Bullfight

Wow. This place is beautiful. Beautiful and tiny. I love what they’ve done with the interior for sure. Lots of tile all throughout, lots of color and light. I had friends visiting and a group of us decided to give it a go. Reservations were made, so we didn’t have to wait. The cocktails were fantastic. They also have Spanish beer on draft. We feasted on their charcuterie, cheese board, olives, bacon wrapped dates and roasted potatoes. The highlight for me was the olives. I HATE olives. Like, with a passion. I actually had an olive I liked, NO, LOVED! Whoa! Their jamon was just delectable. This meal and experience was enjoyed by all of us. I’d love to go back and venture a bit further through their plates.

LOVE this place! While a little on the fancier side, tapas are pretty authentic to what I have experienced in Spain. The open air restaurant/​patio had a very clean, modern feel and the service was consistent and friendly. Sangria is also very authentic to a European style (as in without all the fizzy soda and syrupy junk added) — simple and refreshing. Potatos Bravas weren’t horrible as I saw in other reviews but I do agree that I wish they were a little crispier. Favorite dishes of the meal were the bacon wrapped dates, the croquettes and the crema catalan! The steak was pretty good, but would like to come back to try the paella next time.

Love love love this place! Came for my bday and we ordered from the large menu. every dish we ordered was simply amazing! Definitely going to come back!

This is a DINNER review.
My sweet roommate took me here for a fun birthday dinner and we had a great time. The space was beautiful and open with a cool evening breeze and the crowd was lively and probably a bit drunk.
We ordered plenty of food but the favorites were the roasted mushrooms with the cured egg and the cold smoked scallops with clams. Pass on the razor clams — overpriced and bland. The verdict is still out on the bacon wrapped dates. Too sweet? Just right? I can’t decide.
Definitely save room for dessert, the «Turron de Chocolate» is the best candy bar you’ll have the pleasure of consuming.

Perfect space for friends to meet up and share a meal. We ordered everything on the menu (and I mean everything) and shared. The desserts were excellent and wine pairings were incredible. Enjoy :)
Make a reservation!!!

Exquisite food! I don’t use that word often, but everything I had here was great and the waiter gave excellent recommendations. We started out with the fritters, and then ordered the Pork Ribs with the Seafood Paella (first time having Paella).
It was all really great, but the real kicker here was the dessert. We weren’t too sure if we could handle a full dessert, so the waiter recommended the dessert wine flight and we both loved that. I’m no wine aficionado (quite the opposite, actually), but this was some of the best and most complimentary wine I’ve ever had. Try it out.

Food = 4
Ambiance = 5
(round up, math rules apply)
I came here with a group of 7 on a company tab, so we were ready to experience everything Bullfight had to offer. Mission accomplished; we ordered all the snacks, most of the entrees, multiple cocktails and bottles, and all the desserts. Here’s a quick synopsis:
Go for:
— the décor
— the service
— Turron de Chocolate (literally dreaming about it)
— cava (fun to have, and pretty good for the price point)
— cheese platter (the Aged Mahón was my favorite, the manchega was my least)
— roasted mushrooms
— veal sweetbreads
— braised beef (melty perfection)
— marinated octopus
— bacon wrapped dates (but it’s a cop-​out for good food… because bacon)
Avoid:
— fried nuts (they’re dumb)
— the expensive Spanish whiskey (pretty sure it was subbed for well)
— fritters (too bready)
Meh:
— everything else on the snacks menu (if I can’t remember, is it worth getting again?)
— paella
— clams
The thing is, some of the dishes should be home runs given the label they give themselves (paella…) and they just aren’t. But that doesn’t make it a bad restaurant, it just means you have to order differently than you might be expecting.
I’ll definitely be back, primarily because the ambiance was a huge 5.

Yesterday, I was with some friends there and honestly I was so sad and embarrassed to see that food like Spanish food.
I am Spanish and very well cook. I ordered some of my favorite plates, but it was terrible.
Good points: good service, the restaurant is nice and cool, Spanish music but I do not use rap like La Mala Rodríguez and the wine menu is good enough.
Bad points: the food (I think that it is the most important) and price (I do not want to pay this price for that food).
About the food, I talk about the food that I tried to eat.
1.- The morcilla is not morcilla, it was like s kind of sausage and a little raw.
2.- The tortilla had pieces of onion not well cooked and the egg was liquid… the egg has to be creamy but not liquid because it is disgusting.
3.- The croquettes… OMG, it is my favorite food and I was close to cry. If somebody in Spain see them, nobody say they are croquettes.
At this point: I offer the restaurant a recipe for croquettes. Please do not go on doing them so.
4.- The octopus was bad grilled. If the octopus is not grilled correctly, the taste is not good.
5.- The alioli needs more garlic, because you are doing mayo with flavor.
On second hand, 3 things were very good. Curiously, the 3 things were not cooked: the cheeses, the Jamón and the wine (a Ribeiro of Valdeorras).
Seriously, I am so sad because my expectations were so high about this restaurant. I do not if the cook is Spanish o not, but the owners must try the cook to read some real recipes for Spanish food and not to try to interpret them in wrong way.
I send a challenge to this restaurant: try to improve one of this 5 things in one month, and I will return.

