S’Aranella

  4.8 – 59 reviews   • Spanish restaurant

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✔️Lunch ✔️Dinner ✔️Dine in S'Aranella 93446

Hours

Saturday4:30–9 PM
Sunday4:30–9 PM
Monday4:30–9 PM
TuesdayClosed
WednesdayClosed
Thursday4:30–9 PM
Friday4:30–9 PM

Address and Contact Information

Address: 835 12th St A, Paso Robles, CA 93446

Phone: (805) 221-5529

Website: https://www.saranellarestaurant.com/

Menu Photos

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Reviews

James Johnson
This place never lets us down. The service is always on point. Every visit, we sit at the bar—or on the patio if the weather is good.

This time, we had the pleasure of being taken care of by Sydney, who handled both our cocktails and food orders. She was fantastic—attentive, friendly, and knowledgeable. If I can help it, I’ll definitely be sitting with her every time we visit.

To start, I had an Old Fashioned, and my wife ordered a Whiskey Sour. We shared the deviled eggs, Croquetas de Champiñones, Mejillones Catalán (mussels), and the Paella Mixto.
The deviled eggs didn’t quite deliver. They lacked seasoning and texture, and the yolk mixture could have used more attention, better mixing for a creamier consistency and more seasoning. That said, the egg whites themselves were cooked well.
On the other hand, the Croquetas de Champiñones were excellent crispy, flavorful, and perfectly sized bites. I’d absolutely recommend them.

The standouts of the meal were easily the mussels and the paella. The sauce from the mussels was so good I almost asked for more bread just to soak it up, but instead, I poured it over the paella. Best decision ever. The paella was packed with bold flavors and great textures and with the broth poured over the top !!!! Chefs kiss!
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Eddie Casillas
Amazing! Take a trip to Basque/Spain here … moreso than anywhere I’ve found between SLO and SF. Pintxos, Jamón ibérico, and Gilda’s! Great vibe and even better service! I sat at the bar and Sydney provided great recommendations! Eating here brought my mind back to my trip to Spain!
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Magdalena R
This restaurant really captured the spirit of Spain. The atmosphere felt like you just walked in to your favorite tapas spot in your neighborhood in Madrid. The menu was creative, plenty of options for the adventurous foodie as well as classics that everyone loves. The execution of all the food was spot on and everything we had was delicious. We loved the pan con tomate, Spanish tortilla, the stuffed squid lata, the croquettes were incredible, gambas were perfect, and the patatas bravas were so tasty! I want to go back and try everything we didn’t get a chance to because each dish was so unique and so yummy. On top of all this the service was cool, knowledgeable, friendly and prompt. They really did an incredible job with this place!!
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Elaine Vukadinovich
Exquisite elevated Spanish tapas and paella. Lamb so tender, gambas so buttery, and a fried artichoke dish that was out of this world. The technical expertise with the crispiness where it should be, the tender inside, everything so perfectly done. Then we had the paella Del Mar. We expected typical and I suppose should have paid more attention to the menu because it’s right there: it was prepared with squid ink sofrito for the rice, a garlic saffron aioli, so different than any other seafood paella we have had. So, so good!!!! A perfect soccarat also. Yum! We learned that it is a sister restaurant to Les Petites Caneilles so the excellence in the kitchen totally makes sense. Also had a wonderful Priorat throughout and an amazing crema Catalana flavored with orange to finish the meal. Absolutely loved it and highly recommend!! Well worth it!!
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Douglas Martin
Came here on the recommendation of our host at a wine tasting at Bodega de Edgar. They had only been open 8 days, but the food was pitch perfect. Everything was delicious, and deeply flavored. The cocktails are expertly made, wine list is well curated. This restaurant specializes in Spanish style tapas and paellas. We ordered several small plates to share (papas bravas, endive salad, fried artichoke hearts, Marcona almonds with rosemary, Serrano ham croquettes). For our main dish, we ordered the paella mixto, which had what looked like shishito peppers on top. They used authentic bomba rice,simmered in a deep, spicy red broth. Mixed in was rabbit meatball and jidori chicken. Service was great, but at 8 days, they were still getting their sea legs. The atmosphere was very nice, but the sound was a bit of a din, and reflective. What an amazing dinner though, and I will make this a stop every time I’m in Paso.
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Matt M
Absolutely exquisite flavors & friends. The refreshments are amazing as is the wine selection. I love their luscious take on the classic Carajillo. The tapas will tantalize your taste buds with every bite. The chefs and liquid chefs really know what they are doing back there. My favorite dishes have to be the pulpo y iberico—I will definitely be back for more, again & again. Special thanks to Syd & Sarah for the stunning service, smiles and talent. The whole team is great—my cup runneth over!! Shout out to Patrick Alex & Chef as well
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Emily Taylor
This place is excellent. We had the meat and cheese board (excellent Spanish meats, plus a cheese and crisps), plus five tapas. Good for two. The food was near perfect, and the patatas bravas were a standout. Excellent service and atmosphere, great cocktails. The only thing that was just “okay” was the desserts- we had the Basque cheesecake and their version of creme brulee (“crema”) and both were fine, but not standout. I really enjoyed this place and we will be back.
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Frankie Smith
The food and cocktails were delicious. We had a paella and two tapas between two of us and it was a perfect amount.
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Alexis A
Chef and owner Julien Asseo, French-born and trained, describes S’Aranella as a Spanish-inspired tapas concept shaped by lifelong travels to Spain and a deep love for its cuisine.

