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78 reviews
Huntington Beach, CA
"Ah finally, I can write my reviews again after a long standing hiatus. I went to this place last night with fellow friend and Yelper Steve…" read more »
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Having never been to Spain nor a tapas bar, naturally this place wowed my socks off. It's like dim sum, but European! Only instead of metal dim sum pots, it's tooth picks. And the toothpicks have a flat rate of $1.75. And it's Spanish food, obviously. As you can tell, it doesn't take much to please me. (OMG $1.75 per toothpick, seriously!)
The food and service was good. The sangria is everything I ask for out of a glass of sangria. My experience here has opened up a world of tapas possibilities. Tapasibilities?
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These guys are trying...but just not hard enough.
The $1.75 tapas at the counter are a good deal and ok.
tortilla and serrano ham - very generous and a good pairing. The tortilla needs onions and more salt.
Anguilas (baby eels) and smoked salmon. Very generous - anguilas are expensive.
Anchovy and pickled vegetables - good
Hot courses
gambas al ajillo - a disaster - these things were undercooked. They should be served so hot the olive oil is bubbling - the ceramic dish wasn't even hot. Did they microwave these? Really bad
Croquetas - good - i liked the ham/potato ones
Potato chips, anchovies and hot sauce - interesting - good home made chips.
Dessert
almond cake - very, very good - served with a glass of port.
Service - a bit confused - we didn't get coffee as they hadn't made it.
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I was here for an UYE :)
After we got a table, I went up to the pinxtos counter to find out just what types they had :) Every one of the pinxtos ($1.75 each) was on a big piece of bread (they bake it here, but it was big & not flavorful, I've had tastier bread from the store).The counter guy was nice about telling Me about each of the pinxtos.A few of them had smoked salmon, a few had a thick potato "omellete" type thing (no egg involved), one had 3 little dates & walnut on a huge piece of white bread, another had three lil pork sausages & there were many more of the cold pinxtos out.
I think they should have a printed menu that indicates the types of pinxtos available, it would make it a more pleasant & comfortable experience for the patrons. When I was there, there were way too many people who were just afraid to ask the server about the various items and I felt like I should rescue them and ask them server to just go down the counter from left to right and just tell us what each item was...and that's just what I did!! :)
So, decided to have the smoked salmon with baby eels pinxto (it was nice, except for the whole ginormous piece of flavorless bread issue) and the 2nd pinxto I decided to try was fresh tuna salad (made from fresh tuna from a particular part of the tuna that is supposedly the best and with way too much mayo...eeks) in a red roasted pepper.Mmm, the roasted pepper was delish, the bread it was on no longer needs to be discussed for now & the tuna would have been way better if there was a lot less mayo, so I could taste the actual tuna.
We were told that they bring out hot pinxtos throughout the night & bring them over to the table...so, we went back to the table & started reading the menu (decisions, decisions).The only hot pinxto that I tried was a little plate of green little yummy peppers (it was actually quite nice & not spicy, except for one of them, and there was no bread, yay).In the few hours that we were there, they only came around to our table with the hot pinxtos at most 3 times, so that's not good, because there may have been some pinxtos I would have enjoyed sampling.
Looking over the menu, I noticed that this place seems to be quite fond of potatoes & eggs (lots of appetizers with those).If you like potatoes, I think you could have some major fun (sauteed potatoes, potato omelete, potato salad, potato chips). They also seem to favor cod & wild salmon (those two I am happy about, haha).
An assortment of smoked cod & salmon was one of the yummy sounding appetizers ($7.50), there was also a plate of traditional Spanish cured meats including Serrano ham, lomo, chorizo & salchichon ($8.50).I opted for the Plate of six regional cheeses ($10), which included Idiazabal, semi-cured Manchego, cured Manchego, goat, brie & blue cheese.The cheeses were flavorful & were beautifully arranged with some walnuts & miniature crackers in the center of the tray.But the cheese plate came with 4 pieces of that "flavorful" bread we discussed earlier (that was the only not so great thing about this plate).
There are a few different salads ranging in price from $7.50 to $9.00 Some of the salads had very cool toppings like smoked salmon, asparagus, tuna & goat cheese.
The only meat entree they have are two variations of rib eye ($15-20)
There were many fish dishes available (calamari, codfish, swordfish, salmon & tuna).I was glad to have choices & chose to have the salmon.Well, now comes the buckets of salt issue...I have had a LOT of salmon in My day, but I have never had salmon after somebody threw a bunch of coarse salt on it (it is always better to undersalt than over salt!!!).
There are three types of paella which seems to be popular here, but I am not a fan of white rice, so that was not going to happen, lol. All three paellas are $15.
