El Bodegon Tapas & Wine

I originally found out about this place through a Groupon promotion. We had such a lovely first time experience here, we kept coming back.
It’s a charming and intimate setting, perfect place to bring a date. The service is old school and somewhat fussy. They bring a basket of bread to your table to start off. For an appetizer I recommend the garbanzo frito, which is chickpeas cooked with chorizo. Amazingly flavorful and addicting.
Their paellas are made to be shared. We always get the Vegetarian Paella, a scrumptious combination of broccoli, tomato, carrots, squash, mushrooms, and peppers. We pair it up with a tasty sangria.
It’s quiet during the weekdays but if you pop in on a weekend night you will enjoy some live Flamenco music. I see that most people are raving about the tapas, I haven’t tried them yet. Maybe this could be an excuse for me to go again.

Slightly disappointing. Tapas de la casa (pepperoni, salami, cheese, olives) didn’t give much food for the money. Tortilla española was pretty meh. Calamari fritos was a pass, but the sauce was good. Garbonzo fritos were on point. Empañadas de carne were unbelievable and empañadas de queso were a small win. Some cool features of El Bodegon are shows on Saturdays, live music or dancing. They give away a free meal and a free bottle of wine to raffle winners. Pitcher of ice water for the table was pretty dirty and full of junk, and server kept forgetting to bring bae her drink until being asked again and again. She never got her flan, which made her really sad since she’d been looking forward to it all day. Cool place, but a bit overpriced and servers make a bunch of mistakes.

1 star is for service. Very nice people. But everything else was dreadful. Shame on them. Food is extremely sub standard, definitely not made fresh to order, microwaved. We ordered 4 tapas items, all were dreadful. The décor is old and tired. The sign on front of restaurant (on the street side) is old, dirty, warn out and missing letters. What a shame, this place could be great. They need Gordon Ramsey DESPERATELY to whip them into shape.

What an amazing restaurant. From the staff and service to the quality and flavor of the food. My brother and his new wife held a small reception dinner here and El Bodegon was. a perfect place for this event. Family owned. Recommendations: papas al Diablo, house salad, tortilla, paella and flan.

1^st timer. Wonderful service and amazing food. Highly recommended for a dinner for 2 or more. Beautiful live Spanish guitar while you eat and drink. I am a big fan as it is unique comfortable dining experience worth every penny.

This place has a very nice setting and is well
lit with a touch of romance. We ordered the calamari for $ 11 and the lamb shanks for $ 24. Sadly I didn’t get a chance to take a photo of the calamari. But the portion was so small there wasn’t much to show, it was unbelievable.
The calamari filled half the plate and was very bland, it was at this point I was starting to get worried that the lamb shanks was going to be the same as well, and that my $ 35 was going to be a complete disappointment. And to my disbelief the lamb shanks came out and was indeed very small and along with the sides also very flavorless.
This will be the very last time I come to this place and the only reason I didn’t give it less stars was because there was a waiter and the food was at least edible. But I honestly as I’m leaving this place I feel like I just got robbed, empty wallet and a half empty stomach.

Been coming here for years. The food is ALWAYS great. I’ve got to say the polish/​dining room cleanliness as dropped down a bit. Enjoyed a meal of Chorizo Infierno, Patatas Bravas, Queso y Membrillo, and Garbanzos Fritos with Crema Catalan and Rioja & Cinnamon poached pears to finish. The service from Marino was attentive and pleasant; perfect dinner service. The wrinkled stained table cloth that only had one place setting on arrival and roach that ran across the wine list are the reason for 3 instead 4 stars on this visit. We’ll be back and here’s to a deep clean! This kitchen is CONSISTENTLY AMAZING no matter anything else!

Stopped here with a Groupon. We ordered 5 dishes to split between two people. The dishes were okay, some had a lot of aioli. The prices seemed pretty high for what you got. Our total was about $ 50 for 5 items, including sautéed mushrooms and a potato dish. For the same amount of money you could got to Café Tu Tu Tango or Ceviche downtown and get better quality food. There were only 3 tables, including us there.

Estoy sentado en estos momentos pedí paella y zarzuela. Me dieron de aperitivo unas sopas de lentejas. Me he transportado al pasado cuando mi abuela me las daba en el almuerzo. Divinas. Hasta ahora tienen mi recomendación. Tan pronto reciba la comida comentó más.

