Tapas Bravas

Tasty, yet salty. SALTy. After I finished sampling my gluten/​dairy-​free tapas, which included the patatas bravas, $ 4 — hand-​cut potatoes, organic smoked paprika sauce, sea salt, garlic aioli and mini chorizos (cantimpalitos a la sidra), $ 5
— locally-​sourced spanish chorizos with apple cider glaze — I noted my veins Hulkbusting out from the sodium intake under the Trail of Lights afterwards. Agua! Por favor!
The sampling happened this time at the food truck installation just to the east of Zilker, next to Chuy’s, which I believe is dubbed «The Picnic.»
Pleasant service and knowledegable staff (or perhaps that was the owner, I am uncertain). Portions are nicely sized, as tapas go, and they have a few beverage options.
I will return, Tapas. (Although some people who still believe salt is bad for everyone’s blood pressure may resist, the evidence is shaky ;) -
).

I have been here twice and enjoyed it both times. We had the patatas brava to remind us of when we visited Spain, very good! I tried the stinky brussel sprouts flashed fried with a garlic aoili which was also yummy and a large portion. The paté sliders are just ok, a large schmear of paté on some bread becomes too much to finish but I do love the concept. The winner both times was the stuffed pepper with the goat cheese, awesome winning combo! I’m going to try making that one at home

A BYOB food truck on Rainey Street serving up delicious food? What’s not to like. Not much, the only compliant being that the prices are a little steep for the portion size and the Sangria kit they offer could pack more punch for the price tag. Other than that, and its a small gripe, you won’t regret a trip to Tapas Bravas.
The seating is a little rough and limited so be sure that you are aware of that going in so that it doesn’t ruin what is a great foodie experience.

After posting the original review describing our bad initial experience, Alex from Tapas Bravas reached out to us to address our concerns. He went above and beyond in eliciting our feedback, rectifying any issues, and giving us an opportunity to give Tapas Bravas another shot.
Our second outing to Tapas Bravas was markedly improved. The fried artichokes w/​aioli to the peppers stuffed with goat cheese were really enjoyable this time around and the sangria was fantastic (protip: tempranillo is an excellent pairing for the sangria set up)
Between the fantastic service and management and our follow up experience with their food, I can say that Tapas Bravas has won me over. Kudos again to Alex and the rest of the Tapas Bravas staff!

Around 6pm when they were supposed to open, I stomped over from the bar and didn’t see any signs of life. In fact none of the area food trucks were open. I was ravenous after a long Saturday afternoon of imbibing, so I was pretty annoyed that none of food options were rollin’ until after 7pm.
Anyhow, we ordered and waited about 15 minutes for our food. My friend had ordered chorizo and papas bravas, and the gal in charge didn’t mention they were out of chorizo until our food came up. What? Seemed like an odd time to mention an important detail.
The food we had was good… there just wasn’t enough of it! Three tapas for two people should have been at LEAST a heavy snack. It saddens me to admit that we hit up Torchy’s immediately afterward…
Perrrrhaps Taps Bravs was having an off night.

I had an OK experience at Tapas Bravas. Let me break it down:
The Excellent:
The service. This was hands down the best aspect of the night. The woman running the truck was over the top friendly, made recommendations, gave us bottles of water and extra bread. Unfortunately, mediocre food brought this review down from a 4 to a 3 star.
The Good:
Red Pepper Spread — this was the only thing that we had that was truly excellent. It was really flavorful and was eaten on baguette slices. I think she should actually make this into a full dish, add some meat to it, make it hot, and serve it as a soup (maybe a breadbowl???).
BYOB — always a fun option. We had a bottle of wine.
The Not So Good:
The seating. There were only 3 picnic tables in this whole area that were shared by 3 food trucks. One of them was taken up by the owners of all the food trucks playing games on their iPads. Another had a couple on a romantic date, so we didn’t want to intrude, and the third was behind the truck, next to a house. We ended up there, and ended up sharing with the owners /​operators of the food truck back there, who were blasting country music, and kept having their friends come and hang with them. Not ideal for a date night.
Also, all the other tapas didn’t stick out to me as especially unique. We also had the meatballs, croquettes, and goat cheese stuffed peppers. They were all forgettable. I didn’t have a BAD meal, but, didn’t leave overly satisfied.
Summary:
There are so many food trucks in Austin (and on Rainey) that I’ll probably keep sampling the other ones before I go back.

