Pricing is reasonable, but higher than a chain restaurant. Â The "Romancing of the Stone" meal is by far their best offering. My wife and I have been several times and almost always get this. Â Some of the authentic Portuguese offerings are good too. Â They have a very impressive tap selection for a local restaurant. Â I love their kale soup, and NY Strip.
Review Source:Service: Â Amateurish and untrained. Â Very unprofessional. Â But after meeting the owner, I can understand why the waitstaff would be unhappy with their situation and unable to hide it.
Atmosphere:  Uninspired.  A few generic decorations that look to have been purchased at  HomeGoods.
Prices: Â I appreciate that they had things on the menu ranging from $7 for a pair of pork sandwiches all the way up to $28 rack of lamb. Â There was a great deal of selection and most of the food was a good value for the money.
Food: Â Our party of four ordered 4 Tapas plates. Â Lobster Mac & Cheese (rather bland, but not a bad flavor), Buffalo wings (five tiny, but very tasty wings that could have been crisper), Nachos (Good chips, decent toppings), Steak tips with wild mushroom gravy (Ok, These were AWESOME! Â Probably the best thing we had all night)
     We ordered chicken scampi that was not on the menu and they were happy to accommodate us.  It ended up being a lot more like picatta since it was lemony with capers, but it was tasty.  Average sized portion for the $17.
     The Pork sandwiches were very good as well. Â
     My daughter and I both ordered burgers.  One medium-well, and the other medium.  They both came out raw..bloody raw and cold in the center (obviously they were frozen patties).  We sent them back......the came back the same way.....we sent them back and asked to see the manager.
    The manager/owner, MIKE, was obviously unhappy, but it wasn't with his kitchen or waitstaff, it was with us for our nerve to complain about anything.  He was short with us, confrontational and rude.  They removed the burgers from our bill and he made it very clear that we weren't getting anything else out of him.  He offered to cook us new food, but by then we were an hour and twenty five minutes into an unpleasant situation and just wanted to leave.  He coldly and very disingenuously apologized and explained that it was the same kitchen crew that he had at the old Europa in South Hadley and explained how competent they are as he grudgingly handed over a $25 gift card.
    His last restaurant was a disappointment and his new venture isn't any better.
As soon as you walk in this place looks and smells like a dump. Old carpet, uneven, creaky floors, no greeters, and a very old looking restaurant. Then there's the dining room.. it looks like a grandma's 1973 kitchen dining area.
Then there's the food.. overcooked everything, only one vinegar and oil dispenser for the entire restaurant, overcooked seafood and chicken in the paella, chewy shrimp, disgusting cheesecake that tastes like old milk.
Must I go on? Yes I will because this place should close down and try again.
The service isn't good either! The waitresses are untrained and the chef obviously doesn't know how to cook. Portuguese cuisine is sooo good but this place puts it to shame!
I'll never be back and to think I was annoyed I wasted money on a Groupon. Good thing I ddin't spend real money at this dump.
Our waitress was very nice. Â That's about all we can say positive about it.
We had a Groupon for an appetizer, two entrees, and a dessert.
Our appetizer was calamari, and was so overcooked it was (quite literally) like chewing erasers. Â
For our main dishes, I had the lamb with a lemon and green sauce on top. The lamb was a meaty stew, so the lemon didn't really seem to go well. My husband had a paella-like dish; he ate a third and threw the rest out. Â The chicken in the paella was badly overcooked, too. Â
Dessert was a supposedly homemade cheesecake with strawberries. It was price club-quality cheesecake (complete with the pink pattern baked into the top) in a plate of disgusting strawberry goo.
This is not a place we'll return.
Not sure why no love for Europa. I thought the decor was okay, they're not trying to be a five star resort restaurant. Cloth napkins would have been nice though. I ordered the fillet and it was a very large portion. For the price it was a great deal. It was very cool to cook a bite at a time on the very hot rock that the steak had arrived on.
Review Source:Probably more like 3.5 or 3.75 stars, but not *quite* a 4...yet... Â But what a difference two weeks makes! Â Our experience last night at Europa was night and day from our last visit. Â Have they been reading the reviews?? Â I had to wonder, because they seemed to be ticking down the list of complaints and making swift improvements.
