Little Spain

Excellent Spanish cuisine! Love the Montaditos as a starter, with ham and cheese. And one of the best seafood paella in Los Angeles. Nice service and a lot of atmosphere. Highly recommended! Unfortunately it seems as if the restaurant has closed for renovation, however, will open up again!

For someone who lived in Spain for half a year with a Spanish grandmother that makes the most delicious Spanish food, this place should feel embarrassed to call itself a Spanish restaurant. We only ordered the tortilla de patata and that was enough for me not to want anything else. When it was brought to us it looked like it had just come out of the microwave, not to mention that I found a piece of plastic wrapper as I cut into it. Although the staff seemed friendly, they hardly pay attention to their customers. Mind you it was empty when we visited. All in all it was a bad experience. You’re better off at Spain restaurant in Echo Park where at least the paella and patatas bravas are decent.

I’m not a big fan of the Grove. I dislike driving around or to here. I don’t mind shopping and having places to eat and grab a drink however. Especially tapas and vino. I love vino. This place even has a happy hour and the seats on the patio actually make you feel like you’re in the motherland. They even have some futbol/​soccer on most of the time (which I don’t know jack-​shit about) but it’s still pretty awesome to have it on while sipping your vino and waiting for your next tapas.
Make sure to order the empanadas here, they’re really tasty and not greasy like other places have them. I only suggest coming here if you’re already in the neighborhood. I don’t suggest coming here if it’s out of your way but if you’re going to shop then I’d definitely suggest stopping here in the farmers market of the grove.

I decided to try this place with my friends from England. We saw they had tapas and Palle we got excited. I ordered several plates of tapas and they were pretty good and reasonable in price. Then we tried the Palle and the rice was cooked al-​dente, tasted like it was poured out of a bag, and microwaved. Traditional Palle has saffron in it and as far as I could tell there wasn’t any in the dish. All the flavors blended together and there wasn’t much seafood in the dish. The tapas were the highlight other than that I would say my dining experience was mediocre.

Food: Generally mediocre, and overpriced for both quantity and half of the quality. I expect paella to be a flavorful little mountain of fluffy rice with a variety of delicious meats/​seafood (crispy bottom is a plus), and all of my friends who ordered it got some form of yellowish, bland, al dente rice. Most disappointing, especially for most who were having their first taste of Spanish food. The tapas dishes were fine — nothing spectacular and nothing completely inedible.
Service: Friendly, but very inattentive and rather incompetent, given that — among other things — they forgot my order and then served me less food than the person who got the same tapas sampler… I understand that the seating area might play second fiddle to the food-​stand-​esque portion in the front, however if you’re going to have the restaurant area open, have enough staff to attend to your costumers.
There are many, many other places to eat at The Grove — don’t come here unless you are desperate specifically for random tapas. If you are in my position where there’s a big group of people and no other eatery has seating room, just be prepared for a long wait for water + food and a not-​so-​small bill.

Reader beware, this is my first food poisoning experience.
As the last stop to your trip I decided to take a gamble and try a unknown spot. I ordered the seafood paella. Now before I finish, I need to let it be known that my friend ordered the same dish as me. He however dodged a bullet by realizing something was off with his dish. Me, well I wish I could say the same. I finished my plate and as far as taste does, it was very bland I found myself drenching the paella in lemon.
Fast forward 2 hours into our 6 hour drive home. I felt a bit nauseous. Never once thinking I was on the verge of full blown food poisoning. Needless to say, I somehow made it home by way of the whole «mind over matter» deal.
Never again will I go back here.

Having a tapas bar at the Farmers Market is a huge plus in rounding out the offerings available, and I love this charming place for their color and vibrancy.
The tapas I’ve tried here have always been yummy and pair especially well with their Spanish draft beer. My favorite is the bacon-​wrapped dates, but I also love their cheeses.
The paella was something I’d waited to try, but when my partner and I ordered it on our last visit, it was delicious and something I’ll definitely order again.
Their flan is also very yummy, and my partner is super particular about flan but he loved theirs. The only thing different about their flan is that they serve it with whipped cream and a strawberry sauce, so if you’d prefer to not have that be sure to request flan without toppings. It’s actually a nice combination of flavors, however.
I haven’t yet tried their sangria or eaten in the patio restaurant area, but for a quick tapas and beer at their tapas bar, it’s a great spot. Enjoy!

Their food is okay the atmosphere is good, they do have a TV that shows sports, the sangria is fantastic, it’s fun to go for drinks and appetizers.

Food is good. My favorite the rice with black ink squid paella or the usual one with the saffron spices .
I have been to Spain and know how Spanish food taste like and I know also that no foreign cuisine in LA will be as good as the authentic in their own countries, but if you are into trying new flavor and European variety, this place is a good representation of Spanish recipes.
It won’t be an experience as good as «La Paella»
but a good stop on farmers market.
Good Spanish beer and wine by the way.
I recommend it.

Great casual place, and they’re not exaggerating about how good their paella is. It’s one of the best I had in town; but not the best I’ve *ever* had.
Still looking for the best in LA.
The atmosphere here is busy, you won’t get a ton of attention from the wait staff. But, that’s the vibe of the farmers market at the grove. This place is worth the stop, though; their food is different than other market vendors. It seems pretty authentic, made with love and care!

