Tried Cascal in Mountain View, a Spanish-inspired restaurant with a lively vibe and very warm service.

We ordered quite a lot from the menu — tapas, drinks, pork belly, mussels, and more. The tapas were good overall, and the drinks were enjoyable. The sangria and mojito were nice, while the cilantro cocktail was just okay for me; I felt it lacked a bit of depth and layered flavor.

For the food, the pork belly was a little underwhelming and came across as bland. However, the side that came with it — the mint-cilantro mix with pomelo — was surprisingly very good. Fresh, bright, and honestly more memorable than the pork belly itself.

The mussels in saffron cream sauce were okay, but I personally picked up a slight bitter note, so it didn’t fully work for my taste. Considering the price point, I did find the overall experience a bit expensive for what we had.

What really stood out, though, was the service. The servers were very polite, sweet, and charming — genuinely one of the best parts of the meal.

Overall, Cascal has a nice atmosphere, good tapas, and lovely service, but some dishes and cocktails could use more depth and stronger execution for the price.

My wife and I went for Happy Hour on 4/24 at ~3:30. The only reason for the two stars for service is because of the bartender. My wife sat at a bar table while I was parking our car. The bartender completely ignored my wife and waited on others who came after. Even when I joined her he never came over. I talked to the hostess who was very nice and she gave us a nice table and we could order off of the Happy Hour menu. Daniel our server was excellent and always smiling. We had a Negroni and Margarita to drink, both were really good. What we ate was delicious! We had Street Tacos, Croquetas de Jamon, Crab Tostaditos. For dessert we had the Authentic Basque Cheescake.