First, the ambiance is way better. Â All of the tables are set with tablecloths and cloth napkins, and there are a few things on the walls. Â Still could use more decor, but it's getting there. Â There are now curtains, and I think maybe even the lighting has been dimmed? Â The music playing in the background set a perfect dinner mood, and the tapenade was served in a little ramekin instead of the clear plastic "dressing-to-go" container as before. Â While I wouldn't call the decor particularly upscale, trendy or fine-dining worthy quite yet, it has a level of care and attention that was completely absent on our last visit. Â Overall, it had a much warmer and more intimate feel. Â Check!
The staff was exceedingly pleasant and competent and seemed very in control and on top of things. Â Our server definitely knew her stuff, and she had a trainee with her who also did a fine job. Â Check!
The food was better, too! Â We started with the Portuguese martini scallops...four properly-cooked, tender, flavorful scallops in an interesting sauce of sweet vermouth, bacon & banana peppers topped with what appeared to be frizzled sweet potato(?), all served in a martini glass. Â Very nicely done. Â Then came fish soup and my boyfriend's salad. Â Both were fine and a distinct improvement over last time. Â For main courses, I got the filet on the black rock with mashed potatoes and green beans. Â The filet was EXCELLENT...really tender and well seasoned. Â I was skeptical about the cooking process because the cut it was so thick and I feared the outer portions would be overdone before the interior had a chance to cook. Â Our server suggested that I remove it from the rock to a plate, slice it into strips, and cook the strips individually as I'm ready to eat them. Â Though the amateur cook in me winced on the inside at the thought of slicing prior to resting, I did it anyway and the meat was of such a quality that it didn't matter. Â It stayed mega tender and juicy. Â The mashed potatoes were just meh, but the green beans were great -- perfect crunch. Â The mushroom sauce served on the side was salty and institutional. Â There were three sauces to choose from, and I think I wouldn't get that one again, but it didn't really matter because things were flavored well without any saucing. Â My boyfriend got the lobster mac & cheese special loaded with the meat of an entire lobster. Â It had a nice smoky flavor (maybe from sausage?) and the portion was huge. Â Could have been a little creamier and I wondered whether the amount of breadcrumbs on top may have contributed to the dryness, but boyfriend was happy and is having the leftovers for lunch today so no complaints! Â For dessert, we got their traditional Portuguese flan and it was fantastic. Â Check!
Really good job, Europa... We're looking forward to some lovely summer evenings on your deck!
I was extremely impressed with our dinner at Europa! I went with my Girlfriend, Father, and Grandmother. Â We started out with the Tuna Seviche and the Martini Scallops. The presentation was professional and attractive. The flavors were unique and distinct. Â The bread with the olive spread was also quite fantastic!! Our server Jasmine was attentive, friendly, and efficient. She timed our courses perfectly and really wowed us with an exceptional dining experience. We wanted the full "Black Rock" experience so we ordered the Filet and a Surf and Turf entree on the Rock. It was like having your own personal hibachi. It was so fun to be able to cook your food to taste and temperature. Oh, and definitely try the Sweet Potato Au Gratin. I almost went with the sweet potato fries, but upon the recommendation of our waitress I changed my mind. I couldn't have made a better decision. My Grandmother, with a very distinct taste won't stop raving about the Bacalhau Frito. She was delighted by dinner. Lemon Lush was our dessert choice and we had just enough room to split it. It was just as good as my Portuguese Grandmother makes. My girlfriend plans on taking my dad here for Father's day and I can't wait to come back! Absolutely loved everything!!
Review Source:Let me say this up front: I wanted very much to like Europa; the concept sounds cool (black lava rocks and a bar-what could possibly top that in terms of neat factor right?), but despite my best efforts, I was massively underwhelmed.
To start, the setting is reminiscent of a 70's cafeteria style restaurant a la Bonanza or similar; upon entry you are greeted by what appears to double as the neighborhood sports bar (I didn't count but my sense was that there were more patrons at the smallish bar counter than the entirety of the the dining room proper). Ultimately, one gets the feeling that very little thought was put into the dining room environment: "thrown together" comes to mind if I'm forced to be concise.
Enter the food. Ambience (in my book anyhow) can be all but disregarded if the food is 'wow'; unfortunately, any 'wow' my girlfriend and I may have uttered was in respect to our disappointment. The climax of the evening taste-wise was most certainly the fantastic olive tapenade, spread on fresh bread served prior to our meal, my taste buds were alight and pre-impressed.
