Cascal

I've only been to Cascal once and the one dish I really remember is their fried calamari. I tend to order... more

I've only been to Cascal once and the one dish I really remember is their fried calamari. I tend to order fried calamari whenever I see it on a men... more

Remember that scene from The Mask of Zorro where Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Bandaras are tangoing... more

Remember that scene from The Mask of Zorro where Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Bandaras are tangoing acorss the room and there's that music play... more

We love the ambiance. Some of the dishes were quite good but not worth the price. Why can't anyone do good tapas????? Do try the sangria. Why must there be a minimum characters in the review??? more

Went to Cascal more on a whim than anything else. Only have heard of the place by reputation. Overall I had a good dinning experience. Pros: Good Food Flavoring, Excellent Ambience Cons: Not consistant value & portion of food more

Go for the Tapas, not the entrees. Cascal has pretty good food, but the service is TERRIBLE. We have been here at least 5x and never had good service. The last and perhaps final time a few weeks ago, we went for lunch. We ordered 4 tapas. 2 plates arrived with the bread and house dip. Ok..good, we ate that. They take away our empty bread plate, ok...then nothing. 15 minutes later I tell the host we are ready for the next tapas. He said we ordered the Queso tapa so that takes 10 mintues. Hmm..it has been 10 minutes. We wait another 10 minutes..no more bread, no more tapas. We wait 5 more minutes, then get up pay for our 2 tapas and tell them the service is too slow (the place was empty). Bascially they tell us we are wrong with our estimation of the elapsed time. I am not sure I can get over the terrible service this time to return...too bad, was a fun place to go. Pros: Tapas, bread, dip Cons: Terrible service, rude more

The food is fine....we like the seafood paella & ceviche sampler. Since my husband & I live in Mountain View, we just want to get a good food without having to drive to SF. However, the hostess' attitude is totally awful. I think the Management need to re-train them how to give the best impression & service, and not to make customers upset and to spread bad words. One Friday night, around 7:30PM, we went to Cascal without reservation. The hostess asked us to wait for about an hour. We thought it was understandable since it was Friday night and it was our fault to come without making any reservation. I worked in the restaurant when I was in college, and therefore I totally understood about it. We waited and went back around 8:27PM (we looked at the time carefully). To my surprise, the hostess,rolled her eyes and rudely told us that our table had been given to another party since we were...LATE!!! Hello?? How dare she accused us of being late, whereas we came 3 MINUTES EARLIER!! My husband even showed the watch and argued with her. After I demanded to see her manager with a high voice, she finally gave us a nice table by the window. Pros: Great seafood paella, nice ambiance Cons: awful/rude hostess. more

This is a fun place to eat, any time. You can get a number of small dishes (tapas) or larger, more substantial meals. We always opt for the tapas, and everything we have ever ordered has been outstanding. The sangria is light and refreshing. The decor is warm, inviting and elegant at the same time, and the waiters are always charming and helpful. This is a great place to take people from out of town. Live music on the weekends. PROS: Excellent food, great ambience! CONS: Can be loud at times. more

I really like Cascals because it is different and they serve tappas, which are like smaller portions, sort of like eating appetizers. I love a variety of food and this environment allows you to taste numerous things. Sometimes the food can be a bit spicey, but I am a whimp when it comes to spice. Try it, you'll like it. PROS: Musical entertainment CONS: A lot of fried things on the menu more

I ordered the Argentinean Steak. It was soft and flavorful. They gave me some veggies and potatoes to go along the steak. I have to say it was delicious. My neighbor goes there at-least once every two week. My wife had the ceviche (Shrimp cocktail)and said it tasted very good. more

This restaurant is located in the heart of downtown Mountain View. The food is excellent and the service too. The staff is firendly. You can go anytime with or without reservation. Great ambiance too. Family friendly more

The decor is beautiful. Happy hour is a deal. The food is good enough. The problem with Cascal is the ATTITUDE. The waiters are pushy. They want to take your order the minute you sit down; clear the table before youve finished your meal; bring the bill the moment you put down your fork. Its pretty clear they are more interested in turning the table than creating a pleasant dining experience. The waiters arent the only ones to blame. On a recent visit, the manager came by to check on our bill. When my dining companion asked if he was trying to get rid of us, his response was Well, we do need the table. What decent restaurant manager would say this to customers? Cascal claims traditional Spain hospitality. In Spain, the dining experience is more important than the actual meal. My advice - Lose the attitude or lose customers. Pros: decor, happy hour, food Cons: attitude, service more

