Sketches Of Spain

Sketches of Spain is a tapa spot great for planning a casual friend get together or a romantic date night. If I was craving some Spanish tapas, this is my go to choice in Dallas. The food never disappoint. The ingredients were fresh and flavorful. The Gambas al Ajillo is a MUST TRY in my opinion. The sauce was so good that we asked for extra bread to soak it all up. The selection of paellas should not be overlooked, in fact, they are the restaurants' top selling dishes. The portion is generous and depends on the party sizes. The price is definitely reasonable and on Thursdays, the paellas are half off!The service was amazing as well. Our server was attentive, friendly, and knowledgeable about the menu. He gave use many great recommendations, and we never felt rushed. The entire dining experience feels like you're transported to a charming Spanish bistro with a modern twist. If you like Spanish cuisine and tapas, this place should definitely be on the top of your list.

We were not wow'ed by this place at all, but had a semi-decent meal when we met up with a bunch of friends there last week. First thing that we absolutely hated: QR code only! UGH. Any restaurant that is still doing this (and they had zero backup paper menus) is just stupid. STOP. Your customers hate them!!Now that that's out of the way, we can say that the sangria, which we both had was quite delicious. We ordered a ton of food, most of which ranged from unimpressive to OK. Only a couple dishes stood out as being really good: 1) the Spanish ham croquettes were crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside and were really toothsome 2) The stuffed piquillo peppers had a unique taste to them.The Lacon (Spanish bacon essentially) was too greasy; the octopus was tough, slimy, and way too fishy-tasting and smelling, blegh; meat and cheeses were standard, but good, so no complaints, as was the Spanish tortilla. Most of our resentment, however, is directed toward the paella, which was barely lukewarm, had undercooked rice, abnormally large mussels, and seems like it was made by someone whose soul was crying out for love, something the dish was clearly lacking in.A couple hits, quite a few misses, and some stuff that got on base, but overall, we were not pleased. Lest one of our friends ends up reading this (JM!!!), we still had a great time catching up with our Dallas peeps, and that's what it's all about. Oh, decor is boring but the server we had was a very sweet guy who seemed genuinely invested in providing good service to our table. Three stars, just barely.

What a great meal! Having lived in Spain for 2 years, I crave authentic food. And once you've had a really good paella, you will always be on the lookout for another. You eat a lot of average paellas along the way, but there are good ones out there. So I was pleasantly surprised to find a very good paella at Sketches of Spain. As it sat at our table, it kept getting better. It had the perfect amount of crust on the bottom that put it over the top. We ate it all!Paella: excellentSpanish tortilla: very good. A bit overcooked. Garlic aioli was on point. Papas bravas - so good. Potatoes were seasoned well and sauce was tasty with the right amount of kick. Croquetas (ham): very traditional and cooked perfectly. If you haven't had a traditional croqueta, it may seemed undercooked. It's not. It's not a hush puppy. Nice little dining room. Our wait staff stayed vigilant on our drinks. We really enjoyed eating here. We will be back.

I booked my partner and I's Valentines Day dinner here, about a month and a half in advance. I receive an email today, 5 days prior to Valentine's Day, saying they cancelled my reservation because they don't have enough tables? No one reached out to me, I had to ask them why they dropped our reservation out of the blue. Looking forward to not being able to get a table anywhere this year on our trip to Dallas for Valentines Day!

Okay 3 stars.......The appetizers are great. Absolutely top notch. The paella was okay....you can only order 1 for 2 people.....you can't order 1 for 1 person....weird considering the size of the dish is really sized for 1 person. The paella was more rice than anything else. 3 or 4 mussles for a plate made for 2.....does not make sense.The Sangria was good...but when the staff came by to fill up the glasses...they take the old glasses that have the fruit from the sangria....so basically when they refill. You lose the fruit from the previous pour. Kinda lame.The service....they need to figure this out or it will eventually sink the ship. Ordered sangria for the table....waitress didn't like bringing ice for the table (seating outside). Also had to flag down the staff to get any service. Overall was super excited to try this joint, but will not be back and honestly given the price for the portions it just doesn't make sense.

