Spanish Tavern — Restaurant in Newark

Terrible way to treat honest hard working people from the head waiter. We went Feb 5, for my mom’s birthday, it was 8 of us . We where expecting an amazing time since my parents go to this restaurant often and my mom loves the soup . The main problem started as soon as we sat down . As we where picking the main entrees the head waiter only asked the child in the table what he wanted to drink .Then when the orders where placed two other members asked for soda when a different member ask for water for the send whole table he only brought water for 4 of the 8 members when ask why he reply “ they already have soda . What they want water also ? “ Further when we ask for the main plates we ask to make changes to the side dishes and he reply “ YOU can not make changes to the side dishes if someone orders a dish with the side dishes you want you can share !!!!! Later when a person in our party complained he said in a snarky way “ is there a problem? “ Further my dad asked for a half bottle of wine the waiter told he he couldn’t buy a half a bottle and ok we understand different restaurant different rules . But the waiter did not give him the option to buy a whole bottle also . The second glass of wine tasted different. We order a specific salad and where brought the wrong one and out of “courtesy “ he left it . When the deserts where order they messed it up as well .they never brought one of the desserts but they brought an extra cup of coffee when we told them we did not order that . The waiter said we can not send it back to the kitchen. Is our hope that if you go you will be serve by a better friendlier non...

Was here yesterday or day before …Definitely came under dressed - was very casual for this “forced fine dining place”. The bartender failed with making an old fashioned. I ordered a bulleit bourbon old fashioned and nearly had a heart attack when he muddled maraschino cherries and literal pieces of orange, added sweet vermouth, shook it with the bourbon and dumped the ice and mix together and served it to me with an orange garnish. I almost died. When I asked him about the mix, he sounded aggressive to the point that the business men sitting next to me even glared at him. He had the nerve to try to charge me for it. Nope, remove that. I settled for a jack daniel and ginger ale mix - he also failed that but I was tired of complaining. Coincidently, two other black guys walked in and he visibly was uncomfortable. Rushed their service. It was uncomfortable to watch.

I was definitely judged on my appearance. Everyone here was Caucasian and on the brink of retiring. Here I go, tattoos all out and just out of place. Bartender treated me as such. But my bank account would match anyone’s there…look at my yelps reviews :)

I ordered the camarones ajillo - disgusting. It didn’t even look like a typical dish. The rice is very Tex-mex. Super bland.

Will never return here. The racist vibes and drinks to match should be a deterrent.

Also, fire that...

We came on my birthday for an early dinner. The designated parking lot is perfect, I actually watched the parking antics out the window as we ate 🤣 when you walk in you are in the bar. It seems a gallery of sorts with modern art on the walls small but cozy bar area, enough space for someone to enjoy a meal there. We were seated immediately in the dining room, very pretty atmosphere classic old world art reminiscent of my European grandparents’ dining room art ❤️. I chose this restaurant based on the reviews of the paella, we ordered the paella for two and enjoyed the escarole soup while we waited.

The paella was amazing the seafood really does come out perfectly cooked. The meat; chicken and sausage were really good but the amount of meats compared to the seafood seemed less (maybe because it had been said I like seafood more, which there was plenty for both of us). There was plenty to eat and still enough fit each of us to have a full meal the next night. The fresh made potato chips are amazing we wound up taking them home too.

The only reason I gave less stars for service was because I had to ask for lemon for my water so many times, there were plenty of servers to attend to all your needs, the service was fine after that was resolved.

We both enjoyed the whole experience and plan to return. Thank you for the great...