Tres Gatos

Great food. Service was a little hit and miss in attentiveness, but staff was very friendly. Good vibe too.

A decent tapas place. We came here on a Friday night without reservations and luckily got a table for two on the patio although they take reservations too. The inside seemed crowded.
We ordered the following
— a cheese called robiola (I think), decent cheese but didn’t really like the garlic jam it came with. Plus they forgot it until the end of the meal.
— Spanish tortilla — decent, typical
— burrata — the best dish of the night, came in this awesome sauce with their delicious bread
— chickpea fritters — overall grew on me, slightly bland but tasted good with the burrata sauce
— lentils — decent but not amazing, grew on me as the farm egg soaked in
— Black Sea bass — weakest link, fish cooked decently but bland, shaved fennel on top wasn’t good
Overall a good experience although I’ve had better tapas. Seems like a casual place. My friend who has been here before says she’s had better dishes before.

My wife and I decided to leave the comforts of Beacon Hill and explore what Jamaica Plain has to offer. We stumbled upon Tres Gatos and what a treat is was! Billy was our server and he could not have been more kind. I felt like I walked into Billy’s house and he was hosting us for dinner! His explanations of the wines, sherry and ports were so spot on that I felt like I was in Napa. I can’t wait to come back and explore the record and book store in the back! They even let you bring drinks back there! When can I move to JP?!

We really liked this place! Seated immediately with a reservation. Quaint atmosphere, delicious food.
We ordered a few tapas, drinks, and dessert and it was just right. Try the octopus and churros!
We’ll be back.

I mean. It’s good. Like really good. Who doesn’t love a good warm olive? Or a Benedict with purple sauce? I want to be a millionaire so I can afford tapas more often.

Trendy tapas bar & restaurant bar with a record/​bookstore in the back. You can drink while you shop. Staff is really friendly and all have the JP hipster vibe. Food is excellent though. I like the olives for an appetizer and choose a few tapas for the main course. Both the octopus and the pollo are amazing. Good local beers on tap and in bottles. Spanish wine list is robust and you’ll find something you like. But just know that it’s small and the kitchen doesn’t open for dinner until 5:30PM. Must try! Also I heard the brunch is great too but have yet to go.

Been here twice. The food is amazing and the drinks are perfect!
It was a bit of a wait but anything good during prime dinner time is.
The only thing that made me give it four stars instead of five was that they changed the lamb burger sliders to beef. Don’t get me wrong: the beef is good.
But the lamb rocked!

Love Tres Gatos.
I’ve been here for dinner and brunch so far and service and food has been nothing but exceptional. The last time I went for dinner I did a drop-​in seating and the wait was about 30−45min. There’s not much to do in the area except to go across the street to CVS and browse while you wait. Never fear! Tres Gatos has a small book store in the back where you can kill time. How smart and trendy is that? Free 2 hour parking /​meters is pretty easy to find on the main street. You can also try one of the side streets.
Because dinner was packed the last time I went I decided to make a reservation for Saturday morning brunch at 10am. It was empty when we went. They have a cute outdoor patio seating that’s enclosed by a fence. We opted to stay inside since we were allergy prone. The table was a bit small but cozy for the four of us. The interior of the restaurant has a mix of high top and regular tables. Everything surrounds the bar (with seating) in the center.
To make it a boozy brunch I ordered a grapefruit mimosa. Nothing really different from your average mimosa but still yum! For my meal I ordered the Tortilla Española ($ 8). This was really delicious and $ 8 is such a great price! This is basically a Spanish omelette. It comes in a slice on a small plate and is made of yukon potato, eggs, and pimenton aioli. The pimenton aioli tasted like paprika and gave it some nice heat — not too spicy.
Our waitress was great! Unfortunately, I forgot her name :(. She checked in frequently and helped take a group photo for us (if you’re reading this — «No pressure!!!»).

