So I've noticed that Raleigh has at least a few "tapas" restaurants (Red Room, The George, Tasca Brava). I kind of had a craving for some, so I looked up their websites and checked out their menus.

I'm confused.

All of the items on the menus of these places are like $8-14. When I was in Barcelona, tapas were huge bars of small food items that were generally a standard price (say 2 Euros). You ate as you pleased, then at the end they charged you for however many you had eaten. So, say for 10 Euros, you ate 5 different things.

So, what is this $8-14 shit? Am I misunderstanding something and tapas has a different meaning here? Is it a plate instead of just one item? Is the price just really really ridiculously inflated?

7/23/2008 6:52:37 PM

upper middle class white people paying a premium for something vaguely foreign

7/23/2008 6:54:56 PM

what's tapas?

google is broken

7/23/2008 6:57:32 PM

Quote :

"upper middle class white people paying a premium for something vaguely foreign"

This is kind of what I figured

7/23/2008 6:58:24 PM

the price is just really really ridiculously inflated

7/23/2008 6:59:01 PM

try sullivans steakhouse of you want to spend mad cake

7/23/2008 6:59:10 PM

tapas here would be small plates of different kinds of foods

they're like mini meals but in appetizer or smaller portions

it allows you to try 4-5 different things without committing to an entire meal

best shared in groups and with wine

7/23/2008 6:59:12 PM

Quote :

"it allows you to try 4-5 different things without committing to an entire meal"

If you tried 4-5 things at one of these places it would cost $50.

7/23/2008 6:59:56 PM

Quote :

"it allows you to try 4-5 different things without committing to an entire meal"

except you pay 2/3rds of full meal price, so meh

it's for yuppies, plain and simple

7/23/2008 7:00:10 PM

yeah- they are the "hip" new way to waste your money

7/23/2008 7:00:28 PM

you're supposed to share with your friends.

7/23/2008 7:00:57 PM

i also mentioned that you'd do this in a group, so $50/ # ppl in your group

7/23/2008 7:01:09 PM

yep. i love salmon and tuna dishes, i usually order one or two of these for myself when we go out

7/23/2008 7:01:58 PM

This is why I need to get into the restaurant business.

Things I want here in affordable non-yuppy and tasty fashion:

tapas
doner kebab
CURRYWURST
baguettes

7/23/2008 7:02:05 PM

I look at American tapas like appetizers that you split with a group of friends. Say 4 people go out, you each buy 1 small plate for 8 bucks and then you all share.

7/23/2008 7:03:29 PM

tapas places are pretty fun to go w/ a group and socialize w/ a drink bla bla bla

BUT, I can't go w/ out eating before hand. Its a like a big tease.

7/23/2008 7:06:20 PM

it's a way to bilk yuppies out of money while reducing prices for the restauranteur

i know a guy who owns a tapas place

he'll tell you point blank that's the idea

7/23/2008 7:06:26 PM

^haha yeah he will. hes got good food. but im not enamoured with the prices.

7/23/2008 7:07:28 PM

Another food that we need to import: Poutine.

7/23/2008 7:09:15 PM

no shit^ when i was in montreal last month, i asked the lady at the hotel what i needed to try that is french. she say poutine. i said i had planned on getting some of that (she pronounced it poo-tang)

srsly, its good shit. fries+gravy+mozzarella cheese balls=teh winz

7/23/2008 7:13:53 PM

poutine sounds disgusting

but it is awesome

7/23/2008 7:14:37 PM

fucking french

7/23/2008 7:15:06 PM

If you don't like how we do tapas here, then you can GIIIIIIIIT OUT!

7/23/2008 7:17:59 PM

Yeah...you'll be hard pressed to find a traditional style tapas place in the States done the way they do it in Europe.

I bartended at a Spanish wine and tapas bar here in Charleston for about two years. It was overpriced, but not anymore than your normal mid-to-high level restaurant. Our plates were fairly large too. So one tapas plate, although it might cost $8-$12, was probably about 2/3 the size of an entree plate at a regular restaurant (except for the meat and cheese plates...but we had really nice meats and cheeses).

