Tapas Las Ramblas

This place has amazing food! Don’t eat too
Much bread though! You will fill up quickly

I’ve been here twice already, both times last October, so I’m not sure why I haven’t reviewed it yet.
It’s the usual tapas-​style dining and mimics all the same dishes that every other tapas place does in the city; what I like about it though is that it’s in a great neighborhood, not bogged down by socialites and lah-dee-dah’s of Wrigleyville/​Lincoln Park/​Loop.
Other than the staple dishes I order at any tapas restaurant (caprese salad, goat cheese and tomato sauce, shrimp w/​garlic lemon butter sauce (Emilio’s is better), and other miscellaneous dishes), I had a blood orange mimosa which was delicioso and their flourless chocolate cake was absolutely heavenly.
Love to come here for girl’s night out once in awhile as it’s, again, such a great neighborhood.

The above mediocre rating is not to say that Tapas Las Ramblas is bad (it’s really not) but I’m on record around these here parts saying that tapas restaurants in general offer similar quality/​menus and Tapas Las Ramblas is no different, just a little bit worse.
As evidence, I’ve been here three times and each time I thought it was my first before I got there. I think its lack of imprint on my memory succinctly sums up its mediocrity.

A detour from the Italian and Asian-​centric dining scene in Andersonville, Tapas Las Ramblas serves standard cold and hot small plates in a festive setting. TimeOut Chicago’s review summed up the restaurant as «hard to fault and hard to praise.» My thoughts exactly.
Major kudos to: the service. From the moment we entered on a weekday night, the host and server was very attentive. He even let us switch tables when a booth opened up shortly after he brought out the bread basket and olive oil.
Best dish of the meal: lamb sliders. Three mini sandwiches provided a thick, juicy slab of meat with caramelized onions between crusty white bread, all atop a bed of arugula.
Don’t bother with: the portabello, grilled with balsamic caramelized onions and topped with goat cheese. I was a little underwhelmed.

If Unilocal had 10 stars this place would get all 10! My friend and I wanted to try everything and since the prices are great, we ordered A LOT for 2 people! On top of the food being as great as it was, server was so funny and pleasant. We had to wait a little but what do you expect when the place is so good!
Hot piquillo pepper sweeties– amazing!
Calarmi– my friend swears upon them. I had better but it was still good!
Chicken Romesco Sauce– I love Chicken and it had the best flavoring and the sauce was so flavorful and perfect for this chicken
Skirt Steak– I am not a steak lover but this was the absolute best steak that I have EVER had. Very smooth and pulled apart very easily! The sauce that it was served with was, again, perfect for the steak!
Beef tenderloin skewer– Also not a beef person but these skewers had the best flavor and pulled apart very easily! Not chewy at all. It was a perfect way to end with dinner food!
For dessert, we had the Pear and ice cream. It was sautéed in red wine and served with vanilla ice cream. My friend was not sure of it at first but then couldn’t stop eating it! It is so full of flavor and loved our choice!
I will be back and I will continue to show my friends this great restaurant!

«Tapas is bullshit.»
Not my words, but it’s the basis of a pretty funny story told to me by a friend of a friend that had me tensing up my pee-​parts to make sure no accidents happened the dinner table.
So while I’ve never felt any animosity towards small plates (just order lots of them, yo!), I have a feeling that the person who I’m quoting might feel differently after a dinner at Tapas Las Ramblas… or at least after their cucumber-​ginger mojito and blood orange mimosa.
Other notables:
— Don’t skip the marinated olives. SPOILER ALERT: There’s dwarf pickles involved.
— Baked goat cheese: This is up there, too. It’s a larger portion than you normally get at tapas place, not so much on the sauce, but the goat cheese was quality and plentiful
— Pomegranate mojito was fine. Not super memorable and no where near as good as the cucumber-​ginger mojito or blood orange mimosa, which was actually on the specials menu.
— Mozzarella salad thing. It was good. Mozzarella, spinach, tomato and balsamic really isn’t my thing, ever, but this one’s pretty good.
–Patatas bravas– Always the best thing on the menu and here is no different. Spicy-​ass potatoes with a little aioli drizzle on top. Perfecto… and again, a much larger portion size than I’ve seen at any other tapas resto.
— Stuffed mushrooms… So good and went so quickly that I honestly only vaguely remember eating it.
— Artichoke heart special– Fine. Not outstanding. Still good, but I could forget about this dish.
— Grilled vegetable plate. Better than I expected and paired with the (free!) sliced bread was just the filler we were looking for.
No dessert for us– too full. But 7 tapas plates and 10 alcoholic cocktails adding up to $ 122 for for people is pretty darn great. I’ll be back, certainly in summer, certainly for those drinks and especially for what turned out to be an under $ 6 blood orange mimosa.

