Modesto Tapas Bar & Restaurant

It had been a while since we had been here, and I think their dishes have changed (Not sure though). The dishes we thought we were getting seemed different. The dishes were OK but didn’t have that same wow factor as before. Our waitress seemed like she may have been medicated but she was nice enough. Definitely not the same fantastic experiences we have had in the past with Modesto.

Just a disclaimer, Modesto has always been my spot. It’s where I had my birthday dinner last year and it’s where I spend almost every Thursday night now due to their killer late/​happy hour special (also available during normal happy hour times Monday through Friday). If you’re reading anything about this place you already know that it’s Spanish style tapas which means really interesting dishes for affordable prices and smaller plates meant to share. The fairly extensive menu alone is worth coming and checking it out but on top of that they have excellent house made sangria and an extensive wine list plus a full bar. If you really want to treat yourself and do it on a budget and definitely try the happy hour where they have bite sized specials for around a dollar +/​-​and sangria for about five dollars a glass or my favorite Spanish beer Estrella for $ 4. And if you do come by on a Thursday say hello I’ll be at the bar … hopefully with a pretty lady.

Incredible food!!! I highly recommend the calamari, bacon wrapped dates, lobster, potatoes with queso and steak!!! This place is so unique and WAY better than Barcelona!!! Cannot wait to go back!!!

Tapas is an awesome concept to me: a group of friends who like food, each grabbing two to three plates, and sharing what equates to a meal. When I tried Modesto, there were just too many misses on things.
I’ll start with the standout dish, a flatbread with marinara and goat cheese to dip in. This was great, and the definite highlight of the night.
Some of the dishes that missed for me: A mushroom dish mixed with wine and spices. This started off very tasty, but after a few minutes of soaking in the wine the mushrooms took on a strange flavor and became unenjoyable. Also, Mussels. They were in the shell with a green sauce and bacon. When bacon can’t save the dish I have to pass.
I was very disappointed because I thought the place had some potential. Maybe I can return and give it another go sometime.

I have been here several times. This is one of my favorite places to take friends from out of town. Everything I have tried is great. They also have a great deal on Wednesdays with ½ priced bottles of wine. Can’t wait to go back!

We went for happy hour and were not blown away. We tried pretty much everything on the happy hour menu but they are literally like one bite, so you have to order a bunch of different appetizers. The standouts were the fried goat cheese and the stuffed olives. We ended up getting tired of the happy hour appetizers — the chicken thigh was really bland, the fried garlic tasted like potatoes (get it together because roasted garlic is delicious), and the shrimp and egg combo was weird and tasteless. Also, too many of the appetizers were topped with an orange mayo-​like sauce, which just wasn’t very appealing.
Off the regular menu, we orders potatoes with cheese and fried artichokes. The fried artichokes were delicious and crispy. They brought the wrong version of fried potatoes at first, and the right version just wasn’t that good.
The sangria was great and relatively cheap ($ 16/​pitcher) and the bread pudding was amazing — basically the caramel sauce was to die for and I wanted a whole bowl of just that because no shame.

Really good tapas, I’ll definitely be back. We generally go to Sanctuaria for tapas, and I think Modesto is a bit pricier just because the portions are smaller. We had the baked goat cheese, lamb skewers, shrimp and chorizo, fried potatoes with manchego, hanger steak with french fried onions, and rice pudding. All delicious, but the lamb skewers and the shrimp + chorizo were the real standouts. My pineapple sangria was amazing (and strong!), my boyfriend’s cranberry apple sangria was tasty but weak on the alcohol. It was a bit noisy on a Saturday night, so choose another spot if you are looking for quiet conversation. Two drinks + six dishes came to around $ 70 before tip.

I had a great time here for happy hour with friends, definitely an interesting place to go but I probably wouldn’t come for any other time, the prices are just too good for happy hour.

