Rioja in Glasgow City

The staff were friendly and knew about the food but if you want proper Spanish food don’t come here. Food was way too pretentious and not very Spanish at all. Not horrendous food but I’ve paid way less for much better.

Simple menu, nice vibe. Felt the muscle sauce could of done with more garlic and wine.

A mixed experience!Plus points: Our server was efficient, professional, knowledgeable and responsive (even apologising profusely for the dodgy dessert and very delayed bottle of wine and offering deductions from our bill).Food: Some of the dishes were superb - bbq Octopus, Loch Fyne oysters, sea bass fritters all worth mentioning. Others were average and some - calamari with streamed buns, the iron bru snow pudding - were tasteless and almost inedible.The wines were well selected and mid priced and we liked the option of the smaller glasses so we could mix and match.Minus points: the pounding, Balearic music thrashing away right above our heads! Don't get me wrong, I love a good tune to get the party going, but not when I'm dining with my 70 year old mother in what is advertised as Glasgow's answer to El Bulli!Despite asking for it to be turned down 3 times, and our server agreeing it was too loud, then explaining apologetically "the owner likes it loud ", the music continued to dominate and spoil our evening and destroyed any attempt at conversation.Our table was too small for the myriad of tapas dishes and we were constantly having to juggle plates and food in an effort to make more room meaning we couldn't properly relax to enjoy the food.Overall, the whole experience felt rushed and stressful, not the authentic, relaxed Spanish experience which is being sold.And at £225 for party of 5 (only 2 drinking alcohol), we will not be back. We should have stuck to The Chip!

Rioja was a big letdown for us. My partner and I were both sorely disappointed with the quality especially at the prices asked. Our food had little flavour but everything was unnecessarily salty. The plates were smaller than I would have hoped too, tapas or not. Sadly we had finished half our food before our wine order was taken. The table next to us was far too close. We were out for a romantic meal and were practically joined by two strangers! And the waiter squeezing in and out between said tables. After the food were feeling deflated, robbed and really just wanted to go. Knowing we could have eaten somewhere else for half the price and been satisfied. Massive disappointment and I would encourage diners to perhaps go back to the drawing board on this one. Try The Gannet across the road. For £85 I expect a lot more. Avoid.

Food and service were both fantastic; really welcoming staff serving inventive and imaginative dishes (not yer standard tapas...) in smart surroundings. Relaxed and enjoyable - will definitely be back.

Nicely presented food and cocktails, but nothing to write home about in my opinion. The riso was overcooked! and to be honest the chicken as well was nothing special! It is pricey and not as extravagant as I thought.

A lovely, warm restaurant. We found it by chance. The vegetarian options for the tapas exceeded our expectations - they were so delicious. We had the Gazpacho (salmorejo) soup (which was presented as a work of art), the vegan croquettes, roasted vegetables with almonds and the patatas bravas with a wonderful frothy aioili sauce. And the service was very friendly and efficient.

Lovely staff and tasty food that's a wee bit different so glad it's opened again!

Save yourself high expectations. My friends said the pork dewlap and pig's cheek were very good and so were patatas bravas, but the rest was surprisingly terrible tasting though nicely presented so go for it if you're happy to pay high prices for feasting your eyes, but not stomach! Pan con tomate - tasteless, Escalivada - utterly tasteless, cold and soaked in oil, Vegetable rolls - tasteless 'dolmades' in nice presentation, Gambas ok (we ordered two portions to share between 2 couples, got one) but we had better elsewhere, skewered prawn heads pretty pointless, and last but not least Arroz de Señoret was supposed to have langoustine and fresh squid, instead had two king prawns and a couple of mussels and octopus slices. In addition, email confirmation (following booking on Rioja website) included the wrong, old menu with 3 tapas for £14.99 - misleading but staff and then manager incredulous, don't know what their customers get. Promised to fix the issue with Open Table and get us a round of free drinks - never did, we paid the full bill and left never to return again (my partner is half Spanish). Michelin star my a.... Tinto Tapas or Barça Tapas are way better. Very disappointing.

Recently revamped, new chef this review will be short and sweet, absolutely stunning food why are you wasting your time reading this review that could never do it justice go ahead and book a table it's tremendous