredible. The meatballs, goat cheese, and chicken were a stand out for me. We ended with the tiramisu and I got an Irish coffee, which was incredible. The whole bill was about 105 before tip, which is pretty reasonable. We can't wait to go back and try other options! read more

We are actually surprised by the lower reviews. The restaurant itself is dark so we sat outside on the patio. We enjoyed most of what we ordered; a couple plates needed a light sprinkle of salt, which was already on the table. So yeah, the food was pretty good. We went for lunch, both servers were great. read more

Tapas was delicious! The small plates give you an opportunity to get many different dishes and try so many more flavors. The bacon dates were my personal favorite and the grilled octopus was so flavorful. The paella was the perfect amount of salty and had a lot of great aspects to the dish. Would highly recommend! read more

Tapas Barcelona - Spanish Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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We're back!!! This time we had a reservation for. Sunday night for a group of 8 - two vegetarians and 1 gluten-free diner. My favorites were the goat cheese and the bacon-wrapped figs. Again, we were not rushed. We had a few hiccups - one cocktail had to be remixed and a featured cocktail was no longer available, and one of our chairs literally fell apart as one person got up to use the restroom. (That's why I took off a star from my last review.) read more

Amazing!!! Loved the food, environment, and staff, especially the owner Maria L. Magnífico!!!

Great food huge variety to choose from and shoutout to Josh for the great service and recommendations he made our night! read more

Tapas Barcelona - Fried goat cheese with tomato soup - Spanish Near Me - Evanston, Illinois

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Longing to recapture some memories of our trip to Spain, my husband chose Tapas Barcelona for his birthday dinner. Recommend reservations, especially if a table of four or more, as even on a Tuesday evening, the restaurant filled quickly after 6. We decided on a variety of tapas that were familiar to us from our travels. Gambas al Ajillo was our favorite. The shrimp were perfectly cooked, and the oil and garlic were perfect for dipping. Next time we'll be sure to mix it up a bit (the garlic and salt were not evenly distributed in the dish), and we'll crush the red peppers to get the spicy paste from them to enhance the flavor. Pulpito a la Plancha - the octopus was grilled perfectly, which is not easy to do because it varies so much in size and girth. The escarole and sauce beneath it were a perfect combo for it, and the latter provided more excuses to dip the bread. Tortilla Espanola - this was a perfect balance of potato, egg, and garlic, served with dressed salad greens. I would choose this over a quiche nearly always as a perfect lunch or brunch dish. When prepared well, you can see the layers of potato, but they do not separate as you cut into it. This was exquisitely prepared and took me back to the many bars where we would stop for Sangria or cerveza and get a small slice for free with each drink. The Croquette of the day was nicely fried and reminiscent of Spain. They were homey and warming, altho it was hard to distinguish the flavors from the potato. Maybe slightly bigger chunks within would have helped. The Jamon con Pan de Tomate missed the mark. Because of food refrigeration requirements here in the US, it can never truly be the same as Spain where the Manchego is left on the counter and the ham hangs from the ceiling to be sliced to order, but this was served on a cold plate, too, so it was hard to get the meat and cheese to room temp before consuming. There's nothing like the thin ham slices quite literally melting on your tongue with a bit of funky saltiness. Our memories of Catalan bread was thin slices of toasted baguette rubbed with both a broken garlic clove and the open side of a ripe tomato. The crustini was perfect, but the tomato topping was about a quarter inch of very small diced tomatoes. It was tasty but needed salt and pepper, and it just was not what we hoped for overall with this common tapas dish in Spain. We also ordered the Asparagus Cabrales, a special that day, which was grilled with bacon crumbles and bleu cheese. The asparagus and seared tomato were lovely, if not a bit over cooked, the bacon and bleu cheese plentiful, but the bleu cheese was so overpowering, even when we scraped it off. A good example of less being more. We shared a pitcher of sangria, which was pleasant. The fruit appeared fresh to order rather than soaked in the wine, and we prefer a lot less ice so that we can enjoy a bit of the fruit in the final sips from the glass. The service is very attentive, and Manuel was great. He solo serenaded the happy birthday song to my hubby as he presented him with a perfectly cooked flan. Our bill was under $120 for 6 tapas and a pitcher, and we were perfectly sated. We will return again for our faves (the top three above were in a virtual tie), to try others, and to have paella. It was a great experience that we highly recommend! read more

Great menu, people, location. Perfectly sized portions, great prices. Especially like dinner at the bar! read more

Met up with girlfriends to celebrate December birthdays. It's been a while since we all had tapas and one of our friends suggested Tapas Barcelona. Evanston is a bit of a hike for me from the NW side of Chicago but I was game. Quick note about parking, there is a public lot a block from the restaurant where you can park for a few hours for $6. Good deal. We had both white and red sangria. Both were OK. Some of the stand out dishes for us were the grilled octopus - very tender and I loved the lemony/tangy flavors; the spinach salad - crisp and fresh with the pears, pecans and goat cheese; and the platanos dessert - delicious and tasted just as good as the platanos at Iberico. There were a couple other dishes that were OK. The shrimp was pretty small, the lamb chops were slightly gamey and the pincho de pollo was a little bit dry. 1 extra star because the staff was very attentive. read more

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The food was amazing and the prices were reasonable. The service was also very good. The lamb was expensive but very good. Overall great experience. read more

Tapas Barcelona isn't good nor terrible. Is the service good? Yeah it's fine. Food? Depends on what you get but it doesn't blow your socks off. I found the Patatas Bravas to be TERRIBLE -- inauthentic sauce and super small, soggy potatoes. This dish is one that should be crispy and not wet breakfast potatoes. For this dish alone I have to reduce their rating. I also thought the bread was sort of stale last time I went. The sangria is good though and I enjoyed a chicken thigh dish. In all honesty, without the bravas disaster this place is probably a 4, maybe leaning closer to a 3.5. read more

Good tapas in a lively cute atmosphere located in the heart of downtown Evanston. This place has been here for over 28 years and was absolutely packed on a snowy freezing night when most of the other restaurants in the neighborhood looked empty so they must be doing something right, Good sangria. Tapas were solidly good. Not outstanding but good. I enjoyed the spicy kick from the patatas bravas and the tortilla española and the pulpo a la plancha. The bacon wrapped figs were excellent too. Artichokes we're ok and the queso de cabrá was a little bland and muscles fine but nothing special so I might skip those. Service was good. This place had a nice positive energy and was fairly priced. Good choice if craving tapas and don't want to drive all the way to the city for them. read more

This is my favorite Tapas restaurant. I've been going there for 4 years. Last night, although the food was great, our server was not knowledgeable regarding the menu and inattentive. I had to ask her twice for a refill on my water... the bus staff was understaffed. A very disappointing experience for me and my friend who had never eaten there before! I will try to speak with someone in management to air my concerns. At this point if someone asks me about the restaurant, I will tell them the food is great but service is disappointing. read more