The restaurant got its start in Chicago from Chef Gabino Sotelino, the same man who imported his French bistro Mon Ami Gabi to Paris Las Vegas just down the street. His parents are from the Basque and Galician regions of Spain so the tapas experience is, in many ways, like a part of his heritage.

There’s a nice outside patio with a great view of the comings and goings on Las Vegas Boulevard if it’s not too hot, but the interior of the restaurant is nothing to sneer at – done with dark woods and deep velvety red drapes that almost make it feel like an upscale steakhouse instead of a tapas restaurant.

The menu is enormous and a bit overwhelming at first, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. If that’s the case, ask the server for guidance – they are enormously helpful in pointing people toward the selections that will turn into a great meal.

You could skip the tapas thing all together and do your meal out of the paella – Spanish rice with your choice of chicken, lobster, shrimp, and other accompaniments. Or they have several calderos: rice, broth, and meat or seafood cooked in a cast-iron kettle that are more than enough food for full meals. Toro brochetas are the Spanish version of shish-ka-bobs, done up with chicken, pork tenderloin, shrimp, or beef tenderloin with vegetables, individual sauces, and tomato bread.

But the tapas section of the multi-page menu is really where I recommend you spend the bulk of your time reviewing the choices. The sizes of the tapas vary depending on what you’re ordering but in general you’ll want to get at least two per person at the table to make a full meal, unless you feel like doing something like eating sensibly for a change.

Cold tapas come in a variety of categories. Seafood includes things like roast tomatoes and tuna or citrus cured salmon and cucumber bread; the chicken and pork section features chicken salad with curry and ham, chorizo, and cheese among others; vegetables and cheese offerings include everything from a garlic potato salad to roast eggplant with goat cheese; and then there’s the salads and gazpachos in case you need roughage.

The hot tapas offerings is also divided into sections with seafood including seared salmon and Israeli couscous salad or fried calamari; beef and lamb items serve up things like seared lamb chops with piquillo peppers and meatballs in a sherry tomato sauce; roasted dates with bacon or almond and herb crusted chicken are found in the chicken and pork section; and vegetables and cheeses is where you’ll spot items such as mushrooms stuffed with spinach and cheese or fried green peppers.

The ones we sampled included the beef tenderloin, two one-inch thick, silver-dollar sized medallions of silky meat topped in a crumbled and baked blue cheese; the skirt steak, done a skewer with confit potatoes and onions; and the chicken and chorizo sausage, also done as a skewer with a cool cream-cheese style sauce accompanying among others. The meat in all instances was done perfectly – tender and juicy and since it is done in those bite size chunks it makes it easy to share and even linger over.

That’s the power of the tapas, if you feel like giving tapas power. The tapas are meant to be shared around the table and even the paellas and the other main dishes are done in 2- or 4-person servings so socializing is not only encouraged it is practically required. This is the place you want to take a big group of people, order a dozen or more different items and start passing plates while the conversation roars.

And if you need any help getting that conversation going, why not grease the wheels with the restaurants signature line of sangrias, wines, and sherries. The sangria comes in traditional red or white plus fun flavors like peach, passion fruit, cava (done with raspberry flavored Chambord), or even frozen, all by the glass or by the pitcher again to encourage sharing.

Finish off the meal with bite-sized desserts from caramel custard to vanilla cake with rum ice cream to apple cobbler and beyond. They are actually more like three bites each but after a big meal of tapas it’s the perfect way to top things off without feeling like you need to be wheeled out of the place.

Prices vary widely depending on what portion of the menu you are ordering from. Cold vegetable and cheese items start as low as $4 while the hot seafood and beef items can get up in the $7-8 range, although most are comfortably in between. Again, a normal person will want at least two to make a meal so that means anywhere from $10-$20 per person before you start adding in extras like drinks, dessert, tax, tip, and of course sangria.

At first blush that may seem like a lot to pay for glorified appetizers but once you start diving into the dishes you’ll see them more for their substance than their size and it’ll definitely feel worth it. Consider the fact that you can’t get a decent hamburger on The Strip these days for less than $10 and you start to understand why this is actually a great bargain.