Tapeo

This place is closed now. Good. Didn’t like it. The same owner opened up some steak/​burger place there. Have not tried it yet.

Not particularly fond of this place. I lived in Spain for a year and was dissatisfied with the «tapas» served here. They were either too greasy or dry. The one dish that I enjoyed (Pizza Tapeo – not tapas, but was pretty good) has been removed from the menu. Sure, the décor is nice, but the food was very lackluster and didn’t taste anywhere near authentic. I don’t think I’ll be back for a return visit.

How have I not written a review on this restaurant yet? I have eaten here 4 times already and I don’t even live that close! Ok, each time has been lunch and I have ordered their seafood soup twice. For a place to eat in Pentagon City that is reasonably priced and tasty, Tapeo is the place. Also, they offer spicy olives and bread at each table… I do agree with another reviewer that a bit of olive oil to dip the bread in would go a long way. Oh and the mussels are pretty tasty. Only reason I am not giving it 5 stars is that the seafood soup is not completely consistant — chef on Sunday is different? Not sure.

(Background info: I studied abroad in a suburb of Madrid for a semester, so I certainly know my tapas. I’m big about authenticity when it comes to tapas, so I typically try to order things that sound more authentic from tapas menus.)
It was a stunningly beautiful day, so my friend Jack and I sat in the outside patio area. After some debating, Jack and I decided on five tapas: croquetas de pollo (chicken croquettes), patatas bravas (fried potatoes w/​a spicy tomato sauce;), pollo al ajillo (chicken in a garlic sauce, typically), puntos de solomillo (pieces of tenderloin in a garlic and white wine reduction), and flautas (everyone knows what a flauta is, and it is hardly a Spanish tapa, but we got an order of beef flautas anyway).
While we were deciding what to order, our waitress dropped off a basket of bread paired w/​a ramekin of olives. The bread was lovely. My Spanish mother bought a fresh baguette every day, so I was quickly spoiled by amazingly crunchy, fresh, tasty bread on a daily basis. A cruet of olive oil – or even a little ramekin of it – would have been a welcome addition to the bread basket.
About 20 min. after ordering, four of our five tapas came out. The first dish I tried was the pollo al ajillo. Pollo al ajillo isn’t a tapa in Spain; gambas/​camarones (prawns/​shrimp) en ajillo is. And even so, in Spain they don’t throw cream into the sauce, and saffron is usually left out, reserved mostly for paella. The dish was a bright yellow color thanks to the threads of saffron. At first taste, the sauce was pretty nice. It wasn’t overly heavy and it didn’t have too much garlic in it. After tasting the other tapas, though, this dish seemed to lack taste. Going back to it after having eaten something else, the chicken seemed to lack flavor – most notably, the garlic that makes up the «ajillo» in the dish’s name. Jack’s verdict on the chicken? Dry.
Patatas bravas in Spain are awesome. They’re hunks of potatoes fried until tender in the center and crisp on the outside, and topped w/​a spicy, slightly chunky tomato sauce. The patatas bravas at Tapeo weren’t crisp, but were rather tender from the outside all the way into the middle. The sauce on the potatoes was slightly chunky and had a nice garlicky and oniony flavor, so that was a plus. But without crunchy fried potatoes, this dish isn’t a winner. Jack’s verdict? Meh.
Jack and I agreed that the puntos de solomillo were the standout of the dishes we ordered. We didn’t actually get puntos, though. Instead, the dish consisted of two medium-​sized slices of beef that had to be cut w/​a fork and knife (no steak knives on the table, mind you). The beef was mostly tender, but it wasn’t so easy to cut w/​a semi-​serrated butter knife. The wine sauce was lovely, however, and I even used some bread to soak up every last bit of it.
Even before tasting the croquetas, I knew they were going to be hit or miss. My Spanish mother, Felisa, made THE MOST INCREDIBLE croquetas. Tapeo’s croquetas had some sort of ingredient that just didn’t belong. It was acidic (maybe lemon juice), which is hardly what croquetas need. I don’t think any restaurant’s croquetas will live up to Felisa’s. Jack’s verdict? Meh. (Notice a trend?) He said the breading on the outside was too thick.
Our last «tapa» was flautas, which is not really a tapa at all. The flautas were positioned around a mound of shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, guac, and sour cream. These flautas were too overdone for me, and I’m the type of person who likes things crispier rather than soggier. Anyway, the tortilla was a little too well-​done, and the beef that hung out the ends was fried into burned, hard oblivion. Jack said the flavor of the flautas was good.
Service at the restaurant was pretty attentive. Our water glasses were refilled at least two or three times. A number of people waited on us, meaning we had a team of servers instead of one person doing all the work. No one was overly friendly – expect for a lady on our way out. As we were leaving, she stopped us and said something like, «Thanks for coming! We hope to see you again.» It was unexpected and a little awkward – but, at the same time, very genuine.
Jack and I didn’t finish everything; there were leftovers of a few tapas. We didn’t get them to go, as they weren’t substantial enough to merit it. When we got the bill, Jack said, «Wow, that’s very reasonable.» Our total was $ 26, including tax. No, we didn’t eat dessert or get any drinks, but we did get a variety of dishes. The al fresco dining and people-​watching were also a lot more fun than sitting inside, although the seats and booths looked comfy.
Overall verdict on Tapeo? Well, I prefer La Tasca. I wouldn’t go back to Jaleo… unless Jack told me I had to.

