Xuntos Santa Monica

Great ambience and great food! Staff is cordial and really attentive. Recommended!!!

This review is specifically in regards to the dishonest management and seedy waiter staff/not food-related. I dined here with a friend (food was good) and after discussing with my friend, he was going to pay the whole tip on his card for the bill so I would put zero (since he was taking care of the entire tip on the bill). A month later, after running though my credit card bill, I saw the restaurant had written in themselves a hugely egregious and greedy tip of $50 additional to what I had signed for and they submitted this excess payment to my credit card company saying the additional charge was valid (which is FRAUD as I never wrote in that amount or signed to pay an additional tip on top of a tip my friend had already left). This action from the restaurant was done without my knowledge and I only happen to catch it when I was going through my monthly statement.I'd not only been charged excess fees from my credit card company but it took me months in dispute to work to correct this. My credit card company also told me they contacted the restaurant who said this added $50 charge was valid/the manager told them the charge was accurate and they were denying my dispute. It's caused me a lot in time and chasing/following up to dispute the interest and late payment fees due to the dishonesty in the wait and management staff at this restaurant - SO BEWARE!!! I thankfully somehow had a copy of the receipt (with the correct amount that I signed for) and was able to dig that up to provide to my credit card company as proof of what the correct charge should be.BUYER BEWARE - this took me months (& a headache) to fix w my credit card due to the greed of this restaurant. I will NOT be dining here again and other diners should know to watch their receipts and bills they sign for from here very carefully! @ Xuntos: You should be ashamed for this fraudulent action and taking advantage of your customer. I will also be letting all my friends know about this incident and the fraud going on behind the scenes so they are aware to not dine here!!!!

Ambiance: 10/10, sultry and seductive, their art pieces are fun (even in the bathroom)Food: 9/10, Spanish style tapas, was good but didn't wow me, portions were incredibly small for the price tag but gotta pay that nice ambiance tax haha, bonus points bc they make a mean dirty martini (;Service: 10/10, waiter was super knowledgeable and gave great recs, very on top of drink refills and checking in (without being annoying)Overall: 9/10

I love the decor of this restaurant, it is absolutely beautiful! The servers were also excellent, very quick to clean out table and take plates out of the way, as well as providing recommendations.I originally came for happy hour, but it is only served at that bar which is not as nice of an ambiance as the other room to the right. The happy hour menu is a decent deal, but has a very small list of tapas, none of which were ones that looked as good as some others on the main menu.All the food was tasty. However, many of the dishes are quite heavy. The menu features a lot of fried dishes, some of which I did now realize would be as fried/oily as they were. My favorite items were the lamb skewer, cheese and truffle toasty, and the garlic shrimp. I would skip the eggplant, we were recommended it but I would have rathered something more fresh.The prices are pretty crazy. This is a tapas place where you're expected to get multiple dishes (our server recommended 8 for 2 people, but 6 was plenty for us) and you're charging at least $17 per plate? $17 could be an entree at many restaurants. The portions are small, again, to be expected for a tapas place, but not expected for these prices. Take $5 off each dish and then it would be reasonable. We spent over $200 on 7 small dishes and 2 drinks.

We came here on a Saturday night at 7 pm. 5 people. It wasn't that crowded which was good for us, probably not so good for the restaurant. We were seated upstairs - just one other table of people up there. The decor is very nice. The service is attentive and friendly. Drinks were tasty. We ordered the prix fixe menu rather than order multiple dishes for the table, which I was glad we did. First of all, they delivered 5 (or more) of everything which made sharing easy and secondly, we were able to enjoy lots of dishes. A couple of standouts were the gambas, sea bass collar, short rib. Desserts were yummy too.

Came here for dinner with a reservation with my family, and were seated immediately. We shared a lot of tapas together, and the service was fast and friendly. My favorites were the potatoes (can't go wrong), which were super flavorful. The jamon was juicy as well! We also shared the squid ink pasta that was delicious. I tried the cider, which had an interesting dry kick to it. Portions are small for the price as many if mentioned, but the vibes are 100%. Service was quick as well with the waters and refreshing the plates. Looking forward to coming back and trying their happy hour menu, which is only available at the bar. The only feedback is that the music became pretty loud after 7p, so it was hard to hear each other during conversation.

