Barcelona Wine Bar RiNo

My daughter recently invited me to dinner at Barcelona's and she made reservations for the Monday night, knowing how busy the place gets. Indeed, when we arrived, the restaurant was packed, with a few customers waiting, hoping for a table.This spot is trendy, lively and welcoming, with a large bar and a couple rooms, one of them opens via garage doors onto a small patio. Our friendly waitress brought us a complimentary basket of yummy crusty bread with olive oil, always a promising sign. Although the menu features paellas, we opted to share some tapas. The selection is extensive, making it hard to choose. We settled on a few dishes, all of them delicious, but if I had to pick favorites, the oyster mushrooms and seared diver scallops were outstanding. The red sangria was on the sweet side, and since I am not into sugary drinks, I liked the white one better. For dessert, we both found the flan a bit too dense, and agreed that the olive oil cake was by far the star to end a fun and delicious meal!

If you're looking for Spanish Tapas in Denver where the locals go then this is the place to be.It's located in the Rhino district (the art district). There are a few other restaurants and pubs nearby so this is definitely a nice complement.It was busy on a Tuesday night which is a great sign of a great restaurant.

Great wine and service with a mixed experience on food.Seated quickly outside on a Friday night, after only about a 5 minute wait, which was great given how busy they were. The wine was all A+ (not surprising for a wine bar). Ordered several smaller pours, and the best was the rosé cava, which for me was on bar with bubblies 3-4 x the price. Onto the food. We enjoyed the burrata and octopus, which was perfectly cooked. The cauliflower dish was the weakest of the lot--under seasoned and bland. Hummus dish was in the middle- could have used some more garlic and tahini. The side of bread was chewy and flavorful.I would come back for a drink on the patio and some bread for sure, and other than the top two dishes would order a bit differently next time.

Atmosphere was great, we sat at the bar and it was a cool vibe. The drinks were incredible and the food was also good. I will say the scallops lacked flavor, although they were perfectly cooked and the delicata squash was good but not memorable. The croquetas were delish, I will come back just to get those again.

We were walking around the RiNo District and came upon the Barcelona Wine Bar. It was very crowded and fortunately we were grabbed a couple of seats at the bar as another couple was leaving. We got a couple of glasses of wine and decided on the Charcuterie and Cheese board. Our three choices were the JAMÓN SERRANO, the SALCHICHÓN DE VIC which is Pork Sausage, Nutmeg, Oregano, Garlic, Peppercorns & the DRUNKEN GOAT Semi-Soft, Goat's Milk Cheese, Aged 2 Months & Red Wine-Soaked. We also ordered the HOUSE MARINATED OLIVES - Garlic, Citrus, Thyme, Giardiniera. While waiting for our plates a basket of warm bread and plate with oil for dipping was delivered. Every tasted great, especially the Jamon and the Cheese. This place was a lot of fun with a large bar and lots of tables, but it didn't feel crowded. Make sure to give it a try if you to are Chasing Tasty Bites!

Small plates (tapas) concept, great when you want to try different dishes at once.Ordered the following dishes:- oyster mushrooms- seared diver scallops with smoked pepper vinaigrette - paella mariscos (half)- whipped sheep's cheeseIf you're not a mushroom lover, you will turn into one after eating the deep fried oyster mushroom. It also comes with a really nice herb mojo sauce they call it that is super rich, fresh, and herb-y. These scallops also were cooked perfectly and not one bit rubbery. The best value dish here by far is their paella. It is great value and filled us up immediately. We probably could've just got this half serving without any other tapas and we would've been full. It's flavorful, rich, and the seafood all tasted fresh, cooked well (not over). Only caveat is that it does take 45 minutes so you must be willing to wait for it. The other tapas do come out fast so it's a matter of preference.The whipped sheep's cheese and the table side bread were nice additions but not that special for me as these were easily outshined by the other dishes we got. Other dishes we thought and heard may taste good but didn't get because we were suuuper full included the burrata and patatas bravas. Our host was very kind after hearing I don't eat beef or pork. He went ahead and crossed off all the dishes I should avoid so I wouldn't need to ask later. This made it simple to choose later. He also informed us immediately about the paella taking 45 minutes so we can order it asap if that was something we wanted, which we did. The ambience of the place was cozy, rustic. LOTS of seating indoors and nice outdoors area as well.

We had a birthday dinner on a Thursday for a friend and I really enjoyed the atmosphere here, it was so lively and busy, definitely book a reservation. We had espresso martinis because we needed all the help making it through the rest of the evening. I have had one espresso martini, that I compare all to, that was more frothy and a couple cute coffee beans on it to make it fancy but this one was still good in comparison, especially since it's a wine bar. We shared the potato tortilla, burrata, cauliflower, and crispy cod. Everything was delicious! Always love coming here!

I have had my fair share of disappointing tapas -- Barcelona was truly amazing and I'd venture to say my favorite restaurant in Denver.The whipped sheep's cheese is so simple and yet it stole the show. I still think about it. All the tapas are great though, just don't forget to leave room for paella at the end!We had to wait a while for our table even with a reservation (enough time to go to the store and come back). I think the hostess could've been friendlier/more accommodating but that's really my only criticism.

If you have a lot of time then maybe you'll have a better experience than us. They have no time limits and are always backed up. We had a reservation at 6:45pm and didn't get seated until almost 8pm...Manager said because they don't have time limits so people never leave. We make reservations on purpose because time is important, and we were dining with a little one. They apologized and once we were seated service was great. This spot is BUSY like crazy busy. Tapas and sitting at the bar is very coveted.Service once seated was attentive but some of our food fell short for me. For instance, the paella and patatas, scallops and burrata.Paella was too acidic, we got the pork and chicken and the bottom was burnt on after and hard to scrape.Patatas were too soggy and drowning in aioli. Scallops were overcooked and tough.Burrata was not a ball and smashed down? Not sure this was what I was expecting but it didn't quite work.Highlights:- roasted carrots- cauliflower- steak with truffle- ham and cheese croquettes They do veggies so well here! Also our steak tapas were cooked nicely. The croquettes were damn good. Drinks were fine, nothing memorable. Parking is tough in this area, but after circling for a bit we found street parking.

I'm surprised I haven't written a review for this place yet because it is absolutely phenomenal. Everytime I visit Denver this is a must on my list. The food is very authentic and this is arguably better than any Spanish tapas Ive tried even in the Bay Area. Be sure to have a reservation because it can get busy even on weekdays for dinner. Parking has never been an issue for me I usually find something in the nearby neighborhood. Ambiance is dim and romantic Id say this is a perfect date night place or upscale dinner. Service is always top notch Ive never come in here and was disappointed with the experience or food. The food... true star of the show. I don't think you can get anything here and be disappointed since everything is good. Some favorites are the whipped cheese, gambas (not pictured), truffle steak (not pictured) and the bacon wrapped dates. They have a pretty vast wine and cocktail selection too. Overall, just go here!! You won't regret it.