Gaudi

I went for paella. The seafood in the paella wasn’t fresh at all. (You can tell from the smell) The rice was still very wet, and I believe it should be cooked longer. The food was very disappointing. They can’t do pre-​order-​and-​dine-​in, and we wait for paella for ~20 min. The night we went, there was only one server, and around 14 people seated. The server was nice, but she keeps not seeing us. The service was not satisfactory.
One star for the cozy place and the nice server.

I don’t know about the other reviews, but I had a marvelous spontaneous dinner here for my birthday.
Jo was the one taking care of us, she’s wonderful. She made me a special drink for my birthday, and it was the best I’d ever had.
All the small plate dishes were so delicious, we didn’t leave a *crumb*. The seafood paella was not only beautiful, but really fantastic.
We intend to come back often, it’s worth it!

Very authentic and delicious tapas… and Sangria! Te lo juro ;) There are very few authentic Spanish places around, and this is one of them. It is a little pricey for the small portions, but when you only get to Spain a couple times a year, it’s worth the price to me to fulfill those cravings. We made paella at home the night before and so didn’t try it here yet, but we will next time! Very cute little place too, and with real Espanoles for servers! Very fun and delightful evening.

There aren’t too many reliable Paella places in the Seattle area. Thankfully, Gaudi really delivers with good grub, sweet sangria, and a friendly atmosphere. There are some choice tapas to pass the time it takes to cook up the paella as well.

Took my father there for father’s day to surprise him with the paella negra. We ordered the seafood paella and paella negra, extreme disappointment. Rice was not cooked all the way. Sent back one paella, came back still not thoroughly cooked. I went to Spain in April and even their «crappiest» restaurants have much better paella than this!
Service is ridiculously slow and drinks and food served out of order. :/​
Only thing they have going for themselves is the interior. I wouldn’t mind the wait for the food if it was excellent, but, for something that tasted as if an amateur cooked the paella at $ 20/​per person, no way!!! And not even a discounted dish after I told the manager (owner) the rice was undercooked. (Twice!!!)
I am shocked at how they claim good paella. Their caracoles were only good thing there that we ordered. Never again, very sad. (I rarely write bad reviews

The service is really really slow. I went about two weeks ago, it took us 20 mins to order and an hour to get the food. The paella only comes with a minimum order of two, but when we got «an order of two» of the mixed paella, the size is actually very small. AND there were only FOUR SHRIMPS in the dish.

I had high hopes for Gaudi, but was very disappointed. I expected much better given the restauran’ts 4 star rating but the food was only okay. Even if I hadn’t lived in Spain I would have found the food lacking. The sausage special and the lamb kebab were decent, but the rest of the tapas were barely passable. And we ordered most of the tapas menu so had a good sampling.
Should have done my homework before heading there and not just accepted the star rating. Other reviews indicate the food quality has declined in the past year or two.

My husband and I have travelled through Spain and Gaudi is our way of reliving the amazing tapas and Paellas we miss so much. Every time we visit Gaudi I feel like we are transported back to Madrid into a land of deliciously crafted homemade tapas. The chef and his wife, who used to live in Spain, are always changing up the offerings and everything is a culinary treat. We’ve tried all of the paellas and my favorites are the traditional paella and black squid ink. All of this is complemented wonderfully with a pitcher of sangria. You can tell that the owners really love cooking and honoring their Spanish traditions. We’ve tried a lot of other places in the area but this is by far our favorite. Great for groups and great for a date, can’t go wrong! Just come hungry :)

Jo and her husband offer an old-​world, European dining experience unlike any I have found in Seattle.
Service is personable and memorable.
The food is unique, and the mussels are the best in the state.
The reason I am writing this is because whenever I leave this place I not only have a happy stomach, but my heart is happy too.

I have to put in an update because the last time my husband and I were here in spring, 2014, the quality seemed to have gone down, which really disappointed me.
The menus are at this point kind of dirty and a few have liquid paper on them. The owners, who I like very much, need to really get clean, nice new menus. The lighting is still bright, the chairs are kind of funky and don’t fit the tables so well. There’s little to no music so you can hear everyone’s conversation too well.
Having said that, the food was still delicious. The Basque sausage is always a favorite. I just wish they would make this place more updated and dimly romantic like La Vita E Bella in Belltown or Luc in Madison Valley.

