Tapas Restaurant West Hartford

June 22, 2016. The waitress staff here have a problem, some of the rudest waitresses .
Went there for dinner with the anticipation of having a good meal and enjoy what they are known for.
To our dismay we got there at 8:15pm, just walked in the door and to be told by the waitress that the kitchen was closing at 8:30pm, when clearly the sign posted on the entrance says there open until 9 p.m.
Unless they change the waitress staff I have no intentions of going back again, there are better places for about the same price, one can have a better time then to be abused and spoken rudely to by mean waitresses.

This place is delicious! Portions are excellent, food is fresh. Large menu with an excellent selection of food to pick from. Pricing is affordable. Their gyros are delicious. Delicious salads as well. Perfect place to come to for a quick“and tasty lunch!

I have been several times and one of my favorite go to places for dinner. Tonight win the award for worst service ever! Great food awful awful service!!!

This used to be an excellent restaurant. Service was horrible. The waitress was rude, practically grabbing the menus out of our hands and not saying a word after we gave our order. The food was bland. Presentation was bland. Won’t be making a return trip.

Always look forward to coming here. Dine in or for take out. Consistency and quality. Mediterranean fare. Great Greek dishes and salads. I love the veggie tapas «flat bread» and look for specials and desserts, don’t pass them up. Only thing missing is a cappuccino/​espresso machine. ;)

So disappointing! My last few visits to this once terrific favorite suggested that they are not devoting the care and attention to the food and service that they used to. I think last night may have been the final straw for me. I went with a friend who is new to town after raving about how great it’s always been. After getting an ice cold Greek salad and a tasty appetizer we had a long wait to get lukewarm at best entrées. My falafel was two tiny balls in a cold, untoasted pita pocket and covered in more incredibly cold lettuce. Was not even offered a sauce and and had to get up and find our server who sat down to eat her own meal right after plunking down our food to ask for some. And why do restaurants think it is ok to serve a glass of red wine so warm it seems heated up? Since I had a guest with me I didn’t want to make a fuss but I suspect she was disappointed with her food too. Although I live right around the corner I think I’m going to continue to focus on some of the more reliable other local options from now on.

Drove by looking for a snack and decided to stop in and grab an app to go. Kept it simple and got cheese fries. My average expectations were surpassed! The feta was a great touch and the MADD Greek sauce was fantastic! Will definitely be back for a real meal someday.

Went once and really disliked it. Now, a year later, I am still extremely disappointed. Still dislike it. The place is honestly a sad excuse for «Mediterranean» food. My rice was hard, the food was tasteless and the overall presentation really lacked enthusiasm. The waiter was awesome though. Save your money and time and go elsewhere (or Tangiers if you are just wanting a falafel or something).

We stopped at a local & long time favorite for a light meal — for a starter our favorite a small and hugely appetizing Greek salad. Followed by a Vegetarian chili for my accomplice and a Spankopita & rice pilaf for this food warrior.
The Spankopita pastry flaky golden brown served piping hot — delicious! The rice pilaf slightly on the dry side, but easily remedied with a lift dose of Tapas salad dressing. The Vegetarian chili was reportedly very pleasing.
No wine or beer to report — waters with a wedge of lemon ruled the day.

Been awhile since I was here but sadly it is not as good as in the past. The inside needs a good dose of upgrading from the chairs and tables to the bathroom where you need to be a gymnast to navigate the toilet and door. The food is OK but does not standout in a town where there are much better options. Our server was good, but unfortunately the food and ambience was just average.

We’ve been on and off regulars for years. It’s a very casual atmosphere where you can watch the chefs cook. No freezer or microwave so you know it’s fresh! This is a popular place for takeout too.
I recommend the hummus platter or the kabobs (salmon is my favorite). And the clam chowder is the best in the area! The vegetarian chili is sooo good. If you get fries, go for the madd Greek sauce for dipping.
The specials menu is always enticing but I prefer to stick to the menu.
And desserts… Yes please! When they have the banana chocolate chip bread get it!

