Jaleo

My fiancé and I went to grab a bite at Jaleo to nurse our wounds after a thorough beating at the blackjack table. This place had a nice ambiance and the sangria was spot on — light, fruity, and a plenty. The staff was also friendly but eek! Those were the only good things about this place.
Way to add insult to injury by making everything SUPER SALTY! This is some kind of ironic Vegas joke to put (actual) salt on our wounds, our bellies, and gouging us.
Items that were ordered with their online menu descriptions (5 total):
1. Chistorra envuelta en patata frita «Slightly spicy chorizo wrapped in crispy potato»: chorizo was underwhelming. Presentation looked like a tiny hot dog wrapped in a greasy potato chip. Probably didn’t help also that it was served in a mini fry basket. I had to have my fiancé eat the rest.
2. Gambas al ajillo «The very, very famous tpaa of shrimp sautéed with garlic»: Wow. I don’t know why they put an emphasis on «very». That must mean that it’s very very good right? Wrong. It was just okay. Each shrimp got progressively saltier. They provided a cute bread loaf with the dish, but I didn’t want to dip it in the greasy juice. That should have been our first warning sign. Also — please spell «tapa» right on your website, Jaleo.
3. Arroz con costillas de cerdo ibérico de bellota «Made with the ribs of the legendary, black-​footed ibérico de bellota pigs of Spain»: these legendary pigs from Spain must have been raised in a tight space and didn’t eat much. They were 95% all fat and bone. Mushrooms were decent, but over salted. This paella was probably not the worst dish of the night, so we ended up eating most of it.
I’m not going to get into too much detail on the last two dishes: mushrooms with creamy sauce and a lentil dish with pork (not located on their website… coincidence — I think not!) because we sent those 2 back. They were incredibly salty and surpassed the threshold of the benefit of the doubt — yes we turned into those people! The wait staff was apologetic and tried to offer us free dessert; they even told us these two dishes have had mixed reviews in the past. I’ll give them credit for at least being honest and accommodating.
3 salty meals and 1 half carafe of sangria later, we paid $ 110.17 including tip. These are good buffet prices people! I’d rather try my luck at the tables.

CONCEPT: Jaleo is the Vegas outpost of José Andres’ flagship restaurant, which was one of the first critically and commercially successful tapas restaurants in the country. Eating at a José Andres restaurant can be quite a treat because he is often credited for increasing the awareness and appreciation for Spanish cuisine in America. I was spending NYE with the family and seeing that they loved the tapas at Aria’s Julian Serrano, this would be similar to what they had there.
VENUE: Located in the 2^nd floor «restaurant row» inside the Cosmopolitan. They try to take advantage of their real estate by packing as many people as they can inside the restaurant — not much space for diners in the tables and little table space to spread out a tapas spread. Even é has more space for fellow diners! Like many other communal dining spaces the restaurant noise level is loud throughout.
SERVICE: We had good service when it was time for place orders but probably in an intentional way to space out between plates the lighter tapas get served more quickly than the heavier tapas. It’s at least a 45 minute wait for paella.
TAPAS
— Crystal Bread with Fresh Tomato ($ 12). Think of a bruschetta using a dough with lots of air pockets inside. The olive oil and fresh tomato whet my appetite for the upcoming dishes. One of their most popular tapas.
— Cono de atun ($ 5/​cone). All of us got the salmon cone. It is very similar to a salmon tartare cone I had at TFL except using salmon roe eggs. Entire family devoured our cones in two bites. We refrained from ordering another round because we didn’t want to get too full just on cones.
— Piquillo peppers stuffed with Caña de Cabra goat cheese ($ 10). Delicious as the description states. The cheese was slightly salty to flavor the peppers.
— Patatas Bravas ($ 10). They were generous with the thick fingerling potatoes. Potatoes were on the tough side. Their interpretation of brava sauce tastes like a lot of other Spanish restaurants. My family liked Julian Serrano’s interpretation more as their potatoes are more crispy.
— Gambas al ajillo (Garlic Shrimp, $ 16). One of their most popular tapas, the shrimps are heavily soaked in olive oil with a chili pepper added. Shrimps were big and full of garlic and olive oil. A small baguette was provided to soak the extra olive oil.
— Rack of lamb with parsley oil ($ 22). Thick rack of lamb portions that were moist due to the parsley oil. Meat was less lean than other rack of lamb dishes.
–Chuleta asada ($ 72). Grass-​fed bone-​in ribeye. Cooked medium rare and brushed with sea salt and rosemary. Meat-​to-​fat portion was equal. Flavorful and tender but you can get better quality meat at steakhouses for the price. I LOVE the olive oil potato purée as its one of the best interpretations of mash potatoes I’ve tried — so creamy and fluffy.
— Shrimp and Calamari Paella ($ 28/​person, 2 person minimum)
Two paellas are made daily from rotating pans cooked over a wood fire. When a paella is finished cooking, sounds of a bell ringing and people shouting «PAELLA!» can be heard all over the restaurant (except for the é area). Entire paella pots for six guests can be made to order.
Most paella dishes end up actually being disappointing — the rice was very salty and somewhat hard and it cooled off rather quickly. Shrimps were big but were overcooked.
— Homemade flan with espuma (foam) Catalan crème ($ 12). Based on Jose’s mother’s recipe Marisa, it is a custard-​forward flan using a foamed Catalan crème and oranges. The orange sorbet and sliced oranges provide a sharp contrast and complement the rich and creamy custard.
My family still likes Julian Serrano but I’ll be a rebel and call Jaleo my preferred tapas place in Vegas. PS: Earlier that year I also got to try their more exclusive experience, located at the back of Jaleo (
). I can readily recommend both experiences for a fun night out in Vegas.