We made reservations and came here for brunch (they open at 10am). Parking was pretty easy — there is parking on the main street outside the school and on a side street right next to the restaurant.
It’s a very cute location! They have a few tables outside for outdoor seating (my new allergies this year could not do that at all), but we sat inside. The seating in the front room is mostly tall tables along with a bar area, there’s also a back area where there’s a bookstore/​gift shop. I loved the set up and décor!
We had a very friendly server who was attentive and patient (well, we were the only ones inside so early but she was great nonetheless). We started off with coffees (I had tea) and grapefruit mimosas (I had a regular mimosa). They were pretty good! Hot drinks can be refilled for free even though they don’t provide pitchers for caffeine addicts. Mimosas were tasty but very small.
For food, I ordered the creamy scrambled egg (toast with very creamy eggs mixed with broccoli), while my friends got a beef and egg brunch slider (don’t remember the actual name of the dish) and the tortilla espanola (most popular and most interesting dish — breakfast cheesecake?). Everything was actually really good! Mine had a good portion of broccoli and it was certainly creamy (if you don’t like that texture, don’t get it). My friends enjoyed their tasty dishes as well. All the dishes looked pretty small when they came out but we were full by the end of our meal.
Prices were on par with any nice brunch place (sort of pricey). They are also a tapa place in the evenings. I think I would come here again!

By far my FAVORITE restaurant in Boston. Exceptional menu and service and in the trendy Jamaica Plains. This used to be a record shop but the front space was sold to create this restaurant. There is still a record shop in the bake along with a book store that you can peruse as you wait for your food. We try to come here every time we are in Boston. Almost worth driving 3 hours to Boston just to eat here. The «pinchas» are ALL delicious. All of them. I try something new every time we are here and I have never tasted anything average. Cozy cozy atmosphere great for a romantic date.

Cozy tapas place. A bit pricey but worth it.
Try the churros

This is one of my favorite restaurants.
Food is always prepared with care and the menu changes frequently. I love the open kitchen, being able to see the chemistry between the chefs is a treat.
Our go to dish is the hanger steak; the last time I ate there it was served with sun chokes and a black truffle vinaigrette. Sun chokes and steak were cooked perfectly and the black truffle vinaigrette imparted a rich and earthy quality to the dish.
The bar is small but well appointed with homemade syrups and a variety of options.
My first trip there the bartender, Ginny, made me an egg flip manhattan which was as enjoyable to drink as it was to watch her construct.
Perfect spot for a date or to try some new food and drink.
Easy to miss from the street, do yourself a favor and don’t.

Came here the other day and loved it. I walked in and immediately loved the atmosphere of the restaurant — super homey!
Keep in mind that these dishes are small, so we ordered a bunch to share between two people. Their menu conveniently places the smaller dishes at the top and the larger ones towards the bottom, which was nice. We ordered the avocado toast (was sad to see that we only got 1 small piece of toast and it was $ 7), marcona almonds (small dish of almonds), gambas (4 shrimps), creamy scrambled eggs (normal dish of scrambled eggs with toast), and patatas bravas (normal dish of potatoes with sauces). I love salty foods, but I did think the food was a little bit too salty — that would probably be my only complaint. I really loved everything that we ordered and I would definitely come back to try some more of their foods.
Overall, everything was delicious, but it was definitely more pricey than I expected for the portions.

I need to start off by saying i am superrrr picky, but i think many will like the food. I was a little disappointed they removed the steak and eggs from brunch (as it is a brunch staple) but i ordered the in home porkchop which was pretty good. The mimosa was average taste but a little pricey (11 $ for one). You have to get the patatas bravas! So good although a little burnt. Oh and FYI they have no ketchup! My friend ordered the beef bocadillo, and even though the beef was a little pink in the middle she said it was AMAZING! The place is kinda small but very homey, I totally recommend!

I am not a fan of tapas BUT they are so good here! Had a sweet potato pancake that tasted amazing and a nicely refreshing drink made with grilled orange orange juice. I know that sounds like it should be a typo but the orange was grilled and my drink delicious so I am not questioning the grilling of the orange. Also cool and unique there is a record and book store in the back so for my nerd friend and I, this was a pretty cool choice for brunch. My friend had the avocado toast which he enjoyed and had the nice (and cute) bartender make a drink to his taste since he didn’t see any on the menu that caught his attention (i did see a few options but to each their own). All in all we were both happy with our food and our drinks.

I came to Tres Gatos on a weekend night with a party of 4, and no reservation. I expected a significant wait. I didn’t expect a scoff and «You don’t have a reservation?» like it was the most preposterous thing the hostess had ever heard.
After being seated, we ordered cocktails. Of all the drinks, sadly only one of us liked our drink. We ordered a few tapas and were not impressed. Even with their small size, we didn’t even want to finish them. The 2 stars is for the waiter, who was overall friendly, though sometimes missing. Not impressed and surprised by the overall 4-​star rating.