The service was great from our waitress & the owner, who actually gave us complimentary tiramisu for the table (the fact that most of it was left on the table says something though...it was not very creamy & very heavy cakey or something and overly sweet...I literally had two bites & if I have two bites of something when I have the option to have more, it is time to worry, lol).I also tried their much raved about flourless chocolate cake.It was insanely sweet.The dulce de leche cheesecake was quite nice, creamy and not sickly sweet.I also had the Tarta Santiago, their almond cake, which comes with a shot of port wine.To My surprise I liked it a lot.It was subtely sweet & had a great mouth feel.
If I were to come here again, I would try more pinxtos & more seafood dishes and appetizers.I would hope they improve their bread, hot pinxtos availability, offer mineral water (just spring so far) & go easy on the salt.They have an interesting concept & they do try to provide good customer service, but.....
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I wanted to rekindle my fond memories of Spain so made it in here last week. I think they're struggling still with staffing/service issues and don't quite yet have a firm grasp of the cuisine they're serving.
While I thought the pinxtos -- tapas served on small crostinis -- were a decent representation of what we found in Spain, it just didn't pack the same punch, both in presentation and flavors. One of the staffers, who was very nice, told us that they had to tweak a few offerings to make it more appealing to the mainstream/American palate.
I was surprised that the pa amb tomaquet/pan con tomate wasn't offered as a complimentary appetizer or even on the menu as a side order unless it was served in a dish. So I asked if I could have a plate and they happily obliged, yay.
The potatoes for the patatas bravas were a bit on the soft side, more broiled/oily than the fried and crispy variety I had in Barca. Wish they had some Iberico ham and not just Serrano, too.
The sangria was OK, not bad, but I found it to be super thin and watery.
One thing that bothered me was the flies, especially with the plates of tapas sitting out on the counter. The other thing was that trays of hot tapas were supposed to come out every so often and for our hour- to hour and a half stay , only two kinds came out.
I'm hoping Lizarran irons out some of those issues cause there's definitely potential and a need for more Spanish tapas in OC. I'm looking forward to the new Spanish-themed concept rumored to be opening in downtown Santa Ana.
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The place has potential. I've been told they are still trying to work out the kinks of a new restaurant. However, it is not only the service they will need to focus on.
To be honest I am no pintxos expert, but hearing that all the ingredients were imported from Spain I sort of hoped they would be more, how do you say... gourmet? I don't know all the names, nevertheless here is a short description of the items I tried (see photos):
- Smoked salmon topped with baby eels and pepper salsa
- Smoked salmon with a creamy seafood salad inside
- Roasted pepper, egg, olive wrapped in anchovy, pickled chile pepper
- Roasted pepper with creamy seafood salad inside
- Potato cake topped with prosciutto
- Tuna empanada
- Fried shrimp w/ aoli
- Bacon wrapped dates
These were all served on a 3/4" thick slice of bread. Despite being large and hearty, there weren't any standouts from the pintxos selection. The smoked salmon was cut on the thick side as was the prosciutto, making it more difficult to eat. I tend to prefer them slightly thinner, also due to the fact that they are saltier in nature. One disappointing item which I couldn't even finish was the fried shrimp. I was waiting to bite into a firm, plump, succulent shrimp but was met with underdone, soft, translucent flesh.
On a positive note, the presentation was definitely an eye pleaser. And their generous portions substantiated the value. As Miss C mentioned, the dining area could be a little dimmer to set a more relaxed dining atmosphere rather than the cafeteria look. We also had some sangria which was fruity and refreshing, but I could hardly taste the wine. The restaurant holds some promise and I look forward to seeing the changes. Maybe next time I will try some of their items on the regular menu.
Food: 2.5 stars
Service: +1 star
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Came for an UYE
Spain had just won the European Championship earlier that day!
SO excited!
I thought what better way and what better place to to celebrate Spain's Euro Cup victory than at a Spanish Tapas Restaurant!?!?!!!
nobody
gave
a
shit
Atmosphere is heavily lacking at this place
Not much character
And Spanish places are FULL of character
I struggled to find anything that was distinctly Spanish about this place
It's a little too wholesome and well lit for me
And what was up with people running into the glass left and right...?
The pinxtos ranged from inventive and worthy of recognition to overly simple and just plain lazy. None had me impressed except, just like everyone else, the date wrapped in bacon. Really nice. The worst was probably a crab salad one...the hell? I ate one with sardine and the spine virtually impaled my throat. Malena can attest to that.
The sangria was pretty tasty and refreshing but extremely light.
You'd have to drink a river to have you feeling anything.
I don't like the idea of having to buy glass after glass after glass or carafe after carafe to get a nice buzz. A good sangria tastes delicious and leaves you feeling good w/o having to spend THAT much.
Service was good enough.
Except for the chef that would come out ringing the bell with the pinxtos fresh out of the kitchen, I didn't get the feeling anybody really wanted to be there. Oh and the sorting out of the bill was kinda awkward...
