Patio Español Restaurant

Food was OKAY. It wasn’t anything super tasty though. The paella was OKAY. The torta de cangrejo was OKAY. Etc. Etc.
The waitress was cute, but we pretty much had to ask for them to remove dishes from the table, we had to ask for refills, for water, for extra utensils… Pretty much for everything. And that was the case even as we were the biggest group in the restaurant.
Overall it was just okay… Nothing special.

Amazing find! True Spanish tapas, delicious recipes, big portions, and very attentive service. I cannot believe after living in the area for over 20 years I just now discovered it. I will definitely be back to try their paella. This time I just tried different tapas (6) & desserts and everything was fingerlicking good. BTW, there was so much food that we had 6 boxes of leftover between the 2 of us.

Such a jewel of a find on a Saturday night! Craving paella and only usually finding them in Peruvian restaurants. I love Peruvian food especially since there’s an abundance of good ones here but just thought we wanted to try a Spanish restaurant this time. Patio Espanola popped up on my Unilocal list at the first search for «paella». Minimum paella order is 2 but because we wanted to explore the tapas menu and didn’t want to wind up with leftovers we paid an extra $ 6 charge to order 1. Not a problem because the paella valenciana was so worth it. It was flavorful and packed with seafood and chicken. Cooked perfectly. We devoured it and actually found the 1 order to be just enough. The order came with a bowl of sopa de ajo (garlic soup) that was delicious as well with it’s rustic flavor and perfect temperature. We had 3 tapas. Our fave was the chorizo manchego so flavorful we started to clean up the bottom of the serving dish with bread so as not to waste the flavors of the chorizo oil and onions/​peppers combined. Also had the variety of olives and the pan de Jamon Serrano. Sounds like a lot of food but I thought the tapas servings were perfectly sized for 2 (maybe even 3 but we are big eaters) and we had just enough room to squeeze in a tangy, tasty passionfruit mousse cake. I’d like to add that the restaurant had a nice charming ambience. High ceiling with exposed beams, lots of pictures and wrought-​iron displays. Yes it is part of the Spanish cultural center.

Horrible customer service. Had a reservation for 16 for my mother in law’s birthday and apparently, they did not put it in the books. No sorry and no nothing. I would put a no star if that was possible.

I just don’t trust a place that charge my card twice! For something that I didn’t know or consumed!

My employer had the annual winter celebration here in a big banquet room. The 3 course meal was good, the salad looked like it was from the bag. The salmon was good worth the $ 40 if I paid that much, but the meal was free for employees. One of my coworker’s husband said that $ 40 was a lot for chicken that looked like KFC.
They were short staffed last night during the event, there was only one woman working the big bar by herself, she was somewhat rude and said that the minimum was $ 20 to use a card to pay for drinks! I ordered 2 drinks it was $ 13 then I ordered 2 sodas it was $ 15 I gave up and just paid cash, being given attitude turned me off. the dinner service was somewhat slow. They should’ve had 2 people at the bar and more servers to make the event go smoother.

Sunday buffet… hit or miss… if it’s not crowded all is wonderful. If crowded, not enough help.

Outstanding food, family friendly, beautiful architecture and excellent service. A no brainer for Sunday brunch

Food = great for an evening out.
Tabletop (hot) bread with butter and garlic olive oil = addicting, but don’t load up too much.
Appetizers/​Tapas:
Cold: Pan a la catalana con jamon Serrano (tomato bread topped with Serrano ham and olive olive oil.) Comes with a garnish of tangy salad with olives. $ 10.00.
Hot: Albondigas a la castellana (Spanish meatballs in a white wine and tomato sauce.) Delicious, great flavors, and addicting. You will want to use the bread to soak up the sauce, or just use a spoon and eat it. $ 9.00.
Entrees:
Bistec al Pastor (NY steak served with sauteed onions and peppers). Comes with vegetables and potatoes. Choice of soup or salad, too. Perfectly cooked steak to order. $ 22.50.
Pollo al jerez (Chicken in a sherry cream sauce.) Comes with vegetables and saffron rice. Choice of soup or salad, too. Tender chicken in an addicting sauce. $ 18.50.
Sangria = refreshing and perfect with this meal. $ 6.00.
Dessert = cappuccino cake. It was rich but not over the top. Beautiful presentation. $ 5.00.
Service = friendly and attentive.
Prices = moderate. Dinner for two was $ 77.48 with leftovers.
Seating = plentiful. Mostly 4-​tops, with a few 8-​tops. They accept reservations by telephone, but it was pretty quiet here at 8 p.m. on a Saturday evening.
Yes, they have paella, but there’s a 25-​minute wait and a minimum order of 2. So plan accordingly.

