Solea Restaurant and Tapas Bar

7 of us had dinner at Solea. The food was good, just not very authentic. The flavors were just a bit off. The drinks were very good. Not very good value for money. There are several better options in Waltham.

If you enjoy Spanish Tapas, this is clearly your go to place. They offer a huge variety of well prepared traditional dishes, perfectly cooked to order. Service is attentive and the setting is excellent.

This has been my go to place to meet friends for years ... to enjoy great Sangria and tapas in a warm and welcoming atmosphere ... BUT the last two times the food has been meh at best ... so disappointing ... will no longer frequent this restaurant.

After traveling all over, I found my favorite Spanish Tapas bar. Solea had options for my vegetarian friends and lots of seafood option. Petra was phenomenal and provided great service. The oceano paella is to die for, especially the flavorful rice at the bottom(my wife scraped off it clean). Definitely a must try!

We had a terrific lunch here. Six tapas was more than enough food for the two of us and they were all delicious. The server was delightful.

Unfortunately, my experience last night was far from perfect. We made a reservation for 8:30 PM for a Valentine's Day dinner. We waited for almost an hour. The line in front of the reception was chaotic, and we were not given any heads up about the delays. The food last night also felt rushed. One of The meals felt like it was warmed up, and it was still cold inside.

I get it, Valentine's Day can be crazy for restaurants however, that cannot be the excuse for undercooked vegetable. For something as simple as grilled asparagus, the least you could do is peel off the tough part near the stem. Then maybe you could at least make sure it's properly cooked (not raw) before serving it to your customers. The other dishes lacked flavor and preparation. Preparation ans execution of the dishes were overall sloppy. QC needs improvement.

We've dined at Solea many times over the past years, so we know what we are going to get. However, we haven't been there on a night like Valentine's Day night. Jam-packed is the only way to describe it. Fortunately we had an early reservation for our party of four. I think that the staff did the best they could given the volume of diners with the attendant noise of a full house. The food was as good as always although the pacing of the dishes was a bit erratic as I'm sure the kitchen was overwhelmed. Everything arriving at the table was at the right temperature and prepared well with the servers trying to keep up. I think we'll pick a less popular night to dine out next time.

Inedible, unfortunately

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 4

I’ve been to Spain twice, went to culinary school and have eaten at a lot of tapas restaurants - SO WHAT! Authentic or not, who cares? I just want the food to taste great, come on give chefs freedom to express their skills. Consider that context knowing I don’t typically give very negative reviews - but given the high ratings for Solea I was incredibly disappointed. The small plates we ordered: Lomo de buey a las Frutus had very tough beef with a rancid after taste (not sure how this is even possible unless the beef was near the end of its shelf life?), Pollo a la Plancha was very dry because it was overcooked - seasonings at least were good; baked goat cheese in tomato basil sauce was room temperature when served room temperature (possibly cause our server disappeared for a significant amount of time); crispy cauliflower in spicy red pepper sauce - overcooked cauliflower, with very thin red pepper sauce. I am so sorry for what seems like a rant, but $100 meal and nearly every aspect of the prep was off, the server did not even ask why we left most of the meat dishes and some of the veg dishes uneaten. The first ever rec to Do not try this place. Chef - as a colleague I will not comment.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 1

Service: 2

We have used Solea several times for large group dinners 12-20 people. The food is amazing, and the service as well. A huge selection of Tapas and so far they all get great reviews. The churros are decadent, the flan is authentic and delicious, the tarta de chocolate is amazing. The Paellas feed easily 3 and possibly 4. One tapas, a shared Paella, and a dessert is a huge meal and quite a deal. I am Cuban with links to Spain so I know this food.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Wonderful tapas and small plates. Bring your besties and share ?

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Lamb Meatballs, Sangria Flight, Chicken Empanada, Cheese Plate, Brussels Sprouts

Best Lobster ravioli ever!!!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Pretty disappointing tapas experience, we really didn’t enjoy the food. Our first tip should’ve been the fact that they play Mexican music at what’s supposed to be a tapas restaurant. They were mixing cuisines and none of it was quite authentic. The only thing that was enjoyed was the gazpacho and the cauliflower & beef empanada were nice. Didn’t taste all fresh and lots of it was overcooked with little flavour. 130$ without tip really wasn’t worth it. There are better food joints to check out on moody street for sure.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 4

The food was delicious as always. However on Open Table I had reserved a table on the patio. When I got there, I was told the outdoor tables had been ended by the city of Waltham. Solea needs to correct its information on Open Table.