Barcelona Wine Bar — Restaurant in Tampa

As a Tampa native , always rooting for new businesses to come to our city. We were excited to hear about this place and loved the way the menu looked online. We also live so close . We were a party of 6, had reservations for 9:30. Walked to the bar and ordered a cocktail called “Teatime”. We added gin , since it’s a non alcoholic drink. The bartender did an incredible job preparing it. My girlfriends tasted it and loved it so much they a said they would order it when we are seated. We were seated about 25 minutes after our initial reservation time. We got to the table and it took quite a while to even get a waiter . We were cool about it , we get that they were busy. When our waiter finally came by we all put our drinks in. My girlfriends and I ordered teatime which was a hit when the bartender prepared it for us. About 15 minutes after ordering our cocktails when they arrive to the table, they look completely different. I stated to the young lady, these drinks were not ours, as there was no way this could even be the same drink. She said to me that they were 100% our drinks. I politely explained to her that this is not the same cocktail, the bartender prepared. This young lady was very rude, and completely arguing with me that it is what we ordered. I told her several times, I’m not here to argue with you. I’m just trying to explain to you why this drink is not the same drink we had at the bar with the bartender, even though it’s the same drink on the menu. She was very nasty and clearly did not want to help us. It got to the point where I had to describe that this drink was not creamy and not the right color. It looked like lemonade what we were being served. She disappeared with our drinks and at this point I said I need to speak to a manager. I explained to the manager that by no means were we trying to get anyone in trouble. We simply were communicating that that is not what we ordered and explained to him the difference in color and texture of the drink. He stated that they had run out of “ Aquafaba” which is a key ingredient in this drink and it’s exactly why this drink did not taste or look the same. I explained to him why couldn’t this young lady just simply communicated that instead of trying to make us all look crazy at the table. He apologize for her attitude, so we simply continued with our evening hoping this would be the last hiccup along the way. We then proceeded to put in our food orders, and from the very beginning, told them that us three couples would have our own tabs. We want to communicate that upfront to make it easier for the staff. One of the guys at our table never got the correct drink, they bought him the same( incorrect ) drink 4 times in a row . It was surreal. We then proceeded to order our food , whole branzino on the menu looked incredible, especially that they debone it at the table. When it came out it was very odd to see the salad and the vegetables right next to the fish. Our friends as well ordered the same thing. As soon as they start cutting the head of the fish off, cutting it open removing the bones, the fish skin and bones were all over the salad, flopped all over the glazed carrots. We’ve had fish like this all over the world, and I must say this was one of the most amateur jobs I’ve ever seen of someone trying to debone a fish and presentation .Truly, the presentation of this fish is so wrong. The salad and vegetable should not be on the same cutting board. We ended up not being able to eat this fish or our guest’s . We also were so tired from the first drink debacle and the way the lady handle herself. we decided to just not eat the fish and let it be. Not complain or ask for it off the bill. The music was so loud, it was impossible to have a conversation at the table.Our waiter Anthony was very nice. I can tell he was trying to do his best. The fire alarm went off, but you couldn’t hear it because the music was so loud you just see lights going off . Checks came all messed up. Still left 20% because we know waiter...

I don’t often write reviews, but after the complete debacle that was my experience at Barcelona Wine Bar, I feel compelled to warn others to steer clear of this overpriced, noisy nightmare. From the moment we walked in, it was clear this place was more about style than substance—and it didn't even get the style right.

Let’s start with the ridiculous wait. We had a reservation at 9:30 PM, but somehow were left waiting 30 minutes past our scheduled time with no explanation or apology. In fact, the host barely acknowledged our existence while we stood awkwardly by the door.

Once we were finally seated, the nightmare continued. Our waitress, who seemed to think it was her personal mission to ruin our evening, was openly argumentative. When we asked for clarification on a Tea/Vodka drink (since it was a completely different drink than what we ordered earlier at the bar), she shot us down with such a snarky, condescending attitude that it felt like we were the ones who were somehow at fault for asking simple questions. She didn’t just ignore us; she actively made us feel uncomfortable, almost like we were inconveniencing her by asking questions. Honestly, I’ve had more pleasant interactions with disgruntled DMV employees.

