In Santa Fe, New Mexico, there is a restaurant which has the oldest bar in the city, on Canyon Road. I forget it's name, but it has good tapas and wines, and, I think, Spanish entres also. It is also famous for having murals painted by a renowned painter years ago, but I think they were destroyed in a fire some time back. A good friend of mine, David Cheney, sometimes plays good flamenco guitar there, and his wife, una gitana pura, sings and dances.

Washington, DC has a great tapas restaurant--Jaleo. It's the only tapas bar I've been to in the US that I think would be able to survive in Spain... The chef--Jose Andres--will host TVE's new cooking show this fall...

NYC: Azafran

http://www.azafrannyc.com/home.html

and if you are ever in austin, tx. there's is a restaurant called, malaga wine & tapas bar, 208 w. 4th st.

Oh yeah - Mariposita I've been to Jaleo and it is fantastic - great tapas! Does anyone know of a Spanish restaurant in the Richmond area?

There is an excellent Spanish restaurant near where I live in midtown Manhattan, EL POTE, located on Second Avenue between 38th & 39th Street.

I wish to add my agreement with the NY and Washington recommendations of Jaleo (DC) and el Pote (NYC). Here are a few additional Spanish restaurants that I really like to visit when I travel.

- S.F.: Zarzuela (on Hyde Street)
- Boston: Tapeo (back bay area)
- Wash DC: Taberna del Alabardero (18th and I) - this is the sister restaurant to the one near Opera in Madrid. Very good but expensive if you watching your budget.
- Chicago: Cafe Ba-Ba Reeba! (on North Halsted - you can eat here and then go to a Cubs game!.

In Washington, DC I like "Churrería Madrid" , (in Adams-Morgan, next to City Bikes). It reminds me of a typical mesón in Madrid, where the menu is mostly cheap Spanish "comfort food" like a plate of huevos fritos, pimientos, and chorizo, washed down with sangría.

I like it, but my madrileña wife doesn't, because she says, 'why go to a restaurant where you can make most things on the menu at home?'

Scarlett I am about an hour from you and was wondering the same thing. Does anyone know of any real spanish restaurants in the central Virginia area? (say Charlottesville, Richmond, Harrisonburg) I haven't been able to find anything Spanish related around here.

Here is a good website to check out restaurants in the DC-VA-MD area. It doesn't look like there is anything in central VA....

http://www.dcflamenco.com/dcflamenco/index.shtml