Malaga

I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to write this review as I've felt the same way about Malaga since it was back in its old location... that it's too pricey for what you get.

I love Spanish restaurants. The atmosphere, the Sangria, the little bites of spanish goodness are all things that hearken back to the four months I lived in Spain. I also love that usually in tapas (not TOPLESS) places, you can usually share and try many good things for a reasonable price. But by the time you're finished with appetizers and a glass of wine here, you're already in the $20 range. Take for example the spinach pie, or the Empanadas Salamanca. Two small spinach triangles (cheese & spinach in phyllo) for $9. In Espana, that costs you maybe $3. It's a TINY plate. Compare that to getting a huge hamburger at Jackalope for the same price. I know -- not the same thing -- but the fact remains that the amount of food that is served for $9 is anemic.

Come to Malaga during happy hour and your wallet will be happier.

Wow what a beautiful restaurant on my favorite street- 2nd street district. The string lights create such a romantic, nice atmosphere- perfect for a fancy dinner. My parents and I were craving tapas, so we decided to give Malaga a try. Well decorated, great fancy ambience, and very accommodating and friendly service.

Our tapas choices:
-Bruselas: my personal favorite, one of the best prepared Brussel sprout dishes I've had. I love Brussel sprouts!
-piquillos rellenos: rich and creamy but delicious
-cebiche de pescado: I'm usually not a fan of ceviche, but this dish made it actually enjoyable for me! Great thick pieces of sashimi
-pulpo a la Gallega: (chef's special) this octopus dish was my favorite of the seafood tapas, so flavorful and great texture!
-vieras en caldo (scallops): mmmm such an amazing dish, great for scallop lovers because the taste and texture were perfect

Paella de mariscos was also an excellent and tasty dish. Between the three of us, these tapas and the paella, along with our drinks were very filling. We tried the pomegranate sangria and white watermelon sangria, both light and really sweet.

Overall, we had a great experience at this beautiful venue, and though it's a bit pricey for the portions (as all tapas places in America are), it was well worth the try!

Absolutely delicious and lovely evening was had at Malaga. My best friend and I are HUGE fans of tapas and Spanish food and with this place being so closely located to our hotel, we decided to make this place our 'fancy' dinner night for our weekend stay in Austin.

Before walking in, there is a charming patio that's lit with twinkle lights during the evening hours. We walked in and were immediately greeting by nice fellow who had the most beautiful accent and then given our choice of seating. We ended up in a booth and then promptly ordered glasses of sangria!

The sangria is served in hearty and full size glasses. and was very delicious. We decided to each order different things to share so we ended up ordering a plate of potatoes bravas, pork remoulade, and the grilled mahi mahi. EVERYTHING WAS SO GOOD. Really that's all there is to say.

Since we were both feeling good and getting deliciously stuffed, we decided to extend our stay at Malaga by ordering dessert. I chose the empanadas de manzana (apple empanada) served with a scoop of Amy's vanilla ice cream and drizzled in caramel. Now, dessert was the only sore spot of the meal. My friend said it best when she commented that the empanadas tasted like they had been defrosted and then warmed up. They were extremely tough and hard to get bite into. Our AWESOME waiter (Josh, I believe was his name? he recently moved to austin from Durham!) asked how we liked the dessert and we honestly let him know and he graciously offered to take the dessert off our bill!

Not only was our food absolutely scrumptious but the service exceeded expectations and made for a wonderful night!

So despite the recent negative reviews, I came in today for their abfab "hora feliz" and to verify the rumors of their new sangria bar.

Per the usual, I made my Open Table res and was greeted and seated the minute I walked through the door. I sat at the bar this time and really enjoyed being in "the thick of it". The bartender was very gracious and attentive. He asked me what I wanted to order and when I said I needed a minute, gave me ample time to properly peruse my HH and dinner menu options, but came over when I told him I was ready.

He recommended the Sangria flight and I decided 3 is always better than 1 (all 3 glasses in the flight were ample and generous pours).

For my Tapas selections, I did two plates off the dinner menu and one off the HH menu and I decided to try things I haven't had here before. I started with the HH order of Tortitas de Papa con Queso, which were just fantastic! The red & green mojos really gave it the little something it needed to complete the palate!

I then had the Empanadas Salamanca, which were so good! The cilantro aioli drizzled on top gave it extra pop and the empanadas themselves were like flavorful little croissants! The order came with two, which is enough for one, but definitely order your own if someone suggests you share!

My absolute fav dish of the night was hands down the Gambas al Ajillo! If you are looking for the best bang for your buck, this one is the ticket! You get a healthy serving of flavor fat shrimp, along with a huge dollop of the cilantro aioli and another healthy heap of fried plantain chips (which were smoky spicy fantasmic!). This dish also pairs exquisitely with the Spicy Peach sangria!

I was already stuffed like a Spanish olive, but I couldn't leave w/o trying their El Salvador Dali espresso alcoholic dessert drink, which is what my after dinner drink dreams are made of! Wowsa!!!

And finally...the Crema Cataluña! The Spanish citrus version of the creme brûlée that will send you home fantasizing about coming back for more!