Entering Cascal, you will notice the high ceilings, colorful decor, and the bustling crowds. Unfortunately, the food doesn't impress as much. A multitude of choices greet you on the tapas menu. I tried wild mushroom empanadas, Mexican Shrimp (""Mojo de Ajo""), and calamari. Empanadas (tasty), but were pretty tiny even by tapas standards. The shrimp (decent) but didn't wow me... I've had better chili-garlic shrimp before. The fried calamari, bland, even with dipping sauce. Perhaps I chose the wrong tapas... none stood out. For the main course, I had the Paella Cascal... like the tapas, it was decent, but failed to wow me... the seafood was semi-fresh, but the flavors didn't mesh together as well as it could have. The sangria at Cascal isn't bad, but SF's Cha-Cha-Cha is better. Decent atmosphere and service, but the food must get better if this is going to be a hot spot. Pros: Ambience, Mixed crowd, Varied tapas menu Cons: Not a good value, Spotty parking, Mixed drinks more

Waited for over an hour only to find out that the hostess gave our table away. Her excuse was that we originally said 10 ppl, but when we changed to 8, the table of 10 was given away for the party that arrived much later than us. Go figure! When we were finally seated at 9pm, we were not offered any bread, either. We just had to wait longer for our food to come. To be fair to the owner, he did give us about $50 worth of food and drinks after our complaints, but all those free food (not even that good) and drinks really didn't justify the time wasted for waiting, the distress, and the heartburn that I got for eating so late. Should've just left. Definitely NOT going back. There are many more restaurants worthy to visit in the area.. Pros: ambience, good location Cons: terrible service, mediocre food more

We happened upon Cascal one Christmas Eve when everything else was closed. The hostess rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh when we answered ""no, we don't have reservations."" She then ushered us way into the back, past empty table after empty table, to what I presume is the loser section. Twenty minutes later, we (still the only people in the restaurant), were provided bread and water. Had ANYWHERE else been open, we would have left (one similarly dispositioned couple arrived after us and did just that). About 10 minutes later, we were greeted by our waiter. From that point on, our waiter was attentive and the food was delicious. We paid our bill and left through the still-empty restaurant, having learned our lesson well: never darken their door again-with or without reservations! Pros: Good Food Cons: Hauty Service, Expensive more

The cusine here is definitely a blend of Peninsular and Latin American. The bread was fresh and came with a delicious blend of olive oil, garlic, cilantro and other spices. We tried the Tapas sampler, which is large enough to be a small dinner for 2, and liked all the various Tapas so much that it has become a favorite. Another favorite is the Brazilian Caipirinha Naranja drink. On a later visit we tried some of the other small plates, including the Mojo de Ajo (Mexican shrimp with lime and chile) and Mushroom Empanadas and found both delicious. For dessert we had the Spanish Artisan Cheeses, a welcome break from the usual dessert fare of chocolote torte and cheescake. All in all, we enjoyed our evenings and the music very much. Pros: Food, Ambience, Music Cons: Cost more

We liked the atmosphere. The ahi tuna tapa was great - pink and firm; and the tapenade it was served with complimented the fish very well. The prawns in garlic oil was good, but bad value - you get about 6 shrimps. The clams in coconut sauce was ok; the clams were fresh - a really huge plus! But, I didn't like it in coconut broth - that's just my preference though. Bread was yummy, and even better after you add some salt. The only negative was that the maitre'd seated us (2) at a bad table near the bathroom when there were several other better tables for 4 available. We asked the waiter to move us, and he did. The other tables for 4 remained empty the rest of the night. That maitre'd needs to improve. Pros: atmosphere, good food Cons: maitre'd, value more

this place was beautiful. but the service was a let down. my drink came about 20 minutes into my hour wait for my food. waitor was not watchful, but the atmosphere was great. i saw people just hanging out not eating, which is what i would go to do. more

This was a surprise. We really enjoyed the experience. good ffod and great service. The music was good too!. more