Aioli Bodega Espanola

Late lunch with an old friend who was passing through town. I’ve had lunch here before and it was excellent. This time it was okay. I like their lunch special with the soup, entree and dessert. My last experience with the fish entree was amazing. This time the fish was dry and a small portion. The sauce was oily. The risotto was good. The service was great. And the wine recommendation of the tempernillo was spot on.

Leisurely Meal in Warm, Cozy Setting
Hey, they take 45 minutes to make their paella, which has an abundance of seafood, but seems underspiced and bland. So what to do while waiting? Munch on tasty tapas and drink bottles of wine. Ends up being a pricey but fun experience. A restaurant that doesn't rush you is rare and delightful. And, although it was noisy, we could carry on conversations. Perfect place to catch up with old friends while the rain poured down. PS - their desserts - we tried flan and chocolate mousse - were yummy.

The food and tapas are always wonderful. Service and wine selection are great. My friend and I ordered four different tapas and a bottle of wine, which made for a lovely evening.

My wife and I dined on the AMGEN California Raceday. We have been fans of Aioli Bodega Espanol for years and have been consistently satisfied with service, food and overall ambience. While the noise/discussion level is slightly higher than other restaurants, it is not overbearing. We find the overall ambience reminiscent of many restaurant where customers are truly enjoying their evenings together. Thumbs up on this Spanish gem..!

Had a great mothers day dinner. Sat outside in back garden setting. Guitar player added to the ambiance. Ted our waiter was fantastic (will always ask for him in the future when I go there) He helped us choose and pair our tapas to make a wonderful experience. This was my second time there - definitely will be a 3rd.

This restaurant never disappoints. We received phenomenal service by their friendly and knowledgeable staff. Very plate we order was delicious and left us wanting more. Our server suggested a great wine for a reasonable price. We ended the meal with their amazing flan and cappuccino. I highly recommend this restaurant if you like a good Spanish food with a great ambiance. The outdoor patio has this romantic and relaxing vibe which I love. Inside the restaurant has a classic fancier feel but can get slightly noisy if at capacity.

The food is excellent, consistent and perfectly prepared. An extensive menu with authentic Spanish cuisine. Drinks are well-made and carefully crafted. However, the whole checking in and getting seated process is, for some reason, always complicated and never easy. The older maître d' (maybe the owner as well?) is just downright rude. He also seemed to have some sort of animosity toward the bartender which created tension. The bartender was very pleasant, efficient and made excellent drinks. That being said, once seated we had an excellent dining experience with a fun and competent server who brought us fabulous food.

There were two persons- one is host and other one is at the bar
They were not happy for what ever the reason when we got there then the host was very rude when we asked for warm water, he said we are not letting him doing his job !? ( asking for warm water?!) then the bar person can not even help us to look at the menu since there are two languages on the menu rather he just stood there while we actually tried to said the name of dishes to him！he then looked at us questioning the fish what ??? He said
Then I told him maybe he should come next to me to look at the menu , guess what ? As I expected he did not even moved a inch!
He took the wrong orders and give us double the orders when we only order one not two
The tension between these two persons are the worse experiences I had never encountered in my foodie experiences for over 25 years !
If they are not feeling to go to work that night then they should just not show up instead giving the customer a huge attitude!
This is not a cherity hall and the dishes are upper high end prices
I was just shocked they will have these kind of serives
I guess I will move forward to many other amazing Sacramento restaurants not returning to this one
So beaware of of the place when their workers in a bad move you are going to get it !!

If you want to spend some time in Europe, especially Spain or Italy, go to aioli. It’s a breath of fresh air in Sacramento if you like to travel. The meal is Devine, but expensive. The service is exceptional. Give it a try. You won’t regret it.

Always reliably excellent. Never a fail. Love this place.

Smaller portions for a quite expensive meal. Average flavors but nothing special in taste and food quality. Waiter didn't know the daily specials and service was not quick.

We had an excellent meal on their outdoor patio. Attentive service and a very diverse menu were provided. Overall a top notch experience.

Only complaint was could not make very good drinks

This was our fourth time dining at this restaurant. The food is really good and our server was amazing. However, the restaurant manager is rude. I had a reservation for 5 and when we walked in 3 of us were there and the other couple were parking the car and we had already seen them pass by the restaurant ( I even mentioned it to him) but he wouldn’t let us sit until everyone was there. That’s not such a big deal, it’s just his tone any attitude is not very nice.Also when I got up to use the ladies room as I came to sit back at our table, he was sitting 3 other people and he bumped into me and didn’t even say sorry. Very grumpy man!

The outside patio is beautiful. The service was pretty good. Our waiter was busy but took pretty good care of us. However, the taste of the food was my worst experience in many many years. The food ranged from horrible to just ok. I couldn't bring myself to have second bites of three of the items we ordered. The best things were my old fashioned cocktail and my mocha with dessert. We tried four tapas and a paella only the beet salad was edible but not tasty. The mushroom paella was pretty good but I think I was just happy to finally have something that was warm. It's hard to mess up rice and mushrooms. The restaurant hallway between the patio and the indoor seating was a disaster piled with chairs and tables and junk. Many of the serving staff had wrinkles and stained clothing. Just a disappointing experience overall.

We had a fantastic leisurely lunch on the back patio. The tapas selection is fantastic and what we had but the daily specials were really tempting. The waiter was very knowledgeable about the menu and professional including giving us cocktail napkins to cover our drinks to keep them free of pollen and things dropping from the trees. This is one our favorite spots for wonderful meal.

