06/26/08

Best Tapas

by edeasy2

Dined with group of eight, fit up all with no reservations. Excellent wines selected, and suggested. Nice people, geat tapasPotatoes Bravas!

07/17/07

It's the tapas, not the accoutrements, which shine at Alegrias

by insatiableexplorer

I was pleased with the tapas at Alegrias. My friends and I got the rabbit, which was good and tender. The papas were not dry and were fried just crispy enough. The salmon was also good, soft and well-seasoned. The sangria was not all that remarkable, however. For the most part the desserts were not notable, though the crepes with caramel were delicious, properly sweet and the caramel was thick enough.

• Pros: Ambiance, Food

04/28/07

Nice all around experience

by blkestin

Ate here for the first time tonight and will definitely be back. The food, the service, and the atmosphere were all great. We started with the cheese and chorizo plate, followed by various hot dishes. Our favorites were the crab cakes, the potatoes in spicy red sauce, and the desserts! The apple crepe was absolutely to die for. I could eat it every day for the rest of my life and never get sick of it.

• Pros: Lots of variety, including vegetarian options
• Cons: Some dishes are overpriced ($8 for mushrooms??)

03/25/07

Great food, easy parking

by kaiwong

Our dining experience at Alegrias was excellent. It seems that the owners of Alegrias must have read some of the negative reviews posted on Citysearch. First, parking was so easy; there is a multi-story public garage across the street. Second, we got there at 6:30pm on a Saturday; for a party of 2, we were seated promptly. We knew we wanted Paella so we ordered rightaway. We had Tapas and Sangria while our Valenciana Paella was being prepared. Our Paella was brought to our table in 30 mins. as listed on the menu. This was our first time for Paella, the morsels of chicken and seafood were so moist, tender, and succulent. The chocolate mousse was heavenly. Their individually brewed cup of coffee was unforgetable! The wait staff was very attentive yet not hovering; We'll be back!

• Pros: Seated promptly; no reservations; Public parking across the street

11/21/06

All around great place!

by newenglandtransplant

Craving Tapas then this is the place. I've been here several times and always have a terrific meal. It's on busy Lombard but once you walk in the door you feel totally separated from the noise of the outside world. The spinich, crabcakes and goat cheese are terrific. We can't seem to get enough of the potatos. If you like wines there's many to choose from and the staff will help.

• Pros: Good Wine List, Good Staff, Good Food

11/17/06

Great restaurant, good local secret

by jah4

My friends and I have been coming here for several years, and we are never disappointed. The tapas dishes are always excellent - you've got to order the potatoes! Be sure to ask the waiters about which wine to order with your dishes - they have an amazingly in-depth knowledge of wine. You'll probably get to try some wine you'd never had before, and would never have thought to order. How great is that? This isn't a see-and-be-seen chi chi Marina restaurant. You'll want to go here when you are in the mood for something a little more low-key. A place where you can actually hear the dinner conversation over great food and wine.

• Pros: This place is all about the food
• Cons: You don't want to come here ravenous - this is small plates, after all

08/29/06

yummy

by mz23

i also love this place. i took two friends last night and they too now love alegrias. we had three tapas and shared a paella. everything was great. i've gone in the past and had a couple more tapas without the paella. my favorites are the spinich, goat cheese, empanadas, and prawns. i'm usually stuffed but somehow manage to share a dessert. the flaming apple crepe and orange flan are awsome. anyway, the food has tons of flavor, but not overly cooked or soaked in oil. the sangria is the best i've had and my sister-in-law dreams about it.

08/21/06

Authentic Spanish Food

by fene

I love this place. I've never been disappointed with the food. I love the tortilla and the prawns sauteed with wine and garlic. I would really recommend the paella valenciana with the chorizo. It is really delicious. I also love the sangria. The service is always really warm and freindly. I have recommended Alegrias to all of my friends. Its one of my favorite restaurants.

08/01/06

Overpriced and Inconsistent Spanish food

by whackattack

I was disappointed at this place, the ambience and the service were great, but unfortunately the quality of the Spanish food here is inconsistent, first of all, the menu is a bit limited, I was in a party of 5, and we pretty much ordered every single tapa worth ordering, each tapa is close to $10, the portions are very small for what you pay, so not only does this place receive low scores for value, but there is definitely no reason to return because Ive tried everything, do not order the patatas bravas, they were nothing like how they are supposed to be, they were more like potatoes OBrien with a mild marinara sauce, the potatoes were diced too small and tasted frozen and preprocessed, patatas bravas are supposed to be cut tetrahedrally in bigger chunks rather than cubed very small like hash browns, the sauce is supposed to be a thicker hot sauce, not a watery and bland marinara-like pasta sauce, the sauteed mushrooms tasted fine except for the miniscule portions, the mussels were fine except the mussels were thumbnail size, the garlic shrimp tasted fine except for the small portions and the small size of the shrimp, the croquettes tasted fine except we had to split 4 croquettes between 5 people, do not order the pork skewers, the meat was way overcooked and spread over another unappetizing serving of patatas bravas, a less common tapa was the bell peppers stuffed with lamb, this was good but again you really cannot get full on the stuff, the tortilla espanola was good and included adequate portions, the cold sausage platter was nothing special, the paella had sufficient substance but was a bit salty, expect to spend close to $30/person, we did not even order wine, the sangria was decent but costs $20/pitcher and yields 7 small glasses, I would not recommend this place, if you must go here, get a tortilla espanola, one of the paellas, or try one of the entrees, the tapas here are really not worth spending your money on, this place receives a C rating

• Pros: The paella, while not the best, is much better than Picaro's or Baraka.
• Cons: While some tapas taste fine, the portions and seafood sizes are unacceptable.

04/23/06

Very authentic!

by mendezcarmen

We celebrated a birthday party here tonight and everything was wonderful--a great venue for a group dinner. The service was very attentive and the food was authentic. Some of the dishes even rivaled my Spanish mother's specialities!