This place left a lot to be desired, but I WOULD return. I'd come again, skip the pinxtos with their hard bread, and order some menu items. I wish I had ordered the patatas bravas as that is my test for seeing if a tapas place is worth its salt. It's simple delicious and bad patatas bravas are unforgivable.
I understand the place is new and like everyone else says "working out the kinks" but that doesn't make it ok. 2 stars says "I've experienced better," and I have. I'm not even comparing it to the incredible tastes available at any tapas location in Spain. However, their ingredients are supposedly imported directly FROM Spain so I COULD very well make that comparison...
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If plagiarism were a river in Egypt, I would totally take FoodSlut's review of Lizarran and copy/paste it for myself. I couldn't agree more.
What made my experience at Lizarran even worse than usual was that it became the pseudo-impromptu meeting spot of a SPAIN REUNION. Yes, that's right -- a summertime reunion of a group of people who had actually lived together IN SPAIN. Needless to say our expectations were definitely set a bit too high coming in, which meant that our subsequent crash and burn going out hurt just *that* much more.
Sangria: decent price for apple punch. A bit too sweet, not enough actual alcohol. I make better sangria at home and I don't charge my guests over $5.50 for a glass. Hmm, not a bad idea. I sucked down two of these bad boys and didn't feel the least bit buzzed.
Cold tapas bar: eh. Tried a friend's Spanish tortilla wrapped in thin Serrano ham atop... a bread round? WTF? Why??? Anywho... tortilla DESPERATELY needed salt. And trust me, if you are saying that about ANYTHING with Serrano ham, then it REALLY is messed up. Thus dissuaded, I didn't really want to try anything else up there.
Hot tapas being passed around: out of over two hours we were seated here, THREE dishes were taken to us. Hence my empathy with FoodSlut's experience. If you are going to advertise such a service, it might do best to actually provide it. Anywho... had the bread round toasted with melted manchego and gorgonzola (or some form of blue-ish cheese). Pretty damn good, but why would you put ANY kind of other cheese with a blue? Last pass-around I had was worth the +1 star I gave this place: bacon-wrapped dates are TO DIE FOR!
Menu-ordered tapas: DISAPPOINTING. Calamari was absolutely tasteless... splitting with a friend of mine, behind her back I sprinkled a good amount of salt on our dish and all she said was "wow this tastes a LOT better the third time around." Croquettes were a HUGE let-down, especially after weeks of me craving them. Ham croquettes were tasty, chicken ones were absolutely tasteless. Patatas bravas came out with an inkling of sauce, which was good had there actually been MORE sauce than not.
Others' opinions: chocolate cheesecake or whatever it was came out fairly tasty, but accompanying ordered cappuccino was nothing out of the ordinary. Red table wine was hard to drink on occasion. Random chicken dish wasn't bad, but again, lacked major seasoning. Nobody even deigned to order paella (!) because it was just too damn expensive for what we saw coming out around us.
Service was so-so at best, but it's obvious that there's a definite lack of communication all around. Drinks and ordered food were quick to come out, but there was somewhat of a debate about whether or not our gratuity should have been included (uh, there was 8 of us, so a simple 'yes' or 'no' would have sufficed). I agree with many others that due to the "new-ness" of this place, there are still many kinks to iron out. But one of those kinks should not be identity. If you are trying to be an authentic tapas bar, how about downplaying the nouveau decor and trendy crap? My advice for this place is to focus on the food first and then finding your place in the busy downtown Fullerton smorgasborg later. Bottom line: NOT worth stopping by, unless you like mediocre Spanish food and paying too much for it.
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Been looking for a tapas place to call 'our own' ever since we moved from the Bay Area. Was excited to try Lizarran so I eagerly went to the UYE hosted by Alan S. The tapas here were not the ones I'm used to but they provided items which I AM accustomed to eating, just that it was on slices of bread served canape style rather than on a plate or a baby-sized sizzling cast iron pan.
I sampled quite a few of the items which are listed in AJ's review. I particularly enjoyed the chorizo, the melted cheeses (3 of them I think), and the dates wrapped with bacon were to die for. The others were just 'okay' in taste and combination. I was really excited to try the bocquerones but the salted bocquerones (anchovy) which came on the same slice of bread overpowered the more subtle flavor of the vinegared one.
The crab stuffed red peppers weren't bad but a tad too much mayonnaise for my taste. I did enjoy the baby eels although AJ put it best -- the salmon was very thickly sliced making it hard to break a bite off with one's teeth.
Like AJ my least favorite item of the night was the fried shrimp. It was very greasy and tasted like the oil it was fried in was old. I wish I had stopped and not tried the shrimp, but it was too late.
The sangria was flavorful and tasty although I didn't detect much alcohol in it. None of us got a buzz at all and some of us were seriously lightweight drinkers. Still, I enjoyed it because it was just plain yummy!
