Mesón Sabika — Restaurant in Naperville

Tapas are my favorite food. In any city we go to, I want to try a tapas restaurant. So I am sad to report that, while the ambience of Mesón Sabika is nice, I cannot eat that food again unless they change their recipes. After four disappointing plates and some sangria that was just okay, we stopped ordering because the flavors and even the textures were just so underwhelming.

The sangria I would give a 7/10. It was very watered down and uninteresting.

We ordered patatas bravas (always a favorite at any tapas restaurant, and no two places have the same recipe); apparently someone doesn’t understand that patatas bravas are meant to be flavorful and spicy. These were neither. 2/10

We ordered the croquetas (always a favorite); the texture of the meat inside was dry and almost grainy; we ate them, but I would never do so again. So sad. 2/10

We ordered an empanada; again, the meat inside was lacking flavor and had a very strange texture. It had some strange garnish resembling cabbage. Not recommended at all. 1/10

We ordered stuffed mushrooms that were sad-looking, overcooked but okay; again, lacking any true flavor or imagination. 3/10

Ambience 10/10: We sat on the patio. The lights were pretty and there was some Spanish music playing somewhere, but we could barely hear it. The tables were spaced a comfortable distance from each other.

Service 10/10: The wait staff was amiable and there was a note congratulating us for our anniversary, which is a nice detail. They also served us each a glass of Prosecco at the end, which was thoughtful and why I am not taking off a star in this section for having had to wait quite a while for our table, despite having a reservation.

In summary, the Prosecco was the one thing we tasted that we could have identified in a blind taste test. Overall, I really wanted to like this place and was certain I would; but the food is not good; we were 0 for 5, including the sangria. In all fairness, we did not try everything on the menu, but I just can’t bring myself to repeat this experience. I have never once been 0 for 5 at any restaurant, much less a tapas place; I really am shocked and dismayed to have...

I went with a girlfriend to celebrate both of our birthdays. The outside of the mansion has always intrigued me for years but the inside just looked like a house with many different rooms. We sat upstairs by the window. The décor had some Spanish photos on the walls and vases and bong-like pieces on a bookshelf. The people next to us had a broken leg on their table which took some time to fix. We spent $165 after tip and I was expecting better EVERYTHING. I knew the tapas were going to be small and pricey but the only tapa I enjoyed was the Robust Garlic Potato Salad (Patatas con Alioli) but it is extremely garlic and starting with that was a mistake. The red sangria was nothing special and the peach sangria was refreshing but too sweet for my taste. The Gambas Marinadas was decent as well as the Gambas a la Plancha, both shrimp items but this one was grilled and had a trio of sauces but we were never told what they were. The Empanada de Buey was flat out disgusting and neither of us could finish it. It was a beef empanada that just tasted like taco meat in an undercooked pastry. What a disappointment! We ended our main meal with the sirloin, it had two medallions called Solomillos a la Plancha. It was cooked perfectly medium rare but the top had way too much peppercorn on it that it ruined the flavor of the steak. We ordered the cream puffs and cake for dessert, the cream puffs had ice cream in the middle instead of cream and the chocolate syrup had a horrible aftertaste of cherry that made the entire thing bitter. We got a third one for free because it was our birthdays which we didn’t eat because they were gross to begin with. If we knew we were getting that, we could have saved $10 on the other cream puffs that we also did not eat. The Tarta de Pera was my favorite of the entire evening, it was a warm almond pear cake that was absolutely delicious. I would not go back to this establishment or recommend it to anyone that I know. So sad that it did not meet our...

My husband and I came for our anniversary. We've been several times before and never had an issue. We had reserved outdoor seating, but it was chilly. We requested to sit inside and were abruptly told no, we have to sit outside if that was our reservation. It was Thursday and MANY tables available inside. I came back to ask for the reasoning behind having to sit outside and was rudely told if we moved it would shift every other reservation. I asked if it would be different if we had just walked in, and the manager said we would only be offered outside or the bar (which was not offered to us when we first asked). I explained it was our anniversary, and this was disappointing. I explained we would be cutting our meal short as a result. He rolled his eyes and half heartedly offered to see what he could do. At this point, I was frustrated and just wanted to sit down. He followed me down the hall, and I told him he was being a little aggressive and wanted to sit down. He yelled down the hall at me again about finding a different table. It freaked me out, and I repeated I just wanted to go sit down. He came to our table to (still rude) offer one in their tented area. We had ordered drinks already and said no thank you. As the evening went on SEVERAL people went in to ask for indoor seating and immediately sat inside-with no aggressive argument. It was unreal. The manager NEVER came back to check on us, wish us a happy anniversary, apologize...nothing. I will give him he offered the table, but no one else had to fight him for it, not to mention the attitude. The server was ok, the hostess was rude and the manager was frightening in how he spoke. All very disconcerting. Happy anniversary to us. Doubt we'll be back any time soon unless they figure out how the customer should always be right and take a lesson in hospitality. There was none during this visit. I've also made sure to spread the word as I have many friends who...