I have been here quite a few times.
Every time seems to be a different experience, from good to bad, thats why I am giving it 3 stars.
One thing remains the same: I will continue to bring friends here and recommending it because the food is not bad!

This is a great little place for a group or a date. I’m perplexed by the low average here, as I’ve always had positive experiences. On my last visit, I must have changed our reservation three or four times thanks to flakey friends, and never encountered even a whiff of attitude. That same positivity is reflected in the staff, who are attentive and full of great suggestions. Even on their busier nights, I’ve never felt rushed. My favorites:
–Beet and fennel salad with goat cheese and orange tarragon dressing
–Serrano ham and tomato bread
–Goat cheese with basil tomato sauce
–Jalapeño gnocchi
–Bacon-​wrapped dates (a must-​try at any tapas place, and these didn’t disappoint)
–Beef tenderloin with blue cheese sauce
I haven’t yet stayed for dessert, but the cappuccino cheesecake and profiteroles are calling my name. And of course, opt for a liter of sangria or the pomegranate mojito to considerably brighten your spirits.

I love food and I love Tapas Las Ramblas. I have had Tapas on Las Ramblas St in Barcelona and I like this better!
The servers are always nice, its very kid friendly and I have NEVER been disappointed with the food. I think this restaurant blows the other tapas restaurants in Chicago out of the water.
I’ve been here about 20 times and I will continue to frequent it. We bring all of our out of town guests here b/​c its such a fun place to eat.
Thanks for the nice experience Las Ramblas team. See you soon!

Received terrible service here tonight! Was walking by with my roommate and wanted to check-​out Tapas Las Ramblas. Since we also had my dog, I left them outside to go in to ask if there was patio dining and if I could bring my dog with me. There was a woman with short hair behind the bar who was VERY VERY rude to me.
She rolled her eyes and made a very ugly face to tell me that dogs are not allowed in restaurants and that they absolutely did not have patio dining. She looked at me like I was crazy and offered me several looks of disgust and contempt. Her rude behavior was completely uncalled for especially considering I was asking about options and considering how dog-​friendly Andersonville is (along with the many restaurants on Clark street). Heck, I’d say many of the places I’ve been are people-​friendly too, but not her! My experience with this woman was the most offensive and abrasive encounter I’ve had so far– not only in terms of being pet-​UNfriendly, but being rude in general.

soooooo GOOD! wow– puts Ba Ba Reeba to shame. Don’t have to deal with obnoxious touristy crowd– the food was absolutely amazing. We had the beef tenderloin with bleu cheese/​mushroom caps/​pollo chorizo croquete/​lamb sliders and we were stuffed!!!
If you live anywhere withinn walking or even driving 30 min this place is delicious. Also a plus the bartender was super friendly when we walked in, makingy ou feel comfortable right off the bat, and when the server came over, he was attentive, friendly and ready to help out with drink selections.

I really enjoy dining at Tapas Las Ramblas. It’s nice to go out for tapas, and not have to wait in a huge line, or plan a head a few days to get in. My favorite place is Café Barbareeba … but if you’ve been there you know how crazy busy it is. I find Taps Las Ramblas to be a very close second.
The food and service are always stellar … the only thing that I prefer Café Barbareeba for is the atmosphere. Tapas Las Ramblas has a more mellow feel, which can be great too. It’s good for groups, and small outings. I had my birthday here this past summer.
Yum, if you go here– you won’t be dissapointed!