This was the wife and my second visit to Bullfight so I thought it worthy of a review.
We like this place. When the weather is pleasant and early dinner as the sun sets can’t be beat. The design of the place helps you forget your sitting on stinky old Airport Blvd.
The food is good. We tried the gazpacho, cheese plate, mushrooms, fresh chickpea toast, toresnos (pork belly), papas bravas, and morcilla sausage.
The only issues we had were the toresnos were tough and the sauce tasted like buffalo sauce. This was surprising because on our first visit they were tender and crispy fried. And I don’t remember the sauce tasting like buffalo sauce.
We also thought the morcilla dish was flat. And the papas bravas were a real bummer. Not well seasoned, potatoes were not crispy. I was hoping for a more traditional version.
That’s us being super critical. Like I said above– We like this place and will continue to return!

I was VERY impressed by the overall vibe, beverage, and food style of Bullfight. The atmosphere is exceptional. Low lighting, low key music, amazing service and a very open concept. While the prices are a little more than I would prefer, the food quality for a tapas style menu was extraordinary. I came here to catch up with a few friends to chat and we had a great time.
Wine selection is great! Try ordering a few glasses with a few dishes here and there. As much of the menu is tapas style, I would suggest not coming here to leave incredibly full unless you are prepared to throw down some money.
I would suggest this place for dates, special occasions or business dinners as it seems like a little more upscale. The night we were there, parking was a mess, although free valet parking was offered. My car was a mess, so I opted to park my car in the neighborhood down the street. Be careful for the No Parking signs.

My former neighbor was telling me about this place and we happened to be in the neighborhood at 6pm on a Saturday and were able to walk in and get a table with no issues. Parking was also not an issue, we didn’t valet and parked a block away. I will say that we did request to be moved to a different table close by but it was just a better area, the hostess denied it and said there was a reservation. The entire time that we were there, nobody sat at said table that was reserved, we would have ordered more had we not been treated as my husband said like «second class citizens» because we had no reservation. (he was very upset about this and we almost left but I convinced him to stay).
I didn’t care for the ambiance of this place for the outside seating area, there is a open area where the servers to go replenish drinks and dishes that is towards the back where we were seated. For the prices that they charge on this menu, I would have expected something a little nicer than a metal stand that they mill about. The inside looked pretty nice though. Our waiter was extremely nice and attentive, he did decide it was a good life decision to douse himself in patchouli though… which was a little hard to stomach but we soldiered on.
The food — was pretty good and a good take on Spanish dishes, while at the same time having not much that you would really see in Spain (well at least Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia) aside from a handful of dishes on the menu. I liked it that they put their own spin on things. I visited Spain years ago, and the food and wine were some of my most memorable takeaways of the trip, so I am glad they did not try to try to pitch themselves as an authentic Spanish spot because it would have failed miserably with their current menu.
We tried the fried squid and the stuffed dates — both were good, nothing outstanding but nice sizes for the snack portion. Then we tried the duck meatballs, we enjoyed the spicy sauce and citrus flavors… they were moist and tender and not too dry. We also got their tortilla with shaved asparagus and peas and tomatoes… It was very filling. The paella did look good and I wanted to try it but we weren’t that hungry anymore so we called it a night. The cocktails were also pretty good and very strong. All in all, I think it was just $ 60 with tip.
All in all — seems like they could handle their walk-​ins a little better. I went to the salty sow for happy hour once and we sat at a reserved table but they let us sit there and tried to move it along so we didn’t have to move to a different table while still having an enjoyable experience. I think a well managed place does that and shouldn’t treat their walk-​in clients any differently if there is the ability to accommodate them. Not sure if we would return anytime soon, happy hour seems like it might be a good enough deal.