Our adventure of exploring the farmer’s market started here by ordering seafood paella ($ 17~) to go for lunch.
The woman who took our order was very sweet and even offered offered us water while we waited.
This was my first time trying paella so I can’t really compare it to any other place, but it tasted pretty average to me. It was well seasoned rice with tiny scallops, some clams and mussels, and a few shrimp. I definitely did not get my money’s worth with the little amount of seafood and portion for the price.
Service was prompt and fast.

I love Little Spain! The girl who works morning’s Mon-​Fri is amazing! As soon as I sat down she showed me the menu and described what kind of food they serve!
The food, beer, soccer games, and wonderful service was a great experience! I’m so grateful to have found a real Spanish restaurant. I would definitely recommend!

These people get by thanks to tourists. Oh my gosh so awful. Tortilla Espanola (tasted like old, dried up eggs), Patatas Bravas (frozen potatoes for SURE with some Lawreys seasoning and drenched in PREGO pasta sauce and MAYO), Gambas al Ajillo (How they messed this up… IDK), Pimientos del Piquillo (only decent thing we had) and by far the most disappointing the Sangria. it was wine with ice.
Gosh this food was so awful it made me sad. Why does the Farmers Market allow places like this to exist here? I guess if they pay the rent but come on man.
A second side note of my experience here. Sitting at the counter at 5:30 pm, I was waiting for my check and a guy comes up next to me and asks the server if they serve coffee. Her response BLEW ME AWAY…“I think we may still have some left over from tis morning…”, she said. I was like whaaaattt? She comes back with a cup of coffee and tells the guy «You’re in luck, it’s still a little warm». LMAO! Oh my gosh! The guy then says «WOW, Warm coffee? That’s fantastic thank you». The lady «Really? You think warm coffee is fantastic?» What an idiot. If you must eat here go to the Brazilian place or Marcier Marcel. Both great eateries here.
Oh my gosh you guys please stay away from this place. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stay away. So awful and let me tell you as an LA native, I’m ashamed that the Grove allowed this place to do business here. You want some good affordable Spanish food drive yourself to Claremont and go to Viva Madrid. Worth the drive, wait and it’s affordable. The Bazaar is also amazing but much more expensive.

I was full of expectations… many people told me great things about this place… I saved it for my birthday. I was told that in the back I would have full service. Well… I had to go to balcony almost every time to order something. Jamons were disappointing — Paella, poorly executed — when I told server I like full bodied wines she recommended me a merlot… uh?
Will I return? Surely never.

Why is it so hard to have a good Spanish restaurant in LA? Perhaps there is so much Latin food in general (particularly Mexican) that no one bothers to have a great Spanish tapas place. I was hopeful, but this place is just no good.
The quality of the food is not great, and the execution is even worse. The meatballs were too gummy and the meat was cheap. The paella was just ok, but the seafood was chewy and overcooked. The empanadas were too salty and not prepared well at all. Good thing it was happy hour, so pricing was decent, but I would have been pissed if this was my main dinner.
The sangria, both red and white, are pretty decent though. I just wish they had the food to match.

Authentic Spanish Tapas! Everything I tried was really great. I got a paella, a tabalas, and empanadillo. I got the Valencia Paella, and it was very flavorful with chicken and sausage. The beef and iberico ham empanadas were really good and flavorfully fresh! The tabalas I got was the one for $ 12 and it came with an assortment of mixed cheese and meat. That was my favorite! It was so delightful to my taste buds and my mouth was overjoyed! I liked it because it was also a sit down/​full service as well as a quick stop in the farmers market. They even had a cute little store where one may purchase different items to enjoy Spanish Tapas of their own making! I loved it! I am excited to return!

While in The Grove, my friend and I were on the hunt for an early happy hour. After scouring Unilocal we realized all happy hours started at 4 and it was around 2 when we wanted to have a few drinks.
So we finally found this spot with a nicely priced sangria pitcher — which was all the rave. $ 21 normally and $ 15 during happy hour.
After looking through all of the farmer’s market, we finally found it! I imagined it to be a sit down restaurant with an outdoor space but this cute little spot was just another outdoor stand in the market.
The sangria definitely lived up to expectations and got us feeling nicely buzzed after the 1^st glass. We didn’t get to try the food, but will do next time I’m in town!

With so many tapas places around town AND so many other food options at the Farmers Market, skip Little Spain and go elsewhere. I had lunch here many months ago with an old boyfriend and the food was just okay and definitely overpriced. The sangria wasn’t bad and they do sell it by the pitcher. But the food left much to be desired. We ordered several plates and the portions were quite small, even by small plate standards. We had the Datiles con bacon (served over fries), the Garlic Shrimp, and several Montaditos. The montaditos were sad little pieces of French bread topped with dry, skimpy pieces of meats. Service was fine, with one guy checking in on us throughout the meal. The «romance in the air» was probably the only reason I wasn’t more annoyed at the time. Save your money and find better.

Tasty food and great service. I highly recommend ordering their seafood paella and sangria.
There is also outdoor dining in the back.

Like many others, I came here because I bought a deal coupon. We ended up ordering more than the allotted coupon deal, and for what we paid, it was not worth the trip to the Grove. The paella was nothing special. The wine was okay. The garlic shrimp were really oily and tasted pre-​frozen. The empanadas were okay. I would not come back here and pay full price (we would have spent $ 150+ on a mediocre meal).
This place is in the farmer’s market, so keep that in mind. We had a tough time actually finding the location. The staff was very slow moving, even though it was not busy at all. They seemed to know we had a coupon, which unfortunately didn’t prepay for good customer service.