Modesto is a nice place for a romantic dinner for two or a good place to have an array of tapas and drinks with a group of friends.
I came with my group of 6 friends on a Monday night, and it was good because we were all feeling pretty adventurous and willing to try anything and everything.
I’ve only been to two tapas places in St. Louis — Modesto and Barcelona (which I frankly was pretty disappointed with), but this place tops my list for one of my favorite meals in general. We got a lot of dishes to share throughout the night and the meal was delicious overall.
⁵⁄₅ HIGO Y QUESO DE CABRA: fig and goat cheese spread, bacon flatbread — I love love this combination of fig, goat cheese and bacon. It’s the perfect mix of sweet, savory goodness on a thin flatbread.
⁴⁄₅ FLAMINQUÍN DE POLLO: grilled chicken stuffed with Iberíco cheese and vegetables, with almond sauce (gf) — The chicken was good, but there were other dishes on the menu that I enjoyed more. The vegetables and cheese were good inside, but chicken can only be so moist and flavorful.
5/​5* DÁTILES RELLENOS: bacon-​wrapped dates stuffed with Valdeón cheese (gf) — Bacon wrapped dates are my jam! I used to work in catering and would assemble these all the time (got to pop a few in my mouth if there were extras), and I have loved them every since. Definitely would recommend!
⁴⁄₅ TOCINO CON PIÑA: crispy pork belly with pineapple sauce (gf) — This dish was pretty interesting. I only eat pork belly on occasion because its so fatty, but the crisp juicy pork belly was a good match for a sweet and tangy pineapple sauce.
⁵⁄₅ RABO DE TORO AL VINO: braised oxtail, roasted mushrooms, red wine reduction (gf) — This dish was probably one of my favorites! Super juicy, a little fatty, and bursting with flavor. We all dug into this one and ate like off the bone to get every little piece. Definitely would recommend.
⁵⁄₅ PINCHOS MORUNOS: lamb skewers with rosemary sauce (gf) — Anything lamb like meatballs or skewers and you got me sold! This lamb was very tender and flavorful, with a delicious side of creamy rosemary sauce. Mmm.
²⁄₅ PAPAS CON QUESO: fried potatoes with melted Manchego cheese (gf) — I thought this dish would’ve been better because the waiter recommended it, but it was a little below average. I am usually a fan of manchego, but the potatoes with melted cheese on top were a bit disappointing. Not much of a kick or surprise here.
³⁄₅ CANGREJO AL HORNO: lump crab baked with manchego cheese sauce (gf) — This dish was just your average crab dip with cheese. There were a few slices of bread to dip in, and it wasn’t exceptional or anything.
⁵⁄₅ GAMBAS AL AJILLO: sautéed shrimp with chiles in garlic oil (gf) — These shrimp were very well done — perfectly cooked, simple in presentation, a kick from the chilies, and very flavorful. A solid seafood choice.
⁵⁄₅ PUDÍN DE PAN: white and dark chocolate bread pudding with Licor 43 caramel sauce — I usually love and hate bread pudding at the same time because it’s so delicious but also super rich and eating too much gives me regrets. But sharing this dish with 6 people was the perfect amount of bread pudding. It was like two bites of pure heaven, and the perfect end to our meal.
Overall, definitely enjoyed my night at Modesto! We got to try a lot of dishes within our group and our total bill wasn’t that pricey for all the food (about $ 24 per person). The atmosphere is great for groups or even for date nights. They have a huge variety of tapas, and I am sure I will be returning soon to try some more.

Everything we had was mediocre. All four of us agreed that we could check this one off our list, no need to go back.

