Andalucia Tapas Restaurant & Bar

Nice little place, good food but… Pricey! 3 small tapas and 2 sangrias = $ 50. It’s a nice place to have a drink an order a small appetizer, but if you’re thinking of eating or sharing a bunch of tapas, it will add up really quickly ($ 12 for a plate with 5 small escargots on a piece of white bread) So again, tasty but too pricey in my opinion for what it is.

Tasty food. Not a Tapas expert but seemed to have a wide variety. Not a quiet dinner experience and live music a little too loud. Overall a good experience.

Very nice place, came across it after getting released from jury duty, lol. My husband suggested it, and while I thought I wasn’t really into tapas, I have been eating at the wrong places apparently. I really enjoyed the fried goat cheese, chicken croquettes and sangria, not a ton of options for me, but that is not the restaurant’s fault that I’m extremely picky and have the taste buds of a five year old. Ha. Very nice ambiance, would like to return for flamenco night, it is a little pricey but worth it for good food and drinks.

This place is nice to visit and has a decent Spanish ambiance to it, but I’m not sure how authentic to it considering the two people I’ve gone with there who have lived in Spain said it’s not quite what you’d find if you went into an actual Spanish tapas bar.
Nestled in downtown near the House of Blues and Lucky Strike, Andalucía is horrible to find parking at, but nice and quaint when you walk in. It’s like stepping out of downtown into a Spanish countryside villa or something. They have live music on some days, but I’ve never seen anyone actually play, just set up.
Service is usually very good, though inconsistent. On one visit, they brought out all of the tapas at once. On another, they brought them out one by one so we didn’t have to figure out what we wanted, we ate it in the order they brought it. The price is a bit high for my taste, but I’d definitely go back.

Being a native of Spain, I always try to look for an authentic Spanish restaurant. Well, this was most definitely NOT authentic. Starting with the croquetas which were made with rice and actually resembled meatballs rather than croquetas. The papatas bravas, although spicy, once again, have nothing to do with actual papatas bravas which are made with a paprika sauce. The Spanish tortilla was, simply put, potato and eggs with 0 flavor. Spanish tortilla has onions which are cooked with the potatoes for an awesome flavor and lastly, the egg is added. We got 3 pieces and couldn’t eat the last piece. One good thing about this place was Yiyi, our waitress who was a very nice girl. Oh, another thing, lots of the items on the menu were actually Moroccan and not Spanish. There were also quite a few PIZZA items on the menu cause we all know how spanish pizza is

Visited looking for Flamenco night and good tapas, tried the six tapas plate and choose goat cheese balls, lamb and couscous, baked goat cheese, escargots, braised oxtail DELICIOUS!
To drink I tried the «Lucia Caliente «perfectly made with tequila and jalapeño flavor
The mojito was good prepared, but TOO MUCH ice.
Flamenco nights definitely will bring me back to this place

Stopped in on busy night for tapas
Ordered from HH (happy hour) menu, the house Pinot with the Pulpo a la Brasa and the Merguez salteado. Both tapas were Fantastic! The Pinot was very respectable and I am putting this on my must stop list in Houston.

Very extensive menu but I thought the food was just average. The service is also kind of slow. Good location near a lot of other restaurants/​bars but I probably wouldn’t come back

I like the food here. Last time I went the fried goat cheese balls were my favorite. The garlic shrimp is also delicious, super garlicky though, so don’t plan on kissing anybody after eating that! It’s best to have them leave the skillet and then use bread to dip up the butter and garlic. Yum!
Patatas bravas are great!
Drinks are good but my margaritas were not very strong.
The two times I have been there has also been live performances. The flamenco dancing is good. The music is excellent as well, but note if you’re sitting close to the stage it is deafening.

Friday night, 11pm, the band had just finished playing so the place had emptied out quite a bit. Service was exemplary. The waiter was so nice and genuine. Red Sangria was delicious and they let the Mr. sample beers until he found one he liked the best. If you like paella, order the paella!!! My Mr. claimed it to be a close second from the paella he had in Puerto Rico, it was filled with calamari, shrimp, fish, oysters, clams, chicken and some fantastic chorizo, to be honest, I’m not sure how they fit so much in that pan! Mr. ordered a lamb and couscous meal, we were stuffed, probably would have been fine just sharing the paella and one of the tapas.

