760 Best Restaurants in Spain

Behind the Atlantic Sol shopping mall, this well-established restaurant is one of the oldest in town and has been under the same management since 1989. As you might expect from the name, its interior has wooden furniture, beamed ceilings, and cozy lighting. House specialties include paella, goat stew, and steak. Book ahead or arrive early to shore up a table.

This wine bar and restaurant in the heart of the casco antiguo (old town) earns high marks from locals and international visitors alike. There's a wide selection of montaditos (sandwiches), paella, and fresh seafood tapas—oysters, mussels, razor clams—complemented by a well-chosen list of Spanish wines.

This tiny taberna, which serves some of the best tapas in town, is always packed with locals. Order a few tostas (open-faced sandwiches on crusty peasant bread) and raciones (shared plates), and pair them with Extremaduran wines.

Cheap and cheerful sums up this small bar-restaurant at the north end of Maspalomas. It's usually packed with locals, who flock here for good and inexpensive Spanish classics, including revuelto de papas con jamón serrano (scrambled eggs with potatoes and Iberian ham) and bacalao con tomate (cod in tomato sauce), and tapas. The daily set menu, which has two courses, is about €10. Expect generous portions, and if you want to be sure to get in, arrive early—before 2 pm for lunch and before 9 for dinner.

One of the best tapas bars in town, La Tasca de Ana is boisterous and filled with locals. With only a handful of tables and standing room by the bar, it's not the setting for a quiet romantic dinner, but it's a fine place to kick-start the evening with local wine and tapas like rodolfitos (battered prawns) and pork paté and eggplant toasts.

La Tasquería, which moved to Chamberí from Salamanca in 2024, draws restaurant industry pros and food writers with its bold menu revolving around off-cuts like liver, kidneys, tripe, and tongue—onetime staples of the Spanish diet that fell out of favor but are now getting a modern makeover. Even the squeamish will be won over by delectable dishes like ravioli filled with lamb sweetbreads, and cod tripe fideuà (pasta "paella").

One of the more sophisticated establishments on Plaza Bibrambla, this restaurant champions Andalusian produce, with the emphasis on seasonal and local goods. They include Pajuna cattle beef and pink tomatoes, in recipes taking the Mediterranean as their theme. You dine under the original wooden beams on comfy moss-green armchairs. The kitchen is open from 1 to 11 pm, and booking is advisable.   

This budget-friendly bar—specializing in hot stuffed bread rolls (called casis) and flavored hard cider—has an industrial vibe, thanks to exposed pipes, high ceilings, and a semi-open kitchen. The best part, however, is the under-the-radar courtyard with room for spreading out.

Come up to Tibidabo for the great views, but budget time at the restaurant La Venta on Plaça Doctor Andrea, across the square from where the vistas unfold, for lunch in a charming Moderniste setting. For an unusual appetizer, try the uni (sea urchin) au gratin.

A few minutes’ drive from Costa Adeje lies this oceanfront restaurant overlooking the quaint harbor of La Caleta. Watch the sun set over La Gomera island while you savor fresh local fish and shellfish and Tenerife wines. Specialties on the menu include seared cherne negro (black wreckfish) and lomo de bacalao (cod with piquillo pepper sauce).

Just two blocks uphill from Gaudí's Sagrada Família church, this kitchen serves lovingly prepared and clued-in dishes ranging from warm goat-cheese salad to foie (duck or goose liver) to chuletón de buey a la sal (beef cooked in salt). Decidedly old-school, the interior is largely unchanged since the restaurant opened in 1976. The "Yaya" (an affectionate term for grandmother in Spanish) was apparently of Basque origin, as the cuisine here is a pleasantly schizoid medley of Basque and Catalan.

More than a bookstore, the café and restaurant here serves an all-day buffet until 9 pm. Readings, concerts, and book presentations round out an ample program of events. The child-friendly and Wi-Fi–equipped librería features a covered roof terrace that's perfect for munching a slice of cake while catching up on email.

Basque chef César Martín has a devoted local following for his hyperseasonal menus that show a sincere dedication to food sustainability. Lakasa may have moved into a bigger, more modern space, but Martín's specialties haven't wavered; be sure to indulge in the Idiazabal fritters, crisp orbs redolent of smoky sheep's cheese.

Find primal pleasure here picking the meat off a hake head served in a cauldron of gingery broth or slurping your weight of wok-charred noodles tossed with chicken and seafood. Stir-fried okra, sweet-and-sour pork ribs, and shrimp soup are other perennial favorites among the mostly Chinese clientele.

Locals flock to this little tavern for tapas and fat juicy steaks served in the boisterous barroom or white-tablecloth dining area, set in a covered arcaded courtyard. There are 14 hotel rooms available, too—simple, endearingly well-worn arrangements at moderate prices.

