760 Best Restaurants in Spain

Blanc's menu couples traditional Catalan cuisine with fresh, seasonal products, and the three-course lunch menu, and the ever-changing, five-course "Sundays at Blanc" tasting menu are popular. The dining room is in an airy atrium at the heart of the Mandarin Oriental and feels lively most of the day, starting when the first hotel guests come in for the (excellent) breakfast. 

This three-floor design triumph by Spain's hottest interior decorator, Lázaro Rosa Violán, makes up for in sheer panache what it lacks in consistency. Don't plan on a quick visit: the fresh seafood and rice dishes on offer here can take a while to reach your table. Abandoning the post-Modernisme minimalism that has dominated Barcelona for the last decades, Boca Grande is a baroque celebration of colonial and safari-chic, from the second floor bar, Boca Chica, with its enormous elephant tusks behind the counter, to the spectacular unisex restrooms downstairs. You'll want to linger for a postprandial cocktail on the roof terrace.

This stylish restaurant, just around the corner from the Teatre-Museu Dalí, focuses on seasonal Empordà ingredients from the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean. Look for classic Catalan fare like prawn and cuttlefish fideuá alongside more modern dishes such as tuna tataki with black garlic.

A short stroll from the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion and CaixaForum, this bustling brick-walled restaurant serves top-notch seasonal Catalan cuisine prepared on the Josper charcoal oven. Order à la carte or go with the multicourse prix-fixe menu, which is a good deal.

Andalusian cuisine meets Basque tradition at this authentic restaurant in the heart of the older part of Fuengirola. Dine on fresh local produce either outside on the pleasant corner terrace or inside the rustic dining room. The menu takes Andalusian cooking as its base but adds Basque traditional dishes in a unique and very tasty north-south fusion. Try the txangurro (Basque-style crab), milhoja de foie con queso, membrillo y manzana (mille-feuille with foie gras, quince, and apple), or the house specialty, duck. There's also the cozy Charolais Tapas bar next door where you can enjoy inexpensive tapas (from €2.50) and sharing plates. The wine list runs very long and staff offer good advice on pairing.

The paintings on wine-barrel ends that decorate this classic restaurant have given it the nickname \"Museo Redondo\" (Round Museum). The building dates back to the 16th century when it was a wine cellar, apparent in the heavy wooden beams overhead and the rough, rustic tables. With meaty culinary specialties from La Rioja and fresh seafood from the Bay of Biscay, there is plenty to choose from. The menu changes daily and seasonally, but the fish of the day is a sure bet.

A block from the cathedral across Gran Vía, this is a delightfully typical Granada bodega with low ceilings and dark wood furniture. In addition to the wines, specialties here are plates of cheese, pâté, and embutidos (cold meats). You can also order a bandeja tradicional that comes with a taste of all traditional Spanish tapas or the value menú del día (weekday lunch only; €14).

Hiding in the basement of a timber building in the heart of the Parte Vieja, this restaurant—where world-renowned chef Martín Berasategui cut his teeth—toes the line between traditional and contemporary Basque cuisine. A recent menu included slow-roasted piquillo peppers, tiny de lágrima peas topped with a poached egg and shaved black trufffles, and brûléed torrijas (Spanish \"French\" toast).

A couple of blocks west of the cathedral lies one of the city’s best-loved tapas venues, usually jam-packed with locals enjoying an aperitif. Established in 1939 and now in its third generation, the bar is most famous for its meat dishes including the pringá sandwich (slow-cooked pork, chorizo, and black pudding in a bun) and pork cheeks. Cod also stars on the menu—try the carpaccio or crispy fried—along with a good selection of vegetable dishes such as the local spinach with chickpeas. Be sure to order a plate of the house potatoes, marinated in garlic and made by the owner every morning. There’s an excellent choice of wines, and sherry lovers are in for a treat because the list runs long. A warm welcome and service with a smile come guaranteed.

Barcelona's best-known Galician restaurant has maritime motifs, snowy white tablecloths, and fleets of waiters in spotless outfits serving uberfresh seafood, from whole grilled fish to lobster paella to raw platters (the latter, gasp-inducing for the spectacle and for the price).

For an upscale treat, Botafumeiro never disappoints; the counter is the place to be for icy Albariño white wine and pop a feira (octopus on potato slices with smoked paprika), a Galician favorite.

In the leafy garden of the Can Bordoy boutique hotel, Botànic is a plant-forward restaurant that also features locally sourced meat and fish. The menu is inspired by Southeast Asian, the Middle Eastern, and Mexican cuisines but firmly rooted in Mediterranean flavors.

One of the oldest bakeries in the city, Brunells has occupied the same corner in El Born since 1852. Recently remodeled, it now sports a contemporary look worthy of a Wes Anderson movie, while its flakey butter croissants filled with everything from ham and cheese to salted caramel, regularly win awards as some of the best in the city.

Tucked away to the north of the old quarter, a block from the Museum of Glass and Crystal, this bustling restaurant offers a range of traditional tapas and sharing plates, plus a good choice of rice dishes, all served in generous portions. The decor inside is eclectic, with vintage children’s bikes and amateur artwork taking center stage, while the small outside terrace (tables for two only) provides a quieter dining option. Despite the large number of tables inside and the rush of locals at weekends, service is efficient and always with a smile.