We loved it! I went with 2 family members, celebrating birthdays, and we just wanted something different and cozy. My husband remembered eating there once long before with folks from his work. It was a week day, just after they opened, on a cold night. They had all their heaters on, trying to warm up the place. (took off 1 star because the restaurant was not adequately warmed up prior to opening for dinner service.) Between the 3 of us we ordered 15 small plates, including desserts! Loved the codfish bites, the sausages, the fig ice cream, too. And enjoyed every single one of them, sharing bites with each other. And the sangria was delicious. We thought the service was appropriate and attentive to us. It is definitely a restaurant we will go back to, sooner than later. And one I am now recommending to everyone I know. Loved it!

This place had by far the WORST service I’ve ever had. It took them 30mins to take our order. Then we had to wait an hour for our food. The paella has to be 2 servings but it’s not even big. It’s legit $ 41 for a mini pizza sized paella. The «filet minion» was like… A small piece of beef on a huge piece of salty bread. No one refills your water even if you ask. Bad food, bad service, bad price.

I really wanted to LOVE this place. I’ve been searching for a Spanish go-​to for a while. Alas, I was disappointed. The tapas are boring, the paella is way overpriced and nothing to write home about. I must praise the sangria, it was wonderful… that saved my night. Maybe it was a bad night for them, I can only hope. But, I don’t think I will be back to test my theory.

Amazing tapas restaurant with an inventive chef. He put together a brand new dish just before we came in with puff pastry, blue cheese, apples and jam, so delicious, as was everything else we tried. And we were the first to eat this wonderful creation! You will not be disappointed!

We had a very nice meal here tonight.
This is an owner operated restaurant. The couple that owns Gaudi cook, waits tables, host, etc… I though the service was good.
Its a charming little place tucked away in North Seattle. Intimate space.
Food was very good. We got some tapas, and then both ordered a paella. We knew this would be too much food, but we figured we could pack it. I got the ‘Mixta’ paella that had seafood, sausage, rabbit. Yum. Really good. I like the shrimp croquettes tapas I got as well.
I will be back to Gaudi, but I agree with some of the other comments about the paying at the table with their little machine. Its weird. I think the couple has been running this place for a long time together, and their operations are getting a bit long in the tooth. You could make a few minor tweaks to this place, and easily kick it up a star (or two).

You only know what REAL tapas, pintxos & paella taste like if you’ve traveled through Spain… or been to Gaudi!
I’ve been to many restaurants across the US since my own travels through Spain and can say that Gaudi easily serves up the most authentic Spanish tapas I’ve found this side of the Atlantic. If you’re looking for a chic or yuppified «take» on Spanish cuisine where the tapas are defined by the «marketing schtick» du jour, go elsewhere. At Gaudi, you’re going to get flavors and recipes from the old world using the best of local ingredients. Joan and crew have a passion for their cuisine and business that is evident in not only every bite but also the warm and personal service.
Ordering advice: If your not adventurous when it comes to new menus — stick to the classic tapas/​paellas and it’s likely you’ll love everything you order. But if you are adventurous (like me), I STILL recommend ordering up 75% classics and only 25% adventure. Why so limited on the adventure? It’s authentic Spanish tapas! Not everyone falls in love with or can handle too much of the brine, vinegar or oily techniques some of the less mainstream delights incorporate.
My personal favorites on the classics side: Gambas, Chorizo, Tortilla, Papas Bravas (mostly for the sauce), Mejillones Marinera (plus bread) & Fideua Paella for sure.

I don’t know about tapas in Boston or San Francisco or other places for that matter, but having recently returned from an extended vacation to Spain, I can speak for tapas from Barcelona and Madrid. Gaudi serves delicious authentic Spanish tapas with incredibly warm, welcoming and personal service that makes you feel like you are having dinner at someone’s home.
We celebrated a birthday here with a large group of folks. Big parties are always tricky to handle, especially when you are the owner/​server/​bartender/​, but Joan managed the task with ease and grace. It felt unobtrusive, yet we received plenty of attention.
As for the food, all of the tapas were delicious. Sausages and cured meats are made by the chef/​owner in house, and pack a ton of flavor. Jamon, spicy chorizo and a sausage without casings that I can’t remember the name of, were all perfect starters to our meal. Add some Spanish tortilla, which is a sort of a thick potato omelette, with a bit of garlic aioli on the side. Meaty steamed mussels with just a touch of herbs, onions and white wine, served with grilled rustic herb bread were divine and perfectly tender. I could just eat those every day. For the main course we shared three different paellas, rich with meats, seafood and Mediterranean flavors.
We also consumed what seemed like countless pitchers of white and red sangria. I loved the cava (white) sangria for its refreshing citrus taste and effervescence! Sangria pitchers may seem spendy at $ 20 – 22, but you get a large pitcher enough for at least 6 – 8 glasses.
The whole experience brought is back to Barcelona and we had a wonderful celebration evening filled with fantastic food, laughter, conversations and stories. Although Gaudi has an obscure location, it is well worth a visit and multiple returns.