Love is a beautiful starting point.
But love does not equal fluency.

Spain’s cuisine is not decorative. It is structural. It is regional memory rendered edible. A paella is not simply rice and seafood — it is integration. The rice absorbs stock, fat, and marine salinity together in the pan. And the socarrat — the caramelized crust at the base — is not an aesthetic flourish. It is technical evidence that the dish was executed with discipline.

Here, the seafood paella arrives as rice cooked separately, with seafood placed on top rather than unified within it. A pasta “paella” is also offered — a creative choice, certainly — but one that further distances the dish from the technique that defines it. The rice lacks socarrat entirely. Scraping yields softness rather than crackle.

And then: aioli with dill. Dill. On paella.

France and Spain share a border — but not a pantry. The French tradition reveres sauce. Spain reveres product. France refines. Spain asserts. Both are precise. Neither casually sprinkles dill on paella.

The flavor profile here feels geographically confused — less Mediterranean integration, more Nordic inflection. It reads as interpretation without immersion.

The Pulpo a la gallega, a dish defined by restraint, arrives char-grilled tentacle arranged over a molded potato purée, accented with green oil and dressed with sauce. Don’t give me Pulpo a la Gallega that looks like it went to culinary school in Bordeaux and came back with opinions. It’s not supposed to have “a sauce.” It’s supposed to have olive oil and paprika and humility. Its power lies in simplicity. This S’Aranella preparation may be technically competent, but it diverges significantly from the traditional structure. It feels reinterpreted to the point of losing its regional identity. This is not pulpo a la Gallega. It is pulpo that lost its passport.

The patatas bravas (labeled “papas”) are whole roasted potatoes blanketed in piped aioli and thick red sauce that lives in a completely different stratosphere from actual brava — no smoky paprika bite, no restrained heat, no emulsified confidence. Just… sauce. If you’re going to freestyle, at least understand the baseline. It is not some polite drizzle trying not to offend Napa. The dish doesn’t argue with tradition. It ignores it.

Crema catalana scented with saffron follows.
Saffron belongs to paella — when paella is done properly.

Crema catalana traditionally relies on citrus peel, cinnamon, and a thin caramelized sugar crust that cracks under the spoon. It is clarity and restraint. The saffron addition feels less like innovation and more like a broad association with “Spanishness.”

And then the “burnt Basque cheesecake.”

Basque cheesecake is not simply burnt. It is controlled. The top is deeply browned — nearly scorched — while the interior remains custardy, almost molten. The burn is deliberate, concentrated, and contrasted by creaminess.

Here, the browning extended uniformly around the exterior, and the interior read firm rather than lush. The effect felt less like a measured, blistered top and more like a pervasive overbake — bitterness without the intended textural payoff.

In both desserts, the pattern repeats: the name is correct. The form is not.

Innovation is fine. Spain isn’t fragile.
But this isn’t innovation. It’s misunderstanding dressed up as creativity..

To be fair — and fairness matters — the service was excellent. If “home” is part of the restaurant’s identity, the staff embodies it sincerely.

But Spain is not a costume one wears through menu terminology alone.
The names of the dishes are Spanish. The soul is not.

The socarrat is missing.
The brava is lost.
The Gallego is disrespected.
The saffron is homesick.

And somewhere in Valencia, a pan weeps quietly.

If this is a love letter to Spain, it is written with enthusiasm. It just isn’t written in the language of the cuisine.
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Kathleen Garcia
The beat paella I’ve ever had, especially with the fideo! Excellent service, extremely accommodating. Can get a bit noisy at full capacity but not painfully as in so many other establishments. my new favorite restaurant. Try it!
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