The restaurant itself is bustling with energy if not a little sparse in decor, but perhaps that's the way tapas restaurants are in Spain? I've only been to tapas bars/restaurants outside of Spain on 3 continents so what do I know?
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First off: EwWWwWWwwwwwww....barf barf EWwwww
Okay, now that I've got that out I can tell you what I realllly think.
Salty, soggy, bland, gross, unidentifiable consumption of all sorts of "food." This review might seem a bit dramatic to you, but when you have a "meal" like this, you tend to start spewing all kinds of verbal diarrhea...
I walked up to the pinxtos bar and nothing was labeled and there wasn't anyone to really ask, so you end up just pointing and choosing. Lots of it looked like mayo salad on top of thick portions of bread. They taste as gross as they look. So from there I thought it better to order an entree of seafood paella. What a huge mistake that was. First bite was soggy and extremely bland. And then the second bite....OUCH! A PIECE OF SHELL or GRIT chips a portion of my back tooth off like they hadn't cleaned the seafood. Totally NOT cool. They took 50% off my bill but considering I only had two bites of the paella, it wasn't really a fair deal.
Plus the service was "super bad"...and not funny like that movie...just sad....so..."super sad" I'll say instead. Waiting 30 minutes for a glass of water while eating unbearably salty pinxtos is kind of a suffocating feeling.
Never going back.....well this has been therapeutic.....
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(a review with Robert and Jaggy)
Robert - that steak was good. the food that was on display sucked, but the food that they offered dim style was good. They need booths, they had good foods, but just for some reason I just wasn't wowed. I understand I could be underwhelmed and overwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed? - stolen from Clueless...
Jackie - Robert...you're lame. The food was good. I don't tapas bar much so. My expectations were low. The steak was good...all the finger foods were okay...not too tasty, but the servers were nice...and why is it women never offer to refill my drinks...but that they can just offer Robert more Cranberry juice 5 times in front of me? Is it cause hes family? Is that why? Damnit!!! I guess I'm whelmed.
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Man, day late and a dollar short after all the other yelpers...
This place was great. The tapas, while a different take, were pretty good. I for one liked having bread underneath since that helped soak up spills, as well as gave me some carbs in the stomach for the Sangria.
The location, parking, and whole ambiance of the place were really good. I especially liked the way the place was designed - it felt to me like a contemporary bistro that could make room for 50, yet still feel comfortable for 2.
The food itself, again, was pretty yum.
I will definitely be back...
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*Pop*
That was the sound of my proverbial UYE cherry being popped and I think that I liked it. I finally made my way to one of these Yelp events last night and I figured that sangria and tapas would be a great way to make my entrance. Figured it would be fairly informal and it was - I think in total, there were 8 of us there, and of the 8, 2 or 3 were Yelpers to be. I met some cool Yelp peeps (shout out! Christalle, Ryan, Superwoman) and enjoyed some really good sangria.
Alright, now to get to the meat of the review. My take on Lizarran is that it's a cool place to enjoy a glass of wine and maybe snack on some food items that may be a little different than you're used to. The restaurant is very new, and you can tell. It just feels like there are a few missing pieces to the puzzle, you get the picture but it's incomplete. However, it is clean, contemporary, and comfortable. The dining area is wide open, with no booths, which I would ordinarily dislike, but for a tapas restaurant, it works.
The sangria that was served to us was really good. Light and refreshing, I could have drank entire pitcher but I refrained. Instead, I opted to try one of the Spanish wines they were offering, Sangre del Toro (I think it was), which was a decent red. As for the pintxos, they were alright and a few, like the Spanish Tortilla, didn't need the bread it was served on. After our pintxos, my friend Mimi and I decided to split an entree and so we opted for the salmon accompanied with a sauteed vegetable medley. It was a simple presentation with really nothing that you could mess up. Although I will note, with the salmon dish as well as most of the other dishes, including the pintxos, the chef seems rather enamored by sea salt, so expect to find quite a bit on your food...I'd recommend scraping some of it off, as at times, it can be excessive.
After our pintxos and entrees, it seemed like the entire table tried the chocolate cake for dessert. It was alright. Nothing to rant and rave about, I think I've had similar cakes from Costco, which is to say, not bad, but nothing really set it apart. I can't complain, it's chocolate cake! The owner also threw in a complimentary tiramisu, which was good but needed a bit more espresso as it was a bit too dry.
Overall, Lizarran is nice. It offers downtown Fullerton something a little different than your Heroes or Rockin Taco and I like that. A little sophistication in what is predominately a bar hopping area is a nice departure.
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Being a local fullertonian this place is just down the street.
First off, cleanliness. I can vouch for it because i was taken into the kitchen. Spotless clean stuff. and all the ingredinents they use are all imported from spain ( im pretty sure most). They're stuff is fresh.
