La Tasca Tapas: User Reviews

Been going to La Tasca for over eight years. My wife and I had I first date thier and the food and services has been fantastic ever since! Tried many of the other tapas bars but La Tasca stands out . Try sundried banna , scallops, octopus, goat cheese, and at least one of the specials. Your taste buds will addicted to the tasty tapas.The flan is best hands down you will ever try! Strong drinks/ fun atmosphere. I see why the critics rave about this treasure tapas bar. Our second best tapas bar is Iberico...but I think the location has alot to do with it Can beat the food, service, comphy feel, free valet, bands, and drinks. . La Tasca is simply the best...How many of there costomers go on line and wright reviews, but rather tell closes friends and family instead, and frequent the place for 12 years now. Then chumps and or others working for other tapas places that go on here and cry.....whaaa La Tasca. we love you!

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Compared to the meals I have enjoyed in Madrid and Barcelona, this was average at best. I have enjoyed authentic Spanish food in Chicago. This was the worse interpretation of Spanish food...more like the Taco Bell of Tapas. The portions were small, the food was not authentic and bland. The Sangria was watered down, tasted like cranberry juice with soda water. The Spanish ham was more like domestic ham. Pricey too. Take the drive to Chicago and go to Iberico, or Cafe BabaReba.

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Very good food. Been here around 5 or 6 times, but the menu is basically the same as it has been for several years, and I've tried just about everything on it so I am not in a hurry to go back. Gotta move on. If you haven't been here before, I do recommend it.

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The place is ok but overpriced for tapas. I would recommend you drive to downtown and go to Cafe Iberico. I tried it but will never return again.

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La Tasca is similar to Maison sabika in Naperville.. but I think here the service is faster and i enjoyed the food very much! We had the egg plant with the seafood that was very nice. the black bean soup is pretty good. I also enjoyed the beef tenderloin. However the sangria was strange..it tasted like beer to me. and too much ice ...the desserts are absolutely fab! the flan (original) is the best i have ever tasted. the chocolate pudding is pretty good. the apple pastry with caramel is to die for. overall I think it's a very nice place to dine..

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Flamenco dancers, matadors, banquet scenes and Bacchus. And those are just the murals that grace the walls, offering up a colorful pictorial of what La Tasca in Arlington Heights is all about: A lively and fresh tapas restaurant. I haven't seen a restaurant this spirited since the crowds that rocked the aisles at Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba! (one of the original tapas restaurants in this area) the first few years it was open.
Ah, tapas. You either love this style of eating or hate it. When the words "small plates" landed in the culinary pool, it diminished, to my way of eating, the whole aura and idea of tapas. The fact is, there is little or no connection between tapas and small plates. In most instances, small plates are simply appetizers with a higher price tag, while tapas have an identity and long culinary history. I have spent a lot of hours haunting the tapas bars in Barcelona, and when a tapas restaurant is good, it rocks -- in spirit and in variety of food choices.Ah, tapas. You either love this style of eating or hate it. When the words "small plates" landed in the culinary pool, it diminished, to my way of eating, the whole aura and idea of tapas. The fact is, there is little or no connection between tapas and small plates. In most instances, small plates are simply appetizers with a higher price tag, while tapas have an identity and long culinary history. I have spent a lot of hours haunting the tapas bars in Barcelona, and when a tapas restaurant is good, it rocks -- in spirit and in variety of food choices.
La Tasca definitely has a menu ripe with choices to please the most demanding tapas aficionado: Familiar dishes that range from a simple patatas alioli to pan con tomate a la Catalana to a wealth of good eats in between. The former is nothing more than potato salad with the zing of the alioli, a garlic mayonnaise that gives star status to the lowly potato. The "pan con tomate" is toasted bread rubbed with a puree of fresh tomato that has been enhanced with garlic and olive oil. In Spain (in Barcelona, it is called pan am Tomaquet), that's as far as it goes, but La Tasca adds shingles of delicious manchego cheese (one of the glories of Spanish cheesemaking), and that takes this simple rustic dish to an even higher level of enjoyment.
La Tasca definitely has a menu ripe with choices to please the most demanding tapas aficionado: Familiar dishes that range from a simple patatas alioli to pan con tomate a la Catalana to a wealth of good eats in between. The former is nothing more than potato salad with the zing of the alioli, a garlic mayonnaise that gives star status to the lowly potato. The "pan con tomate" is toasted bread rubbed with a puree of fresh tomato that has been enhanced with garlic and olive oil. In Spain (in Barcelona, it is called pan am Tomaquet), that's as far as it goes, but La Tasca adds shingles of delicious manchego cheese (one of the glories of Spanish cheesemaking), and that takes this simple rustic dish to an even higher level of enjoyment.
Manchego cheese comes back with a vengeance with plato de jamon y queso Manchego. Ham and cheese? How good can it be? Quite good when the ham is Serrano and the cheese is manchego. The nuttiness of the cheese balances ideally with the sweet-salty flavor of the ham.
Into the hot tapas we go. So many tasty possibilities, and everything tried had flavor and more flavor. The mussels got all steamed and fired up with a spicy tomato sauce. Grilled baby octopus got a simple dressing of lemon, garlic and oil, so the real flavors of the octopus were not masked. Queso de cabra al horno, or herbed goat cheese baked in a tomato-basil sauce, was outstanding. Scooping up that lush "sauce" with chunks of bread did it for me.
More substantial fare, the house specials and the paella, didn't let up on flavor one iota. There are three paellas to choose from, but for my money the paella Valenciana is the most interesting. The magical melange of meat -- spicy sausage, nuggets

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Had a pitcher of sangria & they add ice to it, thats a no no. Sangria should be served with NO ICE, slightly chilled. I'll never go back & the food was below average. Try Tapas Barcelona in Evanson.

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How long as this restaurant been open? Like 10 years? It's amazing how long it has been true to the original menu, tastes, and ambiance. It's easy to forget your in the suburbs, when you walk in La Tasca. From the georgous bar to the woodwork through out, someone there is paying attention to the details.

I saw other reviews on here that I don't think are giving La Tasca its fair dues. Where else could you go that has been around so long, still be packed, and give you consistant quality and great tastes? I just want to put my 2 cents in and put a good word in for these guys!!! Try it....you will love it! Great Place to Go and Meet your friends!!! Honestly!!!

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Fun & festive dining experience! Service is good considering the volume of business that they get. Great place to go with a group of people. The grilled octopus is most tasty. Tapas portions are small so be prepared to get a lot of dishes. Although the place is bustling, I have never been rushed out of there.

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I want to know how anybody can eat at this place (I am talking about actually eating dinner!) for the $9-15 listed at the beginning!
After waiting for a long time, we were finally seated in the crowded eating area. You will become good friends with all the people sitting around you, as the tables are so close together!

The food was passable, and would have been rated hire if you did not have to take out a second mortgage to pay for enough to make a meal! I guess if you only wanted a snack and had a few $50's you didn't want to keep, then this place would be OK.

Save your money and look elsewhere for dinner! Total Yuppieville!l

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