A group of us went on Saturday night for dinner. It was raining and the brightly colored restaurant with cozy high-​backed booths was the perfect refuge from the elements. The service was fantastic and the staff was very helpful. The $ 25 pitcher of sangria was enough for our table to unwind after a long week and was a terrific value.
Unfortunately, I am unable to speak as highly of the food. I started off with the roasted beet and fennel salad, which was bland and disappointing. The vegetarian paella was tasty, but nothing particularly memorable. The baby octopus, beef tenderloin, and potato salad seemed to get better reviews than what I ate, but nobody in my party had their socks knocked off. I somehow expected this place to be cheaper than Café Ba-​Ba-​Reeba given it’s location and lack of affiliation to the Lettuce Entertain You group, but the prices were on-​par with CBBR and I felt like I got a fraction of the flavor for the price.
There are better places for tapas in the city, but this place will work in a pinch if you are in the area.

OLIVE you, OLIVES. I can’t think of much OLIVE more than OLIVES because the OLIVES at this place rock. They’re like the rock stars of olives.
Thou art so tasty and juicy and perfecto. mmmmm. I can’t even complete a sentence that makes sense and give enough credit to these babies. Just gimme a damn plate full of these succulent little ovals of goodness. Tender, fresh, tart, salty, juicy, soft, ra ra ra!!!
okay, so ummm, our server was really nice too. But back to the olives.
I’d like to genetically engineer a giant giant olive that was a replica of the kind they sell here. Like a huge hollow thing that you could just stand inside and eat the walls around you.
Oh, the atmosphere is colorful and very cuteolive.
Olives. Sorry. Had to say it once more. –o l i v e–

Randomly stopped here one evening before the GBV show at the Riviera. We had planned to eat at a pub down the street but it was packed and thought this place looked like a good second choice.
Prepared for ‘eh’ food since I had no idea what we walked into I was happy too find out that the food was really good. As usual bacon-​wrapped dates are excellent (can anyone screw up this plate?) But the other items were equally good, including a huge head of grilled cauliflower. They also have Alhambra Negra.

I don’t have a lot to measure against, but I thoroughly enjoyed everything we had, even the drinks! From the outside it looked more like a club so I was afriad it would be obnoxious and loud but it was quite cozy inside. Nice tall booths gave you privacy and a decent noise barrier, since it is still a festive atmosphere.
I don’t remember what I drank, I think it was a seasonal twist on a mojito that had ginger in it. I remember it being very delicious, not terribly overpriced (but not really reasonable either), and not too light or heavy on the alcohol. The bartender really took his time and made the drinks interesting and tasty. All of the tapas were wonderful as well. We ordered 4 small tapas plates and shared between 4 of us and it was plenty for a good evening snack. We did not have room to try any large dishes, but the ones passing by our table looked and smelled wonderful.
The menu also had a nice mixture of spicy and non-​spicy items (while still being very flavorful), as well as a good range of vegetarian options too. Looking forward to returning when we are hungrier and trying a few of the larget items.

After the ghosts of Crooners (starts to weep thinking about their delicious pork chops), Oceanique, the aptly named Fiasco and one of my ex boyfriends stopped haunting this venue, maybe this location is finally taking off?
I darkened the doors again last weekend, wiping away the bad mojo from 10 years ago!
We popped in for a snack and a drink. Buffalo Mozzarella, Lamb Sliders and Sauteed Scallops. YUM!
Buffalo Mozzarella wrapped up in Serrano (sp?) Jamon (that’s HAM for us here in the New World) drizzled with carmelized vinegarette. Delicious! A little salty, but that’s the nature of this delicious ham. Moist cheese inside and the vinegar taste is always a favorite with me.
Lamb Sliders. I’ve not had lamb this delicious since I had the hard to find Kibbe Nayeh (raw lamb!) in Damascus. Two sliders — plump, tasty, tender, very rare lamb on yummy bread, and a generous pile of greens for garnish. Lamb done right!
I loved the scallops — A few plump scallops swimming in a delicious sauce perfect for mopping up with some of their bread.
It was empty when we went in, but the bartender was friendly and attentive. I loved the colorful interior — very Spanish, colorful, fun, romantic and happy. I’ll be back!

