Ferratt’s Tapas Bar & Entertainment

We went for breakfast. We tried it on a lark, and they were having a special of Eggs Benedict, which is a favorite of ours. I ordered the standard, the girlfriend ordered it minus the meat.
The hollandaise sauce isnt the best I have had, but it was good. The whole thing was tasty, but a bit smaller than I would have liked. I was happy with the breakfast, although it turned out a bit pricier than I expected.

My wife and I just had brunch there today and it was terrible. Mainly, my beef is with the service.
The place was about ¼ full, and there were only a handful of other customers. My wife and I just ordered eggs and bacon. 40 minutes passed and our food still had not come out. I asked our waitress where our food was and she said it’d be right out. After another 10 minutes, I made another inquiry. The waitress then responded that there were other orders ahead of ours. 10 minutes later they brought the food out and notified us that they rushed our order out. The whole time I’m thinking… this is for bacon and eggs?
The worst part was the staff was very unapologetic about the whole thing. They felt that it was normal.
The food was below average. In addition to the meal, we ordered 2 beverages. The bill came to $ 22. Certainly not very good value.

Though friendly, the drinks were not exceptional, and the small dishes were lacking in generosity, seeming to be a splash of spice on otherwise mid-​western style out-​of-​the-​box snacks. Salsa cannot turn a mediocre tupperware party nibble into a successful restaurant in this neighborhood. Will not return, most likely.

I had breakfast here this morning and my stomach is still mad at me. I ordered corned beef hash and it was streight out of the can. It had a spam aftertaste and tasted like a salt lick. Half of my breakfast potatoes had black spots as if they were on thier last day. My boyfriend ordered the chiliquellas that was tortilla chips with canned enchalada sauce poured over them with some eggs on top. Who are these people and which retirement home did we end up at? Seriously I had a hard time paying for this gormet canned meal. I almost complained but realised that it would not have mattered when we got a defensive bitchy «its comming» from the waitress when we asked for the tortillas that were suposed to come with the mexican disaster they called breakfast. Just say no.

Tasty bites and friendly staff are definitely high points here. They have a small stage, suggesting live bands, karaōke, or both. The atmosphere was nice, though the rather orange lighting (sodium bulbs?) was a little odd. All-​in-​all, a nice family place for dinner and probably a fairly good little music venue.
TRIVIA: According to The Joy of Cooking, the original tapas were the slices of bread or meat which sherry drinkers in Andalusian taverns used to cover their glasses between sips. This was a practical measure meant to prevent fruit flies from hovering over the sweet sherry. The meat used to cover the sherry was normally ham or chorizo, which are both very salty and activate thirst. Because of this, bartenders and restaurant owners began creating a variety of snacks to serve with sherry, thus increasing their alcohol sales. Soon the lowly tapa (from tapa derived the verb tapar, «to cover») became as important as the sherry.

Pretty poor effort for the price!
When we arrived there were 5 other customers in the restaurant: 1 guy by himself, finishing up; a couple by the window; another couple near the back.
Red Flag #1:
We waited by the bar while the waitress took the order of couple #1; meanwhile, a new couple came in, walked past us over to a table and the waitress assisted them! She hadn’t yet even acknowledged that we were there.
Red Flag #2:
There is no beer or wine to be had; they don’t have a liquor license yet. I ordered iced tea and was asked if I wanted «raspberry» or «brewed». I chose «brewed», which when I got it was clearly NOT «brewed», but tasted more like Nestea or some other mix.ugh.
Red Flag #3
Ordered «tapas»: the scallops, the shrimp, fish tacos and ribs.
The scallops and shrimp both came in a similar tasting sauce, which wasn’t bad. However, the seafood itself was clearly frozen and now completely devoid of taste. In another review here, someone else mentioned you can get decent seafood at Costco. I can vouch for that! In fact, I’ve used both frozen scallops and prawns from Costco and they’ve always been great! Ferratt’s should consider purchasing their seafood there and then learning how to cook it (only moments, not any longer please!)
Red Flag #4
This was the worst thing that happened with our meal: The ribs were actually cold at the bone. I don’t mean luke warm; I mean ICE COLD to the touch! Seriously. So, we told the waitress, who took them away and brought them back out in a few minutes warmed up. The rib that I’d taken a big bite out of was now back on the serving plate — ICK! And the waitress was clueless — –she actually pointed it out as though this was a good thing… sigh.
The pluses: the fish tacos were pretty good; the ribs (once warmed) weren’t bad; the surroundings are attractive.
Finally, while we were there the placed filled up. However, there was only the one waitress and at least one couple got fed up with waiting for service and left.
The waitress never asked us how our food was, never asked us if we’d like dessert or coffee and we had to ask her for the bill.
The menu is a strange hybrid: It attempts to appear upscale in style, but then has Sizzler pricing like $ 6.99, $ 7.99, etc.
It’s painfully obvious that the folks running this place don’t know much about the restaurant biz. It’s too bad because every other restaurant (3 previously) in this location has failed and this one is headed in that direction, too, unless the owners wise up quick!