Finally came back recently with a larger group of friends. My opinion still stands that Modesto is the BEST tapas restaurant in St. Louis (like, better than Barcelona which I think is overrated). Just an FYI, the menu changes seasonally, which is pretty cool but I guess sad if something you like gets taken off the menu. Also, the service seems very consistently amazing, with servers who are very helpful in giving recommendations for dishes.
Onto the food:
Higo Y Queso De Cabra: Super delicious, I was a big fan. The spread had a very distinct, sharp flavor and the combination of fig, goat cheese, and bacon was prime.
FLAMINQUÍN DE POLLO: Pretty good, not one of my favorites but I definitely enjoyed it.
COCHINILLO ASADO: My friend wanted to order this just because it was described as «suckling pig». So if you have an immature sense of humor, definitely get this one haha. Again, it was good but not lifechanging.
DÁTILES RELLENOS: Got these again because they are literally the best. You MUST order these bacon-​wrapped dates.
TOCINO CON PIÑA: Very crunchy. I’m not a fan of pineapple, but the pork itself was very tasty.
RABO DE TORO AL VINO: Server recommended this. Personally I’m not a fan of oxtail in general but my friends who were said it was delicious.
PINCHOS MORUNOS: AMAZING, one of my favorites. The lamb is super juicy and flavorful. Definitely would recommend to anyone who likes skewers.
PAPAS CON QUESO: Server recommended this to us. It’s basically wedge-​cut french fries with a white sauce on it. It’s different enough to where you don’t think that you just got ripped off on french fries. Definitely for people who prefer a more American taste to their food.
CANGREJO AL HORNO: This is a crab-​cheese dip, with some crackers to dip into the sauce. It was good, but again not mindblowing.
GAMBAS AL AJILLO: Delicious, the shrimp was SUPER flavorful with various spices. I don’t think I’ve ever had better tasting shrimp. Definitely recommend if you like seafood!
And lastly, dessert!
PUDÍN DE PAN: literally this stuff was SO AMAZING hands down the best thing that we ordered. It was like a literal foodgasm in my stomach. The bread pudding was so warm and moist, and the sauce had bits of chocolate in it. The caramel added a really nice touch as well.
We ended up paying ~$ 24 per person but as you can see, we did get a lot of dishes. So price point depends on how much you plan to indulge.
All in all, Modesto never disappoints! Will definitely return next time with a large group of people.

My boyfriend asked me if I wanted to go to a tapas bar. I thought he said a «topless» bar, not really my thing but I said OK!
We had reservations for 730 pm
we were promptly seated, took a little while to get our drinks because they were so crowded. We went with another couple, we shared our tapas. Ordered about 8 different plates, we had meatballs and potatoes with cheese and some chicken wrap item, But what really stands out in my mind as delicious, were the shrimp skewers, we also ordered desert not sure the name but it was top notch packed with flavor and texture, and was large enough to share with 4 people.
It was easy to find parking.

I need to start this review by stating I am still drooling over my dinner last night at Vin d Set, so the bar was set pretty high for tonight’s meal.
Leaving Plaza Frontenac I decided to go for Tapas. My fellow Unilocalers had eft pretty good reviews so I headed to Modesto Tapas. I called on the way and the lady added me for a last min reservation-(Saturday at 6:30 pm). As soon as we were seated, the entire place filled up. We were so lucky she was polite and gave us a last min reservation.
I started with the seafood chowder. For only $ 3 it was a good size cup full of warm soup that was full of shrimp! As the evening progressed we had several other dishes, too many to remember the names of. However, the one that really sticks out is the goat cheese and mushroom with tomato sauce. It was very delicious. Every plate was delightful. The staff was friendly, busy, but friendly. The prices were very good. 6 plates for $ 42. Cant beat that!

Holy hell that was a great meal! Wanting to reminisce about our trip to Barcelona a few months ago we decided on date night at Modesto for wine and tapas. Their happy hour on Thursday is 5 – 9:30 in the bar area only so we decided on a couple seats at the bar. The bartender started us off with an Old O Fashioned for him and their special cocktail for me. It was ginger, puréed cranberries and bourbon. I’m not usually a bourbon fan but this was a great drink. My guy enjoyed his old fashioned with big O ginger liquor.
We got complimentary bread and olive tapenade while we perused our options. The tapenade was a good level of salty for me. Decided to start with small plates of queso fritos (fried goat cheese with cumin honey), duck empanadas with a sherry reduction (on special), and patatas bravas then split an Arrozo (sp?) something (smoked black rice with lobster and pork belly). After our cocktails we picked a great bottle of Malbec at the bartender’s suggestion.
All the food was delicious. The queso fritos were little bites of gooey heaven. The duck empanadas had a richness only duck can bring. The smoked black rice was delicious and the salty pork belly played well with it. I also tried an alcachofa relleno (artichoke stuffed with cheese and chorizo) but didn’t care for the combination of flavors. My guy had a salpicon (small skewer mussel shrimp and calamari). He agreed with the bartender that it tasted like ceviche on a stick. I wasn’t a fan of the patatas bravas but my guy dug them. I look forward to trying more tapas at future happy hours!