Exelente lugar. No hay muchos lugares españoles en Houston, pero sin duda este es el mejor

I usually come in here with my coworkers for lunch hour. We come in at around 11am and there’s no wait whatsoever.
They used to have a lunch special that they advertised on the tables that come with an appetizer (salad or soup), entrée, and their house dessert. Since then, they took off the advertising, but they still honor the deal when we ask. I guess the a need to know type thing now, where you have to know about it.
The bread they serve here is very addicting with the tomato dipping sauce. It’s hard to only eat one of the slices of bread and not ruin your appetite. The soup is one of my favorites here. It’s a white bean and chorizo soup called Crema de Frijol y Chorizo. Delicious!!! Never take salad over this.
My favorite entrees would probably be the lamb –Cordero Tagine, or the beef stew — Zarzuela de Res.
Their desserts are usually hit and miss, but I love dessert so anything sweet I’ll devour. Usually they serve light milk cakes similar to tres leches or a thick chocolate cake.

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Been 10 times, want to go 100 more. Serves what is arguably the best plate of tapas I’ve ever had, Pinchos de Res. Their sangria managed to convert my girlfriend (bad prior experiences) and rivals that of beach huts near the naval base in Rota, Spain (my only frame of reference). Their Chocolate Obsession is delightful, their flamenco nights are just all-​around flipping great, and so many delicious dishes; Paella Valenciana, Pinchos de Kefta, Mejillones al Jerez, Setas al Jerez, Caracoles al Ajillo… it’s all worth a try. If it sounds good, for the most part it’s prepared even better. Some dishes with puff pastries or corn meal can be a bit bland, but the hot tapas dishes served on a bed of rice with associated sauces are just crazy scrumptious. Can’t recommend it enough.

Although I don’t think this place deserve 5 stars but 3.5 that is now posted is too low. Music is above average and the dance is also ok. Food is good but expensive. Platter can be ordered for groups of 3 or more. I like this place in general and would like to try it occasionally.

This place is exactly what Unilocal writes for a three-​star review: A-​OK. It’s conveniently located on the same block as House of Blues, so it’s a great option for dinner before catching a show, which is how my family and I ended up here.
I will say this — this place is FAST. I think we got our first tapas plate about 5 – 7 minutes after ordering, so it seems to be awesome if you’re in a hurry to get in and out quick. That said, our lightening-​fast-​appearing food was just okay. The calamari was a bit tough and chewy for our taste, but the sauce it came with was pretty good. The crab cake was also a bit disappointing — it was less crab cake and more crab-​tasting fried bread ball. The two good things we did have were the baked goat cheese and the beef tenderloin skewers; the goat cheese was layered on top of sweet peppers and served with three slices of thick cut toast, and it was GOOD. The tenderloin was very flavorful, not overcooked, and the rice it came with was a nice tasty addition.
There were three of us total, and four tapas were enough for all of us to be satiated, but definitely not full. We’re also all pretty light eaters — I would say two per person would be the way to go, but you could always order more if what you have turns out not to be enough. I’m not sure if I’ll be back, but if I am, I’ll be sure to try something different.

I went on Saturday, November 28 at 7:30 p.m. My family went to enjoy the flamenco show. The waitress was quick to take our orders and serve our drinks. The only bad thing is the waitress kept rushing us. We were drinking Sangria, and the glass weren’t even half empty and she kept refilling our glasses. I understand the staff being raced when people are waiting but this time it was a very slow night. We got our food, and she kept coming to rush us. Honestly, I went there for the show, so rushing us to eat and drink did not make our evening pleasant. Also, the show started at 8:20ish p.m. We had to order a dessert, so the waitress stops asking us if we needed anything else. Later, I ordered coffee and my coffee was cold. Also, It was so cold that the doors were closed, and air did not circulate well because the smoke from the kitchen was stuck in the restaurant.
What I learn from this experience:
Don’t go too early because you won’t enjoy the show.
The show does not start on time.
They need to hire better servers.
Great Flamenco Show. The 8ish show was much better than the 10ish show.
Food:
Great Crab Cakes, Grilled Octopus, and Paella.

