I went to Grado a few weeks ago with my mother and I have to say it was amazing. I grew up on Spanish food from living right on the border of mexico as a child but now living in England its not quite the same. Then I was recomended to Grado restaurant and it feels like home, I highley recomend this to anyone interested in the Spanish cooking you wont find anything closer to spain then grado.

Grado is one of those places that I wish I'd read Jay Rayner's review in the Observer because he is spot on about this place.

The decor is very impressive, and well set out, although we asked to be moved to a different table as the air conditioning must have been set to "Arctic". The wine selection is superb, (we had a Monte Real which was priced at £33, not a bad price for Manchester City Centre but I bought a bottle for 8 euros in Barcelona 3 weeks ago) , but if you want authentic, good tasting Spanish food this is definitely not the place to go. My partner and I started by sharing some tapas - pan con tomate (tomato bread) which just tasted like bruschetta with extra garlic (there's a difference guys, trust me), chips with bravas sauce - the bravas sauce just being fancy tomato ketchup, no hint of spice or paprika, and the chips were alternatively soggy and burnt, depending on which one you picked. We had Clams with Ham and Sherry, which were ok, but could have been hotter temperature-wise, and for the price you pay could have been more abundant. The only decent tapas were the Pimientos de Padron which were very good, but again, too few in number.

Both my partner and I had the Duck from the charcoal grill (a special on a Saturday), which rested in a "casserole" of tomato, chorizo, butterbeans and chickpeas. This gave the impression that you would be served it in a bubbling pot with tantalising aromas drifting out. Of course this was far from the truth. The duck was served on a smear of chopped tomatoes (which could have come straight from the can) with miniscule amounts of chorizo and a couple of beans. As for the duck itself, my girlfriend summed it up very succinctly - "It tastes like turkey"

If you have low expectations and have never been to Spain, by all means go to Grado, it's a lovely looking place and the wine list will take you days to pore over. Just don't eat there if you've ever had Spanish cuisine because you are going to be very disappointed. Go to El Rincon instead.

Dined on saturday and it was great. The food was excellent as was the service. This is the second time of dining and I really cannot fault the place. Great food, great service, great decor - well done to all!"

seems expensive for what appears on plate
nice surroundings
the rice bomba with chicken and jamon was unpleasantly greasy
nicest thing was the petit fours

been three times the restaurant is the best in manchester great desighn great freindly staff great buzzy atmospher and brilliant spanish food nothing like pesto or La tasca which one of your reports says .one of the waiters told me they have half the chefs in the city in and returning! so will i next week.Try the sardines the blackpudding and the hake with clams.The saffron ice cream is a winner and also the chocolate pudding with hazelnuts.

Visited Grado for the first time on Saturday and was impressed by the welcome. The staff come across very friendly and the decor great inside, especially the round tables, very sociable. Disappointed by the fact that there wasn't any house wine available. Our food arrived very quickly, once ordered. I would recommend the monkfish and the duck especially. We were however slightly dissapointed that we all felt quite rushed. The waitress came over and asked us if we had finished whilst we were still eating.

I popped into Grado after work & sampled some Tapas from the bar washed down with some speciality spanish beers. Well worth a visit!

I went to Grado this week, after reading the great reviews gordo and j-scho wrote about it. And I have to say I was impressed, great atmosphere with Spanish waitresses and the sommelier Marcelo is very friendly and got spot on all the wines suggested.
Food very good and the paella is authentic.
I RECOMEND

Dined last wewek at Grado and it was really good. The service, the atmosphere, the decor all great. Lot's to choose from on the menu, with some really interesting choices/combinations. Two of us had the two different duck dishes, which were excellent, one had the rabbit, which got the thumbs up, and one had the steak, which was described as really tasty! We will be back!

Went to Grado last week and had a great time. I would especially like to recommend the cocktails to anyone who eats there. I particularly enjoyed the tapas at the bar. The chefs recommended a couple of things I had never tried - Octopus being one of them!
The service was second to none, and the food in the restaurant was of a very high quality. In fact everything ablut the eating experience was fantastic - At last a great place which more that out shines the typical manufactured style tapas currently available in Manchester. The only comment for improvement I would suggest would be to warm the place up - Not in atmosphere, but literally. At times I was covered in goose bumps