Madrid Spanish Taverna - Roswell

What should have been a wonderful evening turned into a fiasco.We wished to repay friends for giving us tickets to a New York theater production in Atlanta and asked them where they wished to dine. Looking for something different, they selected Madrid, a Spanish Taverna located off Canton Street in Roswell. My wife called early in the week making reservations for a party of six to guarantee that the restaurant could accommodate us. Upon arrival, we were ushered out to a gazebo with a wooden park bench, wrought iron tables for two with matching chairs without cushions even. Although the gazebo had plastic surrounding it with a zipper entrance, it was 37 degrees on this particular evening and not-with-standing the heater, it was still freezing.We asked to be seated indoors but were told that there were only tables for four available. They would try to accommodate us but we would have to wait an hour. We really couldn’t leave and go elsewhere because 8:00 PM on a Saturday evening is a prime dining hour and we wouldn’t have been able to gain a table elsewhere.We were finally squeezed around a table for four located in a corner between the rear entrance door and the door to the kitchen. A member of our party was disabled with a walker and it was extremely difficult for her to maneuver into her seat. When we asked the owner to explain the outdoor seating during the current weather, her response was, “Sorry.” “Our indoor seating normally accommodates four.” We were not advised of this in advance when reservations were made.We ordered four kinds of tapas (serrano ham, Manchego cheese and eggplant, Spanish dates wrapped in Serrano ham, and Piquillos Rellenos) along with our drinks. The wait staff constantly ignored us and Larry had to get out of his chair to chase down our server. After our hors d’ouvres (tapas plates), we proceeded to order our mains.Everyone chose to go with various paellas. Greg ordered the Carne – Valencian rice, salted pork, bacon, chicken, and chistorra (a fast-cured sausage from Aragon), and saffron. Larry chose the Mixed Paella which was a combination of both meat and seafood with the same ingredients. I chose the Marisco – seafood paella with shrimp calamari, clams, green pimenton (a type of pepper), mussels, red pepper, and saffron. All three dishes came out dry as they had been under the broiler too long. This was not the moist, aromatic, and tasty with fresh ingredients Paella Valenciano that we remembered from our recent trip to Spain with Greg and his wife. The meal ended with a shared flan that was made with coconut flavoring that gave it a weird taste. It was more of a custard than a flan and was not our “cup of tea.”There was inconsideration all around and at no point did the owner offer to comp us for anything in response to the lack of facilities to properly host us under current weather conditions. Given this fiasco, would we return in the future; definitely NOT as we were thoroughly embarrassed by the treatment of us and our guests.

Average Spanish tapas restaurant with less than inspiring atmosphere, yet strangely, a somewhat premium price for it all. The food was decent, though, but the paella didn't exhibit the delicate blend of flavors that one should expect for a $50 plate. Similarly, the churos were average but the chocolate ganache was an excellent standout. Overall, not a terrible experience. However given the other options for Spanish tapas there are better choices.

Delicious and authentic dishes of Spain!Looking forward to coming back.

Swani, Aiden, Carla and all the others on staff who's name we don't know thank you for our wonderful evening! The environment, the food, the service from everyone that stopped by the table all helped to contribute to our beautiful evening.

We ordered from the Brunch menu and so our party greatly enjoyed sharing a wide variety of brunch themed Spanish tapas plates! We are also dropped in an order of the French toast and the Mixta paellas. Service was excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful outdoor seating!