Met an old friend here for dinner Friday night. This was her pick. I’m not a super huge lover of tapas, but I go with the flow.
We arrived fairly early in the evening and had no trouble getting a table. I liked the atmosphere: slightly dark and cozy with lots of wood. We got seated in the back room next to the window, which was very pleasant.
My friend is a teetotaler, but, good friend that she is, told me not to let that stop me from imbibing (as if!). Normally when I eat tapas, I go for sangria, but since I was going to be at Moody’s the next evening, I knew I’d be drinking their sangria and didn’t want it two nights in a row. There were enough other concoctions to choose from so I ordered a Tall Redhead. I mean, with a name like that, how could I not? It was fruity and delicious; made with Stoli Blueberry, pomegranate juice, and 7up.
Our server came by with the menus and we explained that we were in no hurry as we had a lot of catching up to do, so she said to just let her know when we were ready to order. We really appreciated the fact that she wasn’t trying to rush us, even on a busy night.
Eventually we got hungry and ordered a bunch of tapas: potato salad, artichoke hearts with crabmeat, mushroom sauté, and grilled baby octopus.
The potato salad was predictably garlicky and pretty much tasted exactly the same as every other tapas restaurant in the city. The artichoke hearts were good, but the crab was a little fishy smelling. The mushrooms were probably my favorite; they were meaty and earthy and sauteed in a red-​wine reduction which you could really taste. The octopus was charred and smoky, and came with some arugula. While it was a little chewy, the sauce was good, although I wasn’t able to detect the limoncello that was supposedly in there.
We declined to have dessert as we had sat there so long our meters were about to expire and our server brought our check promptly. I wish I caught her name — she was fantastic; there when we needed something, but also left us alone to talk and didn’t rush us at all. That earned her a large tip and she more than deserved it.
So 3.5 stars it is for Tapas Las Ramblas. This (semi) tall redhead will go back for the namesake cocktail and to try more tapas in the not too distant future.

Love their sangria!!! Went here with a large group and they were totally accomodating. The food was pretty darn good too.
We ordered like one of everything… some of the favs that I remember were jalapeño gnocchi… so spicy and good! Mussels, shrimp and goat cheese.
The service was great and they kept the beverages and food coming!

We have tried a gazillion tapas restaurants in Chicagoland: Barcelona, BaBaReeba, Mercat, Iberico, etc. When a tapas restaurant opened on our corner, we figured we should probably try that, too.
I should preface this by saying that, in the 5 years I’ve lived in Andersonville, that street corner has seen 4 restaurants. Not a great precendent.
However, I’m pretty sure Las Ramblas is here to stay. Sure. There is the neighborhood nostalgia thing that keeps us coming back. But truthfully, the food is consistently delicious. Isn’t that the mark of a great restaurant? The food you love is good each and every time. And, at this place, it is.
The menu started out a little small, but it seems to have grown. There are many plates that we never pass up: baked goat cheese, diablo shrimp, garlic potato salad, white anchovies and, of course, the infamous bacon-​wrapped dates. Oh, and they may have the best grilled octopus that I’ve ever eaten. To top it off, their sangria is wonderful (and generous for the price) and you can’t beat the atmosphere.
Though having a yummy restaurant on your street corner allows one to see life (or tapas plates) through rose-​colored glasses, we’ve had plenty of non-​Andersonvillonians try Las Ramblas and even they keep coming back for more.
Is it worth crossing the street for? Most certainly. Is it worth crossing town, too? Definitely, yes!