Marcelino's Boutique Bar — Restaurant in Providence

Drinks are delicious and had a great ambiance. Server was very helpful for our drink choice and kind to us.

However, unfortunately me and my friends had a weird experience. Me and three of my friends had a reservation for four people and we were seated to a big table. Server brought 6 glass of water, but we were only four people. Then they told us they confused the seating and the reservations. They thought we were a group of six.

I think that’s why when bill arrived 20% tip was automatically added (I am assuming their system still thought that we are group of six). We didn’t mention it because drinks were delicious and they deserved even more than 20% tip. So I added another %4 on top of existing automatically added 20%.

A few minutes after bill is handled, our server kindly asked us to leave the bar in 8 minutes because they said table is booked to another party.

Our original reservation was at 8:30 pm, and they asked us to leave the bar at 9:30 PM.

I am guessing server did not realize automatically added 20% tip (because it was listed on another tab in the bill, and we were group of four). Maybe server assumed I only left them 4% tip and got upset. I can’t think any other reason why my friends and I were asked to leave so soon. I don’t think we did anything disrespectful and many times verbally stated our appreciation to them and how good the drinks are.

We think it was rude of them to ask us leave in around one hour where we spent over $110. I don’t think we will visit this bar again.

Edit: Owner reached out to us and said they are very sorry for the confusion. It turns out it doesn’t have to with tip, but it was a miscommunication regarding us being accidentally placed at a different reservation’s table. Thus, they thought we are sitting in the table for too long. We appreciate the phone call and their effort to communicate the misunderstanding. Therefore I raise the rating...

So rarely do I find a place that does everything perfectly—drinks, food, service, atmosphere—that five stars really isn’t enough.

Marcelino’s is more than a bar, it is an experience. For a few hours out of a terrible year (2020, in case you’re reading this in the future), you are transported somewhere magical where the drinks are like nothing you’ve tried before and the food is inspired by a beautiful country cradled by the Mediterranean sea where they’ve been perfecting their cuisine for thousands of years. Yeah, man, that good.

My friend and I were warmly welcomed by the owner of the bar and proceeded to spend the next few hours trying almost every drink on the menu and they were astonishing: so refreshing yet complex and all incredibly imaginative. Our favorites of the night were… well, honestly, all of them… but for my friend, the strawberry drink. Start with that and don’t worry about ordering more because you the drinks are high quality. I had five and felt amazing, yet there wasn’t even a hint of a hangover the next day. Is there a Nobel Prize for mixology? No? Well, you know who has my vote.

For food, we ordered the smoked tahini eggplant, tajin salmon carpaccio, and the portobello halloumi and were given an order of goat cheese taco on the house. Everything was seasoned to perfection and even an avowed meat eater like me was pleased eating veggies.

All in all, Marcelino’s makes the list of best bars I’ve been to around the world and in fact, it feels like I could be anywhere in the world when I step through those doors. It’s a timeless, placeless, magical space and if you feel down and out like 2020 has got you by the neck and won’t let go, do yourself a favor of a lifetime and go grab a drink or two or three at this bar.

I’ll be...

5 for the atmosphere; really incredible decor. 3 for food, although this is meant for the wine as we did not order food. And service, well...

A first impression is everything, and Marcelino's unfortunately fell very flat in this respect. I've come to accept that Providence has some of the best cocktail bars with some of the most unapproachable bartenders, and Marcelino's is no exception, if not the most glaring example of this trend. While the greeter at the door was friendly enough any sense of welcome went away the moment we sat down and were absolutely stonewalled by the bartender. I understand if it's company policy always to have someone behind the bar, but I certainly hope the higher-ups at Marcelino's don't train the bartenders to stand there frowning at you while you check the menu - which brings me to something more of a nitpick/suggestion: while I understand scannable menus are here to stay - and why shouldn't they be? They're more efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable - there is something to be said for formatting. If your scannable menu is 8 pages long and closely resembles a paper menu with text so small you have to zoom in to read it, you may be better off to have actual paper menus. I could've forgiven that weren't it for the one-word responses from the bartender as he sat directly in front of us, arms crossed & frowning at us as we sipped our wine. Frankly shocking considering just how top-rated Marcelino's is. Was excited to try it but left so disappointed that I don't think I could be...