I’ve been here twice now, and I really love the food! I’ve had the pulled pork soup, and the fish tacos both times, and both are to die for! this last time I also had the mussels and I must say for tapas the portion size was on the large side. the people who work there are very attentive and friendly. there is Karaōke too! so if your looking for a place to go and hangout with a bite of food. then this is the place!

On your evening constitutional spanning the route from the Ivy room to Club Mallard to the Hotsy-​Totsy Club, don’t hesitate to stop in at Ferratt’s for Tapas a full meal. Food’s great, portions huge, staff friendly. Much authentically Spanish with a few other sources creeping in. The background music is Flamenco, live Spanish music promised on Saturdays, and karaōke other evenings (where even the owner, chef and staff are not too shy to sing)
Unpretentious, quality, fair prices. It’s what Berkeley was, and ought to be. Will open for Lunch in a week or two. Beautiful outdoor deck.

I came here with the specific intent to review (ok, that is a for sure sign I am addicted to Unilocal). It was good, but didn’t meet my expectations.
But that I suppose was a tall order — given that the last two Tapas bars I have gone to (in Belgium and San Francisco) were absolutely fantastic.
However, I enjoyed my meal — which I shared with a fellow Unilocaler.
Callo de Acha Jupiter
red pepper stuffed with callop, marinated in garlic and herbs oil $ 12
Meijillones con Azafran y Salsa de Tomate
mussels cooked with saffron and tomato sauce $ 12
Rodajas de Quezo Crema
pinwheel torilla filled with mixture of roasted pepper, bacon and
proscuitto topped with creamy arbol sauce $ 10
The sauces for the scallops and the mussels were really really good. But the Rodajas were a major disappointment — one was alright, two was a bit heavy, and three was just way too much cream. I’ll probably go back again but stick with more classical items — although a bit pricey for a casual stop in.
The atmosphere was nice — lighting, tables, stage, music (that is other than the Republican National Convention on the side TV, but that was only on for the main speaker — which I suppose is somewhat understandable given crazy current politics). The owners were friendly and by the end of our dinner, the restaurant/​bar had started to fill up. And it looks like it can be quite lively with a Karaōke setup — I guess what warrants the restaurants full title. So maybe this brand new business might be able to make it.
And hey the company was great …

A fun place to go if you are in the mood for singing, drinking and good eats. The tapas are very good and the owner «Phil» is one of the nicest guys you’ll meet. This place is family friendly, and if you are down for watching a few funny looking people get on stage and sing, this is the place for you. The song list is extensive, and a few of the regulars actually have very good voices! They treat you like family here.

Came here to check it out, seemed great. New lights, new bar, open stage, all the things added up to have a great meal… sorry no dice.
Walked in, sat down, and heard a waitress complain about her weight. If I’m not mistaken, she said, «whoops, sorry, I need more jenny craig»…not quite the restaurant talk. My appetite did not increase, nor did my ability to maintain a straight face. Waitress was good, but the food was horrid. Scallops were presented on toothpicks, and were very small. They were frozen, not fresh. I know these things, trust me. Shrimp on toothpicks were adequate. Pulled pork on bread was weird. I think a kindergarden class could have made this better. Ordered chicken empanadas, and beef came. Again, must be frozen. By the time we finished our three plates, we were ready to leave. To top it off, the margaritas are not fresh, but made with a mix… are you serious? Still needs work. Hopefully they can get a chef, and not the night crew from bevmo located 200sf from across the parking lot to cook the food. Get a clue people, your food needs to be better.

Disappointing.
Wifey had a crappy week at work and we were looking forward to splurging on a nice dinner. Ferratt’s completely failed to deliver.
It started off strong, the Sangria was tasty, and the service was friendly. We ordered based on the recommendations of the owner and our waitress.
Empanadas Azteca — Deep fried dough, with pumpkin flower and vegetables inside. Served with cotja cheese and crema on top, and two different salsas. This was quite tasty and set the bar pretty high.
Next up the scallops, which weren’t so much stuffed in red pepper as stuck on a tooth-​pick next to a thin slice of red pepper. They were very disappointing. I don’t know if they were over-​cooked or just not very fresh. Wifey said it best: the frozen scallops at Costco, prepared and served by the little old lady with a hair-​net and a hot-​plate, tasted significantly better.
The gambas weren’t especially good either. I love garlic, but the shrimp weren’t very fresh and the concept of the dish was almost the exact same as the scallops, minus the tooth-​picks.
The avocado and grapefruit salad was surprisingly lacking in grapefruit. The chef substituted navel orange instead, which is cool, but, ya know, tell me first? It was basically just romaine lettuce with slices of avocado and orange. Generally when I serve a citrus fruit in a salad, I’ll remove the skin with a knife. The orange was hand peeled with the skin on.
The ribs were good, save for the soulless BBQ sauce. Tasted like generic Bulls Eye.
The décor is nice. I dig the poetry sculpted into the walls. The giant soda machine, combined with the TV playing sports took a lot away from the overall ambiance.
It was a mediocre dinner. Paying $ 85 for a mediocre dinner for two (1 drink each, no dessert) isn’t so cool.