Pinxtos ( Malena got it right) are awesome. Ive had one or two in pasadena a while back and wasn't a big fan. Which is why i was hesitant to try the ones here. But they brought it!. ...they make look small but they pack a punch of taste. plus they are only like a buck for one. You can stop in and get 2 or 3 and a drink for under 5 bucks. and your set.
Thier menu is filled with items that each sound so delicious. The cheese that they use, the bread is cooked in house, the sangria.
all were well above my expectation.
This place stands out in Downtown Fullerton. Compared to all the bars by night / food by day places down there this place is a gem.
plus I think i saw a full bar back there somewhere.
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so much for a 'grand' opening. hasn't this place been open like a month already? they didn't advertise any freebies, but there was dancers going on with their 'flamingo' (as the site says) thing. it was kinda loud, i could barely hear the guy yellin his sweet nothings at me.
i make better sangria than i had at lizarran. theirs was pretty weak and the fruits didn't taste like they were soaking very long. as for the food, well. the 'cold' tapas at the counter were pretty good; the smoked salmon with baby eel was king! the rest i couldn't really justify paying $1.75 per pick. especially the anchovy... served on a bread slice with what i think was goat cheese, making it unbearably salty. the bread on all of the cold tapas were chewy centers and stale crusts.
at one point we noticed that the waitresses coming around with the 'hot' tapas were totally avoiding eye contact with us and therefore we were missing out. so i was a bitch and called them on it. our server (not avoiding us) ended up bringing out a plate just for us, how nice! triple cheese and the sweet pepper was best on this plate. and the bread was a lot fresher this time around.
at the end of the meal we were presented with goodie bags containing some spanish olives and some kind of infused cooking oil. some other folks left with bottles in their bag, where's mine? ;/
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Night of the Elite event there was an OC UYE here... Why did I end up in OC for Tapas instead of at the Automobile related Elite event? [ummm hello... im a car chick so I was dying to go!!!!!]
Well my plus 1 bailed, I was tired, and didn't feel like driving for 40 - 60 minutes alone, drink, and try to get my happy butt back.
Great solution for the night? OC UYE baby.
This place is nice, clean, and chill. It's kind of cafeteria style I guess since you go up, pick your pintxos, and take it back to your table.
Later on we were told that the pintxos that come out hot and fresh are put on platters and carried out by the waiters around the room. I wish I knew that before I got mine from the counter.
Anyways, the sangria was tasty but not strong at all. The pintxos itself was a bit difficult to eat. I think the bread was sliced a bit too thick. I mean with the toppings on it and everything, it's a big mouthful. I have a big mouth, but I didn't feel like showing everyone how big it is ya know?
I chose my pintxos based on my friends recommendations (thanks Will!) but I wish the employees would be more forthcoming with what is on the pintxos. I didn't want to keep asking her "What's this one? And this one? And this one? And this one?" Right?
The seafood thingy and the potato thingy were good. But again, I ate the topping and then the bread. Kinda odd.
Ok. The lighting. There's something about it. It's too darn bright. It just doesn't go with the whole place I think.
Also, what is with the glass??? Two people walked right into it when I was there. They need to put something around the doors so that people know where the doors are versus the glass walls. That is a lawsuit just waiting to happen. [People sue for everything in CA if you haven't noticed].
It's a new place so let's cut them some slack. Maybe in a month or two I can try it again to see if there have been any changes.
Regardless, I had a GREAT time that night... Pintxos, Heroes, and Continental with some crazy OC'ers AND LA Yelpers that drove all the way down from the Elite Event.
Need to try everything right?
:)
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1.75 a pop, toothpick or pintox.
staff claimed they had over 40 kind of tapas, so it varied everyday and only 10-15 were made daily. i vaguely remembered the names but for ya'll, i'll try! i remembered the tuna, egg, salmon, baby eel, anchovy, crabcake, and etc. the champ was definitely the salmon with baby eel. http://i38.tinypic.com... which i thought was at sperm counts. and this girl thought it was string cheese gone bad cos' it was salty, then why she putting in her mouth? afterall chef said it was the exotic one and gave me a wink. but then it had the most left sitting there. them suckas felt for the sausage and ham. the downer was the crabcake. http://i36.tinypic.com... i didn't even taste the crab and initially thought was a mini beef ball, or maybe it was.
2 lessons learnt. 10 of those sure filled you up. and apparently i'm not as delicious as them tapas, http://i33.tinypic.com...
ps: where is my bottle of wine? everyone else got one in their goodie bags. tease.
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This is a tentative 1.5 stars, based on the hope that they may turn the wheel of momentum in their favor and start hitting the most elementary requisites of any restaurant. And what are those, you ask?