Yummy tapas! I had lunch here with two other ladies and we orders about 5 dishes and were thoroughly stuffed! The portions are your typical tapas size — enough for a few people to have a bite. We had the meatballs, paella, ceviche, and potato croquettes as well as an order of gazpacho for everyone. The gazpacho was a little gritty from the tomato skin, but it had a nice spicy kick to it. Everything else was decently good, but I don’t think anything super blew me out of the water.
Solid tapas, nonetheless.

Definitely come here for the ambiance! Before 8pm its very chill and quiet. After 8pm the show starts on weekends and the performers are terific! They really participate with the crowd and even bring them up on stage. Thats what makes it. True the drinks are pricey for what they are –nothing too special. Didn’t find a tapa I didnt like. The spanish sausage with potatoes were my favorite, second to the cheese bombas. Husband ordered paella which he enjoyed but the rice to me lacked a little something. Service was okay. I’ve been here two times and a great time was had by all both times. I will likely return. Make sure to make a reservation to get a great table by the stage. Desserts were warm and weren’t supposed to be. Warm gelato or flan is a no-​no. Maybe a bad day? I will return though — for the ambiance and maybe skip dessert.

One of my favorite places, If you think about Paella, this is the place, great seafood, fresh just made paella, with the actually original flavor of spanish paella, the show is a plus, if you are not the kind of people who like spanish culture and the noisy guitar shows with dancers, you won’t like this but if you already now this… Great place.
Service is ok, the key of going is making a reservation for your group and be on time, because obviously is a good spot for tourists and happy hours… SANGRI PITCHERS the best, good mojitos and never complaint about any of the dishes I’ve order.
They also have a lunch time card, so take it everytime you go and after a certain amount they give you a discount.
Price fair for what you get, awsome food and drinks =)

Ate here last night before a concert, since it is only 2 blocks to Toyota Center.
We had the goat cheese balls, which were delicious — maybe a little too much balsamic vinegar, but otherwise tasty. The calamari was nicely done — not too much batter — one more little cup of dipping sauce and it would have been perfecto. The only item that really fell kinda of flat was the moroccan chicken pie — this is probably more of an acquired taste — just a lot of cinnamon. The bread and dipping sauce that they bring out first is wonderful — we even asked for seconds on it.
A great little date spot or place to grab some tapas before heading to Toyota Center or Discovery Green.

My husband is a huge fan of tapas so we came here before a HoB show. The service was pretty good, but the food and drinks were very «meh.» I should preface this by saying we only ordered bottled beer, but it wasn’t very cold. At $ 6 per, my Peroni better be cold and delicious.
On to the food. We ordered 3 things from the hot tapas menu. Crab cakes, empanadas and chicken croquettes. The runners seemed a little confused as they tried 3 times to bring us food we didn’t order. The 3^rd time they just left it on the table before I could correct them… so…we ate it.
Everything we tried tasted kinda the same… and everything had the same sauce on it. Very strange. The exception was the empanadas, which had a kind of bbq flavor. I liked them alright, my husband did not. Definitely not an empanada I would crave, but it did the trick. I think I was just glad it didn’t taste like everything else.
At the end of the night I was mad I wasted calories on that. I think they need to reduce the menu and just have some really solid options.

A friend urged me not to go here, however being stubborn and loving tapas, i threw his advice to the wind.
What i discovered was overpriced, mediocre tapas with overpriced drinks and bad service. The best part of this place is the ridiculously large menu, which one can only presume has some good items, however nothing i tried on my first (and last) visit stood out.
Hard to not find better in this dining mecca we call home.

After the basketball game we stopped in for some Sangria and Tapas and lucky for us live Flamenco dancers were performing.
Loud ambiance that was very festive would be perfect for groups on weekends when they have live entertainment. Mr. G partook in some dancing himself so a free show and great tapas and drinks made my night.
Garlic shrimp, calamari and refreshing sangria was wonderful. Service was friendly. I hope to come back and try out some entrees. Ambiance was nice with vaulted ceilings and high-​wood back chairs. Olé!