Tapeo is okay — I only liked the croquetas.

I dined here with a coworker awhile back and we caught up over some fine dinner with drinks and food.
First, the other Unilocalers are spot on with the mojitos — they’re excellent. I didn’t bother trying the sangria, but that rum packs a punch.
I took Jenelle W.‘s advice on the patatas bravas, and I will agree that they were probably my favorite dish there. I also really enjoyed the lamb chops. There’s nothing that we ordered that wasn’t both 1) tasty and 2) presented well. Extra bonus points for the red wine pear dessert dish served with ice cream.
The service was a little bit meh, with our waitress randomly wandering off so that it sometimes became challenging to put in a follow-​up order for another round of tapas. Maybe this lends a little bit to the European vibe; you definitely can’t say that this is a place that sits you down, feeds you, then shoves you out the door. We chilled out after we had finished eating to allow our livers some time to process alcohol and watch the show.
What show? Inadvertently, we ended up sitting right next to the wooden board that’s used as a stage for flamenco (at least, that’s what we assumed it was) dancing! How cool was it to have front row seats to the spectacle? There was a lone guitarist strumming along, and a pair of dancers who really put on a fantastic exhibit of sweaty, whirling, Latin promenade.

Every since my wife and I left California we have been searching for a tapas bar that can compare to our favorite one in San Francisco, Ramblas. We checked out a few recommended places and had come up frustrated every time until we stumbled upon this little known gem after leaving the Pentagon City mall.
The sangria and mojitos were great.
I haven’t had Patatas Bravas that good in a couple of years. The Chorizo a la Parrilla was also big hit with the both of us.
The food and drink gives this place a very strong 4 stars but the price is what pushes over the top to a 5. The prices are very reasonable for the food that you get unlike what you would find at other well known Tapas Bars in the area.

I went to this restaurant the other night with a friend. I think this place is spanking brand new because I had never seen it prior to a few weeks ago, and after tasting how good the food is, it would be the only explanation for why the place was so empty.
First off, drinks — my sangia was just okay, but my friend liked her mojito.
Then we shared some tapas:
Bacalao Pil-​pil — this was sooooo good. this is a cod fish in a cheesy tomato sauce. it turned out to be fantastic. After the fish was gone, we were still lapping up the sauce with the bread.
Mahi-​mahi with lemon and ginger — this was really good too.
Fried calamari — this was also good, the sauce wasn’t so hot. so we used the sauce from the bacalao pil-​pil as a dipping sauce instead.
Patatas Bravas — I could have had 3 plates of these potatoes, they were so good.
I was worried we weren’t going to have enough food, but we both left out of there full.
I WILL be back! The food was great AND the restuarant is right next to DSW shoe store. Can’t beat that.