The appetizer course was a plate of something dubbed 'Lamb chop pops' or similar (I don't recall precisely); these were quite good actually, consisting of maybe 6 smallish lamb chops with a savory dollop of something atop each one. This was my first experience with lamb and was pleasantly surprised, though not blown away by any means.
Salads were standard family restaurant style, nothing of interest to note here.
Our main course choice came with great expectations: a paella (Valencia style, whatever this implies) for two. This would be my very first experience with this vaunted icon of Spanish (and apparently Portuguese) cuisine. My girlfriend spent the pleasantly short wait-time describing for me just what makes this dish what it is: saffron suffused rice with a subtle crunch, tender succulent shellfish, sometimes chicken or pork...by this point I'm more than ready to be impressed and transported etc. What arrived at our table, however, was less than a shadow of the expected dish.
Problem one. The rice was just barely yellow. It appears (and this is my girlfriend's theory not mine, so forgive me if this is common practice) that the kitchen was either short on or entirely empty of saffron, as there was a great deal of grated carrot present in the rice preparation, lending a faux-saffron look. I'm not certain how much this would have affected the flavor but I would guess this is a moot point as there wasn't any flavor to speak of. Quite literally, one could crack open a box of Rice-a-roni yellow rice mix and achieve a more flavorful rice dish; the effect was that the rice was cooked separately and the proteins simply added afterwards...no sense of a 'coherent' dish.
The proteins proper (shrimp, chicken, pork, clam) were likewise unseasoned and, in the case of the pork and chicken, rather grizzly and overcooked. I eventually started avoiding the pork chunks altogether as they required far too much napkin to contain the unchewable connective tissue.
The dessert was a watery creme brulee that was, at best, par for this course.
The wait staff was extremely pleasant but I got the sense that there was a great deal of chaos behind the scenes, along with minimal training.
Overall I was left with a sense of a concept not ready for prime time. The word I used that evening was 'overambitious'; the descriptions and prices in the menu and on the website are not accurate reflections of the actual experience, and I can't imagine that someone with a reasonably educated palette and sense of aesthetics could have dreamt that this current incarnation passes muster.
My friend and I went to Black Rock on a Saturday night, as it was just starting to get busy. We seemed to get lucky with our waitress, who seemed older and much more experienced than most of the staff there. She was timely and friendly, but not overbearing or annoying. We watched many other tables suffering with poor wait staff, and even saw an un-uniformed busyboy (?) come out and deliver food to people.... Our appetizer was grilled calamari, which we had never seen on a menu before. My friend loved it, I think I just couldn't get past the texture. He ordered the steak special and I ordered the salmon 'on the rock.' We were both offered soup or salad with our meals, though for some reason the waitress told us the salad would be an extra $2. I don't understand why they make soup or salad an option when you have to pay extra for the salad. Which made no sense, since it seemed like a bagged salad with a few grape tomatoes. I got the Kale soup, which was pretty decent though a little bland. The meals were overall good, the steak and potatoes were delicious. I didn't particularly love the salmon, but it wasn't bad at all. Â Overall, good food and drinks, though they could use some decorations and the waitstaff just needs to gain a little more experience.
Review Source:i give this place 1 star only because you can't give zero stars. Â i not sure wear to start ,but lets start the two 14 year olds hostesses who seem to be running the place who have no clue of what they are doing, next the waitress working her ass off who was never seemed to have been trained on what to do, to the bartender who can only make one drink at at time, and not even get that right. Â Now onto the food its has all the making of something great, untill they salt it to no end, hint clam do not need salt the come from the sea and have salt already in them. Â All this could be fixed, except the fact that after talking to the owner i get the feeling he just dons't care. Â If the owners don't care nothing can be fixed. Â Do not buy the groupon for this place or ever think of eating here. Â Not even Robert Irvine for food network could help this place.
Review Source:This place needs to get thier act together. Bad impression started at the Hostess Station. They had 3 people folding napkins while we waited. Once we were seated , the service was slow. As they got busier, it got worse. The hostess strted seating people at dirty tables. She was like a deer in the headlights. The food wasn't bad but certainly not relaxing. The inside is very shabby.
Review Source:
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