Tapas, West Hartford — great chef.
Tapas, Bloomfield — NO
West Hartford, original location. Always good food, good service.
They know how to make hummus and greek salads.
Bloomfield — cheats on ingredients.

Horrible take out. Forgot the pita for our Mediterranean platter. When I called about the omission the woman who answered the phone was very rude. Refused to even credit my credit card back the cost of a side of pita. I asked to talk to a manager and was told one wasn’t available until the next day. Food is only ok and service being so bad, go else where!

This place is great! They make excellent and fresh Greek food at affordable prices. They have an $ 11 hummus plate appetizer that I had a DREAM about the night after I ate here for the first time. That’s how good it is. Their small size Greek salad is enough to feed one for dinner with leftovers, and is served with deliciously seasoned and piping hot grilled chicken on the top. But seriously, the hummus plate. Don’t forget about that. It may be the most important item they serve.
The décor is a little bit shabby, and kind of cramped inside, but I wouldn’t even think twice about that before visiting again. But, of that bugs you, Tapas does take out!

After hearing wonderful things from Tiffany G. for so long, I finally stopped by this place for dinner after the gym the other night. They have rotating specials every night, and that night in particular they had salmon, swordfish, and steak– with those options, how could we not go?
We arrived shortly after 8 and there were only a couple other diners there. We sat with Tiffany’s favorite waitress (unfortunately I did not catch her name, but I can see why she’s a favorite!) at a table in full view of the chef and his process.
We had a Groupon that entitled two people to an entrée each and either a glass of wine or a glass of sangria each. You can choose any entrée and any glass of wine– it was a pleasant surprise that choices weren’t limited to a designated house red or white. They no longer serve their white peach sangria at this location, which is too bad because I’ve heard it’s amazing, but we got the red instead– full of fruit, nice and strong!
I got their Greek salad with my entrée (minus olives), and it was delicious. So fresh, and their signature salad dressing was amazing! I’m not sure what was in it, but it packed a ton of flavor. It was served on the salad but they also supplied a bottle in case you wanted to add more (and they sell it there).
For my entrée, I chose the Grilled Swordfish off the specialty board. Didn’t even look at the menu (I tend to like getting specials since they aren’t available all the time). It was served beneath picatta sauce with broccoli and rice. However, the mashed potatoes offered with another entrée sounded so good that we asked if we could trade out the rice for those mashed potatoes. The chef graciously accommodated. The swordfish was grilled to perfection and the mashed potatoes were the right choice– perfect amount of garlic!
Ended up getting another glass of sangria and because it was so strong, I elected to soak up some of the alcohol in my stomach with a dessert. The Chocolate Lava Cake was served with whipped cream. We asked about ice cream and were told they don’t have a freezer to accommodate ice cream– proof that everything you have here is going to be fresh! The Lava Cake was pretty good, not the best I’ve ever had but I never say no to chocolate.
Overall, I had a wonderful experience here. The Groupon is a great deal, so if available, I encourage you to pick one up. I understand it’s generally pretty busy and it’s a pretty small restaurant so calling ahead would generally be recommended (we got lucky the other night)!

I used to be a regular until I moved a little further away. I was disappointed to learn this location no longer carries the white peach sangria. I ordered the Everything Salmon and everything tasted great, but the salmon was a bit dry and overdone. I have never experienced this at this location before so I’ll assume it was just an off night. I love the greek salad and I know it’s their dressing that makes it. I will try again as I’ve had dozens of great meals here. I always go for the specials vs the traditional items on the menu. The hummus is phenomenal! I was shocked to see Tapa’s was selling Groupons, so I bought two! I don’t recall them ever doing that before.
Went back on 3÷10÷15 and got the swordfish special which was cooked to perfection: moist and tasty. I will try to get back here more often, the waitress remembered I used to go there about every other week, I miss it. And did I mention how much I love their greek salad and «almost famous» dressing? And, that the sangria is strong enough that 2 glasses are all I can handle? :)
What I know I haven’t mentioned and must is that I asked if the lava cake came with ice cream and was told it doesn’t, get this, because they «still don’t have a freezer»! Fresh food all the time, just as it should be!

