El Tapeo Modern Spanish Kitchen

Tasty food, great ambiance, excellent and friendly service, strong sangria, good value for the money!

Food was delicious, served hot and nicely seasoned. Our wait staff, Alfredo & Emilie, were wonderful; engaging, solicitious, and knowledgeable about the menu. We had a lovely evening and would definitely return.

Saturday dining at 8 pm: We were seated immediately- a nice window seat. I have dined here numerous times and I always end up with the chair that has a stain on the seat. I wish they would spot clean the chair or just remove it! We were disappointed to find that both the white and red sangrias were not available. They had run out. Yet, the restaurant was to be open for 3 more hours. Come on, it's a tapas restaurant; sangria is a must! Instead, we each had a few glasses of white wine. The tapas were good. Chicken empanadas, beef empanadas, and bar arts with toasts were excellent! The patatas brava were not crispy at all and were a disappointment. We were looking forward to the Basque cheesecake for dessert. The cheesecake was dry and crumbly but the cherry and pistachio accompaniments were delicious. Waitstaff was good, polite, and accommodating. Our main server was very soft-spoken; we almost had to read her lips to know what she was saying. Overall, we had a good time but some improvements need to be made. El Tapeo is an attractive venue with some excellent tapas.

We tried 3 small plates and were disappointed in all of them. Soggy, odd flavors and just gross. 2 beers, 2 wine $100+.😱

I remember this restaurant being better a few years ago. My family dined here over the weekend and I was disappointed with the food and drinks.

The wine list was very limited with grocery store type brands. Maybe there was a list of wines by the bottle that I didn’t see, but it wasn’t offered if so. My husband didn’t receive the cocktail he ordered until multiple dishes had already made it to the table (we ordered everything at the same time).

The biggest issue I had though was that the tapas we tried were not what was expected. The “bravas sauce” served with the datiles (which actually don’t even need a sauce IMO) tasted more like enchilada sauce/ chipotle instead of smoked paprika. The gambas al ajillo were not the sizzling, garlicky delicious shrimp I’ve had at other tapas restaurants - they were bland. We ordered a short rib flat bread that was okay, but definitely tasted more like a Mexican flavor profile than Spanish. And the pan de tomate was probably the biggest letdown. Just a sad flat bread with some bland tomato sauce and a bunch of cheese grated over the top. I love this dish at other places where the bread is fresh and crispy and the flavors of fresh tomato and olive oil really shine. Shishito peppers were probably the best dish, but even they needed a little more char. I don’t think they need the aioli on the side - it didn’t stick to the oily peppers very well.

The folks in the kitchen should try some more Spanish cuisine and adjust accordingly.

Service was more or less okay. The hostess was very sweet. Wait times for our drinks and our check at the were too long. Dining room was chilly.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 3

We dined at El Tapeo for the first time tonight. We had a wonderful experience. The restaurant is on the 9th floor and is surrounded by floor to ceiling windows, offering a great view. Our server was Krystal. She was everything you could want in a food server. She was friendly, helpful and patient. She recommended different tapas and desserts to us. We tried the coquettes, beef empanadas, patatas bravas & something with goat cheese & tomato jam. We paired them with sangria & a glass of Tempranillo. For dessert we paired some gelato with the churros. Every was great! We will definitely be returning and when we do, we will ask if Krystal is working!

El Tapeo Chef Billy was the Sous Chef at Henri" downtown Chicago back in 2012 which I frequented. It shut down a couple years later. Fast forward to 4/2025 I come upon El Tapeo in Oakbrook and read it's history. When I read Billy was the Chef I had to go. 10 of us went. Recently, 4 of us returned again and the 4 of us loved it. Cannot say enough good things about this restaurant. Chef Billy even came out to greet us. That was fantastic. Waitress Krystal was a delight to have waiting on us. Friendly, knowledgeable and always there. Kudos to Chef Billy's crew ! Can't wait till next time.

Interesting food, beautiful music, great view of the sunset. the waiter Krystal was first rate, and we could hear one another in conversation at dinner! Thank you.

Excellent food and services, location is great also. We will come back for sure! May be have a bigger sign of the restaurant on the street, we're getting lost for trying to find the restaurant.

The food was great - especially the dates, empanadas and desserts. Very nice server but he forgot our Brussel Sprouts.

First time trying tapas and first time going to El Tapeo and it was delicious! Went for a work outing and we got half of the menu and everything tasted amazing! We did halves on the paella and that was plenty for our group plus all the tapas. Dessert was phenomenal. Can’t wait to visit again for date night or girls night.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

What a pleasant surprise! We were staying in the hotel and piped up for dinner not know what to expect. The waiter commented we’d like the food and he way correct. We order several different tasty dished we shared - every dish was unique with great FLAVOR!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I was definitely upset that you could not participate with the happy hour if you Sat in the restaurant for dinner. Had to walk to the bar. Other than that, we ordered about 5 tapas and had a great time. Food was delicious.

The hostess and server were very nice. The wines (three glasses total) we ordered were chilled, which was a nice surprise, and we enjoyed them. We ordered the Tapeo plate (the serrano ham was fine, nothing terribly special), and it only came with one kind of cheese, which was broken up into baby-sized pieces. Another kind of sausage was on the board, but we did not care for it. There were some unappetizing-to-behold pickled peppers, some strangely-thick, toasted bread, and some dijon mustard. I have lived in Spain and been to many, many tapas restaurants in multiple countries, but this was just a bizarre combination of flavors. I have never seen a charcuterie board like this, much less in a tapas restaurant. The queso de cabra was fine, but, again, the bread was nothing to write home about. The bacon-wrapped dates (four in the order) were fine, but those are pretty hard to screw up, and the sauce drizzled on them was absolutely flavorless. I was glad we did not order more, as all of the food was just okay at best. I would highly recommend that whomever made up this menu actually go to Spain and learn about Spanish food...this wasn't it. For that small amount of ordering, the bill was $120, which is a lot for what we received. I will just stay home and make my own tapas next time rather than returning there.

This was the worst tapas I have ever had. Poor quality meat and the mussels were very stinky.