I love everything about this place.
First the name
The logo
The food
The record/​bookstore in the back
Only came here from Brunch (parking was easy) but looking forward to a dinner.
Eggs benny — great choice, pricier than most places but great option
Avocado toast– can anything really go wrong with this?
Patatas bravos — a must!
Buttomless coffee

if it looks like a house, it’s because it is. and it does many things. it’s a tapas bar. it sells records. the bathroom is in the record store. i think there’s another one, too, somewhere. they’re connected. you can browse records while you wait to be seated. i’d place my bets on the record store running the music for the restaurant.
and i’m all for the hybrid stores a la providence, where you can easily get food, watch a band, watch a movie, get some drinks, all in the same joint. adds to the vibe!
the restaurant portion is very small. it almost looks like there aren’t many more tables than what the bar accommodates. not that being at the bar is a bad thing. you get to talk to the waiter/​bartender, who might be able to offer inside scoop.
and sure, maybe it’s been a long night or something but the waiter accidentally orders you a tortilla espanola. oh, you didn’t order it? no worries! it’s on the house! nice!
the waitstaff is very sweet. i don’t think they really speak spanish, but i imagine that’s neither here nor there. i’m guessing the vibe isn’t to be a true out-​of-​spain tapas place as much as small portions of interestingly themed food that may or may not have a spanish underpinning.
what about the food? i hear that the pincho (smaller than tapas portion) of deviled eggs for $ 5 consists of one egg. it is a very expensive deviled egg. maybe it comes from the place’s own private chicken. i hope it’s very good. we didn’t order it, but it does sit on the menu.
the chicken liver toast as recommended by the waiter was indeed tasty, with a nice balance between the savory and sweet — kumquats aren’t that sweet to begin with, so i approve of the gesture. the toast was toasty.
we ordered a version of the patatas (potatoes) that doesn’t sit on their online menu, and since my memory fails me, i cannot remember its name. i think the menu spoke of the dish as roasted potatoes with a vanilla/​coffee sauce (i could be way off. forgive me). either way, probably part of the reason that i don’t completely remember is that it was unremarkable, and too sweet for otherwise middle-​of-​the-​road potatoes. sugary potatoes. have you had them? (maybe in the form of potato chips? other roads the potatoes travel, and not entirely related). they were edible, just not half as good as our not-​ordered-​but-​quite good tortilla espanola, which was a substantial slice that almost resembled a hunk of meat, casserole-​style. potatoes done nicely. hooray!
what else. the lamb bocadillo arrived late, and we were pretty full by then. what the menu doesn’t completely tell you is that it’s a mini lamb burger, about medium, on a bun, which i guess they make in house. it was recommended. middle of the road. otherwise unremarkable.
the place’s take on vegetarian paella causes me to raise an eyebrow — that said, you can imagine that in a restaurant that seems to cater better to a new american (read as: takes liberty with fusion when it feels like it) vibe — we’re stretching the definition of paella here, but it could still be tasty. not sure. we didn’t order it, so the quality remains in question.
but the meat/​seafood paella was well worth the 30 minute wait (aka 45+ minute, because the place was packed and the server kindly reminded us of this when we were seated, which was a nice gesture). perfectly al dente rice, a nice array of mussels and shrimp (head-​on. just saying). very substantial, as the waiter had noted — i imagine that we probably could’ve shaved off one or two tapas and had a half-​size of the paella and would’ve still been nicely satisfied. as it stood, we had leftovers. not a bad thing!
versus solea in waltham, which i imagine bills itself as a traditional tapas joint (mixed results on the execution of their dishes, with some shining and some shruggable), the paella was actually tasty.
and the cocktails were also tasty.
i’m not sure where the two dollar signs on this restaurant come from. i’d easily bump that up to at least 3. tapas aren’t cheap, and we had a pretty substantial bill. all in all, well worth the experience, but not a daily doing for sure, at least not for yours truly, so as not to burn a hole through her wallet.
four stars for overall quality, kindness of staff, good restaurant vibe. i have yet to land on a five star tapas place in boston. traditional or otherwise. i imagine it’s somewhere. to be continued.

