El Tapeo

We had the patatas bravas and datiles for starter. Those were really good. The acidity of the sauce served with the dates cut through the sweetness of the dates perfectly. We also had the paella de diablo. Again, one of the better paellas we've had in Illinois. For dessert, we had the Spanish baclava and a chocolate mousse/chocolate crumble. The baclava was really good. The chocolate-y dessert was the only let down. Overall, a must try for sure.

I was really, really, (I mean that really twice) wanted to like this place. I made reservations twice andcoyld not make it. Something was keeping me from going there, that's why I believed that when I finally arrived, that it would be so delicious and out of this world, that words could simply not describe it. What a DISASTER, DISAPPOINTMENT, I almost cried. We been to several tapas locations and this although in a great area is by far the worst food we've ever tasted. First of all let me tell you that our server was great and the service was pretty good. Now for number two, second, the food itself was terrible. We started with the pork pancetta, pork belly, it tasted like glazed ham, not impressed. Next we had the patatas bravas. No floor at all, I mean not one smidge of flavor on the sauce or even the aioli. I had to drizzle a ton of salt to make it edible. Next came the short rib flatbread, again not impressed. The short rib could of been so much more. Not impressed. We opted for o

I like the design of the restaurant, because it looks like a gallery, the furniture is new and modern. We ordered 2 appetizers : one with bacon and dates , the second was with octopus and fennel. It was amazing and delicious taste. The paella did not impress us because clams had a lot of sand inside. Overall experience is great and we will come back. They need more staff, to serve food on time.