Bilbao Tapas bar and restaurant

10/28/09

Wonderful dining experience

by Lindsey123 at Citysearch

wonderful restaurant with amazing flavor in a beautiful location. I have travelled all over spain and their receipes are bang on authentic. I will be back soon when i dont have to rush out to make a movie at the metro next door

• Pros: free easy parking, live music
• Cons: had to leave too quickly to make a movie

10/06/09

AMAAAAZING!!!!

by ACMilan21 at Citysearch

The atomosphere is great, the food is amazing and the Owner is so lovely. He pays special attention to all of his guests. He'll also sing and bring a birthday guest dessert. A must try for everyone who loves culture!

• Pros: Ambience
• Cons: ????

02/14/09

Terrible service, mediocre food

by seattlejuan at Citysearch

The service was horrible and the food was kind of sad if you are expecting more than what a mid-western housewife would serve as a 'hot-dish'. My wife and I ordered $50 worth of tapas and were impressed by none. The only one that was 'tasty' was the fried goat cheese, but come on, how can fried goat cheese not be tasty? The server raved about the oxtail and it was no different than a crockpot potroast. There were no unique spices or anything that suggested spanish cuisine. The service was the worst and actually somewhat offensive. We were seated and got no water or server for quite awhile. The server never asked my wife if she wanted a second drink. On the menu it described tapas as dishes that came out quickly. Well, it took 20 minutes for our first one to arive and another 5 minutes for numbers 2 and 3. The rest arrived a few minutes after that. I hope that this was an abnormality or that they were understaffed, but they did not make any excuse or explanation as to why the service was so bad. If the food was spectacular, I would totally excuse the bad service, but it was not. Complete. Waste. Of. Time.

08/05/08

What a scary place

by 7667 at Citysearch

Do yourself a favor. Avoid this place at all costs!

While the food is you typical tappas food (which has been the saltyiest I've tasted in Seattle) the wait staff doessn't really give you that feel you should be getting with these prices.

When the owner came over to our table my husband noticed he was very drunk. Later into the night we watched him get into unprofessional arguments with his staff in such a way it became hard to enjoy what little food by then had arrived to our wobbly little table. It is a pretty restaurant to be in and might be more enjoyable if the owner acted more professional. The food was not as impressive as some of the other tapas in this city for sure.

• Pros: It is close to the theater
• Cons: The air smelled funny

07/26/08

Authentic Spanish Cuisine

by itsthemirrors at Citysearch

I've not been to the Basque region of Spain but I have lived in Andalucia for three years and so I was excited to try out this Spanish restaurant last night. I was not let down. My girlfriend and I ordered a bottle of the house tempranillo, Torres, which was fantastic for $28. A slew of tapas ensued including the Chorizo al Jerez, Tortilla Espa?ola, Chuletas, Champi?ones, Patatas Bravas, and a couple of ensaladas. Everything tasted authentic and reminded me of being in Spain. The actual entrees on the menu were quite limited so I would recommend visiting and ordering several of the tapas as they were each very generous in size. I found them to be much (about twice) as large as tapas in Spain and would therefore be akin to ordering "raciones" on the Iberian peninsula. On a side note, the service was outstanding and there was a live band that rather enhanced the already impressive ambience (this was on a Friday evening). Two things I would love to see as improvements would be to offer Fino and Oloroso as sherry choices and perhaps to add an ensalada with tuna, corn, and sea salt, the ensalada staple of Andalucia (I know, I know, its supposed to be Basque but that would be an amazing addition for me).

Finally, I noticed that another reviewer named "diamondbride" blasted this restaurant with a one-star review tattered with poor grammar and misspellings. When pulling up diamondbride's review history, one notes that this individual has given Macaroni Grill a 5-star review. If that doesn't dismiss the credibility of this philistine's 1-star review for Bilbao, I don't know what does. People who adore the kitschiness of American chains are doing a disservice to cuisine in this country. As Americans, we should go out and support fantastic independent restaurants like Bilbao.

• Pros: authentic Spanish fare, great ambience and service, generous tapas
• Cons: parking is difficult as its adjacent to a movie theater (i used the $5 pay lot)