Abanico Tapas Bar, Restaurant & Music — Restaurant in Greenville

I should have known it wasn’t going to be a good experience when after sitting 15-20 minutes no one greeted us. I went up to one of the servers and told her we had a show to get to and asked if our waitress could take our order. She said our waitress was downstairs doing something, and she offered to grab our order. Food and atmosphere was ok at best, nothing fancy at all. Cheap silverware and plates. The waitress said she put our food in right away and we thanked her. The table who ordered right before us got their food rather quickly, so I was excited it wouldn’t take forever for our food to come out. The tapas came out separately, which was not ideal, but not a big deal. Everything came out besides the croquettes and the paella, and after waiting about 30 mins she said that they should be out shortly and offered to pack it up to go if we needed it since we had a show to get to. (Why I would want to pay all this money to just take food to go beats me), but I said we still had 15 mins before we had to leave and expected it would be ready shortly. After 5 more minutes the manager apologized and said they “lost part of our ticket” and he would discount our check. I said ok and continued to wait. We got the croquettes a couple minutes later. 10 more minutes went by and I walked up asked for the check and asked them to just take the paella off and give us the discount so we could leave. They only took off $7 for the paella and $5 “discount” for the wait and horrible service. The Paella normal goes for $11 and for restaurant week they had 3 tapas for $26 which comes out to $8.66 per tapa, and we waited about an hour for two of the tapas (croquettes and paella) so really we should have gotten at least a $17 off for the food that took so long (or never came). They only gave us $12 which barely covers the paella they said they would take off. I talked to the one female manager and mentioned the “discount” the male manager offered and she said the discount was the $5 empanada they took off plus the $7 (which didn’t even cover the actual price) for the paella that I told them to take off cause we had to leave and couldn’t take food togo into the Theater. I will never ever go to or eat here again, food was sub par at best and the service and ambiance in general was horrible. Super...

I'm still really upset about this. We haven't been on a date night since our 2nd baby was born (9 months ago); went on a few lunch dates while the kids are in daycare. Someone in the family has been sick since Oct, so we haven't really had a break from dr visits to getting much sleep. I researched restaurants where I could safely eat, booked a sitter that the baby and toddler both felt comfortable with, and dressed up in fancy clothes. We made early reservations (5 pm) to avoid crowds and get home at a reasonable time. The hostess seated us and we were only the 2nd customers besides a few at the bar. Went over drinks and food options with our server. A few more customers walked in. In the meantime, we received a plate of 6 small (2") pieces of bread. It took over 30 minutes for our drinks to arrive. We are looking around and several of the customers that walked in after us immediately got their drinks and are already eating. Our waitress went MIA on us but was still bringing drinks and food to other tables, all arriving after us. Then, over an hour later, our first tapa (paella) arrives brought by the hostess. I asked how is that we received our food and only 1 of 4 tapas that we ordered after waiting more than 1 hour and after so many other people. She explained that this is repeat issue as it just happened the night before where the kitchen is sending food out not by ticket but by the type of tapa ordered but we saw the paella at 2 other customers' tables. Then she mentioned more issues with the bartender. We are beyond starving at this point (only had the bread) and just request our food to brought out as soon as possible as customers that came in after us are leaving. 20 minutes later, only 2 more tapas arrive, in which 1 was overcooked, almost burned and the other was cold. The 1st tapa was delicious by the way. We cancelled the last one as we've been there for 2 hours and I'm on the brink of tears. I just wanted to celebrate a night out with my husband. Not only did we waste our time and money at Abanico Tapas Bar, plus times 1 1/2 for the sitter, but it was just so sad that's how our 6th anniversary will be remembered. There are so many other wonderful restaurants in Greenville, celebrate and spend your...

We had a great time here Saturday night. It was not busy at all, we called to make a reservation just in case and they already had a table set up for us when we got there. There were 5 people in our party and they served us water without us even requesting it which I love! The menu options were unique and incredible and here is what we tried:

Pan Con Aioli - this was a super simple baguette and garlic Aioli. It was a garlic kind of yogurt sauce that wasn't super flavorful but was a perfect palette cleanser between dishes. 6.5/10 Empanadas - I only got the chance to try the beef one but we ended up getting one of each and then an extra beef because it was JUST that good. One of the best empanadas I've ever had. Bursting with flavor with this light flaky crust. 10/10 Patatas Bravas - Do NOT overlook this because it sounds simple. This might have been my favorite thing if the night. Crispy bite sized potato with a delectable spicy mayo type sauce on it. Actually blew me away and everyone at the table was fighting for the last bite. The same sauce was served with a few other dishes we tried and seemed to be a staple for them. 10/10 Coles De Bruselas - Seasoned crispy brussel sprouts with a little cheese on top. Absolutely delicious and very well cooked. 9/10 Champiñones al Ajillo - Sauteed mushrooms. Great flavor without being super overpowering. Everyone really liked these. 8/10 Carilladas al Txakoli - This was certainly a star of the evening. My friend jokingly asked that they bring her the whole pot. Incredible tender beef cheek in this flavorful sauce with white rice. It's like the best pot roast you've ever had. Might have to go back for this one. 10/10 Moussaka - Delicious eggplant covered in cheese and sauce. It was very tiny for $10 and we all only got a single bite but it was VERY good and so flavorful. Another star of the meal. 10/10

The meal was around $75 total for all of this(fed 4/5 people) + a soft drink. Our waitress was so kind and personable and did a great job taking care of us. The atmosphere was lovely. Great tapas restaurant. We will...