Olespana Whiskey & Tap(as) — Restaurant in Watertown

What a massive dissapointment this place is.

I had friends who came here near it's grand opening, and they gushed about it. It took a few months for them to bring me, but the downward spiral in so little time was shocking.

The space is beautiful. Old pianos turned into draft stations. Recycled tubs made into hanging lamps. Old jukeboxes as wall art. Even the bar itself looked like work was put into it.

If the staff and food were as charming as the space, this place would be a knockout success.

As it is... we sat at the bar. We all thought the bartender was rather cute. He would have made a killing with us if he bothered to smile, much less try to be charming. It wasn't like they were busy.

Took a different server to realize we had sat for 10 minutes without even water being offered. Much less our order being taken. Our water was never refilled even once btw.

But you know, a bad front of house can be saved by good food.

Sadly, this was the worst excuse for Spanish tapas I have ever suffered.

The only thing that came out of the kitchen that was worth paying for was the shrimp. The few there were.

The worst offender was the "champaniones". The mushrooms. I would bet my first born that the mushrooms in the dish we were served came out of a can. Pure garbage.

The patatas bravas we ordered were steamed potatoes, cut in huge chunks and tossed with tomato sauce. Neither Crispy, or tasty. Also served without aoli.

The other style of patatas, which we also ordered, was French fries with goopy garlic aoli dripped on them. If that aoli was made in house, and not from a bottle, I would shoot the chef out of mercy.

We mixed them together and it was a passable mutant dish.

The octopus was over cooked and lacking seasoning.

Even the fresh cut Jamon was dissapointing. They don't seem to own a knife sharp enough to cut it properly. Or more likely, they have no one with any passion or talent in the kitchen.

I grant that I have high standards. And can be a bit of a hater, but damn does this place deserve it.

The prices of their drinks aren't even worth coming back for just to drink at the bar.

My friends were horribly embarrased for bringing me, and couldn't begin to explain the difference since they came the first time.

We didn't finish most of the food, and we didn't ask for a to-go box.

The kitchen is shameful, the front of house is lazy. This place is an embarrassment.

We will never return.

The second star is just for whomever decorated the place, and whomever chose the...

When a new restaurant arrives in an old dive bar and claims to specialize in the unusual and bold combo of authentic Spanish tapas, whiskey, and small plates from around the world, you know that the owner is either a bold visionary with exceptional cross-border culinary experience and expertise, or an optimist with a unique idea. Based on my experience, I'm guess the latter. I don't like hurting local mom and pop restaurants, but if you are going to drop $200 on dinner, you should know what you're in for. The outside and the interior both still have a bar setup. They did do a very good job on the colorful decor, but it's a cavernous space and still feels like you're in a bar. The Spanish music was blasting so loud that I could hardly think straight when trying to order. Unfortunately, the sangria (maybe the most important thing to get right in a tapas restaurant) was not authentic. I don't even think they offered pitchers and there was no fruit other than a slice of orange. It was kind of sweet and bland - the kind of sangria one would expect to get at a dive bar were you so bold to order it. The Spanish food did not fare any better. The octopus was gummy and undercooked. The marinera paella took the standard 45 minutes to arrive, but it was fishy and frozen, had paprika instead of saffron, puddles of olive oil, and the rice had no crispiness at the bottom. It was a pretty joyless paella that we didn't eat or take home. The french fries were pretty good with an excellent drizzle of garlic mayo. The orange and beet salad was fresh, but kind of boring for $13. The olives were gross - freezing cold, over seasoned, way too sweet and vinegar forward. They didn't even serve it with bread. Beers were expensive at $9 a pop, although the menu had a special for two types of beer at $5. The service was ok, but no one really cared if we liked the food. The waitress didn't even ask when we passed on the entire paella which makes me think it's not too common. The manger (or owner) came by and asked how everything was - I did my best Larry David and said "Ehhhhh...ok." and he said "Great, thanks so much for coming in". It's not easy writing a review like this - I take no joy in tearing down a small business, but if you are getting charged upscale prices, you expect an at least decent experience. My recommendation to the owner is change over to a modern gastropub, cut the menu options in half and...

Olespaña is the best Spanish restaurant in Massachusetts! After going to some of the most popular Spanish tapas places (like Barcelona and Tasca) and leaving disappointed, we were hesitant to try another one. However, our experience here was totally different!

The atmosphere was authentic and we loved the maps on the tables and the decoration. Music was also great!

But by far our favorite things were the food and the service. Our waiter was very nice and attentive. He brought us more bread several times -which, as Spaniards, really appreciated it.

Pedro, the owner, came to welcome us and later he came back again to see if we liked everything. He was very kind and made us feel like we were back home in Spain.

The chef, a talented cook from Seville, also came when he learned I was also from there. His food was probably the best thing of the evening! Everything was so authentic and delicious. We ordered octopus, gamas al ajillo, tortilla, and fideuá negra. We also had dessert, and let me tell you…the Basque cheesecake is a must!

Everything was just perfect and we left feeling really happy with this authentic experience. We will definitely be back soon because we loved it! Totally...