I’m surprised at the low ratings here, as my husband and I found Jaleo to be delightfully delicious after ordering a decent sampling of different dishes.
We came in a little early, around 4:30 so the place wasn’t hopping quite yet for dinner. After our flight and check-​in to our hotel, and then getting over to the Cosmopolitan, (which is beautiful by the way) we were ready to eat. We used Open Table for our reservation, as we weren’t sure what to expect. They’re on the conference floor of the Cosmopolitan, and the restaurant is big and open. I wasn’t expecting such an open and airy space. They had high tables in the main space, as well as a space off to the right with I believe a mix of lower and higher tables, as well as high bar seating, and then actual bar seating along the wall of the main space. At the back of the main space was a huge open kitchen with a fire pit where they make their paellas and that was so cool to watch.
We both ordered teas, although their drinks looked amazing. The menu is so big and comprehensive with big descriptions that it takes a little while to pick out a small handful of items to order, especially if you’re trying to coordinate with another person. Our waitress, Morgan, was more than accommodating as we read our novel menus and picked out our tapas. We decided on the following:
Lomo Bellota: We started with the Smoke-​cured, acorn-​fed pork loin. It was thinly sliced, nicely presented and had a lot of great flavors, we enjoyed it.
Gambas al Ajillo: This was my husband’s choice — shrimp in a garlic sauce. It was actually a tomato garlic sauce, and came with a cute, miniature piece of baguette, he liked it.
Paella de Pollo: The chicken and wild mushroom paella was by far our favorite dish of the evening. While filling, and a decent portion, we ate the whole thing. It was flavorful, buttery, and just incredible. The best thing we had, hands down.
Piquillos Tolosa: These were thinly sliced red peppers with sauce — they were fantastic. Soft, yet firm enough to pick up with a fork. They weren’t spicy at all, and had a subtle sweet flavor. These were our second favorite of all that we ordered.
Coliflor: This was roasted cauliflower with green olives and dates. We weren’t crazy about this dish, and felt it was an odd combination. The sweet with the cauliflower and the tang of the olives was a little too bizarre for us.
Atun con Ajonjol: My husband ended with the sesame crusted seared tuna and said that the tuna was over seared and tasted a little old, but over all the dish was ok.
I’m giving Jaleo four stars. We really liked the tapas experience and the restaurant was clean and pretty. Our waitress was super attentive and really nice, and took the time to explain everything to us. The paella is worth two stars on its own, we loved it so much. I’m leaving off that last star due to the Coliflor and the Atun con Ajonjol that could have been better, and we felt that everything was a little pricey. Otherwise though, this was a stellar experience that has us thinking about doing tapas again. Thanks!

Super feines Tapas und Paela Restaurant.
Es gibt eine sehr grosse Auswahl an Tapas welche jedoch durch ein Menu vereinfacht wird. Das Menu beinhaltet 10 Gänge und ist sehr zu empfehlen.
Man kann den Köchen direkt beim Kochen zuschauen, was schon für sich sehr spannend ist.
Die Bedienung ist sehr freundlich. Am Anfang hat der Tischabräumer beim vorbeilaufen sofort gesehen, dass unser Tisch wackelt… wir hatten es noch garnicht bemerkt. Klasse
Es ist relativ laut im Restaurant und die Klimaanlage ist eher frostig eingestellt (wir waren am Rand).

