Suspiro — Restaurant in San Jose

I had high hopes from this place based on the IG post a friend shared with me. We reserved a table there for a friend's birthday dinner. I wanted to order a Peruvian beer and both choices were sold out. I should have taken that as a sign of things to come, but the gin drink I ordered wasn't bad. Looked over the menu and the one item I wanted unfortunately they told me was very spicy. That's a pass for me. I order the only other dish that sounded good the Pachmanca. The description said Chicken, potatoes , herbs and plantains. We also order some appetizers. The ceviche was good but the chicken croquet was lacking. It had more potato then chicken in it. To the point my friend thought they brought us the potato ones instead of the chicken ones. Our entrees came out and I looked at my dish and said....um is this the right order? The manager that dropped it off asked what I ordered. I told him and he said oh no that's not right. Yours is a breaded chicken like chicken fried steak ...well he was wrong. It was my dish. And for shy of 40 dollars it was severely lacking. I'm playing pictures as a reference with my friend's hand to show how small the chicken part was. Two friends of mine split a paella and said it was passable. My friends lomo he said was amazing which is why they get 3 starts vs 2. For the price of the meal compared to Town a group of friends and I went to last week it did not compare. Town was cheaper and with one more guest and a lot better quality. We were so disappointed with the food we forgot about the speakeasy part of it. Funny enough we ran into some friends on their way out and they also expressed how disappointed they were in the place. So many better options...

It was a very negative experience. Hostess was fine - we were seated right away because the restaurant was not busy. Busser was great - was given water immediately after seating. White cardstock menus were food stained.

It took nearly 40 minutes for the server to notice us. During this 35-40 minute wait, two servers walked past our table multiple times, as well as the hostess and busser. No one checked in on us during this time. The bartender; however, looked at us several times.

Our server ended up behind the bar, where I believe, the bartender told her we sat there for a while. She came over shortly, apologized, took our order, then brought us a snack of fried corn kernels…which we soon found hair in.

Another 10 minutes went by before she checked in again, and I showed her the strand of hair. She apologized and offered another serving, but I said no.

Our order (one appetizer, one tapas, one entree) came after another 25 minutes. Entree first, tapas next. When we decided to be done, the appetizer came. The final bill, with a draft beer, was nearly $120 with tax and the socially normed 15% tip.

This was a very negative overall experience for the price paid. The environment may have been beautiful, but I will never go back.

I acknowledge this may be bad luck, but if the menu price is set as such, that comes with a certain...

Suspiro is located in a quiet courtyard in the trendy Santana Row (near Barry's Bootcamp and NetApp). The restaurant has a beautiful setting and ambiance. The bar is situated in the center of the restaurant displaying its wide selection of wines, beers, bubbles and spirits. We had an amazing lunch filled with tasty tapas and delicious paellas. We started with the classic pisco sour, a glass of MV Cava "pink brut" Pares Altes, a glass of Rioja, La Mar cocktail and the Soulstice ginger peach iced tea. For starters, we had the Ceviche Mixto, Ceviche de Atun, Causa de Congrejo y Camaran, Croqetas de Pollo, Berenjena Asada, Bikini Trufado, Empanadas de Carne. We also pre-ordered the Paella de Mariscos and the Paella de Carne for six. We probably would have been ok with Paella for three as there was plenty of leftovers. For dessert, we shared the Suspiro Limeno, Torrija, Tartin de Manzana, and Tarta de Chocolate. There was more than enough for the six of us after consuming all the tapas and paellas. The service was amazing. Our server and bartender, Steven, was warm, attentive and friendly. We even had the pleasure of seeing pics of his beautiful fur babies. I highly recommend Suspiro for their tasty dishes and amazing cocktails. If you are up for more fun, inquire about their hidden...