Elia Cafe Tapas Bar — Restaurant in Bryan

this place is a huge scam. Do not go on a day where they have a pre-set menu. Me and my boyfriend went on Valentine’s Day and they had two preset menus one $65 and one $75 and the food on it was worth no more than $35. we chose the cheaper option and still ended up paying a $230 tab for food that was no better than what you would receive in a HelloFresh box. this place seems like an extremely cheap café inside of an antique shop posing as a five star restaurant requiring you to get all courses and not being able to freely order what you want . not only this, but you are sitting maximum 6 inches away from other couples on either side and there is absolutely no privacy whatsoever it was uncomfortable. my boyfriend asked the waiter if he could purchase escargot separately along with the pre-chosen menu and he was told “I asked my manager if i could get that for u, and she threw a towel in my face“ which isn’t a yes or no and we werent quite sure how to respond. The entrée we chose from the preset menu options was described as an Alfredo with blackened chicken, but we received a pasta with ground beef? Some type of mystery meat, not chicken. and for the dessert, we were only given two options and my boyfriend chose one of the options and was given a burnt cheesecake. like how do you burn a cheesecake? my boyfriend also asked what the waiter’s opinion was on a red cab wine, and the waiter only suggested a wine where we had to buy the whole bottle and couldnt buy just a glass. we paid more for this dinner and experience than we would have at a place like Casa de Brazil for a much better experience and much better food. Do not come here. Do not waste your time or money. also made a reservation and had to wait along with a bunch of other people who also made reservations and...

We were excited to eat at Elia for Sunday brunch. Located in what was formerly Maddens, the atmosphere remained nicely similar but updated. The staff was similarly great. The owner was actively present, engaged, and clearly proud of his new restaurant. All these positives made me want to write an enthusiastic review. When I saw the menu, the prices were extremely reasonable for a 2025 Bryan/ College Station brunch ($12 - $16 per entree). I lowered my expectations that this was not Maddens at that point, and it's a good thing I did. The food was good and a good value at that price point. It was not remarkable or what I had expected given the outstanding atmosphere and service, but it was also priced appropriately for what we got. My four companions who, when together, usually eat at places like The Republic, Ronin, and Primrose Path were a little disappointed. For example, they had no celery for the bloody Mary's (it came with an orange slice 🤔), they were out of Paella (looked great and most exciting thing on menu), the taste and presentation of what we got was like the broken yolk (or similar), the portions of some dishes were moderate. I would say we were jointly a little disappointed only because we came in expecting something higher end food wise. However, I think having met the owner, they will clearly strive for continual improvement and positioning where the market in BCS is (not sure if my group of five is typical or not). I have no doubt it will be a successful resteraunt and our growing community will welcome this nice brunch location. It was very busy when we were there. The owner said he would like to bring in live jazz for brunch, which would be awesome and a further reason to revisit (but I am not sure that they have floor or acoustic...

I was very excited to visit this restaurant, but was very disappointed in the service and details. We had a reservation at 7:15 pm. We arrive promptly at 7:15 pm, we were not seated until about 7:40 pm because they were "cleaning off the table" for more than 20 minutes. The AC was also broken and it was very hot. The thermostat was set to 62, but it was 82 degrees in the building. Service was very slow from refilling drinks to the food being brought out. The real kicker was that we were told one of the main entrees we ordered was not available about 20 minutes after we had placed our orders. To find out this late is unacceptable. We later found out that this dish had run out the night prior. We should have been informed immediately upon ordering. They offered a different comparable dish which we agreed to 15 minutes later after everyone else was half way through eating their meal the substitute dish came out several undercooked. Another 5 minutes later, the dish finally came out after everyone had already finished eating. At this point, we were ready to leave. They asked if we would like dessert, we declined they brought still brought out a complimentary dessert which was a nice gesture, but we were ready to leave. When the check came out the substitute dish that came out very late and raw was still on the check this dish was also more expensive than the original dish we had ordered. After waiting for our waiter to come by our table for 5 minutes we had to track them down to ask them to remove the dish from the check.

The atmosphere of the restaurant www nice, and the food was not bad. The service however, was...