I’ll start with the bad. Service was bad. It’s not that busy for a Saturday and instead of checking on their tables while waiting for the food to come out, the waitresses sat around talking with their fingers up their butts. Our waitress didn’t even get our drinks right.
Food here on the other hand is good if you have the time to stop by and are prepared to wait. Definitely would come here again but not all the time.

Dear Tapas —
I have loved eating at your restaurant for many years. From your gyro’s to your hummus to your Greek salad covered in your «almost famous» salad dressing, my meals at your restaurant have always left me feeling full and happy. So much so that I never had a problem recommending you to my friends and family when they were looking for a place to eat in the West Hartford area. Looking for affordable and tasty food — then Tapas is the place to go!
However after my last meal several weeks ago, I might have to reconsider my recommendations. What has happened? Have you gotten so complacent in your «name» that you have forgotten what made your restaurant special — it was definitely not limp iceberg lettuce drowning in salad dressing with an over cooked and dry chicken breast that was put before me. It was certainly not the waitress whom was more attentive to the kitchen staff and her fellow co workers then she was to making sure myself, my dining companion and the several other late lunch goers were taken care of. And it was not the frigid dining area that made me wish I was eating outside even though the temperature was in the high 80s.
I hope that what I experienced was a blip, that it was and off day. I hope that if and when I return, the restaurant that I enjoyed in my past is not a distant memory and that I can again confidently recommend you to my friends and family.

Others have said it and i concur… the service is pretty awful. I’ve been here a few times for takeout my most recent visit this afternoon. I came in at a non-​busy time and a waitress was taking the order of the only other patron in the entire place. She looked right at me, finished taking the guys order, and then turned around and stepped away without a simple «I’ll be right with you» or «Can I help you with something?»
I figured she was busy so I browsed the menu for a few minutes. There were about three waitresses and three cooks all standing around. Not a single person acknowledged me so I walked up to the group of waitresses… and waited… and did the whole, «I’m going to count to (arbitrary number) … and if by then no one says anything I will leave.» But I was already there, and I wanted a salad. Finally, frustrated, I just interrupted one of the meaningless conversations that seemed to be more important than serving a customer, and asked if I could just place an order. The waitress who finally helped me was nice enough.
I ordered the Greek salad with a few strips of beef gyro. I found the self-​proclaimed «almost award winning» salad dressing to be too oily (granted, it is an oil-​based dressing infused with herbs, but I’ve had oil based dressing where it was much better balanced in terms of ingredients). The salad greens were bottom of the barrel iceberg. Romaine or an arugula blend would have been better and certainly more nutritious. Other components of the salad included diced tomatoes, exactly two banana peppers, three olives, and feta cheese. It was ok but I don’t think I’d get it again. The Tapas in Bloomfield is better.

I met up a friend from high school after over 8 years of not seeing each other here for lunch a few weeks ago. Coincidentally, my mom was co-​owner of the hair salon that was next door years ago (she left in mid-​2000s, so anything that has been there since has nothing to do with our family) and I always knew about Tapas, but had never eaten there. After having sampled the steak kebob platter, I regret having let all those years pass without eating here.
Our server was really nice and seated me/​got me water as soon as I arrived (about 10 minute before said friend). When my friend got there, we ended up chatting it up and our server patiently waited for us to make up our minds. My bud highly recommended the kebob platter, which completely foiled my plan to eat healthy… But it was absolutely worth it!
The steak was perfectly cooked (about medium to medium well, which is exactly how I like mine) and the rice pilaf was light in both texture and flavor and perfectly complemented the meat. The tomato-​onion relish and tzatziki sauce enhanced everything on my plate and cleaned up my plate with the soft pita. I ate every last grain of rice. Delicious food that leaves you feeling like you really nourished your body well.
Don’t let the average 3.5 star rating deter you from trying this gem.