It’s so close to our apartment so we would like to take a dinner at winter night. Valenciana paella is great, a little salty but still good. I love chicken liver toast and lamb bocadillo.

This is not my first time at Tres Gatos and it certainly won’t by my last time here. I really love coming back here and what I love is that their menu has been a bit different but some of their staples have still remained. Of course the patats bravas were delicious and remain on the menu year after year. It’s such a classic tapas dish and is very well executed here. In addition to that dish some highlights of my meal here was the lentils which I wish I had the recipe to. The lentils were so satisfying and perfect for a cold winter night– it even had melted cheese in it. The bone marrow dish was also great, I just wish I had more bread to spread that buttery bone marrow goodness. The wait staff was great and the ambiance here is just so cool. This is a must go in JP!

A very welcome addition to JP.
GOOD — This place has come a long way. Portions have balanced out with the prices, and the quality is very good (When first opened, you were easily looking at $ 150 for a 2person dinner w/​entry priced wine)
BAD — Brunch is very good, but I don’t love the change-​up on my favorite dish… the fennel sausage stuffed pancakes were PERFECT!!! By Zeus’s mighty, thunder clapping nutsack, why did you guys switch to chorizo!!! CHANGE IT BACK!!!
SAD — They used to give you sinfully generous portions of Iberico… no longer.
REQUEST — Do something to improve those ridiculous monkey-​perch high-​top seats along the wall. Eating at this location is akin to a contortion act.

We had a yummy Sunday brunch– chorizo and cheese plate, tortilla espanola, patatas bravas, chicken liver plate and sweet potato pancakes. All the sauces were great. I loved the sweet potato pancakes :) Everything was delicious and service was good. I appreciate the hospitality fee for back of the kitchen workers.
The only bad thing was we had to wait 45 minutes for a table when we were told it would be 10 – 15 minutes!

I love that you go here and the food is always a little different from the last time, but with one or two of your old favorites (‘sup, tortilla espanola, how YOU doin’?). The staff is lovely and doesn’t blink an eye when you show up with an infant in a car seat and swear he’ll fall asleep.
I went here 9 months pregnant, came back with an infant, then returned again with a toddler (to eat outside, where his mess would be less shameful to us). I’m not saying it’s a kid-​friendly place — I wouldn’t eat inside with a young kid, for sure — but that they are very European about it: Kids exist, and they shouldn’t mean that parents can’t eat a goddamn good meal anymore.
Totally in our arsenal of favorites — and a place we love to bring out of towners to, so they can see that even our little neighborhood restaurant will knock their socks off.

Tres Gatitos
Lalalalalalove this place!
A bit on the smaller side and hard if you want to gather a large group for a Spanish night out. I would definitely recommend to come with only one or two people. Due to the size, I would arrive before you are starving and dying for a glass of sangria because you will probably have to wait.
The device was superb. The owner, host, and waiter were beyond attentive upon arrival until we were the last to leave the restaurant. They made me feel beyond welcomed.
I ordered the white sangria, exquisite. My friend and I ordered:
–gambas: you have to get these! The shrimp is grilled and placed on a zesty cilantro sauce
–patatas: golden, crispy potatoes with salsa on the side and mayo I believe
–Turkish dumplings: these were my favorite because of the amazing flavor in the filling! They are topped with quinoa and cilantro, and sit on a lemon zest
–tortilla española: traditional egg and potato slice of tortilla, not too try and very flavorful
–small marinated fish: not my favorite, too marinated and fishy for my liking (I love seafood)
Make sure to check out the back of the establishment, they have a record nook, genius.
This was my first time here and it won’t be my last. I no longer have to go to Spain for authentic tapas, this is one satisfied customer

As other Unilocalers have noted, the food here was excellent! The service I received at the bar was great. Instead of posting long drawn out reviews, here are some tips.
1) Highly recommend making a reservation if you can’t get here when it first opens — the restaurant starts to get packed around 6:45 PM
2) True to Spanish tapas — the plates here are small, don’t come here expecting large portions. The paella will take about 30 minutes to prepare/​cook, so if you aren’t used to a 2 – 3 hours dinner experience much like the rest of Europe, order this right away.