Gilda's Bar De Tapas — Restaurant in Shawnee

I've eaten there twice, now. The first time was very shortly after they opened, and my friend and I were hoping for an experience like La Bodega. It wasn't even close.

The croquetas were mushy and the bread for the pan con tomato was stale. The bacon-wtapped dates were okay, but lacked flavor. We hoped / assumed we just needed to wait a few weeks for things to settle in. I went back last week with my parents, and sadly it was worse. The fried eggplant was quite good, as was the soup (bean and pork cheek). The shrimp was over-cooked, the croquetas were cold and soggy, and the meatballs were crumbly and bland.

The prices are way behind what I'd expect for the quality and quantity of food (again here they suffer from a comparison with La Bodega) - and they suffer from an identity crisis where they have too few tapas offerings and too many entrees / things that just don't seem to fit with the rest of the menu.

Fingers crossed it gets better --- I'd love a good tapas...

We were excited to try Gildas after KC Date Night rated them so highly. We knew the restaurant was still new and anticipated a wait but were very disappointed with the service overall. We were seated at an awkward bar space by the windows rather than one of the open tables and felt like we were forgotten at times. With only one bartender on staff our drinks arrived after our food. Both food and drink were definitely delicious but the service flubs impacted our experience overall. It's also of note that the atmosphere overall was fun but loud. The women's bathroom was almost so dark inside you couldn't see due to a very small light. They would benefit from even a small second light. Overall, we are open to trying Gildas again in 6...

Menu- check Drinks- check Atmoshphere- check Vibes- check What a refreshing change of pace from the norm. Approachable menu options. Diverse selection of wines and cocktails. There wasn’t a thing on the menu I wouldn’t order so tonight we ordered the Gambas, Famous Catalan Bikini, Marconi Almonds, and the Gildas Signature dip. We enjoyed several cocktails - the Old Fashioned - Blanco Negroni (an oxymoron in the BEST possible way) - Mojito, FTH (fig, thyme, honey) and Without Staff. Shamelessly- we ordered one of each of the desserts.

Not a single thing fell flat or left wanting. Rather, stirred a deep desire to dig deeper and explore further. Alas- the stomach can hold only so much.

We...