Tapas!

I don't actually dabble too much in Spanish cuisine. That said, my main interaction with it has been through tapas, having been a few times over the past several years. From this limited sample size, I'd have to say I had my best experience so far last weekend at a South Loop place called Tapas Valencia. I left the place stuffed, which has never happened, from either a tapas or dim sum place. And for the price of $35/head, the eight of us got stuffed with roughly twenty dishes of tapas, six plates of dessert, and two pitchers of sangria. Even the server got stuffed with a pretty reasonable tip.

The things that stuck out to me were the tuna canneloni, baked goat cheese, spanish omelette, lamb medallions, and calamari. If I had to pick one dish from each of the "entrees" and dessert, it'd have to be the bacon wrapped dates and the profiteroles.

For the price point, it was a really satisfying and delicious meal. There wasn't a dish I didn't like. The only downer is that it probably takes a bigger group to get your money's worth and while still being able to try out a lot of the different offerings.