Newly christened restaurant The Barcelona Connection does tapas in Richardson

by Teresa Gubbins

• Tweet
• Email
• Print
• 8 Comments

Specialties include a Valencia-style paella with seafood, chorizo, saffron rice -- the real deal.

The Barcelona Connection has a killer patio with a western view of the setting sun.

RICHARDSON — We're having a tapas summer: Si Tapas opened in May, Stephan Pyles' Samar is supposed to open later this summer, and now Richardson has tapas, too, at The Barcelona Connection, a Spanish/tapas restaurant right off Galatyn Park.

Chef Vernon Morales, who previously worked at Sangria, is from cooked in Barcelona, but the menu incorporates other areas of Spain, as well, says co-owner Ronnie Kyprion. (The other co-owner is Joe Mareno, who also owns De Tapas in Addison.)

"We have a little Madrid, Cadiz, Barcelona, it varies," he says.

Originally called Jaleo, their specialties include skirt steak and a "Valencia-style" paella with seafood, two kinds of chorizo, shrimp, chicken, mussels, and clams -- "the real deal," Kyprion says.

They moved into their location under the impression that they'd have ready-made customers from the residential complex in which they're located. But Kyprion says that, while the complex is 85% full, they only see "maybe 1%" of those residents in their restaurant.

Instead, they've become the darling of Richardson neighborhoods such as Canyon Creek, who welcome having a tapas restaurant so close. And they're surrounded by businesses, including Bank of America, Countrywide, Nortel -- "whoever's left over there," Kyprion says -- Blue Cross Blue Shield. They're right on the DART Rail line; in fact, they're one of the only places within walking distance of the Galatyn Park stop, and their happy hour is brisk. The interior is clean and modern, and there's a beautiful patio that overlooks the Galatyn Park fountain and reaps some beautiful sunsets.

"I think when a lot of people finally saw that there was a restaurant in this area was the Wildflower Festival," he says. "They saw us cooking outside, they saw our patio, they saw that this is a restaurant."