5. Dante's

We were extremely disappointed in our recent dinner at Dante's. We opted for the cheese platter sampler with four tapas to share. The cheese platter was ok and certainly the most edible portion of our meal. The cheeses were bland and similar and the waitress could not tell us which cheese was which. The first tapas was clams with garlic and wine. It was a bowl of butter with raw garlic and a few clams sitting on top. The second was portobello topped with goat cheese and beets. There was an overwhelming amount of cheese and again lacking flavor. The third tapas was a beef tenderloin with supposed mushroom and whiskey sauce. That could not have possibly been tenderloin. It was the toughest, blandest, most overcooked meat we have ever eaten. We ate one bite and would not even bring the rest home to our dog. And the mushroom and whiskey sauce were non-existent. Also, we were only provided with a butter knife which would never cut that meat. The fourth tapas was ahi tuna. Lacked flavor again and overcooked. Every dish lacked salt and was overcooked. We will never go there again.

Dante's menu reads like a tapas bar or a Spanish bodega...but beware! The food does not taste like you would expect. We ordered a tortilla de patatas, a patatas bravas, and the paella. All three were so disapointing that I wanted to get my coat and leave. The patatas bravas tasted like it had Louisiana hot sauce all over it -the waiter told me it was a Japanese sauce. The tortilla had the texture of a sponge and had green bell peppers in it, which I have never seen before. The paella didn't have any saffron...it wasn't even yellow, and the seafood was so tough that we could not even cut through it with the provided butter knives. It turns out the the chef was trained in Indonesia and Italy. The only thing that lived up to expectations was the imported cheese. Stay away.

Loved it! Great service they were more than willing to cater to my vegan diet. The wine list is one of the best in Syracuse. Oh, and the food was great, I recommend the paella. Btw contrary to what the description says this is a Spanish Tapas place not an Italian restaurant.