So glad that I found this spot here! It offers the best tapas in town — with the unique Austin laid-​back atmosphere.
Be sure to bring a bottle of red wine for their sangria kit if you go to their Rainey location! Their goat cheese stuffed pepper and brussles sprouts are must-​try!

I am a fan of Tapas Bravas since they opened their door at the Rainey’s location.
The food is fantastic, I especially love the duck pâté, brussels sprouts, goat cheese stuffed peppers and their croquettes. Love them all!
Needless to say, bring-​you-​own-​wine for Sangria is definitely a very original one! Jed, Alex and Lisa are the most courteous people you have ever met and they are serious about the service and the quality of their food.
Bring cash or credit card, they accept both.
Bring some bug spray because you are in Texas!

If you want to find real Spanish tapas, you have to come here. I went there with some friends, we brought couple bottles of red wine to order Sangria kit, Sangria is super good!!! I love their Tortilla and Goat Cheese.

A little hard to find as this food truck is tucked in behind a house — but well worth the search! The food was deeee-​lish! We had great help from the owners selecting and sampling all they had on the menu that night — I believe we had pretty much one of everything by the time we left (and even two of some — oink oink)!
Its very important to note that you can bring your own bottles of red or white wine as they sell sangria starters kits — I will bring a few with us on our next visit ;)

Truly enjoyed everything about Tapas Bravas! Made me so happy to have an authentic reminder of my visit to Spain. The man running the place was so lovely and gracious. I had intended to go there for a while but the Rainey parking situation makes it difficult to just pop in for a bite so a chef friend and I went on a slower night with intentions of barhopping after. We had the patatas bravas, pimientos piquillos rellenos, croquetas and albondigas. Nice sized portions, perfect amount to share! I would say I had a favorite but I loved them all equally.
My only disappointment was that we didn’t know or think yo BYOB. Next time :)

This place is AWESOME!!! Bring your own bottle of wine and they will sell you the Sangaria mix.
We had 7 dishes, roasted asparagus with a garlic aioli dip, caramilized brussel sprouts (our fav), meatballs, patatas, stuffed peppers with goat cheese, DUCK PATE!!!
Honestly everything was fantastic, we even had the red wine poached pear for dessert… all while we sat at a picnic table beside a food truck :)
i am so pissed i didn’t know about the wine… lol…there were tables of people that brought multiple bottles and started a backyard party.

Very hungry before a night of drinking on Rainey Street, actually got food next door but I wanted to try their fried artichokes as an appetizer. It was OK, pretty pricey for such a small portion. Not sure I would ever eat a full meal here, but I do like their Sangria set up.

Tapas Bravas sits in the midst of all this new bar-​oriented boom in the Rainey St. District, what with all of its progressive eaters, outdoor-​drinking-​loving, and house-​bar sorts of establishments. This trailer provides a little change, as it is allows for a cheaper, smaller sort of meal, with a larger smathering of grub.
The Spanish Tapas eating has not yet taken root in Austin, and I feel that Austin would do, and has done, quite well with «munchies» restaurants. But they have not yet tapped into the fare of the small-​bite establishments of Spain. How great it would be if the market was tapped by TB.
I will begin with the most positive: their albondingas here are essentially the softest meatballs in Austin. The tomato sauce has a smidgen more sweet character than normal, and the brandy gives a hefty amount of depth to the balls o meat.
Now, the mediocrity, which still was not absolutely abysmal in quality: the tortilla espanol was a little underseasoned, but the texture can be attributed to the good potato, onion, egg ratio. The duck pâté boasted the correct bitter, mineral flavor but was otherwise mediocre in overall character. Lastly, the patatas atomicas (spicy potatoes) were smothered in extra spicy tomato sauce and garlic aioli, but neither were great. The hot sauce was more like tabasco in character.
All in all, this humble eatery is doing something pretty innovative, and in an awesome location, no less. For that, they are getting my vote, simply in terms of how unique they are – though the food is not entirely off the charts. Oh, and the sangria kit is pretty snazzy. Give it a go, if you bring your own wine!

