608 Best Restaurants in Spain

Basque chef Martín Berasategui has more Michelin stars than any other chef in Spain, and at his flagship in the dewy village of Lasarte-Oria, it's easy to see why. Dishes are Basque at heart but prepared with an exacting, French-inflected technique that comes through in dishes like artfully composed salads, elegant caviar preparations, and eel-and-foie-gras mille-feuilles—a Berasategui signature. Of all the three-stars in and around San Sebastián, Martín Berasategui—despite its oddly lackluster dining room—consistently delivers when it comes to sheer hedonistic deliciousness.

This beloved bar changed hands in 2021 to three twentysomething Madrid natives who couldn't bear to see their favorite neighborhood hangout disappear—but the menu of eight infallible dishes has miraculously stayed the same. Come for the blistered Padrón peppers and griddled football-size zapatilla sandwiches; stay for the dressed-down conviviality and the cuncos (ceramic bowls) overflowing with slatey Albariño. A newer second outpost, Malos, can be found in Malasaña at Calle de Velarde 13.

Madrileños pour in from far and wide for Esther's famous patatas bravas, fried potato wedges cloaked in vinegary paprika-laced chili sauce. A menu brimming with snails, fried lamb intestines, pork rinds, and Castilian blood sausage confirms that you're in el Madrid profundo. Breakfast is also served.

Between the casco antiguo and the seafront, this innovative restaurant has an unpromising plain exterior, but forge ahead: the interior's contemporary elegance in gray tones and wood make for cozy surroundings for a quiet dinner from chef Mauricio Giovanni, who renewed his Michelin star in 2025. The seasonal tasting menu has an international slant, with more than a sprinkling of Spanish cuisine in its unusual fusion dishes, such as local mini shrimp with blue cheese and gazpachuelo soup with squid. If there are four of you, book the chef's table for a tailor-made menu and a more hands-on dining experience.

Inside the ultrasleek Mandarin Oriental hotel, this restaurant, with food by Raül Balam and his mother—the legendary Carme Ruscalleda—lives up to its stellar pedigree, with original preparations that draw on deep wells of Catalan culinary traditions. Dishes on the tasting menus display a masterful lightness of touch and come to the table so exquisitely presented that putting a fork into them feels almost like wanton vandalism; the reward, however, is sublime, with treasures of taste revealed in every astonishing bite.

At this buzzy fire-focused restaurant on the ground floor of the Kursaal—the newest passion project by Mugaritz chef Andoni Luis Aduriz—expect pitch-perfect, pared-down modern Basque cuisine with clever international flourishes.

At the intersection of soulful Basque cooking and special-occasion alta gastronomía lies this white-tablecloth restaurant where you can have both—in the form of flame-licked dayboat seafood (lobster, turbot, line-caught red mullet, and so on), cozy braises, and seasonal vegetables like borage, artichokes, and some of the most umami piquillo peppers you'll ever taste.

One of just two triple Michelin-starred venues in Andalusia, noor offers Andalusí cuisine in three tasting menus that explore the ingredients used before the discovery of the New World as well as the fusion of the New World ingredients into Spanish cooking. Local chef Paco Morales and team create in the open kitchen while diners sit at very modern tables under a dramatic Arabian nights ceiling. On arrival, guests wash their hands in orange water and sit for a tasting menu (from €170; wine pairing available). If you go for the full tasting menu, allow 3½ hours for your meal!  Book well ahead.

Mediterranean cuisine based on fresh, local produce takes center stage at this restaurant, which has both a minimalist, intimate dining room and a pleasant terrace that's heated in winter. The seasonal menu (it changes four times a year) highlights local fresh produce including fish. Service is excellent, and there's a good-value tasting menu (€65 for eight courses) and an extensive wine list.

"Bread and Grapes" in Catalan, Pa i Raïm is an excellent restaurant set in writer Josep Pla's ancestral family home in Palafrugell. It has one rustic dining room as well as another in a glassed-in winter garden, plus a leafy terrace, which is the place to be in summer. 

For upscale tapas, sharable raciones, and a more sedate atmosphere, step into Palomeque. Dishes hinge on market produce and fuse traditional recipes with playful modern plating. Staff are happy to recommend wine pairings for any of the zany, updated versions of risotto, gazpacho, and other restaurant standbys.

Consistently delicious, shockingly affordable, and unapologetically old-school, Pentxo is the sort of restaurant bilbaínos like to keep to themselves. Whether you pop in for a pintxo at the bar (the flash-fried antxoas rellenas, or stuffed anchovies, are a must) or for breakfast or for a €22 prix-fixe lunch (with standout seafood), you'll leave wishing you could be a regular.

Expertly grilled fish and fried seafood lure crowds night after night to this open-air restaurant steps from the beach. Let the chatty waitstaff talk you through the extensive, well-priced menu, which runs the gamut from morena frita (crisp-fried eel) to alfonsino (a delectable red-skinned fish) to escaldón, a hearty gofio (toasted grain) porridge made with fish stock and topped with mojo.

Book in advance for a table on the romantic riverfront terrace and you’ll be rewarded with exceptional views of Besalú’s medieval bridge. The prix-fixe menu changes monthly and offers a wide array of traditional Catalan dishes of superb quality, with seasonal ingredients sourced from the nearby Banyoles market.

Duck into this cozy hole-in-the-wall and be treated like family—Ana, the owner, recites the nightly menu to each table and flits around with a smile until the last guest saunters out. Barrera's famous patatas revolconas (paprika-spiced mashed potatoes topped with crispy pork belly) are always on offer; they might be followed by roast suckling lamb, wine-braised meatballs, or seared dayboat fish depending on the night. Inquire about prices when ordering to avoid sticker shock.

