Rioja

Third time here. My faves: lamb shank, cod croquettes, piquillo (stuffed peppers), fried eggplant (rarely available), crab tarter (rarely available). Spinach salad also good.

Excellent sangria and tapas. Serrano ham slices were delicious. Garlic shrimp was my favorite tapas this visit.

I recently had dinner and lunch at Rioja.
Being both a Spaniard and a hobby cook, I take my food very seriously. What I ate at Rioja made my taste buds tingle and my stomach happy. Some of the things I ate you would not find at Rioja’s price range, because they belong at the top level.
The boquerones en vinagre (fresh anchovies marinated in vinegar) are some of the best that I have ever had in Spain or abroad. The marinade mix is perfectly balanced, adding to the exquisite flavor of the fish without overpowering it.
There is a tapa I had never had, the morcilla. Not for the average finicky eater, morcilla is a blood sausage that is later fried with bread crumbs in this tapa. This is one of the best tapas you can find. It´s crunchy outside while the inside almost disintegrates when you attack it with your fork. Unlike most pieces of morcilla, this tapa is light while retaining all the flavor in a subtle way. Truly amazing.
I had both kinds of croquetas, jamón (cured ham) and bacalao (cod). They were both excellent. Crispy outside, creamy and flavorful inside. Not oily or heavy at all.
One of the star tapas for me was the brie toast with boqueron and anchoa. Very creative tapa. The combination of anchovies prepared two different savory ways with the brie cheese is surprising and delicious Kudos to the chef that came up with it.
Another one of the best tapas in my life was the piquillo peppers stuffed with cod. Very tasty. The sauce they come with is simply spectacular. I’ve had this dish many times in several restaurants (some in Spain), but never, never with such a good sauce.
I also had a very good octopus prepared the way they do in the Northwest for Spain (pulpo a’feira). I forgot to mention their bread is very good, they told me it’s made right at the restaurant.
Whenever I am in Houston, I will eat and dine at Rioja. As a matter of fact, I wiah I can go to Houston soon just to eat their tapas.

Ate here last night… was hoping for the Wednesday special but apparently that is not available or wasn’t advertised. The tapas were excellent. Spicy potatoes and croquetas de jamon. The paella was ok… the rice was a bit undercooked. Came out to about 100 with a bottle of good wine. Not too bad… but for that price there should’ve been a bit more seafood on the plate for two. Not sure if I would eat there again… but it’s a possibility.

The short version — This place is not good, at all! Save your money and go elsewhere!
The long version — A group of us came here to celebrate my birthday. I made the reservation using their online form. Never once did I get a confirmation about my reservation, so 4 days before our «reservation», I called to confirm. The gentleman I spoke to said, yes, for Monica party of 7. I told him it would need to be 8 of us now and he said no problem. Before hanging up, I said, see you Friday at 7:30 and he said ok.
One couple shows up before us and they do not have a reservation for Monica party of 8. This really ticked me off. They were not crowded so they were able to seat us. I now know why they were not crowded. Live and learn I suppose.
We arrive to find that they have a VERY limited selection of wines. And even though their menu states «Beers from Around the World», that was not true because they only had Budweiser. They also had a very limited dinner menu. Other tapas restaurants that I have eaten at have had far more on the menu.
I immediately wanted to leave before the other 2 couples showed up, but my husband felt we needed to stay.
They brought out some black sausage «for free» as an appetizer. It was terrible. The meat tasted like dirt, no I’m not kidding. None of us could eat a whole one.
We ordered a cheese platter while we waited. The cheese was good, but then it’s hard to mess up cheese. They also brought out some rolls. I will admit that they were very tasty and that’s what one couple ended up eating because they refused to eat anything else here.
One of the couples ordered the fish entrée. What we didn’t know is that they skin and de-​bone the fish at the table. Gross. I am thankful I didn’t see this happen because that would have been it for me. Both of their fish fillets had bones still. It’s hard to enjoy a meal when you’re worried about eating a fish bone.
One of us ordered the steak. It was ok, but it had a very pungent sauce on it, so he ended up not eating it.
My husband and I ordered the tenderloin skewers, chicken skewers, bacon wrapped dates, and piquillo peppers. All of the were fine, but the chicken was really bland.
Service was extremely slow, despite the fact that they were not that crowded. It took over 15 minutes, and after asking more than once, for him to bring us our check. I felt awful that I picked this place and made my friends drive to it, since no one enjoyed it much, to the extent that, even though it was my birthday, I picked up the entire check.
I was annoyed too that they add gratuity and am thankful that I noticed before adding more. We ended up going next door so that the couple that didn’t eat, could eat, and to have some margaritas.
I do not recommend this place to anyone.