Obveously we are big fans.
It is always a delight to relax and let the Aioli team steer the boat. We never order. We let them orchestrate the whole experience.

The older gentleman who waa at the door...seating people to their table was rude. The greeting was harsh. I was told I did not have a reservation because he was scrolling on the pad too fast. He did not make me feel welcome but everyone else did.

As always, Aioli doesn't disappoint! We tried a variety of foods and shared them...all delicious!

Got off to a slightly rocky start. We arrived a little early to find there was a bit of a line (a few groups waiting). I figured we'd at least check in and maybe take a little stroll, but there wasn't anyone to check in with just then. We waited, and I realized that they were super busy, and the host was helping set tables and checking on other things, so we just waited. When we were finally seated, I don't think it was very far past our reservation so wasn't bugged about it. I had wanted to get the paella so asked the host if they could still do it.. They said yes, but when our server came to take our order, she said they had a very large party that had all ordered the paella, so they ran out of pans to make and serve it. We decided to get drinks and tapas, though, and were not disappointed. We got a charcuterie platter which was good, with 2 meats and manchego cheese, along with olives. It was good. We got the scallops with orange ginger glaze and cauliflower puree which was very tasty. The scallops were perfectly seared and very creamy. We got the duck which had some greens and was quite tasty. The duck was maybe slightly overcooked, but that didn't hamper our enjoyment of it. The potatoes came out hot and steamy and while good, were not the best thing we had. Between the two of us we had the Honey Badger, Pear Flower, Barcelona Sour and a glass of Sangria. All were tasty (the Honey Badger and Pear Flower both have St Germain, of which I'm a fan) with the Sangria being good, but not as sweet as I would've liked. We found the ambiance to be lively and loud, which was great for us. Where we sat we had no problem hearing each other. If you prefer quieter settings this may not be the place for you. Our server was great. She was very busy, but always seemed to check on us at the right time and fill our glasses regularly. Though we maybe didn't off on the right foot, everything worked out in the end. We would definitely return.

Great food, great service. Can’t wait to go back.

Outstanding food, excellent service. The server's recommendation for a port wine to try was spot on. We had a wonderful evening!

We ordered several tapas dishes. Every one was so flavorful and cooked to perfection. The timing was good. The only complaint was the noise level. The guitarist was a wonderful addition but as the night progressed and the place filled it got a little loud.

This is one of my favorite restaurants in Sacramento. From the warm welcome when we walked in to the moment we left - everything was great!

The Management and our Server Omer were outstanding. The Manager constantly came by to see how we were doing chatted to get to know my newborn grandson. We were very pleased and the food is phenomenally good.

Aioli provides a unique dining experience. The food is unique and very approachable. This time we shared 3 tapas and shared the seafood paella - all were fabulous. Dining here is a joy!

We went there for my Mom’s bday. The food, ambiance and service was awesome! Great location!

This is our second visit to Aioli, and we loved it, always excellent food, and very accommodating to our picky eaters requests. We'll be coming back for sure!

Aioil Bodega is my favorite restaurant in Sacramento. I have eaten there many, many times over the last decade. I love the food - variety, flavors, spices, and sauces. I highly recommend this restaurant if you like Spanish food. Quiet to lively, but not too noisy. Good bar drinks. Portions can at times be a little light, but much of the time just right. The waiters who have been there many years are excellent, but the newer ones are not familiar enough with the ingredients as I like. I highly recommend.

Due to a critical emergency my company and I had to leave very quickly. We did leave the restuarant almost forgetting our tab as we had literally just ordered our food and had not actually been served anything. A member of our party returned to pay and apologized, but due to circumstance she began crying after the host rudely patronized her. Our food was being brought out while she was insulted by the host and she was asked if she wanted it boxed. They took so long (she waited at least 15 mins) that we had to leave without our food.

We enjoyed a late 2:30 lunch at Aioli with our parents and it was a perfect non-busy time to go. The tapas and main dishes were just delicious and our server was excellent. We sat in the patio under a lemon tree, it was just a wonderful lunch!

Outstanding flavors and wide selection. We always love It!

Very good dinner, the muscles were especially tasty and the oxtails were perfect. Too cold to sit outside, which is the best. Good selection of Spanish inspired dishes, something that’s hard to come by in the Sacramento area. Server was attentive enough, but not especially engaging. Will of course be back again😊

The seating at the bar is limited to about 6 seats. The dining experience was great and the staff was very informative about the dishes and cocktails. The Barcelona Sour was very tasty.

This was our second time there in a matter of weeks. I was Wondering if it was going to be as good as the first time we were there. It was absolutely fantastic the service the atmosphere it was as if you were in a different country I highly suggest aioli restaurant.

We had a phenomenal experience dining with Aioli. Very romantic, great service, incredible food. We will be returning often.

For out of town visitors, Aioli Bodege Espanola was an absolutely stellar find. We found the cuisine to be genuine and sublime, although not quite spiced as some of the same plates in Spain. Prices were extremely appropriate, especially given the proportions provided.

Food was delicious. We had the lunch special. M;y latte was great and the service was very good

Yet another great experience at Aioli--my wife and I have dined at Aioli perhaps a half-dozen times. Roman did an outstanding job as our server, recommending wines and various dishes to try. My college roommate and his wife were in town, and they loved the dinner as well. Thank you again Roman.

This was a wonderful experience from the knowledgeable suggestions for wine to the suggestions for tapas to try. One of the best meals we've had in Sacramento.