Malaga Tapas & Bar

Recommends

Nicole C.

Joined 7 months ago

Come here for lazy Sunday brunch Spanish style. Enjoy tapas and $3 mimosas and bloody Mary's with front row seats to the action on 2nd St.

Recommends

webbdesign

Joined 4 years ago

A bit of Spain in Austin. The wine list is extensive and very good. Prices are a bit higher than other establishments, so you need to know your wines, so you can order appropriately. Bar staff was understaffed with 2 people behind a busy bar.

Cold and Hot tapas are very good, which enhance the wine found in their cellars.

Atmosphere is nice, and like every other place in 2nd Street, is trendy and you will need to plan ahead, and try to reserve ahead.

Hostess staff is very cocky and to an extent rude, but that is what you get when there is younger people in charge. For a true Spanish experience, the wine and tapas are fine, the servers are knowledgeable, but the owner of the restaurant really needs to pay close attention to the hostesses, which are the first contact of a client with the establishment.

Food 4 stars.

Wine 5 stars.

Hostesses 1 star.

Doesn't Recommend

thgreenone

Joined 6 years ago

Horrible Service. What makes any establishment great is it's people. Unfortunately this place doesn't have them. We were excited to find a place that would give a class on cooking with the meal. We purchased a gift certificate for 10 people to dine and have the chef give us a class on wine and spanish quisine. We had to book the time about a month and a half in advance because they only did this.class at certain times. It was a challenge to get ten people all there at the same time. We called a day in advance to confirm with the lady we had made the reservation with and she denied that we had ever made reservations. Luckily my wife had it in writing, but instead of trying to resolve the issue she basically told us tough luck. We cancelled and had to wait several weeks to get our money refunded. I am not suprised th hear from other reviews that the place is not very busy on weekends with this kind of service. Stay Away!!

Recommends

Smace

Joined 3 years ago

Wonderful restaurant with amazing food and atmosphere!. This restaurant is located in the warehouse district downtown. I was very impressed and would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a little Spanish flair! Fantastic food at a reasonable price! I enjoyed that the portions are small, so my friends and I were able to order a variety and try a number of different items. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable. They were able to recommend several different wines based off the tapas we ordered. And I loved the atmosphere! Felt like a small slice of Spain!!!! I'll definitely be returning here every chance I get!

Doesn't Recommend

lanpjk

Joined 4 years ago

In Southern Spain, this food comes free with your drinks. I have lived in Andalusia, where the name-sake of this restaurant is located.

The tapas you get In this restaurant are similar o the free tapas they offer in tapas bars as snacks to be eaten with your drinks.

You need to spend a lot of money here to get full on pretentious little dishes that are reminiscent of samples you can enjoy while shopping at HEB.

This restuarant is no more than a fashionable little playground for austenites who care little about good

food.

The wine was good, and the atmosphere nice.

Service very slow and unfriendly.

Doesn't Recommend

bartink

Joined 5 years ago

Credit Card just to make a reservation. I tried to book a reservation for Valentines day for me and my girl. This place is kind of a sentimental choice for us, since we went there for our first Valentines (In fairness, we had a great time). So I call and the hostess informs me that only the manager can make the reservation, so I say fine, call me back when he gets there. So I put off making my Valentines reservation (dangerous) and he does call me back.

Here is the kicker. Adam, the manager, tried to get me to leave a credit card number just to make a reservation?! Now I know this is Austin and there's lots of stoners that do dumb sh*t and forget stuff. But he was going to charge me twenty bucks a head if for some reason we couldn't make it? WTF is that nonsense? Seriously, I lived in Los Angeles for seven years and never was asked to do that. Not even for places a ton swankier than this joint.

Now if this is some kind of growing restaurant trend, then I stand corrected. If its only done on Valentines, I guess that makes it a little better. But if this is pretty much the only place doing this, its ridiculous, IMO..

Recommends

waylandsq

Joined 6 years ago

Great outdoor dining at the new location. It is not like our favorite Tapas restaurant "Tapeo" in Boston, but it is VERY close. Especially now that they have outdoor seating. The Sangria is exceptional and the variety of food is good.

Doesn't Recommend

mauri1976

Joined 5 years ago

Adding insult to injury, the food was nothing to rave about!. In sum, my friends and I had a horrible experience. The waiter was inattentive - - My soda was flat, but I had to wait 20 minutes before he came back to the table to ask for a replacement beverage. The worst part of our dining experience was that the wait staff removed plates and glasses before we had even finished eating and drinking what we had purchased. Although the chef/owner stopped by our table to ask if everything was satisfactory, he told me to wait 5 minutes when I told him there were several major problems with our overall dining experience at his restaurant (because he was busy socializing with other diners!). In short, he was extremely rude and completely unapproachable. Adding insult to injury, the food was nothing to rave about!

Recommends

memayo

Joined 8 years ago

Best spot for tapas in Austin!. I was a fan of Malaga when they had their smaller location next to Cedar St., so I was excited to try out the new location downtown off of 2nd St. The space is much larger but still has the long bar and the decor the other location had. They've also added a nice patio out front and have some great happy hour specials (glass of wine and tapas for less than $10)! I was with a large group and we ordered a variety of dishes but the Queso de Cabra Frito con Miel was my favorite! The calamari is pretty tasty as well. This is a great place to sit out on the patio with a glass of wine or if you are with a large group, move your party indoors. They definitely have the space to accomodate.

Doesn't Recommend

gwta78703

Joined 7 years ago

Disappointing. I've always been a fan of Malaga on 4th Street, so I was eager to try out the new location. The space looks great, but our experience there was terrible. I met a couple friends here for happy hour on a Thursday. The restaurant was not busy at all, so I'm not sure how to explain the slow, inattentive service. Our cheese plate was pathetic and unsatisfying (bland cheese and fruit on a small salad plate, the whole thing generously sprinkled with paprika ... not exactly great presentation) so we ordered a few other tapas. These were absolutely horrible and we ended up sending them back (something I never do) and canceling our order for the 2nd bottle of wine. The waitress was totally apathetic and did nothing to help the situation. We paid for our 1 bottle of wine and went down the street to Cru. There we were happy to find exemplary service, and fresh, delicious appetizers. I was hugely disappointed with Malaga, and will not be going back.