Tapas Barcelona

I've been to Tapas Barcelona in the past and had terrific meals with decent service, but tonight was ridiculous and I'm wondering if it's under new management. The short version is, the two poorly-dressed "hostesses" do NOT know what they're doing. I understand how reservations work, but these two young women, (both in leggings and t-shirts, one of them wearing UGGS), do not know how to greet people, give appropriate information or seat customers. They didn't care that we were there at all, or that we waited an hour, or that we were now leaving, even though during our long wait, many tables in the restaurant sat empty. For over an hour.

There are other great tapas places in Chicago. I don't think we'll be going back to Evanston again.

So good and so relaxed.  Great prices and really tasty sangria.

I want to think that we caught them on an off night, but I suspect our experience was aligned with the norm.  I'll keep this short and sweet:

Reservation:  They "lost" our reservation.  As a result, we got to wait another half hour for a table.  They also lost the reservations of several others who were being seated at the same time we were.  (7PM on a Saturday evening.)

Service:  Brutal.  I don't know what else to say.  We understand small plates.  They sort of come when they come, but 20 minutes between plates for a party of two?  Please.

Food:  Honestly?  I thought that this would be the saving grace for the establishment.  It was not.  The "spicy potatoes" were something akin to Ore-Ida flash frozen potato quarters in leftover Chef Boyardee sauce.  (Actually--I think I've uncovered their secret.)  The pork tenderloin was swimming in grease.  The bacon-wrapped dates?  Pleasant.  That said, they were bacon-wrapped dates.  I'm not really sure how you screw that up.  (Even this place couldn't manage that.)

Ambiance:  Everybody around us was progressively taking off layers of clothing.  It was around 80 degrees where we were seated.  The table next to us asked them to turn on the A/C or turn down the heat.  They replied with a "sure" and turned up the ceiling fans instead.  That didn't cut the mustard.

Drinks:  Watered down and generally unpleasant.

I get now why this place seems to always have a wait...the suspect service makes it difficult to turn tables over in a timely fashion, and their inability to reserve tables with any degree of efficiency only compounds the problem.  That said, it's pretty much the only option people from Evanston or the surrounding communities have if they don't want to venture into the City.  

This place is an unfortunate disaster.  The plastic garlic hanging on the wall should have been our first clue.  Avoid like the plague.