I recently moved to Seattle from San Francisco, where I had a tapas restaurant that I loved (Zarzuela’s) and was so excited to find a tapas restaurant near where I live now. My boyfriend and I decided to try Gaudi’s recently and were disappointed. While our experience overall wasn’t bad, it certainly wasn’t what we were expecting or anything special.
The restaurant is very cute. The inside ambiance is nice, it looks nice from the outside, everyone was friendly. I really wanted to like it!
But, the food was hit or miss and expensive for what it was. Some items were very good– we were impressed with the papas bravas (potatoes in a spicy sauce) and the morzilla (blood sausage). The spanish tortilla, however, was disappointing. I can make a better one at home, and spanish tortilla should be the staple at any tapas restaurant! All of these three dishes were around $ 3 each.
We also had two specials. One was a fried cod ball. I thought it was pretty good, my boyfriend thought it was disappointing. The biggest disappointment was a lamb stew. The meat was not high quality at all. It was also very small. We were shocked when we received the bill and the lamb dish ended up being $ 20– given the small size, it should not have cost more than $ 10.
If we had only ordered the dishes we liked, then we probably would have walked out saying it was a great restaurant. But the dishes were so hit or miss that we probably wouldn’t go back for a full meals– just maybe to get appetizers and stick to the items that we know are good!

This is such a cute, quiet little restaurant hidden away in Seattle. It’s located in a residential area on a mini main road.
My husband, who is not very adventurous when it comes to food that is not hamburgers or pasta, was not happy to come here at first. He stomped around, held his breath, and puffed out his cheeks. After his lime spritzer drink that was like a capirneah without the alcohol, he warmed up to the place. Once he got his tapas, he was sold. I’ve never seen him eat so quickly in my life!
We ordered 4 tapas — the papas bravos, a meat ball with rice, dates wrapped in bacon, and the shrimp. All of the tapas were exceptional — but I barely had a bite before he polished all 4 off. They are small as others have warned… but that’s the nature of tapas. We received one meatball, 4 bacon wrapped dates, 3 pieces of shrimp, and maybe about 8 potato wedges.
After some deliberation, we ordered the vegetarian paella. I really wanted to try it but you need to be 2 people to order it. (Or at least pay for 2 people to order it.) While he wasn’t sold on the paella, I was really happy with it. I’ve had better in Spain but as the only Spanish restaurant in the US that I’ve tried, it was pretty good.
This place is a little pricey for what it is… the total came to about $ 86 with tax and tip. This also included a glass of wine and a mocktail. However, it was still good and fun every once in a while.

Radical food.
«Radical» is one of my favorite words, because it means something different than its typical use would suggest. Instead of meaning new or innovative, it derives from the Latin word «radix,» which means «root.» So innovative food comes from and returns to radical food. And in the case of a town filled with innovative Spanish tapas that push palate-​limits with delightfully intoxicating fusions, a periodic return to radicality serves as a lovely palate cleanser.
Those who know me know my only travel dream is a trip to Spain. Gaudi is a little placeholder for that, as the Spanish food here is presented not as an Americanized, theme-​parked or boundary-​pushing version of Spanish cuisine, but instead as the sort of tapas and paella and wine that you might eat or drink were you to be lucky enough to sit in a tapas bar in some plaza in some small town, or even in someone’s own kitchen. In short, how you would eat as if you lived there.
And what simple beauty! The salt cod, mixed with cornmeal and fried into meringue-​like crisps, delicate and fluffy inside… The papas bravas with a subtly gentle aioli, and skins so perfect to the bite concealing lightness inside like no potato I’ve ever tasted. A special salad of quinoa wisped with lemon and balsamic vinegar and laced with silky strands of red pepper. A paella mixta with meats (including house-​made chorizo) and seafood, and a rice so softly and uniquely addictive that I may never attempt my own paella, as shortfall is guaranteed. Accompany that with a bottle of some forgotten and rare Spanish red, and follow it with an orange port-​like liqueur and a hearty, crumbly almond cake, and I was perfectly transported to someone’s small kitchen.
In this case, it just happens to belong to Jo and Joan Luna and be tucked away on a quiet block of 55^th in Seattle, instead of their previous restaurant in Barcelona. But no matter… I can dream, and this dream, at least, is within reach. Radical.