Delicious Spanish dishes! The restaurant is located inside the Spanish Cultural Center. The paella is excellent. We had the seafood paella which has clams, mussels, scallops, prawns and fish. Allow 25 minutes for it to be made but it’s so worth it. It requires a two person minimum but that wasn’t a problem as there were twelve of us all together and four of us ordered the paella. It was perfectly seasoned and there was a lot of seafood. We could not finish all our food so most of us took leftovers home. For a larger groups the restaurant gives complimentary salad, which surprisingly had some asparagus in the romaine greens and cherry tomatoes. We shared appetizers of the calamari, chorizo sausage and mushrooms which were all very good. The sausage was sautéed with red and green peppers and onions. The appetizers are all tapas (small plates). The mushrooms were cooked in a garlic sauce. The restaurant interior looks like a Spanish/​European courtyard. The music is not too loud and we can hear each their talk. They play Spanish music and mostly classical guitar songs which goes very well with the place. Service was good and efficient. Polite servers. They have a parking lot which is a huge plus! They also have a large hall in the building that they rent out for events. We almost forgotten about Palio Espanol but are glad we remembered it for this latest meal.

This place has awesome food. Definitely give it a try. I’ve been here twice and the staff has always been attentive and nice.

I’ve been here for two birthday parties and it has been awesome every time. This is a buffet style brunch with unlimited mimosas. The selection is not as varied but what they do offer is delicious. I don’t remember a bad tasting dish in the house. So I would highly recommend this place for birthdays. They also have interesting history posted up in the hallways if you find you arrive early and want to kill some time.

A hidden treasure for those who love Spanish cuisine. They have a full menu of tapas and a full menu of entrees. The venue has white-​washed walls, Spanish ceramic tiles, and a high, airy ceiling.
The wine list is very representative of Spain’s various regions and quite reasonable. The zarzuela (a Spanish saffron-​infused seafood dish like a cioppino) is astonishing. The only criticism is the rice seems pre-​fab.
Really worth a try.

It might not be best Spanish food in town, but to me, it is the best Spanish restaurant in town. It has the feel of an unpretentious restaurant of Spain. And it is the only place where you will find old timers form Spain always willing to share their war stories.

All around good experience. From the parking, drinks, food and service. Really enjoyed the paella and tapas. This place is becoming a mainstay for us. Consistently good food at a fair price!

Cute, seated right away but they were out of a lot and failed to put 1 of our two entrée orders into the kitchen. When our meal finally arrived the waitress gave my husband salmon saying she didn’t order his pork through the kitchen so she hoped salmon was ok. It was really dry, came of as a «make it work/​serve them whatever» sort of plate. The correct order, mine, looked and tasted nice but I was taking my husband to dinner, it was very sad that he was given such a sad wasted salmon. Granted we were not charged for the salmon but I didn’t take my husband out to dinner to save money. It could have just been a bad night I guess but there were only 5 other tables with guests…

Love this place, great Spanish food, reasonable priced. The servers are wonderful and the dinning hall is down to earth.

Big place, (free parking, whoooo!) think more of an elks-​type community center with a bar and restaurant.
We came in with reservations Friday 8PM but wouldn’t have needed them.
Service was very friendly and helpful, Laura even portioned out the two paellas amongst the four of us, kind of expected to have to do that ourselves.
We tried the garlic shrimp app and shared both types of paella. Based on the garlic shrimp app alone, we’ll return and try as many tapas as we can handle.

