If you're getting ripped off, you're going to a bad tapas restaurant.
Speaking from experience, a meal at a good, appropriately-priced tapas place should cost the same or slightly less than a meal at a regular three-course restaurant, and should offer what seems like an endless stream of food!
i'm not referring to spain, where delicious tapas are cheap and plentiful, but to the americanized concept where the going rate for 3 bites of food seems to be about $7
"how can we get someone to pay for their entire meal as appetizers?"
some MBA student got a good grade for that one