2^nd time visit to rest. paella not tasty this time around, no refills from server, bar were out of liquor and beer??, on December ??, during holiday season???, only wine and. sodas!!!, churrasco look over cooked, server forgotten items ordered, new admin??? Flamenco show done, before 9Pm on Saturday???
!!!sorry was expecting top experience, that match pricey menu!!!, dont know if returning!!!, will keep watching reviews!

While I wouldn’t describe the service as «fast» everything was well worth the wait.
We ordered two tapas and two mains and everything was spectacular. Great atmosphere and fantastic flavor.

What a delicious dining experience!
I thought Ceviche downtown was the only tummy tapas in town but I was wrong! I can’t believe this is the first time I visit this place and I’ve been in Orlando for 20+ years. Everything we ate was robust and full of flavor.
We ordered tapas only for the entire meal. The food came out quickly and perfectly hot. The only disappointment was the Spanish Crème brûlée it was cold and had an odd consistency glad my hubby ate it although he wasn’t too crazy about it either. Overall excellent! I love this place!

Both our visits were LOADS of FUN :)
You know you have a good Spanish restaurant when you bring some Spanish ladies in, and they love it.
Both nights we came for the Flamenco show, and it was great.
The service and food was great too. Our server was Marino and he was perfect. I am obsessed with the pork and garlic dish. It’s tender pieces of pork with LOADS of fresh garlic. It’s so good, it’s all i ever want to eat when i go! The prices on wine bottles are bad either.

I always enjoy the truly delicious meals, friendly waiters, and cozy ambience at El Bodegon. The wine list is solid as well. I adore too many of their authentic tapas plates, and the entrees. I have a serious addiction to the Spanish version of crème brûlée, Crema Catalina. No matter how full I am, I make one of those disappear as well. The lunch specials during the work weekdays are a great way to discover a new or indulge in an old favorite at a very reasonable price. I enjoy solo dining there, eating with a group, watching soccer there, and it’s also a great place to have long intimate conversations with a friend or few if you go during off hours. The only problem is with me… I cannot for the life of me remember to not OVER order when I visit. Until then, I will keep practicing until I get it right. Saludos!!!

So my husband who loves Paella wanted us to try this place out. We are so glad we did!!! We came on a Sunday afternoon and yes, to our surprise there weren’t many people. However, don’t let that discourage you from eating here. It turns out that their Paella Marinera is so very flavorful with the right amount of seafood variety! The waiter explained to us that the portion was large enough for two but it turns out to feed about four!!! Yes, the portions at El Bodegon are HUGE. Make sure to order the octopus appetizer as it is fresh and perfectly marinated, mmmmmm yum! So as you savor the flavors of the fresh food, there’s someone playing music in the background with his guitar. The perfect touch to a very welcoming atmosphere!

After seeing the 4 stars we were hopeful to find a really good tapas restaurant, but we were sadly disappointed. Sangria was good, but the food left much to be desired. Water tasted like lemon pledge. My husband and I are just waiting for the food poisoning symptoms to arrive because everything tasted «fishy», even the non seafood dishes. Food was overpriced for what you get and not good at all. There was only 1 other table when we walked in on a Friday night which should have been a sign in itself. Our waiter was nice, but it was probably the worst $ 100 dinner I’ve ever had.

Stopped by here for a Friday night dinner around 8. I haven’t been back in a while so I was kind of surprised to see the dining room half empty. Anyway, our table sat down and began to peruse the menu. We ended up deciding on a few tapas and the El Bodegon Paella. Since paella takes a while to prepare, we had plenty of time to enjoy the atmosphere. El Bodegon is a great option for date night with it’s dim lighting, Spanish décor, and live bolero style music. The tapas was delicious, but I wasn’t much for remembering what we ordered since paella was on my mind. As expected, our paella was delicious! My only comments for my next visit would be to take out the beef and ask for the paella to be cooked a little longer to add a nice char on the bottom. Also, service is bit on the slow side even after being served so keep that in mind when dining.

Some of the food lacked authenticity, but all of it can be said to be overpriced. The paella I had was decent, but $ 45 is ridiculous. I never paid that much in my three years in Spain lol, or NYC for that matter… If the owners are Spanish. They need to go back and see what calamares are suppose to be like, as well as ailioli sauce.
For the price, which I think is inflated for groupons or something, just go to downtown and get better food (calamares that are round, lol) and atmosphere (real flamenco show).

Old world charm reminiscent of the 80s complete with persnickety service that was somewhat irked over our groupon coupon.
I say skip the coupon and go in for a tappa or two with a couple of sangrias on happy hour to get out on the cheap.