1. SALT - it may be the most unnoticed of ingredients at your average restaurant, and that is because when it's applied correctly, you don't notice it's there and you don't notice that it's not there -- you simply taste the enhanced natural flavors of the food you're eating, and silently appreciate its presence. That said, the Calamar a la Plancha dish that I ordered had no salt what.so.EVER. and when i added some myself, all I was able to notice was that the dish itself was overcooked to the point of rubbery indifference and that it screamed for lemon, some sort of acid or anything at all to help cover up its flaws.
2. SERVICE - I have been in the industry myself for several years, so perhaps I am a Russian Judge on this one. I do sometimes choose to overlook glaring service abnormalities (one entree arrived 10 minutes before mine did, without so much as an apology, and when it did arrive it was the completely wrong dish. it took another 5 minutes for the already cooled Calamar to be taken from one table near the bar (!!!) which was incorrectly placed, to my own) when the service staff themselves are overwhelmingly pleasant, accomodating and otherwise empathetic of the mistakes being made. What does that mean? Well firstly, an apology is in order, secondly, perhaps a small peace offering, and when none of those are accomplished? A one star rating.
It's obvious they are new and, as many observed, need to "work out service kinks." I hate to say it, but if any restaurant with a "name" attached to it is willing to run their restaurant understaffed or undertrained from the get-go, I assume they think their patrons aren't worthy of it. If anything, new restaurants are generally overstaffed and overtrained because they last thing they want new patrons to question is their service or their lack of care. Lizarran seems to throw caution to the wind in this regard.
One last thing: the SANGRIA. Oy. Many described it as "light" and "sweet" which pretty much misses the mark entirely. We asked our server to tell us about the sangria I had ordered and she admitted that since Lizarran is waiting on their higher liquor license (meaning that there's no traditional "punch" added of brandy, or other liqueur), it was concocted from a mix. A MIX. I find it insulting that they have opened a Spanish tapas-style restaurant without a proper homemade sangria. Cross the street to Cafe Hidalgo for a much better, slightly punchy (thanks to wine with actual tannins that isn't completely overpowered by the fruit, a touch of some actual booze, and a light fizz) version.
I've never bothered to write a review before, but my experience at Lizarran was so extraordinary that I thought I needed to warn others before setting their hopes too high.
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I had the Patatas Bravas , the calamari with the aioli sauce and the Pulpo (octopus) . Besides the tapas I also had 3-4 pintxos while we watched the game. The foods was great and the atmosphere was fun and laid back!
That was for starters, I ordered the Bacalao and the T bone, both were cooked to perfection and tasted amazing
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03/07/2008
First to Review
Lizarran is displays of pinchos (think of them a hors d'ouevres sized Tapas), large attractive bars… Read more »
The one and two star reviews for Lizarran reveal nothing but the ignorance of the reviewers. I've spent a lot of time in Spain and I've been looking for a good Spanish tapas bar in the Los Angeles area for years now. So I was pleasantly surprised to find an authentic tapas restaurant in Fullerton.
The sangria was delicious and refreshing with cubed apple, pear and apricot.
The pintxos are the actual tapas, pre-prepared appetizers mostly sitting on bread (pan de orno), that included Spanish omellete (tortilla Espanola), serrano ham, smoked salmon, baby eels, crab cocktail mix, and manchego cheese with membrilla (quince paste). At $1.75 each they're a pretty good value and all were delicious. You could fill up on a 1/2 dozen of these.
We had the paella mixta with chicken and seafood and it was also excellent. It included whole baby octopus (pulpo). And that drives home what pleased me most about this place. They'd rather be authentic than spare the delicate sensibilities of the unadventurous palette of the diners who apparenly reviewed this place before me. And I've said it before and I'll say it again, you can't rely on the reviews of yelpers unless you read each review carefully. This place should be considered a four or five star restaurant for providing an authentic Spanish tapas experience. But those who reviewed it first who were likely turned off by baby eels or octopus, or don't know that paella is a traditional Valencian dish and not Basque (!!!), have smeared it for the discerning yelper.
Bottom line is, if you know what tapas are about, or if you're epicurious, you'll love this place. If you're the stereotypical tourist who won't eat anything abroad but McDonalds, you won't.
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I came here tonight with some friends to test our palate at some fine Spanish cuisine. The tapas here is good, but I think is a little pricey. $1.75 for each tapas you have. They count the number of toothpicks you have in this little cup which you've dispensed in after you've eaten the food. Each toothpick is $1.75 Try the dates wrapped in bacon. Very good! Also, the manchego cheese paired with dates is good too. We also had 2 orders of paella which were tasty. Both seafood, but one with squid ink which was good but one of the guys was a little skeptical about eating it. It taste almost the same as the other paella we ordered. The portions for each order of paella could have been a little more. One really good thing about this place is their sangria. It is delicious. It was a good experience for our first time and knowing that there are plenty of other tapas bars out there will inspire me to look for them because the food is good, but I need it to be cheaper!
