Iberia Restaurant

I took my wife there for her B-day expecting good Spanish food. What a disaster!!. We have had Paella in a number of places, including Barcelona Spain, and the Iberia Paella Tipica was terrible. It was overcooked to the point that rice had been almost fried, the scallops they used were bay scallops cooked like erasers, the shrimp were overcooked, the pieces of chicken were actually burnt. We waited 45-50 minutes for it and on top of all the overcooking it was salty. My wife actually told the waiter (in Spanish) that is was terrible and he told us that he had other complaints from other customers. I reluctantly paid the bill and the rediculous 19% service charge. It was my wife's B-day and I did not want to have a big dispute in the rest. figuring I will call the owner the next day and explain. Any reasonable owner would understand. I called and got the owner Jose Luis who was just rude and wanted to blame us for not sending it back. I explained that we had a after dinner appt. and we were not going to re-order and wait. Pros: 5 stars in deceit Cons: Bad food, Bad Manager/Owner more

I've heard and read about people slamming the service and prices here, but when my girlfriend and I went... more

I've heard and read about people slamming the service and prices here, but when my girlfriend and I went for my birthday lunch there recently, I've... more

I had been a big fan of the old Iberia restaurant in Portola Valley. Decided to try new location. Ambiance was nice and food good. Service was poor. Bus girl took our order, didn't meet the waiter till 30 minutes into our service, had to beg for water and appetizers took 30 minutes to get to table after waiting some 20 minutes to give our order. At the end of the meal we got the bill $409 for 4 people and it included a 19% service charge. We left $400. Waiter came back and said we were short. I spoke to the waiter to tell him that I did not feel the service warranted 19%. He said I had to pay the 19% and showed me the menu (which in fine print) said ""prices do not include a 19% service charge"" (who reads the fine print in a restaurant anyway?). Amazingly the waiter named Fidel, refused to even hear my reason for wanting to pay less than the 19%. I told him his service deserved no more than a 12% tip and that I had been generous leaving what I had. I said that he should speak to the owner because I had been a customer for many years. Instead he called the police who showed up and said we had to pay and we could take them to small claims court. Policeman warned that this was a frequent problem and that the Menlo Park police dealt with this issue several times a month. Amazing that our tax dollars have two squad cars show up for $9 shortfall (but thats a different issue). Even more amazing that this restaurant can continue to exist with poor service and a 19% mandatory service charge and the attitude that says service or tip is not left to the customers discretion. more

Tapas are tiny, even for Tapas standards. Ham was stale. Prices were outrageous.....$56 for Paella??? tip... more

Tapas are tiny, even for Tapas standards. Ham was stale. Prices were outrageous.....$56 for Paella??? tip mandatory at 19%, but they can't even po... more

What really got us this time was when my wife asked for hot water w/ lemon. Subsequently she asked for honey... When our bill came, we were being charged $4.50 for ""tea"". We disputed this claim w/ our waiter, and he was sympathetic, but after conferring w/ the manager - he said it's his (the manager's) policy to charge for hot water. Our service staff never mentioned this to us! Don?t get me wrong, the service was typical Iberia service (but not bad). We asked to speak to the manager, our waiter went to see if he can talk, then he informs us that the manager is busy and can?t see us. Wow! We rarely ever have issues w/ restaurants, this by far is the worst experience ever! $4.50 for hot water ? give me a break. more

I was in Spain last summer, Madrid and Valencia,so when I come back to SFO I was looking for a spanish restaurant near of SFO. Pros: Food and Ambience more

The authentic taste of Spain in S.F., I was born in Spain and this restaurant made me to remember my country, my home. Beatifull decoration and great customer service. Wops!!, the best is Habas con Alcahuciles.- Pros: Ambience more

The menu and descriptions boast a unique menu that sounds appetizing; however, this is not the case. Our party was served extremely greasy and almost inedible food that was a mix of store-bought material and no flavor concoctions. Pros: The night was soon to be over Cons: Service, Food, Ambiemce, Prices, you name it! more

I had been hearing rave reviews about the food for quite some time, and recently had an opportunity to have lunch there one Saturday afternoon. To my surprise, the restaurant was relatively deserted, and yet we had to wait several minutes before we were finally seated. There appeared to only be one server covering the entire restaurant and patio dining area. Pros: The food was great. Cons: The 19% automatic service charge! more

Great setting. The patio is large and they have a great selection on their menu. Spanish tapas are... more

Great setting. The patio is large and they have a great selection on their menu. Spanish tapas are delicious and the paella is great too. They h... more

Below average food at best, slow service, very unfriendly staff. Manager had great disdain for clientele as well as the staff. All this unpleasantness comes with a hefty 19% service charge added to your bill. And the manager will threaten to call the police if you even question the quality of food, poor service and outrageous service charge. It's very suprising that Menlo Park would tolerate such a business in their community. Cons: everthing about this place more

The table next to us had the same bad experience as our group and when they tried to give feedback to the person who seemd to be the manager (or perhaps the owner) they got treated very poorly. No apologies, no trying to make it right by the customers, absolutely unprofessional. We even overheard the manager/owner gentleman say, it's my restaurant and I can do what I like. So we decided it's not even worth giving them feeback as this restaurant is not into quality of service nor quality of food....we just paid our outrageous bill and left, never to return again. Cons: food, service more

Have never had such a bad experience at any restaurant any place! I'm a food lover and can justify any level of service, but not this one. Bad service, rude management with a bad atittude. Food is way overpriced, really poor quality. Now we know why they have the mandatory 19% service charge!!!!! Pros: Lots of empty seats so you get seated promptly Cons: terrible service, very low quality food, over priced, rude management more

The food's good, but it's a very cute atmosphere, and that's what I like most about Iberia. Fireplaces and... more

The food's good, but it's a very cute atmosphere, and that's what I like most about Iberia. Fireplaces and small tables and big couches. They have ... more

I love sitting at the old school bar and munching on tapas and sipping sangria. See the list below for some... more

I love sitting at the old school bar and munching on tapas and sipping sangria. See the list below for some great tapas choices. Funny thing: Thi... more