Xuntos

L.A.’s Spanish dining scene is fairly lackluster, but this Santa Monica tapas bar serves a decent enough selection of traditional bar bites from Asturias, Catalonia, the Basque region and Galicia, where chef-owner Sandra Cordero spent her childhood summers. Pronounced “chuntos” (which means “together” in the Galician dialect), the restaurant offers hallmarks like patatas bravas and croquetas de jamon alongside harder-to-find items like bikinis (tiny grilled cheese sandwiches), tuna empanadas (served in slices, unlike the ones in Latin America) and whole fried anchovies. Not every dish will impress Spanish food snobs, but Westsiders are already flocking to the lofted dining room for calimocho (red wine and Coca-Cola) and a well-appointed list of Spanish wines, sherries and vermouths.