jaleo

bad service. had dinner here on 5/16/09 and their service was third rate. the waiter disappeared. food is just dumped on the table. have had better tapas in portland. i have eaten here before and the service and food were better. i think they have slipped and are getting by on their past reputation. management needs to be held accountable.

average - just barely "like". stopped by for dinner on thursday - may 18th. ordered a potato salad dressed with tuna - bland. nothing to write home about. next, a spanish omelet with wild mushrooms. decent taste. pan fried grilled baby squid with ink on a bed of rice. squid was done right - tender (heat management is a bid deal here with squid). ink too much. last is a skirt steak - grilled medium rare and topped with chive and coarse sea salt. tasty enough but nothing to write home about.
wine list is interesting but way, way over-priced. a simple jumilla costs over 50 dollars!

crystal city has been one of my go-to places for happy hour as my day job is close by.  the decor transports you to the south of spain with its bright colors, tapas and sangria.  in the heart of winter, i was transported to sunny spain for a valentine’s day lunch (see tastemade video below).  indulging in tapas, paella, and cava took us both back to our wedding in barcelona .  recently, i returned for lunch to host a #dctravelblogger get-together where a group of travel-minded bloggers converged for a virtual trip to spain.

great (wine) experience. several friends and i met at this location a couple of weeks ago and had a wonderful time there. having previously lived in dc, i had already been to the capitol-area location and more or less knew what to expect. first of all, the space will surprise you if you're used to their other locations. what it lacked in whitewashed charm, it more than made up for in modern grandeur. the highlight of our evening was the oenophilic passion of their beverage director, jill zimorski. for transparency's sake, i should admit that jill and i worked together about a decade ago at a great, now-defunct, french restaurant in charlottesville, so i expected her highly-informed approach to our wine service. jill steered us to multiple bottles of perfectly-pairing and unique wines - and gave us great insight into why these were such interesting bottles. the food and table service were much more than adequate as well. if / when i am back in this part of northern va, i will certainly make it a point to return.

been to jaleo several times when i am hurting for spanish. been to spain and family comes from there so think i can judge the varied regional grub. jaleo is good for the “cool” arlington vibe...for authentic spanish...not so much. the fusion thing may be in play here but jaleo always leaves me disappointed.

great food, terrible restaurant. we've been here before so i know the food is good. however. we made a reservation for 4 people for 730, arrived on time, and proceeded to wait for 35 minutes because "our table wasn't ready". if you're not going to adhere to reservations, don't take them.

april 12, 2015 evan #dctravelblogger , crystal city , jaleo leave a comment jaleo crystal city   [this is post #004 towards #100daysoffoodblogging , our goal to do 100 posts in 100 days as part of the 100 day project .] if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to attend a blogger meet-up, i’ve got the dirty secrets right here in this very post. yup. it’s like general hospital up in this crazy blogger world. betrayal, murder, paternity tests… okay, aside from maybe stealing someone’s sangria, there wasn’t any soap opera drama.  and kinda hard for there to be any secrets when everything is tweeted or instagramed the second it happens. such is life for a blogger. anyway, jessica at the dining traveler was kind enough to set up a brunch at jaleo crystal city  for dc/va/md-based bloggers. most of the attendees have travel blogs, but a few of us food bloggers snuck in and there were even a few fashion-focused folks as well. it was a great mix and i’m happy to have made some new friends in the local blogging community. i’ll get to jaleo’s phenomenal food in a second, but it goes without saying that the people are what made the event successful. for fear of leaving someone out, i’m not going to attempt to list everyone, so check out the hashtag #dctravelblogger on twitter or instagram to find the folks who partook in the fun. it was great to share stories of gumbo, dc traffic, blog traffic, dc weather, cocktails, food,

my favorite way to share a meal is with a large table of friends, sharing ever-flowing plates of hot tapas and pitchers of rich, red sangria, stories and laughter flooding the atmosphere. this was what i experienced while in madrid, spain last year, when a friend took me outside of the city to a small, dimly lit tapas bar to join 20+ of her friends in celebration of a birthday. their tradition, which i hope to steal one day, is for the group to purchase a birthday gift for the guest of honor and he/she takes the entire tab. we ate for at least 4 hours, experiencing sobremesa , the spanish term for sitting around a table post-meal and relaxing through conversation. while i haven’t visited spain yet this year, i was able to virtually travel there with the fun, adventurous #dctravelblogger group this weekend at jaleo in crystal city . we indulged in multiple tapas and pitchers of sangria, sharing conversations on travel and personal stories as head chef domenick torlucci demonstrated how to make a few dishes. i arrived halfway through a demonstration of preparing  aceitunas ‘ferran adrià ’, or liquid olives, which tasted like an olive soaked in olive oil with a hint of mustard which tasted citrusy once swallowed. the meal continued with, my all-time guilty pleasure, jamón ibérico  – paired, of course, with picos to munch on with the sangria. following that were camarones de cádiz con huevo frito , fried baby shrimp with a sunny-side-up egg on top that we cracked open and mixed. delicious. my favorite dish was the pan de cristal con salmon anumado y huevo duro , smoked salmon on top of crusty bread with a hardboiled egg, goat cheese, and capers in-between. the chef also introduced us to asparagus cooked to perfection, drenched in a nutty sauce; a combination i’ve never thought of before. the presa ibérico  de bellote , or grilled boneless shoulder from an i bérico  pig, was perfectly tender and juicy, the pairings exquisite. the final entrée was, of course, paella , bro