So basically the 8 of us snacked and made an executive decision to move to La Tapatia next door for some real food.

I have been to this place so many times but I’m so disappointed with the food today.
I guess it’s because of the new management. I have the lunch special Patatas Bravas & Paella Mixta. The Patatas Bravas is ok but its half size as what used to be in the past. Paella Mixta was strong fishy taste and it wasn’t taste as good as before. This is the first time I didn’t finish my food and I left with an empty stomach.

When we first came in the ambiance was nice and we were greeting fairly quickly. Menu was not overpriced for the tapas and the wine was fairly priced. I ordered 1 glass of wine and they brought me a bottle instead, that was ok. We ordered the crab empanadas which was the only good thing about our meal. The paella mixta was a disappointment and the pulled pork was less than appetizing. We had a
coupon and they declined to use it saying we can only use it Monday-​Wednesday when it was nowhere on the coupon (it was only for $ 10 off of $ 30 and our tab was $ 60). When we asked why we couldn’t use it, the manager was rude coming to our table. Overall experience was lacking, you would think they would have better service for a restaurant that was so dead on a Saturday.

Great atmosphere with a romantic semi casual setting. 2 different sections left side includes a full bar that is a little louder and then the right side is more intimate. Friendly staff. Pulled pork over truffle oil mashed potatoes are excellent. The pulled pork is tender with the black truffle oil making it quite savory. The crab empanadas are freshly cooked, crispy, and the red sauce brings out the flavor.
Phenomenal first time experience and would definitely recommend to friends and family!

Great place! Was comparing different tapas places and decided to go with this one. Can’t go wrong! Great food, staff, and a cozy yet fun atmosphere.

Yep… it was A-​Ok. It’s a fun place for a few friends to share small plates and perhaps a nice place to take a date for something different from steak or seafood place. It would be fun to go when they have flamenco dancers or live entertainment.
The bacon wrapped dates with cabrales cream was delish!
The blood sausage with pear dip was a bit dry but tasty.
Their olive tray rocked!
We really didn’t have anything off the menu that was bad. And quite honestly, for tapas I got full. That almost NEVER happens.
The service was attentive and our waitress suggested her favs for us to consider. Then they continued to bring us empanadas which we didn’t order. I hope the table that did finally got them.
Wine choices were nice by the glass. Just ask for a nice Tempranillo and you’ll be happy with it paring with your meal.
The space was fairly dark even early in the evening. Big dark Spanish style tables and it’s divided into several rooms that makes it seem a bit smaller and more cramped than it actually is.

The food is one star worthy but the service was exceptional so I’ll be fair and give them a two. We ordered the jumbo scallops and they weren’t jumbo. When we bit into them, we were overwhelmed by an un-​fresh taste. I thought we were going to get food poisoning. The chorizo riojas was disgusting. I understand some amount of fat is in sausages but these suckers had large globules that rolled around my mouth like tapioca balls. Paella was average but we were afraid to eat the seafood in it after tasting the un-​fresh scallops. Beef empanadas were greasy as hell. I couldn’t taste the beef because the grease bubbles in the crust would gush out oil.
I overheard a waiter bragging about the chef to another table. I was about to tell him to bring that fool outside and ask him to taste the bullshit he cooked.
Service was great though. Drinks were constantly refilled and our server was very friendly. Definitely not a place we will be coming back to.

Great service! Great food! Live music! 100% recommended! Loved the tapas, they have a happy hour mon-​fri 4−6pm $ 3 tapas, great! We ordered the Salt Roasted Pampa Fish, delicious!

Great Place, great service, great food! The Best solomillo in town!
Congrats to owners and Staff !

Absolutely loved this restaurant. Very cute, great romantic atmosphere. Very friendly, attentive staff. They took great care of us.
We started with the warm spinach salad– very good and very fresh. Then had the gazpacho which was absolutely delicious. Then had my favorite the bacon wrapped dates– wow! The beef empenadas were delicious. Followed that with the grilled chicken and vegetable skewer– my least favorite dish of the evening… Just not as flavorful as the other dishes allthough not bad. The baby lambchops were great. The steak skewers were delicious, very tender and cooked perfectly! Not even a huge steak fan but loved those. Then finished the meal with the flan and the flourless chocolate cake. The chocolate cake was amazing! So good. The wine we had was also delicious. Just really had an amazing experience. The staff was great and attentive and really took care of us.