The only reason I’m giving the restaurant a star, is because the service was on point. Other than that, I wouldn’t waste your time.
Started out with the snacks, which were half off during happy hour and the bacon wrapped figs were the star of it (how can you really mess that up?) And the croquettes were so so.
We decided to go with the paella and order a bunch of tapas to go with it. Here’s where it went south:
Ordered the tortilla, which had absolutely no flavor and tasted like pre cooked egg Mc Muffins. Ive had better eggs in my breakfast tacos from food trailers.
Next were the duck meatballs which I had high expectations for. They were dry and chewy with little to no flavor other than the sauce that it was swimming in or maybe the cheese that was shredded on top.
Scallops came next, and just terrible. Overcooked and burnt which they tried to cover up. Tasted like they had been sitting out a while.
Now the paella came out and where I knew this was going to be a make or break dish. I have NO idea who cooked it, but it was TERRIBLE. No crust on the bottom of the pan, super greasy, terrible flavor profiles and the seafood was not cleaned! It left a terrible aftertaste in my and my dates mouth that just stuck. I’ve eaten paella in many of restaurants and this was hands down the worst.
I told the manager how great the service was but how terrible the food was and told me to fill out a «how did we do card?».
I didn’t expect him to offer anything for free, nor a discount because I didn’t ask nor did I want one. I have no problem spending over 100 dollars to eat, but man… this was the WORST 100 I’ve spent at any restaurant in Austin.
Bullfight, I had high expectations for you and you completely turned out to be bulls—

Wowzer, a LOT of new places have opened in Austin in 2015 and this just might be my favourite.
I’m a sucker for slick design — and this place is perfection: the indoor /​outdoor space, polished brick floor, moorish wall tiles and filigree bar back all make me extremely happy. Everything through to the fonts on the menus and the coaster design is thoughtful, coherent and beautiful.
We drank reds by the glass /​they were all good but La Cartuja stood out (and it’s the cheapest, hurrah!)
The food was glorious /​started with tapas basics: shishito peppers, serrano and calamari — all of which were gloriously savoury and tangy
And then moved on to clams with chorizo (the sauce is a dream), a cheese board (gigantic quantities of cheese, the fig paste is wonderful), the most tender octopus I’ve ever eaten and a spectacular mushroom and egg yolk dish.
Sadly no space for dessert but they looked excellent passing our table. No matter though — I feel like this is somewhere we’ll be back to plenty.

I experienced Bullfight today for about six hours. I started with their Happy Hour and began my journey.
This is a tapas place which is code for «eat all of the food.» How much of the food? ALL OF IT.
The menu of ‘snacks’ to main dishes are all small. The largest item on the menu is their paella and it could serve two hungry people or a table of four people who would also be eating other dishes as you ought.
I started at their community table and explored through most of their snacks menu. During happy hour everything is 50% off, so it’s go big or go home time really. Everything was amazing. Most of the items were served in brightly patterned paper cones served in a wooden cone holder.
Later in the evening I sat down at a regular table and moved onto the shishito peppers with sea salt and the crispy squid with an aioli. The peppers were light and salty and I could have eaten them forever but for some reason they kept disappearing. The squids were small and fried so they weren’t super flavor filled however the aoli knocked it out of the park.
We had to try some of their cured meat so we tested the Jamón Serrano which was aged for about 20 months. It was carved on the seating area side wall off of essentially a display leg. Incredibly cool.
We then started moving onto some of the larger tapas plates we grabbed the braised beef, rioja and almond gremolata as well as the lamb burger, yoghurt and cilantro. The beef I was able to cut with a butter knife and it shredded as I did. Incredibly flavorful and the sauces and sides elements were wonderful. The lamb was cooked perfectly, it was a tiny little thing but was great.
Finishing the evening we shared the earlier mentioned paella and it was worth the time.
The mixture of clams, chorizo and head-​on shrimp was on point. The rice needed to be scraped off the bottom of the pan which was encouraged to dig up all of the good flavors. Scraping we did and flavors there were a plenty.
Overall the whole experience was great. The drinks were delicious, the employees couldn’t have been nicer. The woman who brought our food to the table was visibly excited for the tasting experience we were about to have and it was cute. Bullfight is a new favorite of mine and I will certainly be going back.

Definitely a trendy little spot on airport road. The interior certainly doesn’t disappoint; wide open atmosphere with plenty of heaters for the chilly nights to come. And the music? Like whoa. Welcome to the neighborhood, Bullfight!
Happy hour yields half price cocktails and snack menu items which were really nice starters to our evening. We tried the bacon wrapped dates, torreznos and the jamon croquettes, which were my husbands favorite. Nice display in snack-​esque fashion leaving room on the table for our cocktails.
I was most impressed with the chefs choice cheese board which included a variety of dairy goodness. The waiter brought out a list that told us more about the region and age of the cheese which made for great conversation. Don’t miss out on this, y’all.