jaleo transformed into a geographic journey, with tables situated all over the dining space to represent the many regions in spain. tapas and beverages were plentiful, and the crowd was entertained by live music and a flamenco dancer who circulated among the patrons.  the atmosphere was electric with the flavors of spain, and we lost ourselves in the excitement. we ate cheese in excess, and found the spanish rice to be our favorite dish of the night. we have acquired a deep affinity for manchego cheese this past year, and again were delighted to indulge at jaleo. w

let me just say, if i ever make a significant 10 year marker, i hope i can throw a party like jaleo . this past wednesday was jaleo’s 10 year anniversary in crystal city, and boy, did people show up to enjoy the food,drinks, and atmosphere. jaleo invited guests to take a journey through andrés’ native spain with an evening packed with authentic tapas, demonstrations, and a live band band playing some great spanish music. (also, there was a live performance from flamenco dancer emily mazzotti. while i tried to pick up some moves, she took away the show!) the restaurant was transformed into 4 distinct stations, valencia, barcelona, sevilla, santander, and cadiz – each showcasing their unique flavors and specialties. five dollars from each ticket sold for the anniversary party benefited world central kitchen  - andrés’ non-profit (inspired by his work with dc central kitchen ) that helps developing countries in crisis build kitchens to feed the hungry with local ingredients. i spotted jos

okay place...it is however an spanish restaurant where nobody speaks spanish and most people working there is asian. not a true experience. tapas are served on regular plates, something that would not happen on the worst restaurant in spain...the food itself is okay but nothing special...

what happens when you meet someone you had strong feelings for after a long absence? it can be a bit jarring, but also a bit exciting. you remember with fondness the qualities that originally attracted you to her and marvel in the ways in which she has changed and grown since your last encounter.


these were my feelings when visiting jaleo in bethesda for its grand (re)opening. at first, there were the feelings of anticipation. is she still beautiful? is she still delicious? does she still exhibit that warm hospitality that makes me feel special? yes, yes and yes! whew!

jose andres, jaleo, sets the standard for spanish restaurants across the country, and is now offering a little something special this summer. jaleo in bethesda and crystal city want you to experience and celebrate the culture, cuisine, and grapes of spain with their 11th annual paella festival, monday night flight nights, and tour of spain program. recently, i had the chance to check it all out, and it was quite a delicious experience.

deception: tapas and no bread to suck the juices. i've been enjoying tapas at jaleo since i arrived to dc in 1997.
last year i went and they did not bring the bread and oil as usual, after asking they told me they bring only bread upon request...
yesterday i visited the one in arlington.
this time they refused to bring bread.
it seems that jose andres is not involved any more and should take his name from the place, if he is still involved, he needs to pay attention to his restaurant. it became another typical chain restaurant.
how can you serve tapas with no bread??? this is inexcusable and a cheap move.
other issues i found:
- service was horrible
- dishes were bland, pollo al ajillo had no garlic, served with a dark sauce and chicken consistency was uniform, that chicken was boiled and not seared. bean salad the same, lack of taste.
- tapas sizes seem to be getting smaller

it is a shame, i used to enjoy this place very much and i will not be coming back.

a culinary gem in crystal city. jaleo in crystal city, virginia is a tapas bar featuring traditional spanish dishes. if you’ve never dined at a tapas bar, they encourage each person to order two or three small dishes to share with the entire group, so everyone can enjoy a wide variety of food. of course, if you’re the only person in your party ordering gluten free, your culinary experience will be somewhat limited.

fortunately, jaleo offers a gluten free menu, but it has a disclaimer for those with gluten allergies. as usual, there’s a risk of cross contamination, and the fryer is shared with other non-gluten free foods. that being said, i safely enjoyed a salad with tuna, potatoes, green beans, tomatoes and hard-boiled eggs, shrimp sautéed with garlic, and flan for dessert! now, i’m off to the gym! after eating a georgetown cupcake earlier today and flan tonight, it’s time to pay the piper. =)

for more gluten free restaurant reviews, check out kareninreallife.com!