The stars aligned and we were able to snag a table here- it had been a couple years since we all mentioned we wanted to try this place together. We reserved a table on a Saturday night and it was real snug inside. Minimal tables- but cozy and intimate. Nice set up. We were greeted by our server, he was professional- but I wouldn't say friendly. We ordered a few tapas and waited for the main event- the paella !!!! We were so excited but patiently passed time by nibbling on all the little plates. Both potato plates were delicious! The shrimp, bread and meat and cheese platter were tasty too. We finished up the small tapas and the paella was beautifully prepared- lovely display- living up to the name- "sketches of Spain" Then things took a turn- as we were eating we caught glimpses of grotesque- there was something repulsive in our paella. We quickly stopped eating and notified our server- he took a closer look and took the plate away. He never showed any emotion or apologized- he quietly mentioned they would take it off the bill. My disappointment comes with the lack of emotion and empathy. It was awkward- it was the service for me and the yuck in our paella. Totally ruined the evening. So sad, because we were really excited to try this spot.

My visit here was maybe the worst experience I've ever had at a restaurant. Sadly, it got from bad to worse even after expressing how bad things were at several instances. The only way I would ever eat this food again is if it was delivered to my home and was free.I came here to dinner with my son on a Weds evening. We arrived approx 7:45 pm and were seated outside on the patio. The patio had one other party and there were 1 or 2 larger parties in the main area. After 20 minutes I walked inside and asked the host if someone was going to take our order. Someone came out a few minutes later and took our order which consisted of 2 appetizers and an entree. Spanish Tortilla, croquettes and La Banda Paella for 2. about 5-10 min later our Spanish Tortilla arrived. They almost delivered us some prawns, but one of the workers caught it and said that it was the wrong table. At this time they also offered me a free sangria and my son a free soda. We both declined.The menu stated to allow 25 minutes for the paella so we did expect a wait. We ordered this at 8:10. By 8:35 we had not received our second appetizer or our main. No one checked in with us through out this entire time. There were multiple tables around us that came after and received their food. At 8:35 a waiter came by and asked if we were ok. I explained that we still had not received our second appetizer and wanted to know when our main course would be here as we had already waited the prescribed time.They told me that the paella should be out in 5 more minutes. At this time I did tell him we were about to leave and this was the worst service I had ever received. At 8:40 our second appetizer finally arrived. We did not enjoy the croquettes. My son and I each ate one. At 8:45 our paella arrived.Upon first look it was very small, especially considering that they charge $25 per person, so this is $50 worth of food. It contained many very small scallops, 2 large shrimp and 4 mussels. We determined that the shrimp were cooked fine but had zero seasoning. The scallops tasted like amonia and the mussels were just ok. we both ate a few bites but couldn't eat any more.At 8:49 the server came and asked if all was ok. I said we were done and they said ok and walked away. at 8:55 the server brought something to the table behind us and said nothing to us. At 8:58 the server came back and asked if we were ok. I told them that I said we were done 10 minutes ago. They asked if we wanted to take our food to go to which I stated no and told them the food was terrible. I said can I just please get the check so we can go.9:00 the server comes back and says its on the house. We walked out and no one said anything else or acknowledged us. No manager ever came over to talk to me or offer an apology. At no point did I ever ask for anything free or discounted. I was not mean, rude or beligerent but I was highly dissatisfied and was vocal about it. I am very disappointed and came here after receiving a gift card.I spoke with a friend who came here a few years ago. She told me that the food was not very good then either. It's very expensive for small quantities of low quality food.

I went here on a date with my sister, it was a nice time. The food was pretty standard. It wasn't the best Spanish food I've ever had however, it still was really good, our servers seem to be a little new and confused and so that's why I took one of the stars away because it seems as if everyone who worked there was new to the establishment without training.I would still definitely return because I enjoyed the food. I enjoyed my drink, and I want to give them another chance.

Just writing a review to acknowledge our server, Mario. He was incredibly personable, attentive and thoughtful, and we loved hearing about his background and upbringing in Guatemala. On another note, the food is solid and ambience is enjoyable.

Food - decent. Not that Dallas has much Spanish food to pick from.Sangria - best in DallasService - great!Ambiance- great. Outdoor and indoor seating. Refreshing escape from the young insta crowds on the main drag.Recommend!