Aventura
Sava Lelcaj joined three storefronts on E. Washington and hung a twelve-foot marquee out front, 249 eleven-watt bulbs pointing an arrow at the door.1
Why go
The sign is the first argument and Mark Chalou built it off a 1940s Baltimore hotel marquee.1 Lelcaj wanted the street lit: We wanted to light up the street, and the arrow was [Chalou's] idea. It was just the right cool-slash-tacky touch.
1 Inside, three former shopfronts run together under wide brick archways around a three-sided bar.1 The tapas list runs to about sixty plates. The two dishes the kitchen is proudest of sit on the back of the menu, the paellas and the cochinillo, and both come out sized for a table.1 The Infatuation reads the room the same way and calls it a kitchen bringing the flavors of Spanish Basque country to a town more used to deep dish pizza and deli sandwiches.
2
Order this / avoid
- Order: the marisco paella, and the cochinillo if the table is big enough.1
- Order: the patatas bravas. A waiter's own description:
thrice-fried potatoes, with a sunny-side-up egg, and honey aioli.
1 - Avoid: loading up on the aperitivo section. The Infatuation says skip it unless a bar snack is the whole plan.2
What locals & experts say
- Sava Lelcaj, owner, to the Ann Arbor Observer:
Bring friends, order a ton of small plates, and let us take the lead. We spent so much time training our staff.
1 - Bella Simonte, The Infatuation, 23 October 2025:
In the evening, the dining room is typically almost entirely filled with dates and anniversaries.
2
Good to know
- Booking: the restaurant's own site books through OpenTable.3
- Happy hour: at the bar, 3pm to 6pm and again from 9pm to close.3
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Consistently rated one of the best restaurants in the region, this Spanish Tapas restaurant is a fine dining standby. The higher prices reflect the fine dining aspirations." No awarding body sits behind that rating in anything read here, and the fine-dining framing is his own.
Verdict
should-visit — The Ann Arbor Observer and The Infatuation send you to the same two dishes, the marisco paella and the cochinillo, and both are on the back of the menu where a first-timer will miss them. Lelcaj built the room out of three storefronts and hung a twelve-foot marquee with 249 bulbs on it, so the place is trying to be an event and mostly succeeds at being one. Jeff's own caveat about the prices is fair and is the reason this is a night out rather than a drop-in. Nobody has published on the current kitchen, which is what holds it back.