Nous y sommes allés un midi, il y avait une formule à 26 $ avec un gaspacho, une petite salade et une assiette de paella.
La paella était vraiment bonne, mais cela parait cher par rapport à la portion que nous avons eu.
De plus nous avons attendu un bon moment avant d’être servi

Terrible resto au sein de l’hôtel Cosmopolitan.
Nourriture de type espagnole, très variée et en petites portions. Idéal pour partager.
Laissez-​vous guider et tester un large choix à la carte, ça en vaut vraiment la peine !

Spanische Tapas sind ja normalerweise einfache kleine Gerichte, die man in den Bars in Madrid, Sevilla oder wo auch immer in Spanien zum Bier, Wein oder Sherry serviert bekommt.
Jaleo adaptiert dieses Konzept für die Gourmet Cuisine und das Ergebnis kann sich mehr als sehen lassen. Denn natürlich erfährt man hier tolle und auch ungewohnte Geschmackserlebnisse. Aber durch das Tapas-​Konzept bestellt man nicht nur ein paar Gänge, sondern pro Person 4 bis 5 Tapas. Und da man alles problemlos teilen kann, kostet man an einem Abend 10 verschiedene wirklich tolle Gericht.
Für alle, die Gourmetküche lieben, ist das perfekt. Wenn auch nicht unbedingt preiswert, aber für schnell und günstig ist das Jaleos auch der absolut falsche Laden.

Ausgezeichnete Tapas, alles wirklich empfehlenswert. Zuvorkommende Bedienung. Sensationell: Flan mit Crema catalana, als Dessert Weltklasse !! Achtung: Tapas!, d.h. Pro Person ca3 bis 4 Gerichte auswählen und dann am Tisch teilen.
Ambiente etwas zu laut (Musik) für den Preis, aber «cool», Gerichte werden live zubereitet, teils am offenen Feuer.
Weinkarte per IPad, naja, aber: funktioniert.
Insgesamt eine Empfehlung

Mouais bon… Première soirée à Vegas et ce restaurant me laisse un petit goût amer… Non pas que c’était mauvais, au contraire, mais qu’on s’entende bien, payer 115 dollars tip included pour quatre assiettes de tapas, deux desserts, un verre de vin, une bière, deux cafés et un pan con tomate, je trouve ça tout simplement hors de prix!!!
Il né faut quand même pas abuser… 10 dollars les patatas bravas… composées de chips recouvertes de ketchup et sauce pimentée? Hmm, comment dire… Ca fait un peu mal quand même ! Même si le goût n’était pas si mal!!!
Pourquoi je mets 3 étoiles et pas 2, alors? Parce que le cadre est très sympa, parce que c’est Las Vegas et qu’on était content de trouver un restaurant pas trop kitsch et à l’ambiance branchée sans en faire des tonnes. Mais bon, sincèrement pour ce prix là, j’espère qu’il y a mieux ailleurs !!

Surprenant restaurant de tapas dans le très bel Hotel Cosmopolitan de Las Vegas. Les tapas sont originales et excellentes. Comptez 3 environ par personne. Service excellent également. Prix 80 dollars par personne environ vin inclus.

Fun food!
Garlic is in the air here! It’s hard to decide on what to order because everything sounds so good. Everything is fun! The food, the seating and the vibrant colors.
Brought my mom here on NYE and we had a blast. Ordered a pitcher of sangria to start things off and I must say it was so good, very fruity & sweet. We also decided on some tapas and ordered potato bravas (spicy and baked to perfection), cheese with all sorts of delicious pairings, bacon wrapped dates and chicken pasta (super rich & flavorful). Enjoyed everything except the bacon wrapped dates. They were ok but I’ve had much better (hint — Fireflys). My mom chose the orange flan for dessert and in my opinion everything on the plate had one note ~ blood orange. It wasn’t my favorite.
The music is loud. People watching is extra fun at this place and the service was on it all night. It helps to have a bunch of Spanish hotties serving you :)
If you want to have some fun and try interesting dishes this place is a great option at The Cosmo! If you enjoy Sangria do yourself a favor and order the pitcher here, loved it!