If you follow my blog, you know that I was in Spain in December. It was my first time there – and you can check my posts on the trip here. And if you know a little bit about the country, you’ve probably heard about tapas! It is a Spanish tradition – if you go to Spain, you will find a lot of tapas restaurants. But what are tapas? They are small portions of food. The idea of tapas is to order several and share with the table. Think of an appetizers tasting! The origin of the tapas is uncertain, but they say that a king asked to cover the wine – and was used a small plate for that. Then they began to put small food on top – so the tapas were created. This was one of the things I loved most in Spain: go to a tapas restaurants and order several tapas and trying a little bit of everything, with a wine, beer or sangria. I liked it so much that when I came back to New York I missed it. Then I searched for tapas restaurants in the city and I found Boqueria. I made a reservation and we were there on a Friday night.
Boquería has five locations in the city and we’ve been at the Flatiron location. The place is super crowded and full of young people. It has a very cool vibe. They have a very interesting variety of tapas – vegetarian, with meat, with seafood, including paella and barbecue. I have identified several that I tried there in Spain – the place is very traditional. In fact, the restaurant was inspired by Barcelona’s tapas and beer bars – the family of the chef is from Barcelona.
Tapas start at $6. We ordered a beer ($9) and a sangria ($12) and four tapas. The Pan con Tomate ($6) – a grilled bread with tomato, garlic and olive oil, a classic Spanish tapa. We also ordered the Patatas Bravas ($10) – crispy potatoes with spicy sauce and garlic-based sauce; Croquetas Cremosas ($12) -Creamy croquettes; three each of mushroom and Serrano ham; and finally the Escalivada ($12), fire roasted eggplant, red pepper, onion, labne yogurt, fresh herbs and olive oil, served with flatbread . Everything was so, but so yummy! We will definitely return, as we simply love the tapas. Another point: we ordered four tapas but three would have been enough.
One info I think is great to know is that Boqueria has Happy Hour from Monday to Friday, usually from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. (until 6:30 p.m. on Flatiron), and prices are good: Sangrias for $6, beers for $4 and tapas from $3 (the most expensive is $10) – that’s all for practically half the price.
Check the website to see the complete menu. Boqueria offers a Boozy Brunch Menu of Tapas, Brunch Paella, Classic Brunch Dishes, and a Churros Sundae, plus unlimited Sangría and Mimosas for $39 per person on weekends.
Locations: 260 West 40th Street (soon!) / 53 West 19th Street / 171 Spring Street / 1460 Second Ave / 590 Fulton St, Brooklyn.
It is better to make a reservation!
Laura Peruchi is a Brazilian blogger, author, and entrepreneur. She has lived in Manhattan with her husband since 2014. Since then, she has shared on her blog varied content about the Big Apple. From travel tips, including unusual things to do, shopping tips, etiquette, restaurants, and a lot more, her blog has become a reference in Portuguese (also available in English) for anyone planning a trip to New York City.