I was headed to bangers and saw this trailer parked with some picnic tables and stuff. So, I ran by real quick to have a look at the menu. The super cool chick working there gave me a sample of their Meatballs. I was stoked that she gave me a taste and I told her I would be back.
After the dinner at Bangers, I was still a bit hungry so I decided to keep my word and return. I was in a hurry and the meatballs take zero time for them to prepare, so I got an order to go. The meatballs were quite tasty! The sauce is real good, and the meatballs themselves are seasoned nicely. I also got some simple bread that went along swimmingly with the meat.
I don’t get down to the Rainey Street area often at all… but this place is worth a visit if you are in that part of town. If I ever venture near there again, I will be seeking this out to see what the rest of the menu is like.

Following the breadcrumbs left from other Unilocalers, my friends and I found this awesome little trailer last weekend. Nestled behind a house, this place serves up some surprisingly flavorful food.
What we had:
Patatas Bravas
Cantimpalitos a la Sidra (they may look like vienna sausages but I promise that is their only similarity)
Pimientos con tomate y pinoes
Croquetas
Mexican cokes
Everything we ordered was delicious. Some of the dishes came out right away, others came out as they were done. The service was great, the guys in the trailer were super friendly and attentive. We’ll definitely be back — there were churros on the menu that I somehow missed. Be sure to bring cash (although there is an ATM in the driveway) and your patience. We didn’t have a long line, but I can imagine the wait on a really busy night.

There is really only one thing I can say about this place, well there’s more than one, but this is the one thing u should get there… Meatballs in brandy tomato sauce… R u f’in kidding… Delicious.

A couple Fridays ago I was really excited to try out Tapas Bravas. I love Spanish tapas and always wished Austin had better and more options for this type of cuisine.
A few friends and I headed over to the trailer with a bottle of wine at 8pm. We were lucky to find a table because the area was packed I ordered a couple items; croquettas, olives, tortilla espanola and patatas bravas. My friends ordered the marinated carrots, more croquettas, and the sangria set up. All the food was wonderful, even the marinated carrots that I was not eager to try.
While the food was great, the service was terrible. They completely lost my friends food ticket. We had to go up individually several times to ask for the items. The guys were nice and apologetic. After about an hour not receiving the second order of the croquettas I went up told the guy we had been waiting for over an hour. He tells me that they keep running out and people keep ordering them. Then tells me that there are several people in front of me. I correct him that we were there before all of the people and they lost our ticket. Then tells me ok — we will be next and he is going to personally bring us some meatballs. We got the croquettas and never saw him or the meatballs again.
The guys running this trailer seriously need to work on prepping for the day and overall management of the orders. The food is good but not that good to get your food an hour and half after your friends have received their tapas.

What you need to know: Everything here is delicious.
Oh and it’s a trailer = BYOB.
The croquetas? The meatballs? The chorizo? IT’S ALL AMAZING.
I’ve tried some other stuff too, but these three were my favorites. Really, I would just order the entire menu.
It’s hidden, at the end of Rainey St, towards the river, hiding towards the back of a house. SO glad I found this place, there are not enough food options in this area and this place is a wonderful addition.

Tucked in the back of a house on Rainey, one can find a little culinary piece of Spain at this food truck.
I tried the tortilla espagnola, croquetas and finished with churros… all good, «authentic» flavors, although don’t expect Ferran Adria in the kitchen crafting mind blowing experiences for you. This is very standard fare, simple drinking foods.
Maybe it’s a sign of the times, but a few items on the menu seemed over-​priced. The tortilla was portioned small for $ 4 (it’s just egg, potato and onions, after all…) while the olives’ cost stopped me from trying them. However, most of the menu is reasonable and maybe they will adjust with time…
Note, there’s no bar inside the attached house and they don’t have a liquor license, but you can bring a bottle of wine and make instant sangria with their wine kits. Again, though, some may balk at the prices, given no live entertainment nor bar. When I return, I want to try the $ 6 chorizo, but I doubt they were hand-​made by the chef and I already am imagining the portion size…
I’ll give 4 stars for now, but will return. I’m judging this as a food truck, not fine dining.