We'd been meaning to try Pamplona, this new neighborhood Spanish/Tapas restaurant for quite some time and were looking forward to our first visit. Oy. Let me put it this way: It wasn't our worst restaurant experience ever, but it was very, very close. The service wasn't as bad as advertised, but it was perfunctory and impersonal; except for our wait person....she was very nice, but had only been there ""two weeks"", so give her some time to get with the impersonal program. We walked in to find a very loud Flamenco floor show going on; it was so loud we couldn't hear each other speaking. Now: the food. I can't begin to tell you how truly awful it was. I ordered their Mariscada, which turned out to be seafood garbage in a watery broth. The mussels smelled and tasted funky, the two shrimp were rubbery, and the clams were ""long gone"". It was topped off with Octopus, and Squid, neither of which are mentioned in the description. One of the worst entrees I can ever remember. I would have sent it back, but at this point we were fearing for our lives, and we didn't want to take a chance of ordering anything else. Also, beware of the Sangria, as they don't tell you in the menu that it's spiked with ""brandy and schnaps""; we asked why it tasted so strong, and after the explanation, we traded our pitcher in for a normal pitcher of Sangria, thanks to our nice waitress. So, I figured I'd cut my losses, pay up, and get out with our lives intact. My wife had the same reaction. The owner/chef must make up his mind whether he's running a serious restaurant with a bar scene, or a noisy bar with Tapas food; albeit bad. But, they've been there for 6-8 months, and if they haven't ""gotten it"" yet, they're not going to. By the way, I felt queasy all night. I'd give this place zero stars, but your rating system doesn't permit it. Buyer beware. Go to El Faro or Urena.
Pros: Our waitress
Cons: Eveyrthing else. And I mean everthing
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