723 Best Restaurants in Spain

Tucked behind the Picasso Museum, Araboka has a well-deserved reputation as an excellent gastro bar serving Mediterranean dishes made from local produce. Inside, the restaurant is contemporary with low lighting and plant motifs on the walls, and outside there’s a pleasant terrace. Sharing plates is encouraged, and the maître d' offers good advice on wine pairing from the extensive list.

This award-winning, modern Asturian restaurant in the old town is adorned with rustic stone walls and a hand-painted mural. There are also inventive tapas and tasting menus (starting at €65). Notable dishes include creamy rice with tiger prawns and squid, Xaldu lamb royale with mushrooms, and warm chocolate cake with ice cream. 

Stone arches dating from the 14th-century frame the tables at this atmospheric restaurant in the historical Part Alta (Old Town). The cooking is smart and modern, with a focus on seasonal, local ingredients, like the turbot served with romesco sauce, clams, and beans from Santa Pau.

The sagardotegi experience is a must in the Basque Country, but if you can't swing a trip to one of the huge cider houses in the countryside, Arriaga is a fine urban stand-in. Expect unlimited sidra al txotx (cider drawn straight from the barrel), sausage stewed in apple cider, codfish omelets, txuleta de buey, and Idiazabal cheese with quince preserves. Reserving a table is a good idea, especially on weekends.

Started by two sisters, Marisol and Sofía, Artisa is a one-stop-shop for coffee, cakes, juices, and sandwiches, with a few outdoor and indoor tables. It's the perfect place for a light bite or a snack while sight-seeing.

At this adventurous restaurant just off the main street, the chef prepares both Spanish classics, like white shrimp from Huelva and slow-roasted local lamb and goat, as well as innovative dishes like tartar de atún rojo con ajo blanco de kimchi (red tuna with garlic soup) and ensalada de helado de Olavidia (salad with award-winning local cheese). There are also plenty of roast meats. 

With a wood-paneled dining room awash with antiques, this family operation is a longtime local favorite for top-quality fish and meats cooked over coals. In the open kitchen, wild lubina (sea bass), rodaballo (turbot), and other regional delicacies from land and sea cook to crackly perfection.

Roast goat or lamb cooked over a raised fireplace in the corner of the dining room is why this place is a fine refuge in chilly weather. The revuelto de setas (a scrambled egg dish with a variety of other ingredients) is a classic highland specialty, while the salads are varied and refreshing, especially after a morning or afternoon of skiing, hiking, or climbing. The mixed grill is a house favorite, and the opportunity to try whatever game—venison, wild boar, or partridge—is on the menu should not be missed.

The narrow stone rooms of a defunct banana warehouse are now one of the finest spots for modern Basque dining. There's an affordable weekend tasting menu that hinges on what's in season, though dishes like seared txuleton and hake in white wine sauce with clams never come off the menu for a reason.

Some of the most colorful meals in Andalusia are served inside what were once the stables of a 16th-century palace. Fresh local produce is used to fuse Asian and Mexican flavors in what locals describe as a vibrant explosion of taste. Popular dishes include the peach couscous, the pork brioche with hoisin aioli, and the Pekinese chicharron (pork pieces). It’s barstool-seating-only inside, where an eclectic mix of old and new objects sit under the high ceilings, or outside at tables on the airy terrace under the watchful eye of the statue of flamenco icon Lola Flores.

Tucked away in a quiet street off the Rambla, this cozy, rustic-chic Italian spot specializes in "cicchetti," which are sort of like Venetian tapas, so you can taste a number of things. There’s plenty of wine, too; after all, "bacaro" means "wine bar" in Venetian. 

From first bite to dessert, Bambú's kitchen is centered on the grill. Both the jovial bar area and the more formal dining room serve the same menu, with tapas to share and an alta cocina (haute cuisine) menu that's as experimental as it is comforting.

Alegria translates as "joy" and nothing is more joyful than finding a sunny spot on Alegria's popular patio for a glass of iced vermút and a tapa of spicy patatas bravas or the famous truffled ham and cheese toastie. Vermouth culture is all about bar hopping from place to place until you are full (and tipsy) and suddenly realize the sun set a long time ago and you have no idea what time it is—nor do you care. Sant Antoni is full of vermouth bars just like this and Bar Alegria is a great place to kick things off.