Chefs (and siblings) Jordi and Isabel Juncà have become legends in the town of La Vall de Bianya, just north of Olot, with exquisite cuisine that’s firmly rooted in local products. Dishes star game of all sorts, wild mushrooms, and vegetables from the garden, and are served in a historic stone-walled 19th-century inn. The two tasting menus (€115 or €140) give you a full range of the Juncàs' virtuosity. 

This restaurant has been serving old-school Catalan cuisine to local and loyal customers since 1940 (and under a different name for 50 years before that), and the practice has been made perfect. Standouts include butifarra sausage with spinach and chickpeas, meatballs with squid and shrimp, or veal stew with wild mushrooms. Most dishes are hearty, but there are a few lighter options such as steamed mussels and oven-baked cod.

Since the early 1970s, Ca l'Isidre has elevated simplicity to the level of the spectacular, with traditional Catalan dishes prepared to an extraordinarily high standard (and at a rather high price tag by Barcelona standards). Ignore the menu—just follow the recommendations and order whatever's in season. The restaurant is decorated with original works by a slew of luminaries, including Miró and Dalí, both former patrons. Spain's King Juan Carlos celebrated his wedding anniversary here, and regular guests include politicians and visiting Hollywood celebrities.

On an island known for its excellent paellas, fresh fish, and seafood, Ca Na Marga is famed for its top-quality steak, served with a choice of sauce, including green peppercorn or Mahón cheese sauce. Balearic specialties such as lamb shank with thyme and grilled rabbit are also good bets.

This café, on a side street behind the church of Sant Francesc, is one of Palma's venerable institutions, in business since 1700. Drop in for coffee or hot chocolate with an ensaimada crema—a spiral-shape Mallorcan pastry with a rich cream-cheese filling. With its green-glass chandeliers, cane-back chairs, and marble tabletops, the setting is a treat in itself.

Salt cod croquettes, fresh tomato salad, roast suckling pig—these are some of the comfort-food classics you'll find on the menu at this neighborhood haunt whose diner decor (steel bar, beige awnings, paper place mats) hasn't changed in decades. If you can snag a patio table in the summer, you've hit pay dirt.

Seafood doesn't get much fresher than here, as the owners' boat docks nearby every day except Sunday. The relaxed atmosphere welcomes either a quick bite or a complete dining experience. The house specialty, arroz caldoso de langosta (lobster and rice stew), is very impressive, as is the carpaccio d'emperador (thin slices of swordfish marinated in lemon, salt, and olive oil), cigalas (crayfish), lobster with onion, and grilled navajas (razor clams).

When this centenary café—one of the oldest in Madrid—shuttered in 2015, ostensibly for good, the public outcry was so great that it inspired a local restaurant group to buy the property and give it a much-needed revamp. In a dining room that combines original elements (huge mirrors, carved wooden columns) with new high-design fixtures, feast on a menu that's a dance between Café Comercial classics, including ham croquetas and tuna-topped ensaladilla rusa (potato salad), and novel creations by chef Pepe Roch.

With wicker chairs, stone walls, and classical music, this place is sophisticated-rustic in style. Contemporary Mediterranean cuisine specialties such as roast vegetable "timbale" with black sausage and Parmesan or eggplant terrine with goat cheese, make it more than just a café. Politicians and functionaries from the nearby Generalitat frequent this dining room, which is always boiling with life. Call ahead to reserve a table indoors or on the busy terrace.

The grandmotherly upholstery, fringed lampshades, plush wingback chairs, and wooden bookshelves make Café de la Luz a cozy spot to curl up with a book, catch up with friends, or get some work done. Coffees will run you about €2 apiece, and if you're peckish, there's a good variety of sweets and open-faced sandwiches to sate your appetite. Come evening (closing time is 2 am most nights), the lights get dimmed and coffees turn into cocktails.

Pamplona's gentry have been flocking to this ornate, French-style café since 1888, but in 1926 Ernest Hemingway made it part of world literary lore in The Sun Also Rises. You can have a drink with a bronze version of the author in his favorite perch at the far end of the bar, or enjoy views of the plaza from a table on the terrace. Service is spotty; grab a beverage and a tapa here, but don't stick around for a meal.

An excellent spot for coffee or a G&T, this is a classic establishment in the old fishermen's neighborhood. The sunny terrace in front and the bar inside are excellent places for drinks and sandwiches.

This bistro’s menu includes a 20-strong list of Catalan-style pizzas, served on peasant bread and incorporating regional ingredients like botifarra (sausage) and seasonal mushrooms. The delightful terrace is situated below a flight of stone stairs leading to the 17th-century Sant Martí church.

Escape to the tranquil, air-conditioned quiet of this salón de té (tea room) for comfortable booths, picture windows, pastries, breakfast plates, sandwiches, and perhaps the only free coffee refills in the Canaries.

Slightly hidden in the exclusive yachting marina behind the W hotel, this restaurant only attracts those in-the-know, which might explain why it's largely devoid of tourists. The menu includes healthy starters like salmon tartare and ceviche, and there's a nice selection of seafood-, vegetable- and meat-based paellas.