Irving Street Tapas

Okay, the positives. The bartender was nice and served good drinks...however, we didn't get an opportunity to order any more because our wait staff never came back to ask us if we wanted anything! Drinks were empty for a long time and we were ghosted.Other positive- beautiful space. You could probably show up with no reservations on the weekend.It was a weird experience, honestly. Place was dead for a Friday night. The menu is "international" but the portions were all over the place. My friends ordered the barbecue chicken and it was the biggest chicken thigh I'd ever seen. Bone-in. Entree sized. We also ordered the gyoza and it only came with 5 total. The salad was small and barely dressed. There are only 2 vegetable items on the menu. The service was so bad. I had a reservation and the table wasn't set for 3. My friends had arrived before me so I came in and sat down with them but waited for 10 minutes to be greeted. Took a while to order. Our menu was taken away and we never got an opportunity to order more, which is how most tapas places operate. We were waiting for so long to pay. We kept wondering what we did to offend our waitress that she was avoiding us. In the end I had eaten too much calimari because I was still hungry and I didn't even like it. We ended up walking down to Olive Or Twist for a second drink and more food. Oh well!

Very large space with multiple seating options. Booths along the parameter, tables of various sizes in the interior, a great bar set up with comfy chairs and a foot rest, so important, and a cozy seating nook in front of a fireplace - grab this if you can!Menu is quite large, a variety of tapas meant for sharing. What sets Irving Street Tapas apart is the multi international offerings. Not just small plates from Spain, which is the usual, but offerings from India, Africa, Argentina, Japan, Italy and more. The common denominator seems to be spice, very spicy! Be aware when ordering. We shared the spicy edamame, a very interesting take on a dish that typically comes just salted. I'd definitely get these again! Next came the spicy paneer, Indian cheese cubed and stir fried with sweet red peppers and other veggies, served along side jasmine rice. This dish as super spicy! We were two fisting our water and wine!To give our palette a break, we then ordered the Argentine steak with chimichurri and a plate of the patatas brava (potatoes.) The steak was a little tough, wish it had been marinated longer to give it more flavor. The potatoes were cooked perfectly, crisp on the outside and fluffy inside. The sauce was surprisingly light in flavor, especially compared to the first two tapas we ordered. We couldn't decide on dessert but knew we wanted something sweet to end the meal. We decided to get both the tiramisu, which was excellent, and cannoli that took a unique spin on the ricotta filling by adding a hint of cardamom. Very nice. We took our time with our meal, enjoying cocktails and wine. We were never rushed and the various waitstaff that took and brought our orders, were all delightful. The owner even stopped by our table to say hello and check on us to see if we were enjoying the food. It was a cold Wednesday evening and it was also very chilly inside the restaurant. The space is huge so probably expensive to heat, and on a week eight where there were a lot of people, but far from a full house, it was cold. We kept our coats on for the first hour. Irving Street Tapas would be an excellent choice for 4 or more people so you can share a large variety of plates. It was good for two, but 4 dishes were plenty. Parking can be a challenge in this part of downtown especially on a weekend.

My boyfriend and I were in a restaurant hopping kind of vibe, so we really wanted to check this spot out since it specialized in tapas! Inside is very lively, with bright lighting and plenty of seating. Although I think the ambiance would have been perfect if it was a bit dimmer, it's still great for big parties!They have a fairly diverse menu too; with food ranging from typical American bites to some Asian foods. We got a mix of both: chili garlic edamame, peppered mushrooms, calamari, egg rolls, and crab cakes. Everything was alright--not great for a nice date night, but good to go with friends on a casual night. Our server was super amazing though--super sweet and I had a great time because of her. I would definitely be open to coming back to try some other items on the menu that I heard had good reviews!

I was impressed with the quality of food items delivered to the table for a broadly international menu. As a first-timer to IST, I confidently say I would return.Depending on the season, entering this space is probably a very different experience. I came here in winter, when the outdoor patio is non-operational and the large foldable doors and windows were closed. I can imagine this place pops off during the spring-fall months. In winter, we were seated very fast, and were able to get a private booth.The staff are very attentive and will provide excellent recommendations. The drinks are not as good as those of other bars nearby, but remember that this is a Tapas-focused restaurant - not a bar like Below. After accepting recommendations for tapas from our server, we enjoyed a few drinks despite their off-portion.The food came relatively fast, and I was very excited to see how nicely the plates were presented. Tapas can be erratic, but, here quality is the guarantee. My only issue with the experience is that there was a lot of food leftover, which, we should have predicted. I hate letting things go to waste, but, thankfully my guest took items home.