The Parkside boys do it again with another amazing restaurant concept! Bullfight easily slips into my top 3 new restaurants in Austin and they have a great happy hour to top it off.
Recommendation: Even if you are cautious or don’t like small plates give the happy hour a try it’s Monday through Friday and ½ off for beer, cocktails, and snacks until 6:30.
Top 3 dishes:
1. Sweetbreads
2. Octopus
3. Crema Catalana — Spanish version of Crème Brulee

Bullfight is a great addition to the burgeoning Airport Boulevard restaurant scene. On-​site parking is limited to valet but there is plenty of nearby neighborhood street parking. Just be careful about blocking driveways!
Reservations are not necessary but will help you avoid the larger communal tables. Even when seated at individual tables it can still get fairly loud, so be ready to talk up.
The waitstaff was friendly and knowledgeable about the offerings. Unfortunately service seemed somewhat slow and there were often long waits between dishes despite being ordered at the same time. We also ended up with a duplicate dish, so someone else was probably missing it.
The Sangria is very good. It’s $ 7/​glass or $ 36/​pitcher. We were told the pitcher had about 5 servings, so maybe it’s actually cheaper by the glass?
We started with the Crispy Squid and Bacon-​Wrapped Dates, the latter of which are amongst the best I’ve ever had. Our non-​snack selection included: Fried Potatoes, Roasted Mushrooms, Urchin Roe, Diver Scallops, and Duck Meatballs. The scallops and romesco were phenomenal. For dessert we had the wonderful Crema Catalana (Crème Brûlée), which was the perfect finale for a wonderful meal.

I am so sad to do this, but…
We ordered 6 dishes. One was good. Three were inedible. Two were ok.
I had high hopes for Bullfight because of the owners and its placement in the city (not downtown), but maybe it’s still finding its footing.
We went on Monday evening, 4 days after opening. Valet parked (on airport!!!) for free, even thoguh they have two parking lots (???)
Our waiter was excelllent. Service was excellent. The food was not good.
We ordered two snacks. Bacalao fritters (fried salted cod) and spicy pork skin. They were both ok. Very very small portions, appropriate for snacks.
Then we ordered the corn gazpacho. Its presnetation was great. The waiter poured the broth over items already in the bowl. Then we tried it. IT was full of inflated cornnuts that were so stale we spit them out in our napkins. The broth was so overly sweet, it tasted like they added sugar to something that is already very sweet naturally. The cold nature of the gazpacho made it all worse and we didn;t touch it after the first bite.
Then came the potatas bravas. Underwhelming, undercooked steak fries with overly acidic cooked tomatoes. They could have used the sugar in the the tomatoes. The fries weren’t and the tomatoes subtracted from an already flawed dish.
The kitchen, in concession for two untouched dishes, sent out a lamb slider, but didn’t communicate that it was complimentary, so we sent it away thinking it was an error (another unknown waitress brought it). When it was returned and explained we tentatively tasted it. It was ok. The flavors were very muted.
Then we received our roasted mushrooms, garlic, jamon cured egg. I thought it was excellent. Great flavor. The egg was cooked perfectly. The yoke, once broken, oozed around the mushrooms beautifully. My date didn’t like it as much as I did, but then there was more for me.
A few words about my date… a friend, in town from Seattle, who I was really looking for ward to showing Austin’s great culinary prowess. I guess I’ll take them somewhere dependable next time.
Lastly, we got our braised beef. It was glorified roast beef but really small surrounded by gross and inedbile items. The green grassy substance on top had to be scraped off. Ugh. The garbanzo beans below were undercooked and flavorless.
Maybe the kitchen was having an off night.