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Although I haven't been to Spain in a while I would have to say that Lizarran is as close as it gets to the correct cuisine. I really enjoyed the atmosphere between the beautiful paintings/pictures and the spanish music, to liveliness of the crowd.
I have been to Lizarran about four times since it has opened, and each time I try something new which I love even more than the visit before. I would consider myself a very picky eater and not a big fan of seafood but there are such a variety of different foods that the choices are endless. Also, I took a friend who was a vegetarian and she was very satisfied with her meal. I have ordered the Gambas al Ajillo (shrimp) which by the way was definately some of the best shrimp I have ever had, Paella Mixta, tortilla de Patatas, Patatas Bravas, and Huevos Estrellados con Chistorra. And as for the tapas I have had the tortilla de patatas with jamon serano, the three cheeses, chistorra, and steak with a red pepper. I would definately recommend all of these foods to those who are considering dining here.
Oh and who can forget the chocolate cake? It is to die for! Ive had it 3 out of the 4 times The rice pudding was also very good. The best part is that the food is very inexpensive so dessert is always an option. I went in with a group of 5 and we only spent about 65$.
Lizarran is a great place for bringing people together since it easy to order different dishes everyone can share:] I will definately be going back soon.
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Finally! Tapas near me, praise be the food gods! Lizarran is a beautiful space and the food is very good. The ingredients are authentic & the quality is high. I can honestly speak to the quality of ingredients because I got a tour of the kitchen and the walk-in. That kitchen is CLEAN and well organized. I think when Lizarran is fully running it will work like a well oiled machine. The service was genuine and prompt even though some of the servers are still learning the menu.
The pintxos (which is pronounced pinchos which is very funny) are little pieces of bread with yummy bits on top. Each one is $1.75 and your bill is calculated by how many toothpicks you leave. There ar4e hot and cold pintxos and larger meals like ribeye or paella. If you like Spanish food, this is the place to come for your boquerone/pimento fix.
Of the desserts I tried, I liked the cheese with membrilla but I LOVED the cajeta cheesecake. Yes, cajeta (carmel) cheesecake! Its fantastic.
I can't wait to come back with the whole family and try the entire menu.
**Special thanks to Alan & my eating buddy for the afternoon, Will.
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Sigh. So being the greener pasture seekers we are, my friend and I meandered over to this relatively new place on a recent Thursday night. This review is completely based on service alone.
First off, I guess you need reservations to dine here on a Thursday night around 7pmish. We didn't but that initially did not appear to be a problem. We were told the wait would be around 10-15 min - which is totally reasonable. 15 min later, they tell us that it'll be a much longer wait because they can't seat a party of 2 at a table for 4. We can therefore sit at the bar or (hostess indifference) whatever. Um okay. What about that row of empty tables for an expectant party that you could've pulled out two smaller tables and slipped in the empty larger 4 seaters that dominated the right side of the room? I guess that would be too much work and you just don't care eh?
So Lizarran is new and they're busy, but the hostess' attitude (somewhere between dead and arrogant indifference) is not going to foster loyal customers once the novelty wears off. I'm going to venture this opinion. Unless your food is AMAZING and you have a niche that no one else is going to fill, for long term success, you cannot afford to leave customers with a bad taste in their mouths. A smile and an apology can go a long way 'ya know.
2 stars because I have hope for you Lizarran! I will be back in a month or so and give you one last try. After all, you could have perfectly nice owners who haven't worked out the kinks in service yet.
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This was the first time I tried this place. It was pretty good. I hadn't really tried traditional Spanish food before. I was pleasantly surprised on how on top of things their management was for being a new restaurant. The only thing was that I ordered my steak medium rare and they made it medium well, but that's not that big of a deal. Almost everything my family and I ordered was really good and fresh as well. Notice how I said almost everything was good, I wasn't talking about the chocolate cake that was grrrreeeeaaattttttttttttttttt!
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Have you ever wanted to go to a place where you can bring your friends and not embarrass yourself because your pants fell off on your way back from the restroom? Me too!
The point is that Lizarran Tapas is very big on interaction and socializing with the food being the guest star, so to speak. The food is good. The assortment of combinations were interesting. Bacon wrapped dates and the steak and chile pinxtos were pretty awesome.
All of the Tapas are served on a slice of bread, finger sized. Over all, an interesting concept. I just really like the potential and concept. The idea here is that you walk around with your food and drink and just socialize. The lighting stinks. I think that's well documented, it cries for better mood lighting.
It's very reasonable and I would recommend coming here with friends; it's a very group friendly restaurant. However, I think that the service was good and got a bad rap that night; there were a lot of people and probably not enough staff to efficiently please everyone. I will say that the staff was very friendly and helpful when they were around. I would expect the service to be spot on.
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Oddly enough, I unknowingly ended up here the same night as a yelp event. I didn't know it at the time, though.
