Illari Vinos y Tapas — Restaurant in Málaga

I am writing this review with profound disappointment after an utterly terrible dining experience at your restaurant. The food was secondary to the shockingly poor and rude service we received from start to finish.

Firstly, upon arriving 14 minutes late for our reservation (due to predictable city traffic), we were not greeted but instead publicly scolded by the host. He informed us, with immense condescension, that in "all of Spain" reservations are only held for 10 minutes and that we should be "extremely grateful" they hadn't given our table away in the extra 4 minutes. This is not only a gross exaggeration but an incredibly unprofessional and hostile way to welcome guests.

The situation worsened when we were seated with our 3-year-old child. We had a compact stroller which we folded and placed completely out of the aisle, next to our table. Instead of offering a solution or a place to store it, three different staff members came over to tell us to "do something" with it. Their suggestions were to "put it outside on the street" or to "figure it out ourselves." The complete lack of assistance and basic courtesy for a family with a young child was astounding.

Finally, the ultimate insult: while we were still finishing our desserts, the waiter abruptly brought us the check without us asking and announced that our "time was up" and we needed to leave immediately. This was while multiple tables around us were empty. It was clear we were being rushed out for no reason other than the staff's desire to be rid of us.

The food was average, but it's impossible to enjoy a meal in such an unwelcoming and stressful environment. We have dined all over Spain and have never encountered such a combination of rigid pettiness, rudeness, and complete lack of customer service. We will never return and would strongly advise families, or anyone who expects to be treated with basic respect, to avoid...

Very mixed experiences Food - 5/5. Food was really nice (given its specialisation) and prices were fair or even moderate for a central location. Service - 1/5. I’m a really moderate person. Why 1/5? I.o. of greetings at the entrance we were told off because we showed up 11min after reservation and as per the waitress in Spain (!) a reservation only lasts for 10min. All my job experience with my lovely Spanish colleagues tells me exactly the opposite. Besides there were plenty of free tables inside and no queue at all. Next we were not offered a high chair for our kid but rather I had to grab one myself at the bathroom and bring to the table - never seen that anywhere before. At the end when were drinking coffee we were pushed out because "a person cannot occupy a table for more than 2h and we have a lot of reservation". This was told 1:45min after our arrival (and we already suffered from late arrival in the beginning - looks like a double punishment). And obviously there were no reservations, just another company wanted to have a seat spontaneously and they wanted to increase turnover. Atmosphere - 3/5. Nothing special, normal, only one bathroom for the place for all visitors makes the atmosphere sometimes a bit more stressed. At some point loud songs started outside and after 10-15min a guy came inside and beg for money. Waitresses were not surprised and try to make their way around him, e.g. first he beg, then they...

We are in Málaga/Rincon every year and this year visited the Illari for the first time on the recommendation of our family.

Starting with the warm welcome, we could receive our reserved table directly between the street and the interior. Ideal place to participate in the life of the street while benefiting from the cool interior.

The drinks we could order directly and with olives and bread (attention the bread costs a little) we browsed the menu.

All the tapas sampled were delicious. The Milhoja de Ventresca, which may be rather off-putting from the English name Tuna Belly, was just "regular tuna" and very tasty. The Patas Bravas were also yummy and some of the best in the region! The octopus was also very tasty, only the consistency on the outside was a little too glibig for us. The other tapas (pintxos/tostas) were also excellent: Octopus/Pulpo, Cheese Bomb/Bomba Queso, Cheese Ham Truffle/Bikini con Truffa, White Tuna Steak/Pintxo Atun. The least special was the Black Pudding Escalivada/Pintxo Escalivada. Not bad, just not our favorite.

We're looking forward to be back next year (or for a second time this...