So I’m actually totally stoked on this place because it is actually SPANISH, you know, like from Spain. Not trendy hipster, locally grown, fusion, $ 15 for 3 pieces of cheese «spanish» (which is actually sooooooo far from SPANISH, have you been to Spain? Then you know what i’m talking about).
But anyways, let’s get down to it.
1. Lots of space. Sure I went on a Sunday night, which is no Friday or Saturday, but there is plenty of room and our table of 8 had no problem. It’s just always a nice thing when accustomed to San Francisco lines.
2. Did you know that wine can actually be only $ 15-​$ 20 a bottle? It’s true! And they had multiple options
3. Tapas. We ordered way too many. The Tortilla Española was legit. I honestly don’t remember all the ones we got. I also very much enjoyed the Calamari.
4. Paella. It’s good. We got 4 servings, which was WAY TOO MANY. I think we took half of it home. Oh well. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. Also they brought tons of bread so yeah, that filled us up too. What we definitely did not do was go home hungry.
5. Our waitress spoke to us in Spanish — like Spain spanish.
6. Really not that bad priced — $ 400 for 8 people with Wine also we didn’t actually eat like half of our Paella and any of the salad? that seems downright decent.
Planning to come try the brunch some day.

I saw true happiness at Patio Espanol! A couple who stole my heart, took center floor, and started moonlighting in their own space, totally oblivious of other guests, and simply, enjoyed their dance together. They looked to be somewhere around in their late 80s! They looked so beautiful together.
I couldn’t help myself but feel overwhelmed with joy. It truly is possible to be with someone you truly love, and continue to be «in-​love» with that same person for years and years. This couple who stole my heart, they’ve probably been married for many years, and continues to look at each other, as it was their first meeting. I can still see in my mind how beautiful the way they locked into each others eyes!
Patio Espanol gets a 5 STARZZZZZZ from me. They’re service was on point, staff were quick and efficient, and the banquet manager made sure the guests were happy. Even my main course came out piping hot and so did everyone else. Best of all, I love their stage and their live band. The center floor was already spaced out just for that… dancing! No tables to be moved, no one had to regroup, all they had to do, was just get their boogie shoes on and have a lot of fun!
The icing on the cake is that Patio Espanol has plenty of private and street parking which is unheard of in the city.
When you are looking to celebrate your love, or other occasions, and you are looking for a venue that can host a large group and still be in the heart of the city, try checking Patio Espanol.
I came to Patio Espanol for a 50^th Wedding Anniversary Celebration, and came out feeling inspired.
Until then… Cheers ~ :p

I had a craving for paella and this location was close by my boyfriend’s house. The restaurant is located in the Spanish cultural center which is kind of unique. There is a restaurant sign on the building so it isn’t completely hidden inside. There is ample parking and if the lot is full, I think you can slide by parking in the automotive repair shop lot next door when it’s closed.
The place was surprisingly empty on a Saturday night but the patrons that were there looked like they were regulars. The place gave a very rustic feel and somewhat romantic vibe as well. I do believe our table was a bit cluttered with sugar boxes and too many wine placards. The place also needs to update its music because we were seriously listening to the same song for a good 15 minutes. Luckily, a party was occurring in the banquet room so we could overhear their music instead.
We had ordered the paella Valencia which required a 2 order minimum which means 2 servings and it required a 25 – 30 minute wait. Instead of chowing on bread for 30 minutes, we decided to get calamari with aioli sauce. The calamari was delicious, it was thinly breaded but still crisp. It was not overly oily and was very well done. We did not know that the paella came with a side of soup or salad. We both chose soup, my boyfriend with the white bean soup and myself with the onion soup. The soup came in these rustic mini bowls and was okay.
By the time the paella came out, we were stuffed. The server divided the portions out of the paella pan for us and it had large portions of meat and seafood. It was very flavorful but we ended taking most of it home.
I would return like to return to try their other items and the staff is wonderful! We had 3 people at our table filling our waters up, taking our dishes away, serving food at the same time. They are very attentive and friendly. The staff makes sure that all your needs are well met.

A neighborhood treasure!
My friend chose well when she decided to have her retirement party here. Plenty of parking (shocking in SF), a nice colonial Spanish ambiance, awesome stiff drinks (that was a STIFF caipirinha and cheap at $ 4) and good food. We noshed on empanadas, fruits and cheese as appetizers and for the main course, a good sized NY steak with a no frills mushroom sauce.
I’d definitely come back next time if only to hang out at the bar: the crowd def looks local and you know the place is authentic when everyone was speaking straight up Espanol. Orale!