760 Best Restaurants in Spain

An Alicante institution, this inviting exposed-brick and wood-lined restaurant is very popular with locals, who come for the excellent-value tapas, market produce, and freshly caught fish, a tribute to the city’s enduring relationship with the sea.

Across from the market, this lively two-floor restaurant has exposed brick walls, wooden tables, and a menu of modern, seasonally driven dishes ranging from oyster croquetas to saucy local beef meatballs, plus an ever-changing variety of seafood preparations.

Attached to the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, this small restaurant offers a range of Mediterranean dishes and sushi best enjoyed on the riverside terrace. Sharing plates include hummus or Vietnamese rolls with Málaga kid goat; highlights on the main menu are carrillada ibérica (stewed Iberian pork), tuna steak, and a long list of sushi. The terrace is also great for summer evening cocktails.

Chef--owner Miguel Llabrés honed his craft at starred restaurants in Mallorca and opened here in 2014 to local acclaim. He keeps the menu short and focuses on garden-fresh seasonal vegetables and free-range local meats. Try the Ibizan potato salad, served warm in a massive bowl with anchovies, onions, red peppers, green beans, and a main course of Iberian pork shoulder or suckling lamb chops. The building, a former elementary school restored in rustic style, also houses a gourmet shop featuring products from the Can Miquel Guasch olive oil mill, one of the oldest producers on the island.

The interior may look a bit bare, but whatever this fish restaurant lacks in warmth it makes up for with the food. It serves simple but high-quality dishes like grilled mullet, dorado baked in salt, prawns with garlic, and monkfish in saffron sauce. The tapas bar, which is more popular with locals than the dining room, offers classic dishes (from €2.50) like migas (fried bread crumbs), beans with jamón serrano (dry-cured Spanish ham), and tortilla del Sacromonte (tortilla with lamb testicles and brains, as traditionally prepared by the Sacromonte Gypsies). Service is friendly.

The Moroccan tapas at this small and bustling venue make a pleasant change from the traditional local fare. Tagine, couscous, and kefta are all menu staples. You’ll find a selection of Middle Eastern dishes as well, also available in vegetarian versions. Choose your complimentary tapa with your first drink and then go for more tapas (from €2) or sharing plates. The plato de degustación (selection of tapas) gives a good overview of the house best.

Catalan chef Oriol Balaguer takes chocolates and croissants to new heights at this ritzy bombonería, whose attractive treats make phenomenal gifts—or afternoon pick-me-ups.

On the edge of the Murillo Gardens opposite the university, Oriza has an atrium-style dining room with high ceilings and wall-to-wall stained-glass windows; in warm weather, you can eat on the terrace under the orange trees. The menu combines traditional Andalusian dishes with a modern touch and includes red tuna, octopus salad, and meat dishes. The adjoining Bar España serves tapas (from €3), including fried cod and vieiras en la niebla (scallops).

You'd be hard-pressed to find a homier pintxo bar in San Sebastián. Ormazabal has been luring a mostly local crowd for decades with its juicy tortillas de bacalao and burst-in-your-mouth croquetas.

Sunlight streams through the windows of this fashionable corner coffee spot, stuffed with plants, which offers cakes, cookies and vegan pastries, plus tempting nonedibles, such as design magazines and ceramics made in a little first-floor studio.

In one of the prettiest corners of Altea's old town, this eatery was formerly a cloister and a school. Today, the dining room and terrace gracefully juxtapose the rustic setting with contemporary design, and the restaurant is known for serving polished international cuisine with French flair.

Traveling as a vegan in Madrid is becoming easier thanks to affordable inviting restaurants with palate-popping food like Oveja Negra. Try vegan takes on Spanish classics like sidra-braised soy chorizo, leek-and-squash croquetas, and meatless pâtés.

The name, a pun on para comer algo ("to eat something" with an Andalusian accent), may be only marginally amusing, but the tapas here are no joke, from the classical calamares fritos to the pimientos de Padrón (green peppers, some fiery, from the Galician town of Padrón). Whether at a table, at the counter, or in the private dining room upstairs, this modern space does traditional tapas that reliably hit the spot.

In an aerie above one of Madrid's oldest, most exclusive gentlemen's clubs, the dining room and rooftop terrace of this tasting-menu-only restaurant are decorated with playful, almost circus-like elements such as bright blue pushcarts, checkered floors, and yellow velvet chairs. The cuisine is as thrilling and whimsical as the decor, with dishes ranging from crunchy sardines with ají romesco sauce to spicy ethereal pig ear fritters. This is fine dining for the lighthearted.

