Tango Nuevo — Restaurant in Ontario

Had the pleasure of visiting Tango Nuevo twice in July 2025; once for cocktails in the latter half of a Saturday night, and again for dinner the following Friday evening. Each time was enjoyable and left a favourable impression, especially regarding the service, drinks, ambiance, decor, and overall experience.

The ambiance is special. Cosmopolitan. Cool. Classy, but easygoing. Lively, yet intimate. The vibe is a nice blend of modernity and old-world charm.

Our server the first night was Liv (Olivia) and she was superb. Professional, prompt, attentive, and yet naturally relaxed, charming, and engaging. She acquainted us with Tango Nuevo and made us feel welcome and glad to be there. She discussed the local food scene and gave us some suggestions of places to try (which turned out very good). She also convinced us to return to Tango Nuevo for dinner the following weekend.

The cocktails were excellent. The red sangria was tasty and refreshing, with very drinkable wine and just the right amount of fruit added. The Campfire Manhattan was smooth, smokey, sweet and spicy, and entirely delicious. We happily had a few and closed the place down.

When we returned for dinner on Friday, we were served by another Olivia. We had asked for Liv again, but she was off. Nonetheless, our second Olivia was very pleasant, helpful and did a good job, too. From what we could see and hear, all the staff were personable and good at their jobs.

Tapas is a great way to dine. Tango Nuevo certainly does it right. All the plates were served in a timely way, allowing us to savour each one, sip on some wine, and enjoy our dining experience in an unrushed manner. A very pleasant pace.

It was suggested that two of us could get by with only four plates, but we had been very active that day and our appetites were such that they allowed us to sample six plates. We had: Tuna Poke Nachos; Avocado Tartare; Grilled Octopus Pintxo; Sticky Pork Ribs; Persian BBQ Lamb Tacos; and the Turkish Ravioli. The food was fresh, presented nicely with quality ingredients. It was all tasty. Our favourite was the Tuna Poke Nachos.

Whether for a few cocktails or to sample some other dishes, it would be a pleasure to return to Tango Nuevo in Kingston and re-experience the good service, cool ambiance and tasty...

Buyer Beware!

On January 15th my wife and I went to Tango Nuevo on King Street in Kingston to avail of a gift certificate given to us as a Christmas gift. We tried to get ahead of the menu perusal by looking into the online menu as we had previously experienced that the combination of poor lighting and small font make reading the in-house menu difficult. We ordered the four-item charcuterie and three other single items which were all quite tasty. When it came time to pay the bill we informed the server that we had a gift card. He took the card and went to get the bill. On returning, he told us that the total was around $85 and we could take the remainder of the $200 card in wine to go which was odd as we had not had any drinks or wine with our meal. We had also assumed we would simply get a credit of $115 for another visit as is common practice everywhere with gift cards. Our server stated that these gift cards had to be used up in a single sitting and then followed up by saying there was no way for him to “put that through their system”. He suggested that we pay the $85 bill and come back with a few friends to use up the gift card another time. Being a senior aged non-drinking couple, there was no hope that we could use up a $200 gift card in one visit even in view of the overtly pretentious pricing at the restaurant. The needless argument over gift cards and procedure totally ruined the evening that we had been looking forward to. We checked online later to see if there was any warning of this moronic policy regarding gift cards and did see it. That, however, is a moot point as by nature gift cards are “given” and the recipient would not even think to look into such things as this. This is the first time in our lives we have encountered such a ridiculous policy for gift cards. We have given and received many many gift cards over the years and all would accommodate users who were not going to be using up the entirety in one sitting...

I came here before, and the food was delicious. The atmosphere was warm, inviting, and casual, but the front-of-house service we received on Nov. 14 was so disappointing that I would not return. The restaurant needs to be professionally managed. I am sad to say it destroyed my graduation night experience.

We made a reservation a week in advance, hoping to avoid the experience we ended up having. We arrived 10 minutes earlier; we were told to wait outside the restaurant on the street as our table was not ready. The people sitting at our table were lingering and having fun. Other tables were available, and a couple of seats were available at the bar, but we didn't question, so we went for a walk to kill time. We were starving, though.

We came back half an hour later to give them time. The people were still at the table, other tables were still available, and we were told we needed to wait another 25 to 30 minutes outside again. When I started to get upset, I was offered the 4 seats at our designated table next to the party of 6 who were still having fun at the end of their meals. It felt like we were crashing someone else's party.

By that time, it had been one full hour since we arrived, for a time we had booked one week in advance. They offered us a table at their sister's restaurant, where the food was good, but the restaurant needed to be more staffed and the service faster. It took one hour for the first dish, the oysters, to arrive, and then tapas slowly came one by one.

I hope the managers of both restaurants will look into how to streamline greetings and customer seating.

By comparison, we dined at the Royal Hotel in Picton, and they were gracious in managing the competing priorities (we had to leave the table by a particular time). The food was delicious, too, and the design was...