laci's tapas bar

not impressed.. i went with a few friends to try laci's. we were seated at a table in the front room, with drafts from the front door keeping us cold, and plenty of noise from the bar forcing us to shout. first to come out was stale bread with flavorless hummus. the owners altogether missed the entire concept of tapas, which would have been forgivable if the food was more palatable. the petite filet, ordered rare, came out medium-well and possessed a funny flavor, possibly from a bad rub or marinade, possibly just from bad beef. the mac & cheese eggrolls were no more than lumps of mac & cheese sandwiched between two very thin layers of pastry, and the three "rolls" all tasted the same, even though one allegedly featured lobster, and another ham. the vegetable spring rolls were soggy, although the sauce that accompanied them was tasty. lamb chop lollipops were tough and tasted more like mutton than lamb. the only two dishes that weren't completely awful - the mustard pork empanadas (lots of mustard, not much pork) and the flat bread pizza (crap for a crust, nice toppings) - came out last and were almost cold.

meanwhile, our surlyserverwas scarce, despite the dining room not being very busy. i will say the drinks were good, but even several cocktails couldn't drown out the mediocrity of the food.

i always give second chances, so if my next laci's attempt is at all improved, i will be sure to post an update.

wow. i took my wife to laci's for a romantic dinner and i got more than i bargained for. they sat us at an awesome table under a chandelier behind the bar. after theserversat us she came back with bread and a house dip. the bread was warm and the dip was delicious. we asked for more and theservergleamed and ran back to the kitchen. water was on the table before we even asked and then our drink order was taken. we each ordered a glass of cono sur after theservertold us the story of how they chose their house wine, and said we would like to start with brie and apples. we moved onto martini beef skewers (out of this world) and then the flatbread pizza. theserversuggested that we should each order two dishes so we could share and be full. so i ordered the filet and my wife went with the pow pow shrimp. the filet melted in my mouth and the sauce from the pow pow was so good we were able to eat it with the lettuce the shrimp came on. we joked with ourserverand thanked her for putting us at this table so we could lick our plates without anyone noticing. i have to tell you the table was a llittle drafty but we quickly overcame that with the wine. the owner told us that the building was built in 1860 and that they were still in the process of getting it squared away, so we understood the draftiness.
thanks again laci's for giving us a wonderful evening of good food, wine and atmosphere.

outstanding. went to laci's for vantines day, lucky us!! i was a little dissappointed that they had a set menu but was quickly elated with the menu they chose. the petite filet is out of this world, as well as the ravioli caprese. both owners graced our table (one being the chef) and talked of the building history and their history. the atmosphere is similar to being in a nyc bistro. loved ourserveramy and eddie is such a force behind the bar. thank you for bringing this gem to syracuse.

great time at laci's. i went to laci's this past weekend and had an amazing time! i loved the warm and inviting atmosphere, the friendly staff and the food. ourserverwas attentive and knowledgable in regard to the menu. she advised us on portion sizes and made recommendations on what to order. we tried the martini beef skewers (beef marinated in vodka and olive juice...yum!, olives, and onions all grilled up). we also ordered the flat bread pizza, buttons marsala, ravioli caprese, and the brie and apples. this was a perfect tapas meal for the 3 of us, the dishes cam out one at a time and we all shared and chatted over a bottle of loredona viognier. a wonderful experience, we will be back and make sure to tell all of our friends!

in a word, dreadful. we went with a large group of friends to laci's last night. the decor was beautiful, and the company was excellent. the food, however, could not have been more disappointing. it was truly awful. the steak skewers ($11)featured four one inch cubes of fatty, underseasoned, gristly meat that was much more like chuck roast or stew meat than steak, covered in a revolting warm blue cheese dressing. the marsala mushrooms ($4) were undercooked and flavorless, without even a hint of the garlic and wine promised on the menu. the potato skins were also undercooked, and the only thing i could taste was the dirt that had not been properly washed off. the worst of the night was the scallops, which were clearly frozen. again, underseasoned, overcooked to an inedible toughness, and swimming in an unappetizing clear liquid that featured a wilted cilantro garnish. disgusting.

while i did not expect a syracuse venue to offer the variety and quality of tapas i have enjoyed in spain and portugal, i was shocked to spend as much as we did on a few bites of food that neither my husband or i cared to finish. usually in tapas setting, plates are passed to share the enjoyment of the food. last night at laci's, our friends were passing around plates because they did not like the food, and just wanted to get rid of it.

