Tapas restaurants in Spain
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Los Coloniales
It might not look like much from the outside but trust us; this is something very special. It’s hard to pick a favourite dish as everything is outstanding, but we’d never turn down a plate of chorizo a la Asturiana, a divine spicy sausage in an onion sauce served on a bed of lightly fried potato. To follow up try the aubergines in honey. There is another, inferior and more touristy branch, Taberna Los Coloniales, on Calle Jimios near the cathedral.
reviewed
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Cerveseria Catalana
The ‘Catalan Brewery’ is good for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Come in for your morning coffee and croissant, or wait until lunch to enjoy choosing from the abundance of tapas and montaditos (canapés). You can sit at the bar, on the pavement terrace or in the restaurant at the back. The variety of hot tapas, salads and other snacks draws a well-dressed crowd of locals and outsiders. It has expanded the premises to deal with demand.
reviewed
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La Casa del Abuelo
In Huertas, La Casa del Abuelo is famous for gambasa la plancha (grilled prawns) or gambas al ajillo (prawns sizzling in garlic on little ceramic plates) and a chato (small glass) of the heavy, sweet El Abuelo red wine; they cook over 200kg of prawns here on a good day.
reviewed
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Inopia
Albert Adrià, brother of star chef Ferran, has his hands full with this constantly busy gourmet-tapas temple. Select a pintxo de cuixa de pollastre a l’ast (chunk of rotisserie chicken thigh) or the lightly fried, tempura-style vegetables. Wash down with house red or Moritz beer.
reviewed
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Txakolina
It calls its abundant Basque pintxos (tapas) ‘high cuisine in miniature’ – the first part is true, but these are some of the biggest pintxos you’ll find and some are a meal in themselves. It does wonderful things with seafood and potatoes too.
reviewed
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Bodega Santa Cruz
Forever crowded and with a mountain of paper on the floor, this place is usually standing room only, with tapas and drinks enjoyed alfresco as you dodge the marching army of tourists squeezing through Santa Cruz’s narrow streets.
reviewed
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La Panxa del Bisbe
With low lighting and a hip, young feel, the ‘Bishop’s Gut’ is a great place to indulge in some gourmet tapas, washed down with a fine wine, like the Albariño white from Galicia, for a surprisingly modest outlay.
reviewed
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Gorki
A popular upmarket tapas bar with pavement tables and a modern interior full of wine-barrel tables and stools. Creative tapas have a more sevillano twist and the clientele is young and trendy.
reviewed
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Lechuga
In this calm retreat, vegetables reign supreme and the chef does wonderful things with them, such as hummus, Indian-style bhajis and various inventive salads.
reviewed
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Bocaito
Bocaito, at Chueca, is a purveyor of Andalucian jamón (ham) and seafood and a favourite haunt of film-maker Pedro Almodóvar.
reviewed
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Poë
British-Angolan Poë offers Brazilian favourites such as feijoada or chicken stew with polenta, and a trendy multicultural vibe.
reviewed
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Baco y Beto
Chueca is a stellar tapas barrio (district). A brilliant choice is Baco y Beto.
reviewed
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Tapas Bars
The narrow streets and small plazas south of La Seo harbour some great tapas bars - ideal for lunch-time snacking or cooling off with a beer on a warm evening. On the cosy Plaza de Santa Marta, Cervecería Marpy and Casa Vitorinos II have bar-top treats in plenty, while Casa Domino offers hams and montados (toasted baguette slices topped with Cabrales cheese, among other tantalising spreads).
There's another string of tapas bars towards the southern end of Calle Heroísmo (most open until midnight). Still more snacking options cram Calle Moneva, off Calle de Zurita east of Paseo de la Independencia, where El Calamar Bravo churns out the fried squid sandwiches and La Mejill…
reviewed
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Estado Puro
A slick but casual tapas bar, Estado Puro serves up fantastic tapas, many of which have their origins in Catalonia’s world-famous El Bulli restaurant, such as the tortilla española siglo XXI (21st-century Spanish omelette, served in a glass). The kitchen here is overseen by Paco Roncero, the head chef at La Terraza del Casino and who learned his trade with master-chef Ferran Adrìa. Most of the tapas involve spectacular variations on traditional Spanish themes. There’s a funky indoor area and outdoor tables (often reserved and with higher prices).
