Patanegra

I have dined here on 4 occasions. I was disappointed with my dinner on 12-28-07. All the dishes were over salted. As always the atmosphere was pleasant - a nice place to dine with a friend or lover. The service was good - maybe a little to friendly. I'm not sure if I will return. more

Wow. A large group of us ate there last night. Granted it was fairly chaotic in that we were trying to figure out whether we were going to order lots of large tapas dishes to share, or individual ones for ourselves and the immediate people sitting around us. more

The food was very authentic and tasty. Our first visit to the restaurant and we were given a gift certificate to enjoy by a co-worker. Amazingly, the owner considers the remainder of the certificate not applicable to the tip and to have no redemption value. The waiter was sympathetic, but clearly afraid to voice my complaint to his boss. Very European perhaps, but rude in Portland. Would think twice about patronizing this type of rigidity in a competitive market. Good Luck Pros: food Cons: service/ownership not particularly friendly more

Even though my wife and I live in SE, we make the trek over to NW to eat at Patanegra at least once every couple months. The atmosphere is inviting, bright and warm. We have never received anything but excellent service from the wait staff. We love to try new things when we visit and the servers are always very knowledgeable and helpful with their suggestions. We definitely have our favorite dishes including the dates wrapped in ham, the mushrooms, the stuffed squid, and the garlic prawns. On our last visit the mushrooms were a bit undercooked and the sauce seemed bland compared to what we've had in the past, but no restaurant is perfect every time, so we'll certainly give them a pass on that. I've read complaints about the high prices, but for the quality of the food and the creativeness of the dishes, we find it very reasonable. We've brought family and friends with us on numerous occasions and everyone has thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Definitely one of the best choices for great food in PDX. Pros: Outstanding food, great atmosphere, friendly and helpful staff. Cons: Parking more

We've been meaning to do follow-up posts from our original one in October 2007, but time has just gotten away from us. Anyway - we've been dining at Patanegra about once a month since the summer of 2008. I think we've tried all of the tapas listed, but haven't done the paella yet. The wine recommendations are always spot on since we like to be adventuresome. The same two waiters have been there for the past year and really know the menu and the wine list. We have always had excellent food and service whenever we've been there, which is usually a weekday evening ~ 7 pm or so. Pros: Great wine list Cons: Parking is on the street- in the neighborhood which can be difficult to find on the weekend more

Completely atrocious customer service both by the man who seated us (urging us to ""hurry, hurry"" to our seats, practically shoving us, when we were already moving quickly, and had very patiently waited 1/2 hour to be seated), and by our waiter - rude, abrupt, and never checked back on us. During a $100 meal? Also, the paella is WAY overpriced and not worth it. But all the tapas were very delicious. Still, the bad outweighed the good, and we won't be back (3 of us). Too bad for them because we are customers that are always super nice, never ask for anything special, never complain, never send things back, etc., and tip HUGE. We're service industry people. This place is bad. Pros: Good tapas Cons: Overpriced paella and very bad service more

We tried this restaurant out for the first time last week for my birthday. It was not very busy so it was nice to have the corner to ourselves. The wait staff was very friendly and were punctual. The food was AWESOME! My husband and I ordered six different plates plus wine and it was not expensive at all (if you're worried about price, why go out?!) We started out with cerviche which was amazing. Calamari with aioli sauce, dates wrapped with ham, goat cheese wrapped in grilled eggplant, meatballs and the cherizo....YUM. If you love to try new things and just want to go out for a fun night of really great food, try this place. Pros: Food! Cons: Parking more

Finally a place that does real tapas! So many places have jumped on the ""small plates"" band-wagon without really getting it. They have Tortilla, and those white anchovies. The last time I octopus like that was in Spain. I guess I felt compelled to come back here and write a good review as the previous authors almost had me convinced not to go. My advice: go see for yourselves. more

I don't really know what everyone else is talking about in terms of the service. We were treated well at Patanegra. The FOOD was great, however. The duck leg, the dates wrapped in ham and the crab-stuffed peppers were all very good. Next time I am going to try the salt cod and the octopus. Oh and the wine list has the biggest all Spanish selection I have ever seen in this country. Pros: Authentic food, huge Spanish wine list Cons: Tables too close together, no hard liquer more

Another dissatisfied customer here. I don't write reviews but the experience at Patanegra last week forced me to create an account on this website. The less said, the better. Sorry! more

This is a place to get a great meal, a nice bottle of wine without ordering the same old things. The flavors are wonderful, usually on the sharp side, the atmosphere is lively, and the prices are good for what you get. Pros: Great food flavors, lots of choices, great wine list Cons: Can get crowded, uses a lot of garlic. more

The waiter was rude and the service terrible. I and my husband are foodies and we have eaten at a lot of places around town and we rate Pata Negra the worst of the worst. more