First time here using a
certificate. We had their 2 course lunch special. I had their sautéed spinach and almonds and grilled salmon skewers with mash potatoes truffles. A topping of goodness, I have no idea what it was! Will definitely come back!

Was there just a couple of days ago on a business lunch. The restaurant was not too busy (about 2 tables full). Took about 5 minutes for the staff to sit us.
Once we sat we order the the lunch special and sangria. The sangria was pretty good; lots of fruits. We had the a quick appetizer and paella.
Overall it’s a good tapas restaurant but there are better ones (check out the one in vintage).

Tonight was my first night at Rioja. We made a reservation for 4 for the Flamenco Show. The service was perfect, good house wine and I had few tapas. It was a great time with a good food, wine and music. Tempestade Flamenco group is the best! They said they will be back on Jan 2015 at Rioja. Also, we had some Spanish/​latin music after the show. It was a good time and super welcome. I recommend.

I bought a VOICE deal for the national paella month but ended up redeeming a month or 2 later. This place is a bit tricky to find, you’ll have to navigate yourself around the building in order to locate this restaurant. Also, I dont think the restaurant says «Rioja» out in the front or the signs, it says Tapas or something else so that caused even more confusion for me because I wasn’t sure if it was just another Tapas restaurant.
Im not sure why their website proclaims that they are Houston’s best paella because they are most certainly not. My friend and I ended up ordering the following:
Paella Mixta entrée (Prawns, Shrimp, Mussels, Calamari, chicken and home-​made chorizo) — it just tasted really dry and some parts seemed overcooked. I wasn’t a fan at all because it also lacked flavoring and taste.
Mac n cheese tapas– blech! It was so heavy and lacked flavoring. I dont know if it’s because of the manchego cheese they used but it just tasted like chilli and the mac and cheese tasted burnt.
Pulled pork with truffle mashed potatoes tapas and Seared baby green Asparagus — Probably the only things I liked out of my entire meal.
Service was ok, nothing out of the ordinary for us. If it wasn’t for the deal, I wouldn’t have spent this much on what we ordered nor come here.

Without the competition of Tinto’s Spanish Restaurant and Mi Luna having less than mediocre tapas, Rioja has by default become the best place to indulge in authentic Spanish tapas, wine, music, and entertainment. It’s situated in a very eclectic suburban portion of Westheimer where there’s plenty of parking and no valet service in sight. It’s an elegant looking restaurant from the inside and out, minus the pretentious high prices that have similar atmospheres.
When you enter the restaurant through the large wood doors, the first thing that greets you in the restaurant is the smell of slow cooked meats and spices. The second thing that you’ll notice is all of the warm Spanish colors and décor of the dining rooms. The floors are an unimpressive beige tile matching the beige walls, but the authentic Spanish décor gives it the extra umfph that it needs to keep it from looking so boring. Dark wood furniture covered with white table cloths seem to be the standard for most restaurants and Rioja is no exception to this rule. The waiters are engaging and very professional, so personal conversations and lingering at patron’s tables is something you won’t have to experience with the staff here.
No matter if you’re into Spanish tapas, authentic paella, or Spanish coastal entrees, you won’t be disappointed by the selection on their menu. I had the pleasure of dining here with a Spanish friend who came from Madrid and raved about the authenticity of Rioja’s food. The wine selection is fantastic as long as you’re a Spanish wine lover; if not, then you’re really missing out on some of the world’s great wines.
I split a bottle of Rioja wine because you can’t dine at Rioja and not have at least one glass of Rioja wine to try. My friend ordered five plates of traditional Spanish tapas to enjoy and there was a variety of sweet, salty, and savory. We shared a cheese tapas plate, fried calamari, goat cheese in tomato sauce, chorizo meatballs, and the lamb chops. All of the dishes were good and there was more than enough on each tapas plate for two people to split. We even had leftovers with the generous portion sizes of the plates.
I still preferred Tinto’s for Spanish food, but since they’ve been out of business for more than two years, Rioja has been a sufficient back up for when I get a craving for authentic tapas. Even if Spanish food isn’t what you’re craving, they do offer a few other Mediterranean entrée options and even a couple American entrees for anyone not wanting the southern European favorites. Even if you’ve never had Spanish food, Rioja is a great place to help ease you into your first culinary experience with this cuisine.