Prawn ravioli with vermouth-cream sauce, tuna-pickled pepper toasts, scallops with truffled mash—these are some of the classics you'll find on the menu at Antonio, a packed neighborhood standby that serves inventive pintxos at fair prices. Ask about seasonal specials.

In Tenerife, of all places, there's an Azerbaijani restaurant where you can try Georgian specialties served by Russian waiters. Improbably, the food here—lamb kebabs, lemony stuffed grape leaves, plump pelmeni, juicy khinkali (Georgian soup dumplings), and other Russian and Caucasian delicacies—is fresh, well spiced, and wildly affordable.

Don’t let the slightly dingy exterior dissuade you; this Barceloneta bar serves reliably good tapas and an excellent house vermouth, making it a local favorite since its founding in 1908. The best seats are out on the plaza-fronting terrace.

Some of the best sandwiches in town are made here, and the tortilla (potato omelet) may be the tastiest on the island. Eat in or take your purchases to the quiet gardens in the Plaza de Príncipe, just down the road, for an impromptu picnic.

Step back in time in this pocket-size seafood restaurant specializing in boquerones en vinagre, freshly shucked oysters, and prawns a la plancha.

The unassuming interiors of this Casco Viejo standby belie a sophisticated kitchen that has won numerous awards for its knockout pintxos including txangurro gratinado (crab gratin), gildas (olive-anchovy-pepper brochettes), and rabbit ravioli. Order and pay at the bar, then carry your nibbles outside to the first-come, first-served patio.

Traditional bars don't come more authentic than Bar Juanito, which has been serving local dishes for more than 70 years and pairs everything, of course, with sherry. You can eat standing at the bar or seated in the pleasant patio restaurant, where there's often live music on Saturday. You're spoiled for choice with a long list of tapas on the menu, but house specials are artichoke dishes (in season in early spring), meatballs in oloroso, and berza jerezana (stew made with Swiss chard, chickpeas, and pork).

Scarfing down a hot calamari-filled baguette (bocadillo de calamares) while strolling through the Plaza Mayor is a Madrid tradition, and this bar's rendition is a cut above the rest.

Overlook the soulless IKEA furnishings of this family-run dinette and instead focus on the honest home-cooked food served at exceptionally reasonable prices. Try Cordoban-style flamenquines (ham-and-cheese-stuffed pork), salmon tartare, or (on Sunday) a crave-worthy paella Valenciana.

Reservations are a must for Sunday lunch; call ahead or visit the website to book a table and preorder your paella.

Rub shoulders with small-town Riojanos as you tuck into a bowl of caparrones, a local stew made with Riojan red beans, sausage, and fatback. The house wine is an acceptable and inexpensive Uruñuela "cosechero" (young wine of the year) from the Najerilla Valley. Families will appreciate the children's play area and Saturday activities.

A little-known culinary gem on the ground floor of the 15th-century Torre de Anda, this down-home wine and cheese bar with three high-top tables is always stocked with smoky Idiazabal, limited-production Rioja Alavesa wines, and tart gildas.

Run by the same family for more than 50 years and lavishly decorated in the colorful tiles that pay tribute to the neighborhood's potters, Las Golondrinas is a fixture of Triana life. The staff never change, and neither does the menu—the recipes for the punta de solomillo (sliced sirloin), chipirones (fried baby squid), and champiñones con alioli (garlicky mushrooms) have been honed to perfection, and they're served as tapas (from €3.50) or raciones (shareable portions) that keep everyone happy.

Despite its location just off La Rambla, Bar Lobo’s outdoor terrace overlooks a charming and usually quiet square, plus it's open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The menu covers all the bases: coffee, juice, wine, cocktails, traditional Catalan and Spanish tapas, and Western mains.

This lively bar (with sister branches on Plaza Nueva and in Calle Navas) is a big favorite with locals and draws crowds whatever the time of year. Specialties include fried fish and seafood—try the surtido de pescado (assortment of fried fish) to sample the best—as well as sesos (fried lambs' brains). No reservations are taken and seating is inside or outside with views of the Plaza de Bib-Rambla, so arrive early (1:30 pm or 8 pm) to grab some bar space or a tall table outside.