We didn't make money off the food...but the wine and liquor that accompanied the food. Our owners fucked it up by continuing to cut down the menu...and by the time I left we really tried to be like a traditional tapas place with nothing over $6 on the menu. It didn't go over to well with the people who loved our original menu.

If you think people bitch about playing $8-12 for a small plate of food...look at their faces when you give them n ounce or two of cheese or serano ham for $6.

7/23/2008 7:38:29 PM

you gotta be some kind of a queer to go order a cheese plate and pay 8-14 washingtons for that shit.

7/23/2008 7:58:38 PM

tapas in spain

7/23/2008 8:01:03 PM

you've got to be some kind of queer to call dollars "washingtons"

7/23/2008 8:24:21 PM

omg st-hubert poutine ftw

7/23/2008 8:25:43 PM

And what's with charging $30 for a pitcher of Sangria? The whole idea is supposed to be that it's cheap and can serve a lot of people.

7/23/2008 8:38:43 PM

why don't all you fucking whiners just cook at home

jesus christ

[Edited on July 23, 2008 at 8:40 PM. Reason : if folks didn't buy it, they'd come down off the price]

7/23/2008 8:39:40 PM

Okay I will. You are all invited to my 50 spread tapas bar tomorrow night. I've hired 20 new employees for my kitchen.

7/23/2008 8:48:19 PM

I like how high 5 likes to pass onion rings and such off as "tapas"
which I guess is code for "side item"

7/23/2008 8:49:58 PM

yeah, its garbage

7/23/2008 8:50:35 PM

^^^

[Edited on July 23, 2008 at 8:55 PM. Reason : kdsjfa;lj]

7/23/2008 8:53:54 PM

^I like tapas, but really, high-5 is garbage

[Edited on July 23, 2008 at 8:56 PM. Reason : nm i thought that rollyeyes was @ me ]

7/23/2008 8:54:25 PM

OMG I CAN'T FIT THIS IN MY BUDGET, THEREFORE ITS OVERPRICED/YUPPIE

7/23/2008 8:55:39 PM

F THIS NOISE, I'M GOIN TO THE GOLDEN CORRAL

7/23/2008 8:56:59 PM

OMG, I'M GONNA SIT AROUND AND COMPLAIN ABOUT SHIT THAT I DON'T HAVE TO BUY


focus your complaints on shit you don't have a choice about...like taxes and shit

7/23/2008 8:57:08 PM

because that's productive, too

IF I COMPLAIN, TAXES WILL GO DOWN

SO WILL INFLATION

7/23/2008 8:59:02 PM

OFF TOPIC

7/23/2008 9:00:04 PM

all i'm saying is it's your fucking choice

7/23/2008 9:01:44 PM

It is my choice.

Which is why I've never been to any of the places I mentioned before and will probably never be going.

7/23/2008 9:04:36 PM

sometimes it's your woman's choice...

7/23/2008 9:05:08 PM

^a valid point

^^good job

7/23/2008 9:05:41 PM

Its like people bitching about feeling obligated to tip....






oh no...i went there...cue "it begins" pic..

7/23/2008 9:06:26 PM

Speaking of tapas in Raleigh...anybody been to:


http://humblepierestaurant.com/??

Menu looks great. Atmosphere looks pretty good from the pictures.

7/23/2008 9:09:09 PM

good food

good atmosphere

cool bartenders

owner is a quality offensive defenseman with good wheels

7/23/2008 9:11:06 PM

Quote :

"doner kebab CURRYWURST"

flippin' signed

I'm not a big fan of tapas places here, but zelly and ritz on glenwood is awesome.

7/24/2008 12:56:11 AM

The Blue Martini has a good number of good appetizers, but fuck if I'm paying $8 for them shitz. I mean I ate two full enchilada platters at Armadillo and was still hungry... That's like 10 plates at these bars.

7/24/2008 1:00:37 AM

you guys realize you can go out to eat to enjoy good food, and not be bursting at the seams.

maybe you dont realize it, but those "tiny portions" are regular portions for the rest of the world.

7/24/2008 3:05:26 AM