I hadn’t been to Modesto since it was new and trendy back in 2002 (I think). It’s weird to think that much time has passed since tapas were a pretty new idea for St. Louis. Now of course, seemingly everyone has small plates. I’m not sure how many claim to be real Spanish restaurants, though. I will say this — the place still has a vibe. The save vibe as it did 13 years ago, as I recall, it’s a fun date spot.
We tried a couple of signature drinks to start. I had a pineapple sangria. My wife had a Brazilian sugar cane liquor drink — can’t recall the name. Our waitress said it would be sweet. It was anything but — loaded down with limes and very tart. My pineapple drink tasted pretty much like pineapple juice on the rocks. Okay then. Wine for the next round.
We had just three plates; Judias Verdes, which are sautéed green beans in a kind of sweet sauce, Fritada de Mariscos, which translates to fried seafood — shrimp, small scallops and calamari, with slivers of peppers and Bistec a la Cabrales — hanger steak with a Port wine reduction. The first two were very good, if not anything spectacular. The seafood was pretty much like most calamari apps I’ve had around town. Very good, but not all that memorable. The steak was the superstar dish for us. It was absolutely deliscious and a very special dish with the port wine sauce. I was pretty impressed that we were full after just three plates.
Service was great and the menu had several more items we’d love to try. It’s a great date spot. We’ll be back.

Pro: Maybe I’m on a huge tapas kick these days. I admit it (because that’s the first step to recovery, right?!?). However, I really enjoyed everything about Modesto on my visit! The service was top-​notch: the bartender knew the menu front to back, never let a drink go empty, and was an all-​around awesome server despite being a one-​man show for about eight other patrons at the bar. It was a toss-​up as to whether I liked the Old Fashioned or the Sangria more; both were excellent! And the food was simply marvelous; each item just got better as the night proceeded! Standouts include the Camarones Con Chorizo (smoked shrimp with chorizo and red pepper sauce), the Datiles Rellenos (bacon-​wrapped dates stuffed with Valdeón cheese), and the Bistec A La Cabrales (grilled hanger steak with Valdeón cheese and port reduction).
Con: None whatsoever!
Bottom Line: Small plate dining may not get any better. Okay, maybe it might. Either way, Modesto has cemented something great in StL!

Love modesto and can’t bring myself to give it anything but a seller review but, I’m not loving all of the changes to the menu.

Modesto is as tasty as can be for tapas in St. Louis! I have been to Modesto several times throughout the past 10 years and dare I say, it’s only gotten better with time. My husband and I visited Modesto after the USMNT game last week and we were pleasantly surprised to be seated right away. I ordered a glass of sangria and as soon as I had a sip, I remembered why I shouldn’t order sangria anywhere else. Far and away the best sangria in the area. I am that person the fishes out the little bits of fruit with my fork. Manners be damned.
With my gluten free hubby by my side, we stuck to all gf items but it wasn’t difficult at all. A LOT of Modesto’s menu is gluten free. If you have celiac, you may want to mention your level of sensitivity as a couple of fried potato items have possible contamination but our server made sure to ask and we selected something else.
We had the Ensalada de Verduras (mmm manchego), Pimiento Rellenos, Pinchos Morunos, and the Paella Mixta. Every single little morsel was perfect and delicious. The service was quick, the tapas came out staggered perfectly, the drinks were flowing… such a fantastic dinner. We’ll be back soon!