I am really torn to give this 3 stars, I wish it had a 2.5 option.
I wanted to love this place and I still want see the Flamenco dancers so I would give it another shot!
We were starving and stopped in for a bite and cocktail before a show. The place was empty, however the hostess asked us if we had a reservation. We said no, (it was about 5:30pm) she said ok you can sit at the bar, but someone has reservations for 7:30 so you have to leave by then. (lol lol!)
I had the fried goat cheese balls and they were very good.
My partner had the fried smelt and was grimacing while eating it. I tasted it and because I have never had it before I am not sure if it was supposed to taste this bad or not! It was a fried little fish, dry as dirt.
The scallops were good, and would get that dish again.
The Sangria. I posted a pic of the color of it because it was so odd. It really didn’t taste bad, however I like fruit in my sangria and this was not a pretty, refreshing sangria like I was expecting.
The dip for the bread was soo good, so was the bread.
Now…the waiter… he was very nice. An older gentleman, It really didn’t matter that he was elderly. Just odd behavior, he asked us if we were cold, we said no… then he said it must be me, and said he had the shivers… but don’t worry -(cough cough) «I just took some advil» of course the rest of the time I was very concerned as he was coughing that he was spreading germs all over the place. Thank goodness for my hand sanitizer! He didn’t appear to be experienced in that respect because he should have kept that germy part to himself.
We did ask «the manager» what time the doors to our show were opening if they knew, and they went out of their way to find out for us.

I visited on a Friday night with my Mom who was visiting from out of state. The place is quiet around 6pm but with the flamenco dancing at 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays it gets very busy just around 8pm.
We sampled all over the menu, I enjoyed an order of tongue and we had a pickled tasting ceviche (Mom loved it). Mussels and some chorizo dishes that were awesome. It’s a little expensive (because it’s tapas) but very tasty.
Concerning the flamenco dancing, obviously a very cool event but I was disappointed that they started late and then did about a 50minute set. I would have liked to have seen the performers lengthen the set to be a full hour but hey, that’s just one woman’s opinion.

I’ve passed by this place so many times and haven’t had the chance to try it until this week for happy hour and I was quite pleased with my experience. For Happy Hour I look for a great price for a good tasting plate and Andalucia delivered. In order to qualify for the Happy Hour menu from 3 – 7 PM you need to sit near the bar which isn’t a problem if you get there early enough.
My friends wanted to do a little pre-​game before a Rockets game and the $ 4 tapas sustained us for the game. Below are my ratings for the tapas we tasted.
⁵⁄₅ for the Merguez Saleeado — sautéed sausage with potatoes, garlic and onions
⁴⁄₅ for the Tapas Bolitas — spicy meatballs
³⁄₅ for the Calamari a la Romana — thinly breaded fried squid
²⁄₅ for the Pulpo a la Brasa — grilled octopus with potatoes, onions, peppers (tastes like squid & very small pieces of octopus)
The waitress we had was friendly and on point, I’d like to come here again and try more of the menu.

We’ve been here a few times when coming downtown for a show at House of Blues. I think this last time will be our last. Everything we ordered had the same two sauces squeezed on top. There’s only so much aioli and tomato sauce I can handle… especially when it’s on EVERYTHING… which meant all of the dishes tasted the same.
The calamari was bland, even with the tomato dipping sauce. The goat cheese balls were swimming in a very pungent balsamic reduction that was sitting on top of stale fried leeks. The tortilla espanola was deep fried (that’s a first) and drenched in aioli. The croquetas were okay, but again had too much aioli on top of it. The beef empanadas had some sort of carne sauce and aioli… that was horrible. Their version of a Spanish caesar salad was very bland — the canned beets and cold chorizo did not add to the dish.
Our server forgot to give us bread. My tea was not refilled in a timely fashion. It’s very disorganized and they turn away people because it’s 7pm and there is an 8:30pm reservation on a table — so they leave the table unoccupied.

Pretty cool place with an authentic atmosphere. There’s a large selection on the menu and the food is decent. However, despite the authentic atmosphere it wasn’t my kind of place.
If you’re looking for a chaotic and loud meal, look no further. But if you’re expecting a nicer dinner and a good accompanying performance, you should probably go elsewhere. Andalucia was extremely crowded with barely any walking space. The performances were SO LOUD that no one at the table could hear each other talking. We went for a birthday dinner but all left annoyed and with a headache.
Tip for the restaurant — it would be much better if you had performances on the hour instead of constantly throughout the night.

I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch at Andalucia. The tapas were delicious and the service was great. The manager stopped by to check on us, too. This is a great place for lunch downtown in the business district. It is spacious inside and the food arrived promptly.
Like the Terminator, I’ll be back.