Having lived and traveled in Spain on several occasions, I was delighted to find Pata Negra. I have eaten there five or six times, and have enjoyed each experience. They have good wines by the glass, which allows one to try more than one Spanish wine with a meal. I've had good luck ordering a wide variety of small dishes, and grazing until satisfied, and I advise taking that approach rather than trying to build a meal around one main dish. You need to think about cost as you put together your selection of dishes--you can build a nice meal for a reasonable cost, or, if you aren't careful, it can get a little expensive. Most of the dishes are very good, with the tortilla, albondigas (meatballs) and salads (such as the one with goat cheese) highlights. Their bread is terrific, although you sometimes have to be assertive to make sure you get all you want. The paella is good, although not the best paella I've had, while the pulpo (octopus) is not as good as you would get in Spain. I have taken friends, and some really like it (particularly those who have visited Spain) while others have been less enthusiastic (particulary those with a low tolerance for garlic and those who are less adventuresome eaters). I had a nice experience stopping in early one evening in September for just a glass of wine and a couple of small plates for an appetizer's hour, and sat with my companion at a table on the sidewalk watching the sun set over the West Hills, feeling very much as if we were in Spain. My experience with the service has been good and I like the interior. I highly recommend Pata Negra, although it may not be for everyone. Pros: If you like Spanish food and wine, this is a great place. Cons: Parking can be tough. more

Although I was discouraged from the negative comments on Patanegra, I decided to go anyway because I love Spanish tapas. On top of that, I was daring enough to celebrate a family members birthday there for my first visit, and everything turned out perfect! Pay no mind to the comments on here. Expensive? No. Morton's or the Ringside is expensive, not Patanegra. I paid 88 bucks w/o tip for drinks, 5 tapas, and 2 desserts. That is probably competing on the level of Applebee's people....get real! As for the food, it was fabulous. Everything I ordered including the tortilla, patatas con chorizo, calamari, croquetas, albondigas (meatballs) were to die for. The dessert I got was a spanish rice pudding which was absolutely amazing. I have since returned for a 2nd visit after this original birthday party, and the results were duplicated. My only complaint would be that the waiters/waitresses wear normal street clothes to work. This is the european way, but it would be nice to see them primped up a little more. A++++. Highly recommended. Pros: ambience, price, FOOD, authenticity Cons: no cruzcampo (spanish beer) more

So my friend and I went there on a Saturday night. It wasn't busy so we got seated right away. We ordered the fried cheese, which was good but the toasted bread could easily have cracked a tooth. We joked that we couldn't hear each other while we were chewing it. I thought the cheese was tasty, though. The salad with goat cheese was FABULOUS! It had walnuts and roasted red peppers and the dressing was perfect. That was my favorite thing. We also ordered the small steak with blue cheese. Well, our original waiter accidentally brought out the large order. Apparently there was shift change because another waiter, who didn't bother introducing himself, came over and asked if we had touched the steak yet. It had actually sat for about ten minutes because we were finishing other meals, but he asked just seconds before I cut into it. With my knife on the steak, I told him that I was just about to serve it. He then said that it was the large and if we eat it, it is $18 instead of the small size price. I withdrew my knife and we asked for the small. I thought that was weird and rude becuase it was their mistake and they should not have charged us for it. Plus, it took them nearly ten minutes to recognize their mistake. Also, I was left wondering if they were going to serve it to someone else! So, we sat there for several minutes without anything to eat while we waited for the correct order arrive. To boot, the waited never apologized for their mistake. I felt that our new waiter was not very good. He seemed rushed and inattentive. For the price you pay to eat there, one would expect great service and great food. I was a bit disappointed, but I would still recommend this restaurant (with reservations) and I may go back myself. more

Pata Negra affords me the opportunity to experience eating the European way; savory small plates accompanied by the best Spanish wine list in town enhance conversation and have a tendency to make me feel deliciously charming. Thank god for places like this to balance out Macaroni Grill and Applebees. more

So my wife and I go out to eat 4 times a week. Total foodie nerds. Pros: Ambience Cons: Food, Service, Prices more

My meal at Patanegra was overpriced and mediocre. The tables for two are too small for several tapas plates. We started with the spanish cheese plate--it was 5 paper-thin slices of various spanish cheeses for $9.75. They were wonderful, but I have seriously had more cheese while tasting at a cheese counter. The patatas bravas had a very flavorful sauce, but the potatoes were gummy--as if cooked in a microwave. The calamari was good, but the aioli (too mayonaise-y) was an addition $2.50! Olive oil for dipping the bread in was also an extra $2.00. When dining out an spending $100 for a meal for two, I obviously am not concerned about an additional $2, but having to ask for something as simple as olive oil is ridiculous! I have had exceptional meals at B44 and Zarzuela in SF for the same price--Patanegra doesn't even come close. The upside was the extensive wine selection, and the friendly waiters and servers. Pros: nice waiter, wine list Cons: mediocre food, small portions, not even olive oil is complimentary more

This is one of our favorite restaurants in town. We always receive great service and helpful recommendations about what to order. We haven't tried the paella or other entrees because we've been perfectly content sampling the tapas menu. We order different plates each time and are always supremely satisfied! The best is topping off a meal with a cafe con leche and then a paseo around the neighborhood to help with digestion. Ah... to be Spaniards! Pros: Tapas Menu, Wine List, Service Cons: Kind of pricey more

I took my wife for a nice dinner- it was a very bad experience. The waiter gave us a lecture on wine, perhaps thinking we were plonk guzzlers, the paella was stale, tough, as though it came from a box. Finally, for a Spanish restaurant, we were asked to pay for olive 0il!!!!!!!!!!!! - that was a last straw. Went to the coop across the street, and got some soup. Very very annoying and bad experience there. more