I think the high reviews of Sofrita must simply be a function of the limited dining options in Fountain Hills as this is the worst excuse for tapas that I've ever had.  We walked in and were greeted by a strange, musty smell that remained pervasive throughout the meal.  We should have taken that as an indication of what was to come and left, but based on the great reviews, decided to stay.  Big mistake.

I ordered a red sangria which was okay, but had a strange flavor of figs or dates so I'm not sure if it was just made with old wine that had turned and took on a prune juice flavor or if that taste was intentional.  We ordered the olives, fried potatoes, grilled zucchini, shisito peppers, and four different types of bruschetta.  The olives were, well, olives (tough to ruin those) but also contained some off-putting caperberries that we avoided.  The grilled zucchini was just plain zucchini with no seasoning whatsoever served with a side of what looked like potato salad as a dip, but we never really could identify what that substance was as it had absolutely no flavor so we opted to avoid the fat that it was obviously adding to the zucchini.  The shisito peppers had no spice or flavor at all and were absolutely swimming in oil.  I've never had a "roasted" pepper that was so soaked in grease.  The waitress asked if we didn't like the peppers when she noticed that all but a few remained and when we pointed out how greasy they were, politely took them off the bill.  The four pieces of bruschetta were all of different varieties: roasted eggplant; ripe tomatoes; avocado and beans; and grilled artichoke with cheese.  The bread was thick and chewy and none of the bruschettas had much flavor at all.  In fact, I think if I had just closed my eyes and randomly selected one off the plate, I probably wouldn't have been able to tell which it was.  The fried potato wedges were actually the best part of the meal, which is sad when the best item is a simple fried potato.

The atmosphere was severely lacking as there were candles on all of the tables and numerous votives on the walls, but not a single one was lit.  The restroom was extremely dark and was absolutely filled with unlit votive candles so I'm not sure if this was an attempt at saving costs, but had I known this, I would have gladly spared a box of votives from home just to create some sort of ambiance while we ate.  The place is also incredibly tiny so I have no idea where the flamenco band and dancers that other reviews have spoken of would perform.  If anyone tried to move through there, they would literally be bumping into tables.  

While I love tapas style dining, if this were the only tapas restaurant that there was, I would gladly forego the experience.  Needless to say, we won't be back.