All in all another fantastic visit for me, my tastebuds, and my foodie alter-ego.

I would love to come back for a date night and/or a group outing to share my tastebud tantalizing discoveries.

But, for tonight...it is a food and sangria induced siesta.

Ever experienced that awkward moment when you tell someone you're going to a "Tapas Bar" and they think you've said something else. Uh huh! You know! Anyway, I love tapas! It's hard to find a place that serves good tapas! And, it's even more difficult to find a place that serves good tapas but won't break the bank for a full meal and drinks (unless in Spain and then both are as simple as finding at McD's in the states). Malaga continues to serve good tapas in their new(er) location; however, they also continue to be pretty pricey for portions sizes (and yes, I know tapas are "small plates").

So, the BEST time to go...well, happy hour of course!

HH REVIEW:

Nice way to sample a few items, have a drink or two, and talk with friends.

HH is from 4-7pm 7 days a week. I was so sad to find they had cut their Sunday HH back from the old 3-10pm. Late HH Sunday was the perfect way to end a full day of strolling SoCo, hanging at area parks, attending festivals, etc. Oh well.

HH is still fun and a pretty good deal. Malaga offers $4 beers, wines, Sangria, and cocktails (good variety to choose from) and $4 tapas off of the very limited HH menu. Obligatory Spanish mixed olives are always yummy; polenta cakes cooked to perfection; fried artichokes not overly greasy. I wish there were a bit more HH food options.

The ambiance at the "new" location is spacious yet cozy, upscale yet welcoming. I think the service has greatly improved. And the large front patio is a nice addition.

NOTE: Valet available daily = $7

We almost achieved a 5 star rating here. Let me explain how the night played out, so you can understand the dock in star count.

We had reservations for 5:30 on a Thursday night and they were not needed. We were the only people in the restaurant besides a section that was reserved for a meetup. I would make reservations if you are dining later though, because the place was packed by the time we left around 7.

We had, in order of how it came out, The Malaga Mule, the Cheese Plate, Brussel Sprouts, Meatballs, Steak, Asparagus (we ordered this after we ate everything else) and the Ricotta Donuts.

The first 4 things were AMAZING and I almost asked if I could live there. But then we got to the Steak Tapas with Garlic Aioli and it was terrible. The meat was chewy and the portion was a third of a steak for 15 bucks, skip this one. The Asparagus was equally as terrible and not cooked through and it looked sad on the plate. Finally, the service had gotten so bad at this point (which it was spectacular to begin with) we had to ask the manager for the check, because we had already been there 1.5 hours we didn't want to risk longer.

This was the Jekyll and Hyde of dining experiences.

This place would be a 5 if it was only a little cheaper - if you're going here, be prepared to shed some cash, but come away extremely satiated!!!

I looooooove the fried goat cheese. Please get several helpings of this. Oh, yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

We were totally blown away by the quality of food, service and atmosphere at Malaga. We had just arrived in Austin from Dallas for the weekend, dropped our bags at our Airbnb and walked down to the Second Street District looking for some dinner. We wandered past Malaga and noticed that it was their Happy Hour, so we popped in. The restaurant is GORGEOUS! Incredibly tall ceilings, dark wood paneling, chandeliers, jewel toned pillows in the booths...really lovely. We were seated right away and immediately ordered drinks ($4 for draft beer, $7 for sangria). The sangria was delicious, I highly recommend it.

We ordered lots of little tapas dishes, including the papas bravas, pan con tomate, empanada de espinaca, chipirones fritos (deep fried calamari), and the mixed green salad. Everything was truly excellent. There wasn't a bite of food that we didn't love. I think our favorite item was the empanadas de espinaca, two little spinach empanadas that came with a delicious dipping sauce. A close second was the calamari, which was really excellent. Great food, great drinks, very fast and friendly service, and great happy hour prices. What more could you ask for?

My favorite restaurant in Austin
seafood paella is the best !!!!!
Very convenient Valet Parking
The atmosphere is terrific
LOVE IT !!!!!

Food: Spanish tapas. Consistently fantastic. Try the crab-stuffed peppers and the fried goat cheese.

Service: Can be hit or miss. Happy hour and late dinner have been great, but lunch and brunch have been inexplicably slow.

Atmosphere: great sidewalk patio with heatlamps in cold weather. Lovely for happy hour. Large undivided interior has a high molded tin/copper ceiling that reflects noise and can make it difficult to hear company.

Staying the weekend in Austin & picked Malaga to sample some Spanish Tapas!

Parked around the corner at a parking garage and walked to the restaurant. When we walked in you immediately see the large open space with warm colors throughout. We got a window table and began exploring the menu.

The wine menu was a bit challenging since the wine is grouped by region vs how we know it in the US by wine type. Our server who built the menu explained the wines to us twice, but we failed to pick a bottle. But he gets A for effort!

Instead we ventured the cocktail menu & decided to have tequila based cocktails and they were delicious!

Our Tapas selection was Lamb, Pork Loin, and Scallops.. And for desert was the fried goat cheese! All delicious, strong flavors, and tasty!

Only reason I did not give 5 stars is the inability for a non Spaniard to make an intelligent wine selection :)