I’m in St. Louis for work (4 weeks in a row). I stumbled upon this place via Unilocal.And I came at least once per week! The food is phenomenal and the staff recommendations met all my expectations!
The first time I came through, it was a Wednesday. And the bartender gave a little bit of info, all he had to mention was Happy Hour all day on Tuesdays and Thursdays! Duh, my next 3 visits were, coincidentally, on Tuesdays! On those days they offer small bites for $ 0.75-$ 2.00. I’ve had at least 75% of them, and they are all good! My absolute favorite is the Salpicón (marinated mussel, calamari and shrimp).
I’ve also had the suckling pig, lamb skewers, braised oxtail, fried cauliflower, eggplant packages, creamy mushroom croquettes, and the Arroz Ahumado Paella. All dishes had a distinct flavor that were done deliciously well. However on my last visit I decided to order the Arroz Ahumado Paella. It was blackened rice with which they used squid ink (they smoke it in-​house) and it had lobster and pork belly! OMG! Those bites were heaven sent!!! This should have been my very first order, I could kick myself for waiting until my last week!
Anyway, Modesto is a true tapas restaurant that is representative of Spanish flavors and cuisine!

It’s been years since we’ve been here. It took the server over ten minutes to come to our table. We fetched our own menus and the hostess had to take our drink orders.
Granted we didn’t order the most imaginative dishes (cheese filled chicken, garbanzo dip, fried cauliflower), but with the exception of the bacon wrapped dates, which are impossible to mess up, our food was very bland and boring. The cocktails were also very boring, simple, and not worth $ 10. They would hardly be worth half the price.
Finally, as a designer, the menu made my eyes cross and was a challenge to read. Every font was the same size and weight and all jammed together like a page from the bible.
There are many other tapas contenders in St. Louis but Modesto can’t hang. I don’t mind pretentious if the quality is there but there was very little quality in our experience. Maybe we needed to drop more than a hundred.

Had dinner with friends there. Food looks good but tastes ok. Maybe we are just a little spoiled with European restaurants (In Europe) and Barcelona’s tapas. In its defense though, in my experience, tiramisu in St. Louis tastes better than in Rome.

We dined here on a Wednesday night (I believe) and sat at the bar. I didn’t get the bartenders name but he was great! Very attentive and extremely knowledgeable about all the menu items and wine! We tried an array of appetizers – the bite size skewers are all amazing. I can’t remember the name of them all, one was with artichokes and one was a simple meat and cheese one, those were my favorite! There was also a ceviche style one that my boyfriend loved! We then split the fried lobster and cauliflower. The lobster was okay – not my favorite and the cauliflower was extremely salty. I wasn’t too disappointed since the apps and service were on point. We will definitely be back to try other items! They also have a great happy hour!

Party of five for Friday dinner walk-​in at 17:30.
Overall:Nice environment and friendly staffs.
Drink: Ordered normal sangria and pineapple sangria, the taste was unlike anything in Spain, but still tasty.
Tapas: Roasted Asparagus with Serrano Ham [must have], Salmorejo [ Cumin taste too strong], Roasted Lamp Chop [ ok ok for meat lover]
Entrée: Paella [maybe a super modified version of paella, taste nothing like Paella in Spain]

We went to Modesto for my birthday last week. We sat in the bar to take advantage of happy hour. The happy hour menu is comprised of «bites» not meant to share. Literally, each dish is a bite or two. We tried a few things like the grilled artichoke (the fave of the bites), tortilla espanola, and a steak/​manchego skewer. None of these options are available on the full menu with the exception of 1 or 2 (tortilla espanola for sure).
Overall, we ordered the:
empanadillas de pollo –good but no wow-​worthy
bistec a la cabrales — a must order
datiles rellenos– dates are always good
patatas bravas — one of my tapas staples
colifor refrita — great, not too «fried» feeling
We also drank a pitcher of red sangria. I think it’s $ 16 for a pitcher so worth the buy if you are all drinking the same drink or type of sangria.

