Tapas Bar La Espanola - Berwyn

Was thinking of checking this out over the weekend, but haven't found any reviews on it. Just wondering if anyone has been there. And if so, how does it compare to Emilio's in Hillside (which has only let me down once in the 20+ years I've been going there!)

We are also longtime and ongoing patrons of Emilio's Hillside, but we like this place, too, so I would recommend trying it. We probably visit Espanola once for every five times we go to Emilio's even though it is much closer to our home. Some of the dishes that they have in common I would tend to give Emilio's the nod, but Espanola has some different dishes and sauces that work for us. I think Espanola does grilled vegetables better,and their carmelized banana dessert is outstanding. They also make a top notch sangria.

Two non-food issues I feel compelled to mention:
Espanola has several TVs visible from the dining room, which is something that I dislike and that my wife hates.

For some reason, whenever we visit Espanola someone is either cleaning the place, just starting to clean the place, or just finished cleaning the place. This may be because we tend to eat early, or there may be another issue. If you go, please report whether there is an aroma of cleaning product.

Another Oak Parker

Took advantage of a groupon to check this place out this week. Very pleasantly surprised. I was delighted with the food. The aguacate frito with apricot was amazing and perfectly cooked. Also enjoyed the gambas ala brava (which cooks at least in part at the table) and the baby octopus. Oddly enough, though, our favorite dish may have been the churros. Right out of the fryer, but not at all greasy. Light as air, crisp and tender. Delicious. My only disappointment was the bread, which seemed sliced out of a Turano loaf. Nothing wrong with it, but not up to the standard of the rest of the food. The sangria was also only so-so, but we managed to empty the pitcher regardless!

The food was also presented beautifully, with wonderful accompaniments, like the little mound of coucous with the terrific lamb chops and great spicy tomatoes with the patatas bravas.

We found the service slow and with something of a language barrier, but ultimately wanting to please. They were happy to take away a fix one problem we had with a dish that came with almonds instead of pine nuts, which meant one of our group couldn't eat it.

Happy to report that there was no cleaning product odor!

Yes, to the cleaning fluid question! Though I noticed it when we went it, I forgot it immediately.

Another Groupon, another surprisingly good meal. I may go there someday and just order the lamb chops, which strike me as a bargain at 2 for 8.95. But we also enjoyed the very tender baby octopus which come with some nice roasted potatoes. I could take or leave the croquettes and the beef tenderloin skewer (we weren't asked how we wanted it cooked, and it came medium well), but Bill enjoyed both. The churros were again excellent.

I've solved the cleaning fluid mystery. It's from that waterfall by the front entrance. I didn't notice it the last time I was there until I was leaving and then suddenly remembered it. I think it's really only noticeable if they seat you in the front tables by the window.

We've now been four times and not had a bad meal--or even a bad dish--yet. (Well, the bread is still mediocre. But not affirmatively bad). The Salpicon de Marisco is now on the recommended list (lots of nice tiny scallops) and we repeated a winner from a previous visit, the albondigas bravas, which look like ordinary meatballs, but are nicely flavored and come with a spicy sauce that demands to be sopped up, even with that mediocre bread. The one constant is the lamb chops. Nicely spiced, perfectly grilled. As good as any I've had in Greektown and a great bargain. I'm going to be tempted one of these days to go and just get four orders of lamb chops.

We finished with the churros, which are hard to pass up, but on a previous visit tried the tarta de chocolate fundido, which was also excellent.

This comes up on Groupon pretty regularly--all four of our visits have been with one. But I think they've got us to the point where we'd be happy to pay full fare. Excellent live music last night as well.