We love this beautiful maintained great ambiance. There service is excellent and so is food. Last Wednesday we hung out there despite pouring rain. They were serving complimentary Spring rolls Lumpia a cuisine from Phillipines. It was very delicious. And so was the Salmon Cakes and Lamb curry. Thank you Mark, Michael and Paresh.

I actually really enjoyed our experience here. Very cool interior, service was fast, and the food was tasty and reasonably priced ($55 for three tapas and two cocktails). We'll definitely return!

It was funny, we left a pub to go to dinner at Irving Street Tapas and the bartender asked us where we were going. When we told him, he responded "you'll get better service here."We should have listened! I mean, for the money it wasn't awful, but it wasn't anything great either. First we got the calamari. While it was cooked correctly, it tasted like the deep fryer oil needed changed. It had a kind of burnt taste to it.The potatoes were just ok. The kind you'd expect from a diner. The meatballs were cooked correctly by were under seasoned.We had ordered samosas but they didn't come until we asked about them. Apparently the order wasn't put in. We ordered two deserts to go. The cheesecake was pretty tasty but the peach crisp was a small meager spoonful. I laughed when I opened the box. Other notes: no one greeted us at the door and we stood there for awhile until someone came out. Though the place was empty, we were seated at a booth with a torn cushion badly "fixed" with duct tape. So fun to be stuck to your chair. The cocktails were pretty good actually.Apart from the miscue with the samosas the service was pretty good. I know this place hosts events and there was one happening while we were there. I think maybe they should stick to that and not try to do both catering and running a restaurant.No one thanked us on the way out as there was still no host. We won't be back. Too many other amazing places to eat in PDX. We went back to the pub and got wings.

This review is a bit hard to swallow... because I really went in, loving the vibe and ambiance. I saw the prior Yelp reviews but thought... can't be that bad. Starting with the positive was our server, Vanessa. she was friendly and exuded warmth. Very attentive and solid. From there it went a bit downhill... Tap water - avoid it. Not good. Cocktails: Hot toddy - bland and lacking in everything that makes the Hot Toddy comforting on a cold day. Possibly the not so great tasting tap water did it. Spiced orange old fashioned - a little too orangey but not bad. Prefer regular old fashioned Stratton - interesting and ok but not sure he liked itOld fashioned - missing cherries 5/6 times - Nuff said. better than with the Spiced Orange. Food - presentation was nice but flavor very lacking across all the dishes. Esp difficult because I've experienced amazing tapas restaurants with explosions of flavor and texture, so was def disappointed. The fact this was also Asian-fusion tapas - I def had high hopes... Crab cakes - 2/5 - hmmm not the best and seemingly not freshCroquettes - 2/5 not very flavorful - very little filling, which might be okay, if it had flavor to complete the bite. Crunchy texture of the surrounding croquette but again, not much flavor. Miso soup 1/5 - too salty and maybe soy sauce? might explain the dark color. tofu is def frozen, not tenderPatatas Bravas - 3/5 Chimichurri steak - 3.5/5 ok - got cold fast. Chimichurri flavor is good and def made the dish. Steak was prepared perfectly Mushrooms - salty but good 3.5/5Gambas - 2.5/5 ok but I've had betterChashu - 2.5 5 decently good Potstickers - 2.5 / 5good but saltyMeat pinchos - 3/5 cold cuts on bread lolMujaddara - 2/5 cold and bland

I really wanted to love this place, as it is International Tapas, which is my favorite way to eat. Sadly, there were just two many things that feel short, right out of the gate. It started where we were sat, which was a booth against the back wall. The chairs of the booth were torn. When this is the first impression, it makes you wonder "what else might they might be slacking on." The overall impression of the restaurant is gorgeous. We order 6 different dishes, and the only real stand out was the Mujaddara. It had tons of flavor, but that was the only dish that did. Everything else was rather bland and uninteresting.I didn't even take any pictures as nothing was photo worthy. Not to mention, the mussels and claims we had tasted were rubbery, like they were either overcooked or not fresh. The one highlight was the staff. Everyone was friendly and kind. I would guess it was the owner, but he came around multiple times to check up on us.

Went on a Saturday night and it was pretty empty. We were seated immediately. The place has a nice vibe to it. We ordered the pastrami patata bravas, ported peppered mushroom, paneer masala and peri peri chicken. The potatoes and mushroom were a good as any I have had. The paneer masala was disappointing though, not very flavorful. Same with the chicken.