At this lively restaurant you'll find crowds of Spaniards gobbling up one of the city's finest, most upscale renditions of tortilla española (Spanish omelet) with unconventional add-ins like octopus, potato chips, and truffles. The menu also includes plenty of equally succulent non-egg choices (the rice dishes stand out).

For a country that borders France, Spain has a surprising dearth of good French restaurants, which makes Le Bistroman all the more remarkable—not only is the food good by Spanish standards, it would be a hit in Paris with its homemade everything, from terrines to breads to pastries. Wild game (venison, squab) features prominently on the menu, and other highlights include an old-school cheese cart and throwback desserts like babas au rhum and vanilla bean soufflé.

This no-frills, big-flavor southern-Italian restaurant near the Via Laietana is a favorite with locals for its friendly prices, boisterous atmosphere, and generous portions of burrata, lasagne, ragù, carbonara, and so on, featuring authentic ingredients from the in-store deli. Leave room for the excellent tiramisu.

Two-Michelin-starred chef Fina Puigdevall has made this sprawling 18th-century masía (Catalan farmhouse) a triumph, assisted by her three daughters: Clara, the sommelier, Carlota, the pastry chef, and Martina, the head cook. The cuisine is seasonal and based on locally grown products, such as the extraordinarily flavorful legumes and vegetables produced by the rich, volcanic soil of La Garrotxa. Off the road east to Figueres, the rustic structure is filled with glassed-in halls, intimate gardens, and wrought-iron and steel details. 

If you have time for only one meal in the city, take it at this elegant little restaurant in the heart of historic Tarragona. The menu is bursting with both mountain and Mediterranean fare, and the prix-fixe lunch is a great deal at €25. Start off with the canelons d'auberginia amb ànec (eggplant and duck cannelloni); seafood fans should try the tronc de lluç al forn amb patates (oven-baked hake with potatoes).

Sicilian chef Francesco Ingargiola recreates the bold flavors of his childhood—with plenty of fine-dining flourishes—at this inviting ultramodern trattoria one block from the Gran Vía thoroughfare. Start with an order of crispy artichokes, flavored with lardo and topped with Italian foie gras, before moving on to homemade pastas like linguini with shrimp or Madrid's best carbonara. 

Opened in 1839, Lhardy—with its spiral staircase, varnished leather walls, gleaming chandeliers, and marble fireplaces—is one of Madrid's most treasured restaurants, and it maintains much of its original decor despite being acquired by a local restaurant group in 2021. Meals, as always, begin with hot consommé poured from a silver samovar and spiked with a chispín (sip) of sherry and continue with French-inflected dishes, ranging from duck à l'orange to sole in champagne sauce. Though the kitchen is still ironing out a few kinks, the grand museum-like surroundings more than make up for any foibles, especially if you stick to the cava, charcuterie, and pastries in the downstairs bar.   

This dapper, friendly space attracts a crowd with its excellent wine list and the well-crafted tapas based on classic Catalan and Asturian recipes. Consider the black pudding with grilled squid and fabada (Asturian bean stew). Year-round late-night hours make it a handy option.

Diverging in spirit from the stuffier baroque-style cafés of the neighborhood, this cozy spot with mismatched vintage furniture attracts an artsy crowd. 

Unhinge your jaw and devour a bocadillo de calamares, the classic Madrid sub overstuffed with fried calamari, at the most popular outpost of this local chain; ask for lemon and aioli to zhuzh it up.

For groups larger than two, reservations are a must at this cozy neighborhood bar decorated with books, colorful knickknacks, and fresh flowers. You can count on British chef Scott Preston to provide craveable pub food like craggy-crispy potato skins and oozy baked feta, plus healthier, more Mediterranean options like curried vegetable couscous and flake-apart hake with clams and salsa verde.

Don't let the crowds dissuade you from entering this Cava Baja stalwart—tables and barstools open up fast. The nonnegotiable dish to try here is huevos estrellados, "bashed" fried eggs tucked between olive-oil-fried potatoes and topped with optional add-ons like jamón, chistorra sausage, and pisto (Spanish ratatouille). The perfect pairing? A glass of tart, citrusy rosé Cava by one of Catalonia's top producers, Raventós i Blanc.

Los Pinchitos is one of those dying-breed of restaurants where you can eat your fill of pristine seafood without maxing out your credit card. Settle in for a leisurely no-frills feast of octopus, scallops, squid, and whatever other sea creatures were hauled up onto the pier that morning, and wash it all down with a carafe of good house wine.

Named after a much-feared and respected breed of fighting bull, this rustic tavern, located behind La Seo, is dripping with taurine paraphernalia. It offers an elaborate and inventive selection of pinchos and tapas. Jamón ibérico de bellota (acorn-fed Iberian ham), Spain's culinary crown jewel, is a no-brainer, though quail eggs or the tapa de la casa—jamón, foie, and mushrooms, with port sauce—is hard to resist.