reviewed
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4 de Tapas
Tapas is not just about Andalucian-themed, tiled bars and shouting waiters. 4 de Tapas has a lounge-bar atmosphere and young and friendly waiters, quite apart from terrific tapas. The specialities are tostas (around €3 to €4) and cazuelas (from €7). For the former, brie with raspberry jam just has to be ordered, while the cazuelas range from Roquefort croquettes to the more traditional scrambled eggs with ham. The kitchen closes around midnight, an hour later on weekends.
reviewed
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La Bodegueta Provença
The ‘Little Wine Cellar’ offers classic tapas presented with a touch of class, from calamares a la andaluza (lightly battered calamari rings) to cecina (dried cured veal meat). The house speciality is ous estrellats (literally ‘smashed eggs’) – a mix of scrambled egg white, egg yoke, potato and then ingredients ranging from foie gras to black pudding (morcilla). Wash down with a good Ribera del Duero or caña (little glass) of beer.
reviewed
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La Pubilla del Taulat
Get inside the eatery in this late-19th-century building quickly, as you’ll find the bar has been stripped of all its tapas delights if you arrive much after 10pm. Tucked away in backstreets still partly lined with low-slung houses of another era, this place is a popular stop. All the classics are present: patatas bomba (spicy meat stuffed potatoes), mejillones al vapor (steamed mussels), chocos (lightly fried cuttlefish slices) and more.
reviewed
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Taberna del Alabardero
This fine old Madrid taberna is famous for its montaditos de jamón or bonito (small rolls of cured ham or tuna) in the bar, while out the back the more classic cuisine includes fine croquetas (croquettes), morcilla (blood sausage) and rabo de toro (bull’s tail, usually in a stew). Prices aren’t cheap, but Madrid’s notoriously fussy diners generally accept that it’s worth it.
reviewed
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Casa Pascualillo
When Metropoli, the respected weekend magazine of El Mundo newspaper, set out to find the best 50 tapas bars in Spain, it's no surprise that Casa Pascualillo made the final cut. The bar groans under the weight of every tapas variety imaginable, with seafood and meat in abundance; the house speciality is El Pascualillo, a 'small' bocadillo (filled roll) of jamón, mushrooms and onion.
reviewed
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Álvaro Peregil
This tiny bar has not much more in terms of decoration than garlic bunches hanging overhead and a couple of tall tables outside to rest your tapas on. But the food is so good you’ll need nothing more. The salmorejo (a thicker version of gazpacho) is particularly good and is served with strips of jamón sprinkled over the top; try the orange wine, made from Seville’s famous (and ubiquitous) oranges.
reviewed
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Bar Velódromo
The reopening of this once-classic tavern in 2009 brings back a fine-looking establishment in which to take breakfast, stop for an aperitif or sit down for a meal. The low, corner building retains much of its original look, with timber omnipresent. Food largely consists of tapas and smallish renderings of fairly typical Catalan and Spanish dishes. More than anything, this place is about its history and atmosphere.
reviewed
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Inopia
Albert Adrià, brother of Barcelona’s star chef Ferran and something of a kitchen celebrity himself, runs this popular corner tapas temple. If you can’t grab one of the handful of tables, don’t worry, just stand inside or out and select a pintxo de cuixa de pollastre a l’ast (chunk of rotisserie chicken thigh) or the lightly fried, tempura-style vegetables. Wash down with house red or Moritz beer.
reviewed
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Casa Manteca
Set on the corner that is the hub of La Viña's carnival fun, and with almost every inch of wall covered in flamenco, bullfighting and carnival memorabilia, Casa Manteca is inevitably one of the barrio's liveliest bars. Ask the amiable bar staff for a tapa of chicharrones - pressed pork with a squeeze of lemon, served on a paper napkin and amazingly delicious.
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Cal Pep
It’s getting a foot in the door here that’s the problem. If you want one of the five tables out the back, you’ll need to call ahead. Most people are happy elbowing their way to the bar for some of the tastiest gourmet seafood tapas in town. Pep recommends cloïsses amb pernil (clams and ham – seriously!) or the trifàsic (combo of calamari, whitebait and prawns).
reviewed
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El Roure
This old-time locals’ bar is what Hemingway meant by a ‘clean, well-lighted place’. Sidle up to the bar or pull up a little wooden chair and tuck into a choice of good-value tapas from the bar, washed down by a few cold Estrellas. The bunyols de bacallà are delightful battered balls of cod that demand to be gobbled up. The place is full to bursting most of the time.
reviewed
