Bar Pintxo

01/17/09

A nice, tasty deviation from the norm. But only once in awhile due to the price

by butthugger at Citysearch

Some coworkers and I went there this past Tues. night. I'd passed by on many occasions and have been meaning to go in for quite some time. Anyways it was a tapas place so I was semi prepared mentally to pay a lot for not a lot of food. My only reservation, which was why it probably took me so long to go, was whether or not the food would be good. Here in LA, great reviews of horrible tasting food are a dime a dozen. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised that the food wasn't bad, not bad at all. We had multiples usually of everything we ordered. the best ones we had were: the bacon wrapped dates stuffed with cheese, the ham with leeks, dungeness crab wrapped with salmon, the jamon 18 month aged plate, as well as 3 other versions of 24 month aged ham/jamon. Probably the tastiest were the different variations of the ham servings. We also had 2 bottles of the Prima red wine. Nice and full bodied without being overpowering or ruining the taste of the food. We also had 2 other non noteworthy wines

Now on to the negatives. First and foremost they have some of the most uncomfortable wooden stools ever! The edge of the stool cut into the back of my thighs so much that I still have pain/bruises there 4 days later. i didn't think I was a fatty but maybe I am?! Service was a little slow, especially considering the dining room was 15ft by 12ft. I would agree with the previous reviewer concerning the serving of bread with the tapas. The bread seemed to take away from the flavor and was a head scratcher for most everyone. And of course, even though I know it's supposed to be small plates, it's tapas! Don't go hungry, or else you'll spend a lot of money. Those 4-9 dollar plates will definitely start adding up really quickly: for 6 of us the total came out to over $450.

• Pros: Good, tasty change of pace from the norm. Go ham!
• Cons: Painful seating, service is so-so, don't go hungry, and bread? seriously, bread?!

01/12/09

Great tapas, good service!

by ccmbgrl at Citysearch

I'm surprised to read so many bad reviews here. I went last Friday with my boyfriend and we had a great experience. We walked in at the right time and got 2 seats at the bar right away. The place was packed and atmosphere was very nice. We sat in front of the pig leg, which was weird for a minute, but then I got over it...after all, that really is how they display meats in Spain! As for the person who said it was sneezing distance...well then just don't sneeze on it and it will be fine! Anyway, our server was great, fast and very knowledgeable. The owner Joe was behind the bar helping and was very friendly. We got several things... The dates wrapped in bacon with the cabralas cheese was very good as was the croquetas de pollo (fried, creamy and fattening, but very good!) along with a variety of other things. I will definitely go back!

11/30/08

If this is good tapas, I rather be gored by the bul.

by lambwofur at Citysearch

My wife and I have been hooked on tapas since our trip to Spain in 97. But a good unpretentious tapas place in LA is hard to come by. We went to this place when it was first reviewed by LA Time and was giving flying colors. Now, maybe some one can clear this up for me. In Madrid and Andalucia, I never encountered tapas on top of the bread. I just returned from Barcelona, since the last time I was there, there were non of this open sandwich thing, But it seemed to be everywhere now. My feeling is maybe food prices start to climb once Spain is on par with the rest of the European Union, they started adding the bread to make the customers feel fuller? Supposedly this is the style that inspired the chef at Bar Pintxo. Anyway, on my visit, we arrived at the restaurant and was told we only had 40 min. to eat since they were hosting a private event. No problem for us, it's tapas, right? Seated at the bar. At that time, to appear authentic, they wrote the menu in Espa?ol. Sure, I speak some Castellano, and ordered them in Spanish. It was a joke. Our order of olive (acentuna or olivas, depending on which part of Spain you are in) became open face canned tuna sandwich. Or order of Jamon Ibirico plate was two skimpy strips of Jamon on bread. Frankly, I can do better and more authentic tapas at home. The waitress kept rushing us, eventhough we were eventually out of the place 10 min before their private event. The whole time we were sitting there, the three chefs behind the counter did not once greet us, or even looked us in the eyes!

A few weeks later, I was at the Spanish Market "La Espa?ola", I told the se?ora my disappointment with the place, she seems to like Joe the owner quite a bit and was defending him. I actually had tapas at Joe's Venice joint. It is much better, in my opinion. But to have authentic tapas in LA. Unfortunately, you have to drive to Claremont. Also, my last review on this place was rejected by Citysearch 3 times.....

• Pros: Good place for pretentious people.
• Cons: Again, gore me please, if this is good tapas.