I feel guilty reviewing places that aren't very vegetarian friendly. Maybe the food is good? I just can't eat it, so I end up reviewing salads. The Ensalada de Guese de Cabra does not look like the picture at all. It was just a green salad with goat cheese, white asparagus tips, golden raisins, tomatoes, and really tart balsamic dressing. I wasn't feeling it. And have you seen white asparagus?! I have the mindset of a 13-year-old boy...
From the bar-top pintxos I had some with really good, fresh parmesan slices and what I think was a slice of apricot jelly. These were tasty, I was happy.
Whenever they passed around the hot pintxos, they skipped our table, even though that is what my friends were there for. Weird. They ended up getting some of the calamari dishes and one of the au gratin potato dishes. They all seemed happy enough.
Our server was kind of absent. A friend that joined us a few minutes after we got our drinks ended up having to ask four times for her glass of wine and water. Later, the chef came around with a dessert tray. He told my friends he had flan in the back, which they ordered, and I requested the cheesecake from his tray. I guess he thought I was kidding? He never brought it and they ran out of flan in between our table and the kitchen. We ended up ordering the chocolate cake, which was sickly sweet, even for me.
I spent a week in Barcelona last December. I guess I expected some of the warmth and color I experienced from the city while I was there. I didn't get it. Kind of cold, cafeteria-like. Bummer.
We were anticipating the opening of this restaurant since the opening soon sign went up a while ago Unfortunately, based on our first visit, it didn't quite meet our expectations. We tried the tapas selection but were limited to only the cold selections. We were told the hot items would be brought around but it never made it to us. When we inquired with our waitress, we were told there was nothing available. So the cold selection left us kind of cool to the place.
Let's see, what did we try. The Serrano ham with potato chips over bread. Hmm. We love Serrano ham but simply don't see what was the point of adding potato chips to the mix. Do they do this in Spain or were they trying to be cute?? The tuna salad stuffed in pepper, again on top of bread, tasted fine but just didn't seem very Spanish to me. My wife picked the anchovies over the bread and it didn't have much taste. Maybe it was because it just had 1 sliver of anchovies topped on a thick slice of bread. The Serrano ham wrapped over the Spanish tortilla was also uninspiring.
Realizing the tapas wasn't going to cut it, we decided to order the sauteed calamari from the menu. It was cooked well but it lacked any flavor. My wife, who normally shuns salt, felt compelled to sprinkle a few dashes.
Given our tour of the menu was limited, I think I would give this place another try. Judging from some of the reviews here though, I don't think my first impression will be that far off . . . unfortunately.
I think I had really high hopes about this place. I have been reading about it in the OC Register for weeks and the idea is just so cool. Nothing was horrible or really bad about Lizarran, but there are a lot of kinks to work out service-wise and the food was nothing to write home about.
How this place works is that you sit down and can order off the menu and/or go to the tapas bar. You go to the bar and a server puts items on your plate.
Whats wrong with this is that there is only one person working the tapas bar and a lot of the items are not very clear as to what is in them. This creates a lot of back up. Also on a night where the place is not very full, there is not a lot of turnover for the tapas. Also the location of the tapas is kinda out of the way from a lot of the tables. Only later on in the night did they bring tapas around to the tables. The whole dim sum approach would be a lot easier for customers who want only tapas, so they don't have to keep getting up. Also my other big complaint is that there is one jar for the sticks, but as this is a place where large groups would probably come and split checks, its a little hard to keep track of whose is whose.
The food itself was ok. All of the different tapas were good, but the bread was very thick and hard. Kinda took away from the enjoyment of eating. My favorites were the 4 cheese and the quince jelly and cheese one. A lot of them had a lot of mayo, which is sort of weird. We also ordered some calamari, which was mediocre.
I think this place has a really great idea, but it falls short of delivering a really great dining experience. While it was very filling and nothing was bad, I just don't think it was good enough to get me to come back.
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if you're going to give me tasty, I'll forgive the price.
if you're going to give me a good price, i'll be easier on the taste.
if you're going to serve me overpriced mediocre food, up yours.
I give them ingenuity for the pixto ideas...about 1.75 each. They are worthy. Like very expensive dim sum.
What lost me? Can you charge me 22 dollars for soggy rice and pass it off as paella? Paella should be crispy on the bottom and soft on top right? Setting it in a iron plate won't fool me...it's like a putting an idiot in a management role...they're still an idiot.
There's a lot of potential. However, they need to stick to an identity. Are you going to serve the apps? Or mainly the dinner setting? Is it a formal dining (based on prices, it should be)? Or bar food? Are you going to keep putting ESPN on tv? Or perhaps you should try putting on some spanish music for ambiance?
Lizarran is fine to start your evening of debauchery.. a place for a glass of wine and a pixto. But if you expect anything more, expect to be disappointed.
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