So, being in high school, we had finals a couple weeks ago to end the year. One of the days, I didn’t have any finals so Mom and I went out to lunch at Olé Tapas. I’ve never had real authentic Spanish food, so I didn’t know the meal I was about to have was going to be the bee’s knees.
Tapas are small dishes popular in Spain meant to be shared in a group. That was all my knowledge on Spanish food as we walked in. We were seated immediately. It had a semi-casual kind of feel, but not too fancy. It was definitely somewhere that you could take your kids. We got our drinks, and were given time to order. Everything’s name on the menu was in spanish, with a small description in english under it. Mom ordered a pumpkin hummus, and I had gazpacho. Both were served to us fairly quickly, in less than 15 minutes. I love seafood, and there was lots of choices. I ultimately went on to order shrimp, and mom ordered a duck dish of some sort. All four of the things ordered were extremely delicious. Our waitress was great and made sure our cups were always filled and we were satisfied. We didn’t stay for dessert, but I was looking at the menu and there was lots of things that looked delicious.
*Keep an eye on Groupon and Living Social because Olé Tapas often has deals there. Sundays in July (and beyond? Not sure) are all you can eat paella, $15 per person all day.
Robin says:
This is a very laidback but lovely restaurant. The food is awesome, the waitresses are super attentive, and it’s sort of expected that you’ll take your time and chat and laugh— some dishes straight up say they’ll take up to 45min to prepare.
Mostly, you’re looking at small plates— appetizer size. I don’t eat seafood but I adore the duck. Depending on what you order and how much, you can spend a not bad amount or a small fortune, but we were encouraged to just choose something to start and add on at will, no pressure at all. The idea is to share with friends and try new foods: you only have to commit to a few bites. I think for an ideal experience you’d go with enough people to fill a table, everyone would order two or three items and you’d have a ton of plates to eat from.
I loved that the waitress kept on giving me more bread for my hummus as most places will cut you off after your initial serving. She even, remarkably, gave me more with the leftovers I had packed to go.
Cassidy has gone with me in the past and I think tapas is an excellent way to encourage your picky kid to try something new, but your typical kids’ menu is an option as well.