The place looks great — very clean and modern. Seating outside will be desirable on nice nights. See pictures.
1) Complimentary Bread with Tapenade ⁴⁄₅ (assuming you like olives, which are in the tapenade)
2) Calimari ³⁄₅ (wish there was a little more sauce and that the breading didn’t fall off while I ate it)
3) Patatas Bravas ⁵⁄₅ — high recommendation, menu describes as spicy, not that spicy but quite tasty
4) Albondigas Caseras 3.5÷5 — pretty decent
5) Bacon-​Wrapped Dates ⁵⁄₅ — I think we got 8 of them, and they were all very, very good!
6) Trout Cakes w/​Aioli ³⁄₅ — Texture was great but flavor was somewhat 1-​note; couldn’t taste anything about the fish, which might be normal for trout, and the aioli tasted the same — wanted more variation in flavor

Queso frito ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Cameron y huevo ⁵⁄₁₀
Solomillo y queso ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Veggie paella ¹⁰⁄₁₀
Croquetas de chocolate ¹⁰⁄₁₀

We have been here many times and always enjoy it but this is my first review.
We went for happy hour on a Tuesday night. Wine of the day for $ 6 a glass… i drank a delicious Spanish Tempranillo. Draft beer for $ 4. And the appetizer menu is anywhere from $ 0.75 to $ 2.50… they are mini versions (literally one or two bites) of what are normally tapas aka small plates.
The appetizers are so fun because you get to order and try a lot of different things. Food items are in Spanish on the menu but have english descriptions and the wait staff is knowledgeable. Our favorite happy hour appetizers were the Roast Beef with Melted Manchego cheese (it’s served on a large toothpick), the fried chicken thigh (it’s literally one bite) and the stuffed green olives… i can’t remember what they’re stuffed with.
The atmosphere is dark, intimate and romantic… especially as the sun goes down (there are lots of big windows in the front).
If you like Spanish food and tapas (small plate) style, this is your place!

I love tapas, and I loved Modesto! Came here with my bff and her parents over the summer, and I can’t believe I didn’t review this place immediately. Her family has been coming here for some time, and, after eating here, I understand why!
We had the special sangria of the day– it was pineapple and was delicious. There were 4 of us, and we ordered enough food to feed at least 6 people, but we made it work. :) The highlight was definitely the pork belly that we loved so much we needed to order two. We also had a mixed paella that was outstanding– I don’t typically like rice, but this was delicious. The texture was awesome (crunchy rice on the outside, and well-​cooked, toothsome rice on the inside), with lots of yummy everything spread out throughout the dish.
I will note that our server was a bit strange and not very on-​top of our table, but we enjoyed the experience anyway. He did seem to be giving other tables better service, so I don’t think this is a widespread issue, and I can admittedly be pretty picky about servers.
Can’t wait to go back the next time I’m in St. Louis!

Let me preface this review with the fact that I hate tapas. Let’s be fair though… it isn’t the tapas I hate, but how much places charge for tapas. The bill ends up being the same as other places, but yet my stomach feels sadly empty. Luckily, I came to Modesto Tapas Bar & Restaurant during their happy hour, which really made my stomach and wallet feel much better.
I’ve been here a couple times before and really love the setting. It is really peaceful and quiet in Modesto with great mood lighting, which is probably why we started date night out here. We ordered a pitcher of Sangria from the bar, which was delicious and only $ 16. In addition to the Sangria, we ordered several tapas. We ate the roast beef, chicken, and salmon and dill cream cheese, all ranging from 75 cents to $ 1. While the chicken was good, we really loved the roast beaf and the salmon. Very delicious.
In sum, if you HAVE to do tapas, definitely come here and come during happy hour.

I love this Spanish tapas bar, there are so many great dishes here that I just know I might forget to mention some on here. The cauliflower, truffle mushroom flatbread pizza, mixto paella, gambas (shrimp) al ajilo, and goat cheese are all a serious must! You will be sorry if you don’t try these!
I’ve had their sangria, but this is actually the only thing I wasn’t impressed with. It wasn’t very good, and the 2 times I’ve tried it on different nights it tasted a bit watered down.
The atmosphere — it’s kind of dimly lit inside and has candles on the table. It’s a nice ambiance!