At the edge of the serene Adaja River, El Molino, housed in a 15th-century mill, is one of the most idyllic restaurants in the region. Lamb, the chef's specialty, is roasted in a medieval wood oven; it's best preceded by smoky, bacon-y revolcona (mashed) potatoes or a bowl of stewed white beans from nearby El Barco de Ávila. The garden has waddling geese and a small playground for children. Reservations are essential for weekend lunch.

In the town of Villaverde, between Puerto del Rosario and Corralejo, is one of the island's best-kept culinary secrets. At this small restaurant, Canarian dishes are served family style and include huevos amarrados (literally "tied-up eggs," soft-boiled with fries and spicy sausage) and paprika-dusted fried octopus with potatoes.

Chef Iván Cerdeño's namesake restaurant is a beacon of Castilian alta gastronomía—think architectural dishes composed of foams, spherified sauces, and edible flowers served in a minimal white-tablecloth dining room. The ever-rotating tasting menus (3, 12, 15, or 20 courses) almost always feature local game and plentiful seafood.

Of all the seafood restaurants in the tiny hamlet of El Golfo, this harborside standby stands out for its ultrafresh fish and homemade Canarian dishes. Order the parrillada de marisco, or grilled seafood platter, for a sampling of local fish (the barracuda is consistently exceptional), calamari, and fried shellfish, all of which soar to new heights when dunked in cilantro-packed mojo verde.

León is a cold, windy town for much of the year, so it's no surprise that the local version of cocido (boiled dinner) is heartier than usual with mounds of green cabbage, spoonable blood sausage, and some 10 types of meat (chorizo, beef shanks, pork belly, and chicken, to name a few). Sample the city's best rendition at this spartan yet inviting downstairs restaurant outside the historic center—and be sure to bring an appetite.

Tucked away in a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of Zaragoza, Will and Margaret is an unassuming eatery worth a stop on your way in or out of town. The Ecuadorian family running this jewel delights neighborhood lunch goers, students, and families alike with a menu that blends traditional Spanish fare with global influences and subtle nods to South American flavors. Dishes are crafted from fresh ingredients, artfully plated, with genial service. The three-course menu changes daily, featuring plates like turkey stewed with peaches and black pepper, or monkfish tail with shrimp, peanuts, and cilantro. 

Fire is the secret ingredient at Roostiq, where pizzas sizzle and puff in a wood-burning oven and meat, fish, and vegetables char until tender over white-hot embers. Even the cheesecake is of the Basque "burnt" variety, brown and caramel-y on the outside and gooey within. The open-hearth technology may be older than the hills, but the buffed concrete walls, zany ceramic plates, and sturdy wooden and marble tables are unmistakably cutting-edge.

Settle into an unhurried feast at Sacha, a cozy bistro beloved by local food writers that boasts soul-satisfying food and hand-selected wines—often presented by chef Sacha himself, who's quite the storyteller. The cuisine is regional Spanish—think butifarra sausages with sautéed mushrooms or razor clams with black garlic emulsion—with just enough imagination to make you wonder why the restaurant isn't better known.

Roast duck carved tableside, truffled pâté en croûte, flambéed Grand Marnier soufflé—Saddle does old-school opulence exceptionally well. Multicourse meals unfold in the anachronistically corporate-chic dining room (think LED backlighting and mid-century modern accents), and feature rare seasonal delicacies including de lágrima (tear-shaped) baby peas and buttery new potatoes flown in from the Canary Islands. Cheese, butter, and cocktail carts rove from table to table and encyclopedic wine stewards go above and beyond, regaling you with curious anecdotes about each individual bottle.

To fully grasp the potential of Canarian cuisine, book a table at this white-tablecloth standby that coaxes market ingredients—such as patudo (bigeye) tuna, black potatoes, and local heirloom tomatoes—into flawless, modern preparations like foam, ensaladilla rusa (salade Olivier), and vinaigrette, respectively. The prix-fixe lunch and more elaborate menú de degustación (tasting menu) are fantastic values, as are the bottles of Tenerife wine.

Hidden in the lush, hilly countryside southwest of Tolosa—and many miles off the tourist track—is this idyllic agroturismo comprised of a restaurant and five-room bed-and-breakfast housed in a traditional caserío (Basque farmhouse) perched on a hilltop. After snapping a few pics of the jaw-dropping views, tuck into a soul-satisfying Basque feast of roast local chicken, stewed game meats, or fresh fish.

Easily one of the hottest tickets in town for lovers of eclectic, avant-garde cuisine, Slow & Low is run by an energetic multicultural young team who have translated their culinary genius into two tasting menus, which combine Mediterranean, Mexican, Peruvian, and even some Southeast Asian influences. The three tasting menus (11 courses for €115, 13 courses for €140, or 14 courses for €170) are all equally worthy of your time and hard-earned cash.

Perched high in the hills above Fuengirola, this is one of the best fish restaurants on the Costa del Sol. Holder of regular and green Michelin stars, chef Diego Gallegos champions sustainable and healthy cuisine, and his on-site aquaponics facility raises most of the fish and vegetables used here. As a result, 90% of the ingredients are ‘homegrown’ with the remainder sourced locally. Freshwater fish such as trout and sturgeon take pride of place on the tasting menu (four aperitifs plus nine dishes), where you’ll also find organic caviar and smoked fish.