My Bullfight experience was a bit of a mixed bag. This could have been a 3 star review, but the staff helped up it to 4. They have somethings that work really well: the intimate décor, the entire staff is friendly and seem to genuinely care about you enjoying your time with them, and some of the food items are stellar. A few things that do not work as well are the really long wait for the first dish and every dish after (I chalk this up to them being only 2 weeks old, I’m not going to hold too much against them for that at this point, they’re still learning how to walk), some of the dishes lacked depth and/​or authenticity while others tasted great, but were tiny in portion and felt like a tease. Additionally, the wine/​cocktails tried were a bit mixed too. Here’s a run down of what we had:
Fried Eggplant
–Nice light and crispy snack, kinda like eggplant chips. The sprinkle of cinnamon adds a nice dimension to them.
Bacon Wrapped Dates with Valdeón Cheese
–Bacon wrapped dates are quite common on Chicago menus (where I grew up) so I know them well. Their’s here are solid, not amazing, not bad at all. Often the challenge with them is they can be way too sweet due to the dates. The trick is to balance out the flavors and that was not a problem here thankfully.
Patatas Bravas
–This may have been the dish I was most disappointed in. The potatoes were slightly under cooked and did not have any crisp to them, and the bravas sauce, where was it? Wait, there was bravas sauce on it you say? I could barely tell. It seemed to mainly be on the first piece and the flavor was more mild than I’m used to. (pretentious warning: I’ve had Patatas Bravas in Spain and loved them, not the case here). Ultimately these were not bad, just ok.
Grilled Rabbit Skewers
–Small portion, 3 tiny skewers, but they had great flavor. The rabbit meat was tender, juicy, not gamey at all and it’s accompanied on the skewer with 2 pieces of sausage. The topping of lemon and fresno pepper had loads of flavor too. I would definitely order these again.
Veal Sweetbreads
–Maybe my favorite of the night. It’s a delicious mix of flavors and textures and brilliantly executed. *I have heard that the quality and texture of this dish can be inconsistent.
Raw Bass
–I almost laughed at what little a portion they serve. I mean, I’m not exaggerating at all when I say the bites were tiny. I would approximate that one bite would take up only ¹⁄₃₀^th of the average human’s mouth. Flavor was excellent, thus making it a total tease of a dish.
Duck Meatballs
–I love duck and they swear the only meat in these balls is duck and I believe them. I just didn’t taste any duck in them whatsoever. They were good though and tasted better the more you ate them. I’m not the only one who felt this way either. The table next to us said the same thing and were the ones who asked our server what other meat was in them. You can taste the orange, but the chile is pretty absent too.
Crema Cantlana (Dessert)
–It was like an apricot crème brûlée. Not bad, not great, I wouldn’t order it again. There were honeycomb peaces in this dish that tasted great, but man oh man if you ever want to know what it feels like to have your jaw sealed shut, take a bite of one of those. Totally worth it, but definitely an interesting experience. Like a Butterfinger on steroids. Our table neighbors let us try their Turron de Chocolate dessert and it was much better.
***Our neighbors also let us try the Diver scallops with hazelnut romesco, grilled scallion, and salsa verde. They were excellent, and a must order on a future visit.
Wine/​Cocktails
–We started out with the Criolla cocktail which they described as a sazerac with tequila. I love a good sazerac and their description was pretty close. The drink was good, but a bit too sweet for pre-​dinner. I felt it was better suited for post-​meal. The wines we tried were the Tempranillo 2009 Viña Bujanda rioja crianza which we had a hard time drinking. It was bland. It actually tasted like watered down wine. Our server could tell we were trying to get through it and be good sports about it and he was awesome in switching it out with the Cariñena Blend 2013 Can Blau montsant which was much better. Most of their wine is only available if you order a bottle, the options diminish when ordering by the glass.
Hayden, Nathan, McKenzie, and all others of the staff we encountered were great and as mentioned earlier, a big reason this is 4 stars instead of 3. Their happy hour seems like a great deal too. I look forward to returning.

There are so many excellent new restaurants opening up in Austin lately and Bullfight is amongst the best of them. Upon walking up to the restaurant you are greeted with a gorgeous patio. The restaurant itself is stunning with warm browns and touches of crisp white & blue.
The sangria v vermut drink list is a great deal as they range from $ 4 – 7. I had a taste of my dining guests sangria and it was delicious. I went with a Garnacha rose and later into the meal we had their spicy Tempranillo and both were wonderful. We share a variety of tapas:
Bacon-​wrapped dates — These are a must try! The bacon wrapped dates has a rich Valdeón cheese (Spanish blue).
Jamón serrano — they slice the meat to order which is quite the show. The cured meat was excellent but that tomato bread it is served with stole the show.
Aged Mahón — nice firm cheese that was served with some exceptional house-​made accompaniments of cherry and white raisin.
Raw bass — This was our favorite dish! The delicate bass is topped with a flavorful piperade and it is plated with an incredible olive purée.
Grilled octopus — The octopus had a nice char and was plated with pickled carrots, fennel and radish.
Valet parking is currently complimentary. If you arrive right before they open you might score street parking. I recommend making reservations, all seating was reserved except for the communal table and the patio when we dined in on a Sunday night.