Located on the west side of town, about a 10-minute walk from the center, this modern restaurant specializes in rice dishes; there are 13 on the menu, including the signature baked rice with pork and the squid rice with prawns and chickpeas. Fideuá (similar to paella but made with noodles instead of rice) also features on the menu. There's a good choice of sharing plates of croquettes, cold cuts, and seafood, as well as innovative salads. Sit inside in the elegant dining room or outside on the shady terrace on the plaza. 

Located next to the cathedral, this is one of the best restaurants in town, known for its barbecue and roasted dishes. If you’re not too hungry, enjoy tapas in the bar. For a full meal, move into the formal restaurant or, better still, when it’s warm enough, outside on the pleasant terrace.

Down an uninspiring side street but with a very quiet terrace with views of San Pedro Church, this bar with stool seating around high tables offers tranquil dining and, most notably, one of the best sherry menus in town. Known as an abacería (grocer’s store), it serves more than 30 finos, amontillados, and olorosos, as well as house-made vermouth on the drinks menu, and each pairs perfectly with a food choice. Allow the friendly owners to advise you on the best matches, which include tinned preserves, cold cuts and cheeses, and a choice of three daily specials, some served hot. Don’t miss the tomate de atún (tuna tomato) or the house version of ajoblanco (cold garlic soup), topped with marinated salmon chunks and fresh mango.

Hidden in a dark alley with a mysterious facade, this bare and open-concept dining room centers on a long communal table and feels like an honored tribute to the best Galician fare. Dishes are traditional but exceptionally sourced and executed, with changing seafood options daily. Don't miss the partridge in escabeche or the monstrous rotating homemade empanada, which stares at you on the bar counter. Menus are often written in gallego, which may require some Google Translate.  

With a focus on top-notch sourcing and modern takes on traditional Galician fare, this eatery offers creative, seasonal dishes in a contemporary setting. À la carte options are available, but the ample tasting menus are definitely worthwhile, especially if you can get there for lunch on Thursday and Friday for the €45 menú de temporada.

Along with traditional pistachio and chocolate gelato, this artisan gelateria creates some truly out-there flavors, like mandarin and jasmine or brioche with toasted butter, as well as seasonal specialties like Panettone. There's also a wide variety of vegan sorbets.

Sweet and savory treats come into their own at this family-owned business in the city center. Top of the specialty list are piononos (sponge bites filled with caramel and custard) and pastela (Moroccan chicken pie). Eat in with a drink at the bar or in the small cafeteria space, or take out to feast on in one of the nearby squares.

Jeta—crackly, juicy fried pig snout sliced into bite-size pieces—is the raison d'être of this locals-oriented gem 1½ km (1 mile) north of the city center. Pair it with an ice-cold beer, and you've got the perfect aperitivo or late-night snack—for under €5.

In an intimate little space with wicker chairs and pale mauve walls, this restaurant in the old town serves a bargain Mediterranean three-course prix-fixe dinner, wine included; you can also order à la carte. In summer, dine on the comfortable patio out back. 

Named for the father of modern bullfighting, this restaurant opposite the bullring is packed with bullfight paraphernalia and photos of previous diners who include Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles. Mounted bulls' heads peer down at you as you eat choricitos al vino blanco de Ronda (small sausages in Ronda white wine), rabo de toro Pedro Romero (slow-cooked oxtail stew with herbs), or perdices estofados (braised partridge).

Come here for good local fare and, if you order from the prix-fixe menu, a bargain. The menu lists daily-changing meat, fish, and vegetarian options, with staples such as lasanya de verdures (vegetarian lasagna), generously layered with mushrooms, spinach, carrots, and beans, and tasty pumpkin stuffed with vegetables.

The Madrid outpost of a legendary Vitoria-Gasteiz pintxo bar, Perretxico is known for its cocido doughnut—cocido being Spain's famous boiled dinner of chickpeas, various meats, and sausages. These are blended into a paste, stuffed inside a doughnut, and served alongside a demitasse of umami-packed bone broth for dunking, a wink to the classic doughnut-coffee combo.

One of the best Spanish omelets in town (this one has caramelized onions and aioli on the side), prime Spanish meat (you cook your own on sizzling stone slabs), and a good choice of vegetarian options make this small venue worth seeking out. There’s also a range of organic dishes, including local cheeses and wines. Inside, original beams and wine-lined walls make for a relaxing atmosphere, while the tiny outdoor terrace makes a great spot for a little something and a slice of that omelet.

This upmarket Argentine asador (steak house) hits all the high notes with its daintily crimped empanadas, regional breads, gutsy South American wines, and flame-licked vegetables and steaks airlifted in from La Pampa with just the right amount of char. In 2023, another location, Piantao Chamberí, opened by the Alonso Martínez metro station.