La Tapería — Restaurant in Cartagena

My wife found this place online and we tried it on our third day in Cartagena. The food the first two days in the city had been amazing in every place we had gone to, so we were coming with high expectations, and boy, DID THIS PLACE DELIVER!!

First thing you notice is the ambience. They managed to bring the Spanish feel to Colombia, with great decorations and comfort. Even with the extreme heat the city had this week, the owner shut the door for us to keep as much of the AC inside to improve our experience.

The menu is very unique, tapas/pintxos based, where you can order as much food as you want. The tapas mix dish is a great way to get acquainted with the way the food is served, offering a couple items that are fixed and then a choice of 4 pintxos. We had blood sausage, shrimp, Spanish chorizo and serrano ham. SO MUCH FLAVOR! We liked it so much that we ordered two more tapas mixes and 4 empanadas on top of that. We also had a jar of their red sangria which was sweet and refreshing. The shrimp were our favorite! But every single pintxo and empanada we tried was absolutely fantastic.

The price was extremely reasonable, specially when you're used to USA prices. The four of us (wife, son, mother in law and I) walked out extremely full and satisfied and the bill was less than 70 USD. We really wish we had this restaurant in Houston, TX!

Needless to say we had a great experience and are looking forward to visiting again before leaving town next week. Highly...

6 years ago I first visited this beautiful family run restaurant, I fell in love with the hospitality and the food itself. It had been a couple of years since my last visit…

After moving to Medellin, I decided to head up to Cartagena, and of course was going to visit La Taperia. I hadn’t realised they had moved location, however a beautiful interior and ambience, along with friendly staff and still great food with prices that don’t match the rest of Cartagena (gringo/tourist prices).

The food… I have visited many countries in the world and eaten a lot of Spanish food, the paella was brilliant! Certainly would recommend. Me and my partner still speak about the sangria we first had 6 years ago, it’s still as good as it was then.

Sadly, the owners weren’t there tonight as I would’ve liked to have seen them. I did speak with Chris, whose wife is heavily involved in the restaurant and is doing incredible things. Chris was extremely friendly and is doing a good job to ensure things stay the same and people leave with a smile on their faces.

Thanks again, Chris & La Taperia family,...

FIGHT FOR YOUR SEAT ! BATTEZ VOUS POUR VOTRE PLACE! ASEGÚRENSE DE LUCHAR PARA SU SILLA!

ONE star Without being able to taste anything.

We arrived at 6:30pm, were told it would open at 7pm, that no reservation was possible and that we could go for a walk and come back or stay and wait. We decided to wait with our 4 kids to be sure to have a seat.

At 7:15 (after 45 minutes waiting), the doors opened and for some reason, people who arrived after us were told to get in “because they had arrived first and went for a walk”. So 9 people got in and there was no more space for us. I went in to tell the owner he should be clearer about the “entrance policy”, he barely apologized and said it was first in first served. Which was not the case as we were first there. At least the only ones who waited. Disappointed by the 50 minutes waiting for nothing. If you go, make sure to fight...