Food is incredible! Sangria, best I have had. Perfect balance of flavor. Very authentic! Paella for 2 will feed four! Tapas, amazing!

I went here on my 21^st birthday with my family. It was such a great experience. We loved the Sangria and the paella seafood and Chicken paella. It was like being with family in Mexico. This was our first taste of paella and we loved it.

My mom was craving paella so we went to El Bodegon to try it out, since we heard theirs was among the best in Orlando. Unfortunately, their reputation did not live up to their delivery.
I was surprised walking in on a Friday night and it being near empty, as there were only 3 other tables occupied. We started off with a glass of sangria, but it fell flat. It tasted like it was a bottled version that you can buy from Publix (one that had been open for a while) and there was no fruit in the glass. It was not very good and neither of us drank it.
We started with the mussels appetizer and it was so-​so. The tomato sauce that the mussels were in was delicious! Lots of chunks of onion and garlic and perfect for dipping bread in. The mussels themselves were so-​so. ¹⁄₃ of them never opened and while the jury is out on whether you can/​should still eat them if they are unopened, I’m from the old school of thought that you shouldn’t. That being said, ¹⁄₃ of the bowl went to waste.
We got the seafood paella which had mussels, clams, shrimp, scallops, squid, and octopus. The shrimp, clams, and scallops and mussels were decent but the squid and octopus were inedible. Hard, like erasers on the top of a pencil. The rice had good flavor but was overcooked and mushy.
We were going to order dessert but since nothing else we’d had «wow’d» us, we opted against it. The waiter, who seemed inconvenienced to be there working that night, boxed up our leftovers and brought it with the bill. We felt bad since we didn’t ask him to do that as we hadn’t intended on bringing the leftovers home. When we left without them, he flagged us down outside with our box of leftovers. I felt so badly when I saw the look on his face when we said we didn’t want them. We should have just taken the leftovers and thrown them away somewhere…

Went for dinner today (Thursday). It was recommended by a coworker while we are here on business. Surprisingly the place only had three tables, but I think it must have something to do with the area the restaurant is in. We had two appetizers, empanadas and a queso and jam dish (can’t remember the name of it.) the beef empanadas were great!!!
I got the Pechuga Rellena as my entrée. One word AMAZING! Entrees come with two sides (I got three!); roasted potatoes, kick ass black beans, and sweet fried plantains. Everything was really good! I got a red sangria as well! I’d recommend to those who are looking for authentic Spanish food.

The atmosphere is much more to the intimate/​romantic side, so this isn’t really the place for a family-​style «bring your friends» thing as I usually associate tapas with. However, it’s a charming little place and is a great date spot for sharing little plates of tasty things.
I’m comparing this to my favorite local tapas place, Ceviche, so I am a bit biased. They have a much smaller menu here and a good portion of it is the more expensive paellas (of which I am not a fan). Still, they have some real gems on the menu like the roasted/​sauteed chickpeas.
We came with a Groupon and were in casual clothes, so I feel our service may have been a bit discriminatory. We were slow to be waited on, even though there were a handful of empty tables. They also seemed to not like that we didn’t order any alcohol (neither of us drink, why would we?).
All in all, nice, but I’ll stick with Ceviche.

The Sunday brunch here is a hidden gem! It’s an all-​you-​can-​eat experience with delectable Spanish tapas dishes and bottomless sangria. If you have enough people in your dining party, be SURE to order the paella. It’s delicious.
Service was a bit slow for us at first, but that may have been because our large party wasn’t as punctual as we should have been. Throughout the meal, however, service was quick and attentive.
Can’t wait to go back!

Stopped in for dinner yesterday with my husband to use a living social deal that was about to expire. We had reservations for 6:30 and arrived early and we were seated right away. Our server let us pick any booth we wanted since the place was mostly empty at that time. We each ordered a glass of the red sangria and our server brought out a basket of warm garlic buttery toast. The sangria was excellent, not too sweet or heavy, and the bread was irresistible!
For our meal we went with the tapas side of the menu. Ordered the fried cod, cod croquetas, pimiento stuffed with crab salad, and the manchego & quince. Everything was so delicious! The fried cod was crispy and the fish was moist and perfectly salty. The cod croquetas were crunchy on the outside and the cod filling is very gooey like melted cheese! The pimiento and crab was also really good. I love manchego and the sweet drizzle on the cheese and quince makes it a good dessert!
Service was excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed all of the food. We didn’t wait long at all for anything that we ordered and the tapas are very reasonably priced. I highly recommend this place!