Barcelona Wine Bar — Restaurant in Fairfield

I went to Barcelona last night with my boyfriend. We walked in, without reservations, but were quickly seated in the bar area. However, there was a caveat. The table would have to be turned sideways because they did not have enough stools. So my boyfriend and I had to sit on the same side and "cozy up" as they said. It was nearly impossible to even get to the bench because the table was basically two inches away from the two tables on either side. Thankfully the people next to us just laughed it off as we clumsily tried to get to our seats. As we did not have reservations, we did not complain because they tried their best to accommodate us. As a hostess, I know that your most important job is: seat the customer at CLEAN tables and give them menus. We did not receive menus nor was our table cleaned for at least 10 minutes. We attempted to flag someone down but it was nearly impossible as the place was packed and incredibly loud. Finally, we got our menus and we ordered beef empanadas, chicken empanadas, the patatas brava and a pitcher of white sangria. Unfortunately, I did not realize that I did not have my ID with me prior to ordering the sangria. My boyfriend had his and showed it to the waitress and I told her that I had to get mine out of the car. She quickly walked away and we did not see her for another 20 minutes. Within those 20 minutes, I realized how difficult it would be to get out of the seats because of how close we were to the other tables, how cold it was outside, and the icy walk all the way across the street (their paved parking lot was completely packed). Again, we tried flagging someone down but to no avail. I figured the waitress would come back asking for my ID before she decided to pour us anything from the pitcher. I thought wrong. She finally comes with the pitcher (looked amazing) and poured my boyfriend a glass, despite our explanation that we did not want it anymore. She immediately looked unhappy, for obvious reasons, and said she needed to speak to her manager. I'm not too sure as to why because we just said that we didn't want the pitcher anymore. Anyway, he comes and explains that he cannot serve me without the prior ID, something I was not arguing, and took the pitcher away at our request. Finally our food came. The beef empanada was the best. But where did MaKenna, our waitress, go? She did not bring us our food, she never asked how the food was, plates stacked up until another waiter came by and took them, our bottle of water was never refilled, she never brought us bread, never offered us a dessert menu, she didn't even gave us our check or told us to have a nice night. Frankly, the last time she came up to the table was with the pitcher. Thankfully, I went to school with one of the other waiters named Josh. Josh was beyond helpful and took care of our needs all while taking his own tables. He even brought us dessert free of charge for the inconvenience. To be honest, the only reason this place got to the two stars is because of the food and Josh. Without Josh, my boyfriend and I would probably still be waiting at the table for our check. I went to Barcelona for tapas, not a disappearing act starring MacKenna. I was not arguing over the rule with the ID at all and I understand her frustration but working in the food industry means you put on a smile and take care of your tables. You don't just ignore them because...

I have to say I'm pretty amazed at the amount of 5 star reviews of Barcelona. I assume the decor is supposed to be some sort of cool, retro 70's style, but the wallpaper just looked sad and peeled off the wall by the entrance as if even it were ashamed. After being told (for no real reason) that there wasn't any space outside - there was, we were sat by a door that had a constant flow of foot traffic. We asked to move and were happily seated on two tables which matched the height difference of my wife and I, so much grabbing of wobbling plates and glasses occurred. Our waitress was perfectly nice, but seemed to forget our drink order. When the bread arrived, even she seemed surprised "Wow. That was quick!" she said as she placed the olive oil, which we dunked the few scraps of remaining bread in. Eventually my wife's cocktail arrived, which was a pre-mixed, despite costing $11.50. My $12.50 gin and tonic was...a gin and tonic. The food was really salty and ironically, this arrived all at once, so we were frantically shoveling it all down before it got cold. Some food was good, some was Trader Joe's standard. We decided to skip more wine and dessert and call it a day and get a drink at Little Pub. It was also our wedding anniversary, so that should tell you everything that you need to know. For the experience, I'd score it 1, our waitress was likable, if not that efficient, so she makes it a 2 and that the restaurant itself seems to care about bad customer experiences, a 3. I just hope they actually do something about it. Sorry Barcelona -...

I’ve been to Barcelona several times and somehow have never gotten around to writing a review - which is crazy as I’ve always had a great experience. My most recent visit a few days ago was especially memorable as I started an elimination diet due to some health issues. As I looked at the menu, I was at a loss as to what I could possibly eat. Given I currently have so many limitations I didn’t want to be annoying and was going to just choose an entree that I thought would work. Well upon mentioning this briefly to my server I was moved by how sweet and helpful she was. I recall her saying, ‘oh I wish you would have told me earlier as I can mark up the menu for you with what I think you can have’ and she proceeded to circle and cross out items all over the menu. Not only was she great with helping me, she was also attentive to our entire party. For a Friday night I was amazed at how quickly all the tapas arrived at the table and management even let me bring in a special ice cream cake from the outside in order to serve for my friends birthday! Thank you Margaret for your kindness, attention to detail, and great service. Thank you management for being so...