Bahia - Traverse City

The service was excellent, particularly in terms of clearing the table, although there were some used dishes left behind. The croquettes were delicious, but we weren’t fans of the al pastor or the mussels. The al pastor was overly salty, and the mussels had a rich flavor of meat and dark chocolate that we found unappealing. The vodka martini wasn't very good, possibly due to the use of a low-quality vodka or an excessive amount. I really wanted to like this place, and everyone was very friendly, but given our disappointment with the food, I doubt we will return.

This was nothing like what we expected. Due to a shortage of servers, one of the unique staff members attended to us. We went with a group of friends and tried just about everything, ordering one dish at a time. The charcuterie board, Spanish crème brûlée, and sangria were outstanding. The white wine sangria with lemon, strawberry, and basil was particularly refreshing. One of our friends, who had been to Spain, remarked that the flavors and dishes were spot on.

The staff was friendly and attentive. The food was amazing, and the presentation was perfect. We had the somego, and the pork belly was crispy on the outside and melted in your mouth on the inside. The octopus was tender, and we finished our meal with buñuelos, which are made fresh when ordered and come out hot, rolled in powdered sugar and resting on a bed of caramel. I would definitely recommend Bahia!

Fun. on Friday evening in the fairy with friends. they offer their feature cocktails from the pitcher have enough choice to align for our group of 6 to share. service was good. not happy that we had to pay for broth.

Went to Bahia last night for some dinner with a friend. Was supposed to be four of us, we called ahead and they were very accommodating, friends cancelled, no prob. We started off with a couple drinks each, The jalapeño margarita, red sangria pretty good , and basically a blackberry smash drink, but with tequila...they were out of blackberries despite it being on the menu, but sub'd blueberry. Her blueberry drink wasn't great. Lacked flavor and alcohol for that matter. My margarita was ok. The cilantro tequila was nice but would've liked some heat from the jalapeño, no need to de seed the pepper, makes it a bell pepper then. My second drink was a Hey Honey I think with Makers, honey, and something. It was 1.5oz pour with a lot of ice and was gone very quickly. We ordered 5 plates to share. The manchego bread w cheese, roasted garlic and tomatoes, served cold...that threw us off. This was the least favorite as there was no seasoning on the tomatoes. Mussels in a chocolate mole sauce, was ok. We used the leftover garlic from the first plate to add to the mussels n bread to help with the flavor. Blue corn tostada...the one I was most excited about. Unfortunately it was very misleading as the tostada was served on a sope and not mentioned in the description. Good flavor, too much of the sope and a lot of beans. But the lamb and kimchi on it was really nice. Forgot the name but it was just pork tacos, meat was cooked and seasoned well, salsa verde was bright but had zero spice. Was served with cotija and 4 corn tortillas. Last was the croquettes with poblano and Yukon potatoes. They were fine. Nice fried outside shell, potatos we're creamy but overtook the poblano entirely. There was a red pepper sauce that had a little heat spice to it which was really nice. Bill was about 150 w a 20 tip. Considering where this restaurant is, it's hard to get ethnic food that isn't fusion. I plan on coming back to try the rest of the menu, hoping the next time is better. TC really needs at least one authentic Spanish restaurant. Also, I'd like to note our server and staff were on top of their game, great service and communication for sure.