Tapas Valencia

I wasn’t really sure when I first walked in here. I try not to make overall judgements before I have my food… but it looked like some sort of half thought Olive Garden clone that had been haphazardly decorated in «party colors» Happily, the food is great. The waitress seem to be pretty clueless about the menu though.
Apparently this particular location is now defunct, with locations in Naperville and South loop still in full swing… I wouldn’t go out of my way, but if I ever just find myself ion Naperville or the South Loop I’d definitely stop in again.

Sad to say this location is no longer open…
I would reccomend visiting its sister restaurant, Mason Sabika in Naperville, IL.

Stopped in on Saturday night at around 9pm (they close at 11pm) and were seated right away.
Décor was pretty snazzy I’d say, lots of bright colors and a lot of miniature glass and colored tiles. Pretty nice looking overall.
Service was good but not worth going really into depth about.
Brianna W and myself ordered a pitcher of the white sangria (she drinks too much, even her mom and dad say so) to drink and the seafood Paella (–ella, –ella, A, A, A: Rhianna where you at???). While waiting for the Paella, we ordered the stuffed mushrooms and the goatcheese tomato dip with bread (both HIGHLY recommended). The sangria was pretty good (not quite sure if it was worth $ 22 for the pitcher) but the Paella left something to be desired. The seafood (mussels, shrimp, and very small scallops) were all pretty much overcooked and not the most appetizing. The rice was mediocre and the overall rating of the paella was not too good. We ordered the single person (~$ 17) and it, along with the 2 other tapas, was plenty for 2 peeps (we had to take a serving of the paella home).
Liked Meson Sabika a boat-​load better, however didnt get paella there, just about 5 or 6 tapas (plus the service there was very charming and friendly).

Almost everything we ordered here was very good. I started with a garlic «gazpacho» (no tomatoes) which was not terrible, but not the soup I was expecting. Their baked goat cheese with tomato sauce and garlic bread was great. Every tapas place has that dish, and this was the best I’ve tried. The sauce & bread were really well done.
The grilled chicken dish and the beef tenderloin in puff pastry were both very good. The flavors were complex and the amount of food given was generous for a tasting.
Overall, I think their food is well done and the wine list is not bad. I had the «Mano a Mano» red wine, and would recommend it.

Good food, but not what I was expecting. I read all the reviews and when I saw «outstanding» my hopes were up. The tapas is mostly the same as Meson Sabika, but the service and atmosphere were lacking.
We arrived late here and had no place to park. The snow plows did a pretty poor job and 50% of the parking spots were unavailable. The manager here was very nice. We were late for our reservation (yahoo map directions sucked) but he hadn’t given away our table. He seemed very sympathetic to our plight.
The décor of this place is interesting and it has a small café feel to it.
We were there on Valentine’s Day which is a challenging food service day. According to hubby, (used to assist a chef many years ago), they try to staff like a weekend, but it doesn’t always work out. This was a great example of that as our waitress was not around much. She really appeared to be trying. We couldn’t figure out if the food just wasn’t coming up fast enough or what. She didn’t have that many tables, so we couldn’t understand why after she brought our drinks, it took her about 15 minutes to take our first order. After that it was an endless loop of ordering food, wondering where it was and when we could order more. We planned on having a relaxing dinner, but there’s that fine line between relaxing and just waiting and waiting.
I did have to visit the women’s restroom and it was FREEZING! I did see air ducts in there, but you could have hung meat in there. Of course the water to wash your hands was also cold. Not good.
So while I love tapas, if I’m stuck in the suburbs, I’ll head to Meson Sabika in Naperville.

The food was really good, but the service was only ok. We asked our waiter for suggestions and he didn’t have any. I thought that was a little odd for a waiter not to offer any advice on menu selections.
The sangria was good too, but it seemed more like a wine spritzer rather than sangria I’ve previously had. Overall, it was a good experience.
P. S. The poached pear for dessert is a must try!