Reviews for El Pulpo & Tapas Bar - Middletown in Middletown, CT

I had a couple of Tapas, they were exactly as I expected, top shelf. Nice atmosphere, class to to the Nth degree. I was... impressed with vibe, the music and I'm looking forward to taking a date here, to impress. I ordered the crab cakes and anartichoke dish. The crab cakes were all crab, the lobster sauce topping was outstanding, I. Personally, want 3 times as muchthough, I'm a sauce guy. The artichoke sald dish was flawless, and the vegetable sauce was tasty..., I liked my plate clean. Ididn't like it clean, that was for effect. Yes!, I recommend. Read more

We just had the most amazing and delicious evening at El Pulpo! The food and drinks were fantastic and just beautiful!... Blackberry cosmos were perfectly blended and we ate so many tapas before I stopped to photograph them. Daniella, our server, waslovely and so attentive! Definitely going back and soon! Read more

This place is AWESOME! Great food and atmosphere too. The service staff was so friendly and engaged in conversation with us (we... initiated). We will definitely return and highly recommend this place. Hopefully you will have the same experience. Read more

We ate on the patio. We got there at 750. There were dirty tables around us and we were informed the kitchen was closing early.... Followed by slow service. The food was fine, but didn't blow my mind. I had heard good things and I was looking for more interms of service, especially being rushed to order and leave on what is a quarterly date with my wife. I get four of these datesa year, where we are out on the town spending money and kids are safe with someone else. They wasted one of those four dates. Ohand the food came out kinda willy nilly. Tapas should come out in courses especially since their tapas are so large, not a biteor four. They're full blown appetizer size (price reflects). 3 stars because the food was tasty and I thought the portionsmatched the price. Missing stars for slow service, dirty bathroom and restaurant, and being rushed when we were there over anhour before they closed. Read more

Went for happy hour on 6/16/2022. The bartender was very rude . The bartender told my friend not to have anybody else come for... happy hr because she was overwhelmed. One of the waitresses told My sister if she didn’t like the wait then she can always gosomewhere else(we knew that already). What’s the point of having an outside area if you can’t eat out there ? Over all thatwas my 2nd time going there I won’t be going back . If you know happy hr is all night then it should be sufficient workers..Gave 2 stars because the food was decent could have be hot though Read more

The atmosphere is nice and cozy. The space between tables is decent. The service is nice although it’s a bit slow. The food is... tasty though a bit pricey. I just came from Spain and was craving for paella. The paella here is lack of flavor of saffron andother subtle spices. The rice is bit watery. Read more

First time eating here. Food was great. Brenda was fantastic. She picked out great wine for me to have with my dinner. Attentive... and with a smile. Hard to find great service with a smile these days. At Pulpo you get both. Highly recommend Read more

I've visited El Pulpo when they were in Southington and this was my first visit to their Middletown location. I'll get my one... piece of negative feedback out of the way quick...the service was a bit slow. However, it was Mother's Day and in general,people need to relax and give service industry an opportunity to recover. Also, US is the only place in the world that rushesthrough their meals. Sit back and enjoy. We had a variety of tapas, and they were all delicious. - Mediterranean Salad(Cauliflower, tomatoes, artichokes, asparagus, eggplant, cucumber, olives, and tarragon garlic per vinaigrette & grilled shrimp)was superb. - Salmon Tartare with avocado served with potatoes chips was very tasty. - Pan seared crab cake served with sautéedvegetables and lobster champagne sauce was very flavorful. - Oysters were huge! - Rack of lamb, with beats and sweet potato purewas delicious. - Chorizo/fig in balsamic reduction was yummy. - And to end it all, we had crème-brule. It was a great timespent (we polished off a rather large bottle of wine), with very friendly service. Can't wait to go back! Read more