After reading mixed reviews, I decided to try Xuntos Tapas bar. First of all, the space is absolutely beautiful. The ambience and music are perfect for date night. The service was great. You can really feel that it is a team effort. They do add an automatic 20% service charge, so be prepared. I didn't mind at all, as the staff deserved it, and that's what I usually tip anyway. Ok, for the food. We ordered:Sandra's Cocktail-light, refreshing and perfect for sipping-loved it! Pan con Tomate-great tomato and garlic flavor, but the bread was too flat/thin. Almost cracker-like. Squid Skewer-tasty, but not worth $11 for two small squid. Scallops in the shell-wonderful flavor, but so tiny! Grilled sea bass collars-delicious and smoky. Would have appreciated 4 in the serving, rather than 3. They are small as well. Garlic shrimp-I tasted more red pepper than garlic in the sauce. It definitely needed more garlic and again, four pieces of bread would have been nice, rather than three. Fried Eggplant-only sufficient portion. Crispy and flavorful with a tangy quince sauceThe experience was nice, but the portions are just SO SMALL! Especially for the price. Does it compare it to the tapas I had in Barcelona? No. I wouldn't expect it to. It's Santa Monica. Although Xuntos is a lovely spot to go for a night out, and have a (very) light meal.

This was such a cute place! My friend and I arrived after playing pickleball. The vibe is intimate. We sat at the bar, and were immediately taken care of. They gave us an amuse bouche of green olives and anchovies - the perfect bite. It was Dine LA, but we decided to go with some tapas to share. We started with the lamb skewer which was delicious. The garlic shrimp were cooked perfectly and very tasty. The patatas bravas were crispy and hot when they came out. I was a huge fan of the tomato and peach salad since I'm a huge fan of light. tomato salads. The only iffy part of the meal was the wine. I tried the tempranillo rose which tasted bitter. Other than that, it was really great to check out this new spot in Santa Monica.

Xuntos follows a string of new Spanish restaurants that have recently opened in Los Angeles. Xuntos is the vision of chef and owner Sandra Cordero bringing traditional tapas from Galicia, Catalunya, and Basque areas of northern Spain in casual and lively art deco environs in the heart of Santa Monica. The food was very good. There were some dishes that were better than others. We started with a complimentary olive, pepper, and anchovy starter. My menu favorites were the chicken empanada, hand sliced Iberian ham, tomato bread, fried eggplant, and garlic shrimp. All were flavorful and very tasty. The deviled egg came with anchovy and gave it a different flavor profile. The squid skewer lacked any distinct flavor and was a little fishy. The scallop was also a bit on the bland side despite a minimal sauce. Their best dessert was their seasonal pumpkin flan, followed by the traditional almond cake that was quite dense but moist. Generally, the portions of the pintxos were surprisingly on the small size. I would go as far as to say that for many, the portions tend to lean more towards individual than shareable size portions. When they say "small plates", they really mean "small"!! The tapas menu items were a little more reasonable in size to share. If you order alcohol, they primarily offer Spanish wines and beer. The cocktails are creatively interesting and heavily vermouth driven. Many at our table ordered the Sandra cocktail, which was surprisingly a small size drink. Value-wise, wine would be the better route.Service was good. Our waiter was available as needed and promptly put our order in. He wasn't forthcoming with any menu recommendations but would answer any questions that we had. Be aware that the restaurant automatically charges a mandatory 20% gratuity on every bill. You can also pay your bill via the iKind app. Overall, Xuntos is a nice addition to the Santa Monica food scene that serves the lesser known tapas of northern Spain and will provide an enjoyable and fun dining experience.

The food here is delicious. It tastes homemade and healthy, yet each dish surprises and delights with its flavors. The offerings include a variety of vegetables, grains, sauces, meat, seafood and beans. It also has incredibly satisfying and flavorful vegan dishes. The restaurant is airy and lovely. The décor is chic, relaxing and hospitable. The ambiance is upscale and welcoming, and the facilities are clean and spacious.Everyone here is truly kind and generous. They are wonderfully accommodating. Everyone smiles and greets you like a friend. They are also surprisingly, amazingly efficient too. The location is convenient. It is a few blocks from the promenade. It is surrounded by pleasant stores, window shopping, the pretty library and parking structures that usually have available spaces and free parking for an initial time. The setting here is breezy, peaceful and fun. It is a nice walk to the beach and the downtown neighborhood of this cityThis is a special restaurant that has a cherished spot in my heart.