the service was friendly, but it took a long time to get anything, and the plates came out randomly, with long pauses in between. my husband later commented that he had hoped that they had forgotten that we had ordered the scallops, because everything that preceded them was so abysmal. also, ourserverhas a lovely mane of hair that she had pulled into a loose ponytail that hung over her shoulder to her waist in the front. while it was an attractive hairstyle, it was inappropriate and kind of gross to have all that hair around food service...i can't imagine what they are thinking with that.

my husband and i left company that we were truly enjoying after about three hours because i was so hungry, and could not bring myself to order anything more. we paid our bill ($65, with gratuity included in, which in our case cheats the server, as we are generous tippers) and came home and ate waffles.

didn't work for us. on a cold january evening we decided to try laci's tapas bar. friends of ours had been to it a couple of times and had only good things to say about the place. since it was a friday evening we made reservations and one of the owners took my call - very pleasant and even inquired whether i was interested in viewing the flamenco dancing. i mentioned that our 11 year old son will be dining with us. she told us that they didn't have a kids menu but something can be worked out. which was very nice, but luckily our son goes everywhere with us and has learned there are times when burger and fries are not available! she also informed us that there was parking behind the restaurant. this was useful information as we would have been driving around looking for street parking. out first impression was very positive. an old house, with a red door, updated with contemporary colors and modern fixtures. we waited briefly inside the entrance at the foot of the stairs for the hostess. we were led to the front dining section. it was one big room with dining at the front with the bar at the end where the "tappy hour" was in progress. the bar seemed pretty full - about a dozen or so people were there. i spied another dining area beyond the bar, which was partially walled off. even though the bar was in close proximity to where we were seated it was not noisy and we didn't have to shout to have a conversation. the first indication of trouble was when my son refused to remove his jacket. this is a child walks to the bus stop in the winter in a sweatshirt. he had his back to the entrance and every time someone opened the door a cold arctic blast would hit him. soon all of us felt the cold draft, and since we were the only people in the dining area i wondered whether we could be seated elsewhere away from the cold air. my hope was that we could be moved to the room in the back. we were told that there was a room in the back by the side of the bar. this was going from bad to worse - a lonely cozy table at the end of the bar - with three windows. now we were banished to the back of beyond. we were isolated and cold. our table was next to three windows and a cold draft found its way into the room via every crack and crevice of those old windows. i had to go back to the entrance and get my jacket. i almost ordered a space heater with my food. speaking of food, the menu had tapas, petite tapas and group tapas. i was a little confused since i was under the impression that tapas were equivalent to appetizers. i was wondering what the petite tapas was and theservertold me that the tapas were to be shared and the petite tapas were bite size. we skipped the group tapas as none of the items seemed unique. my son chose the "mac 'n cheese eggrolls" my husband the "lamb chop lollipops" and i ordered the "mustard pork empanadas". the wine we ordered, an australian shiraz and an argentinian malbec, was nom! the bread and hummus was nom as well (however theserverhad to check to see whether the hummus was homemade when i complimented the dish - one would think theserverwould know the origins of the food served in the restaurant - when i re-read the menu it stated the hummus was homemade). the food was plated tastefully but it didn't wow us - eggrolls were all mac 'n cheese and we couldn't taste the lobster or ham, the empanadas were mostly puff pastry with a teaser of pulled pork, the lamb lollipops were good, but the bed of baby spinach didn't have anything to hold it together. the mango apple chutney accompaniment didn't taste like mango or apple. i used the hummus on the baby spinach and it worked. all the plates had three items so we could share. i have dined at many similarly priced restaurants where i was content just with a glass of wine and an appetizer. we were all still hungry. so, my husband ordered two more items - sliders flight and baked sweet potato fries. we waited, and waited and waited for our order. finally a dish arrived and theserversaid "sorry - it is getting busy" - but the dish was not ours. we hailed theserverand returned the dish. again we waited and waited and waited. by now we were cranky, frozen and still hungry. my husband ever the diplomat wanted to wait patiently. i revolted and my son backed me. my husband reluctantly cancelled the order paid the bill and we left. i did not hear any one apologizing to us for the confusion. at the entrance we met another couple and they were gushing as to how wonderful everything was. i didn't say anything. i felt bad for our son, as this was sort of a celebration dinner for him for a recent accomplishment. he wanted to go to chiles which we vetoed. as a consolation i got him a hot fudge sundae at mcdonalds for a dollar which he relished.