But let’s talk about the food—or should I say the lack of food knowledge. I ordered the Branzino, expecting a light, delicate fish prepared with some care. What arrived was a grotesque mess: a bone-filled fish that looked like it had been thrown on the plate as an afterthought. I can handle a bone or two in a fish dish, but this was ridiculous. I spent half my meal picking bones out of my mouth. On top of that, it was literally resting on top a mound of wilted lettuce. I’m sorry, but lettuce should not be a garnish, and definitely not the main attraction on a plate that’s supposed to feature a nice piece of fish. This was beyond disappointing—it was inedible.

We sat there for over 25 minutes, watching as our dirty dishes pile up in front of us while our waiter completely ignored us. At this point, we were so fed up, we literally had to move our plates ourselves to an open table next to us just to get them out of our way. No one said a word, no one offered to help—just complete indifference from the staff.

And the noise! If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to eat in a packed nightclub, Barcelona Wine Bar has your answer. The blaring music was so loud that I couldn’t even hear the person sitting next to me—let alone carry on a conversation. We actually had to shout at each other just to be heard, which is completely unacceptable in any dining setting, let alone one that’s supposedly aiming for a “fine dining” experience.

But the icing on the cake was the “waiter” who spent more time walking around aggressively pouring spring break shots down people’s throats than actually doing any real service. He was like a walking college party, barging into every conversation and pouring terrible shots from 4 feet high over people's face. I’m all for a lively atmosphere, but this was a complete farce. How about pouring me a glass of wine instead of forcing strangers to do shots they didn’t ask for?

In conclusion, Barcelona Wine Bar is an overpriced, poorly-run establishment that has no clue what it’s doing. The service is horrendous, the food is subpar at best (and downright inedible at worst), and the atmosphere is more chaotic nightclub than restaurant. If you value your time, money, and sanity, do yourself a favor and go literally anywhere else. This place doesn’t deserve...

Update 9/19/25 — Changing to 5 Stars

This is an update to my original 1-star review below. Based on our recent visit, I’m happy to change my rating to 5 stars.

We decided to give Barcelona Wine Bar another chance, and the difference was night and day. The food was excellent, the service was outstanding, and management went above and beyond to ensure we had the experience we should have had the first time.

A special thank-you to Tabetha, who helped turn things around and made our evening truly enjoyable. Her professionalism and attention made all the difference.

Mistakes can happen anywhere, but what matters is how management responds—and in this case, they handled it exceptionally well. Because of that, I now highly recommend Barcelona Wine Bar and look forward to future visits.

We had high hopes for this restaurant, and while most of the food was good (except for the mussels, which I wouldn’t recommend), the service was by far the worst I’ve ever experienced.

From the start, the waitress seemed to discourage us from ordering the paella because it takes 45 minutes. We confirmed we wanted it and placed additional orders. Two of the three tapas arrived, but things quickly went downhill from there.

Our server accidentally spilled an entire glass of wine on my girlfriend. While they offered to pay for dry cleaning, they didn’t automatically replace the wine—20 minutes passed before we had to ask for a new glass. Then, after we ordered more food, the waitress came by asking if we wanted to see the dessert menu. We reminded her we were still waiting on the paella, and she acted as if we had never ordered it—despite the lengthy conversation we had about it at the beginning. Five minutes later, she returned, questioning whether we even ordered it at all.

At that point, with my girlfriend’s jeans ruined and our main dish completely forgotten, we just asked for the check. The manager brought us a paella to go, and the waitress then tried to claim we had ordered it that way from the start—contradicting everything that had happened before. No discount, no proper apology, just gaslighting and dismissiveness.

Mistakes happen, and we were patient, assuming they would make things right. They didn’t. Maybe we were too nice about it but given how poorly this was handled, and the fact that my girlfriend’s jeans are ruined, we’ll be following up with the ownership group.

Bottom line: The food was decent, but the service was...