Andalusia tapas with kids
 

Next month we will have 9 nights in Andalusia. Our only previous trip to Spain was 4 years ago and we stayed with friends in Madrid so it was a sheltered experience. Our kids are 14 & 11.

From what I can tell, "normal" dining hours are very late. However, to get a slightly earlier start one can (and should) partake in tapas. That's fine, we enjoy Spanish food and are generally adventurous.

It seems the "preferred" way is to seek out the popular/crowded places, have a tapa or two and then move on to the next popular/crowded bar. Is that what families do? (I have seen very few reports from families in my research here).

We are early go-getters and we would normally eat around 7. Fine to stretch to 8 or so to adjust to Spanish time. Not so keen on 9-10. Can't see the bar hopping being a big hit though. Is it that unusual to pick a place, get a table and graze on rounds of tapas?? Particularly if we get there "early" (whatever that is).

FYI, we'll be in Granada (2), Seville (5) and Malaga (2). Thanks.

I think it might be fun for your kids, as you point to what you want at the bar (or practice your Spanish as the case may be).
Unfortunately, I never paid much attention to if there were kids around, but my husband and I often made tapas time=dinner and either made the rounds or stayed put as long as we wanted if we found a spot we liked. Getting a table is sometimes the tricky part. There is no rule that you can't just eat a regular meal at a restaurant though.

Hi indy_dad,

not been to spain with the kids since we went to Mallorca with them when they were 4 and 7, and i seem to recall that was a package with dinner in the hotel, so I've not much direct experience of doing the tapas bar crawl with under 18s.

that said, my feeling is that the spanish expect you to have kids with you, and so long as they are well-behaved [and it goes without saying that yours are, and are really past the age when that's a problem] they will be most welcome. We aren't vey good at eating very late either, and on our last few visits to Spain [Granada, Seville and Barcelona] we have mainly dined on tapas, typically going out at about 8pm to cruise round 2 or 3 places, trying the specialities at each place, as well as our favourites, which tend to be anything with octopus, patatas bravas, serano ham, and manchego. anything breaded and deep fried is also usually quite good, and meat balls, but i tend to avoid chorizo as it can dominate the flavours of everything else.

if you fancy trying octopus in all its many and varied forms, there is a meson pulperia in Granada in a side street off the main square at the bottom of the street going up to the Alhambra [no website that i could find but it is on TA] - also in the same street there is also a bar serving excellent serano ham and lovely sherry to go with it, just opposite, and another bar with free tapas with every drink next door. some of the bars are restaurants as well, with a bar at the front, and tables at the back. if you prefer to sit down and you turn up at 8pm, you should no problem getting a table as the locals won't roll up till 10pm or even later.

BTW, a tapas is usually only a taste; a raciones is a half portion, and a portion is....

I do not know. But last Saturday my fellow travellers and me were grazing a couple of hours on a round of tapas in Madrid. Doing it on one tourist trap on Plaza Mayor turned out to be quite expensive, but after all as the place was so lively and the tapas were good we did not care.

Tapas are not cheap if you are eating enough to be a full meal and having wine throughout. It's just that places are open earlier than traditional restaurants. I wold expect the kid drinks to cost the same as a glass of wine - as they would in a regular bar.

We were in Seville this past June, and ate most nights near Plaza Alfalfa and another plaza close to that (forgot the name, sorry!) These two plazas had restaurants with tapas and full meals, and there were jungle gyms at one end of the plaza. There were many small children out after ten pm, dining with family and playing on the jungle gyms nearby.
I can only assume they had napped during the day?
In fact, everywhere we went at night, we saw children out with their parents/families.

I saw more children in Seville than Granada, but there were plenty in the latter city as well.
The Spanish seem to be very accepting of even small children present at tapas and late-night dinners.

This was in the summer, so maybe it changes in cooler weather, I don't know.

For finding cheaper food/drinks - and often better-tasting - try to go a few blocks away from the main tourist sites like the Cathedrals and the Alcazar and Alhambra. Food and drink will be cheaper, and also less crowded.

I'm sorry, I just saw that your kids are 14 and 11! :) They would be welcomed almost everywhere you'd go, I'd think. My daughter was with us and she's 15.

You could get tapas around 8 - at the earliest - but most people don't go out until 9 or later, even for tapas, we found. However, like I said, this might change in cooler weather.
You have to also remember you'll be eating lunch later than usual - around 1:30 or 2:30. So you probably won't be hungry until later in the evening...

Thanks for the comments.

I'm afraid if we wait too late, it will be the us (the parents) that need the nap!

Do most places have a few specialties and that's what you have before moving on?

We can slide our schedule slightly and target the 8pm (or so) opening times. We'll play it by ear. We might like the smaller portions to try more things and then settle on some larger ones (on a different night perhaps) once we find what we like.

annhig -- I'm a pretty adventurous bloke, but I'm afraid octopus doesn't typically do much for me. Perhaps I've not had it the right way!

Do most places have a few specialties and that's what you have before moving on?>>

in some bars if you go in for a drink they will give you the tapas of the house; if you have a second drink, you get a different one. these are generally free. these tend to be places without a restaurant - just a bar.

other places have a menu which may or may not include specials and specialities. alternatively they may have a display that you can point at. these are all tapas or raciones etc that you pay for and you can eat them in the bar as snacks or sit at a table and have a full meal, either of tapas or of standard restaurant fare.

you should definitely try octopus at least once!

Some places have a wide variety, and others have a specialty--a famous place in Sevilla comes to mind that serves mushroom dishes. The name escapes me, but you are sure to come across it.

In Sevilla I can recommend Mesón Serranito for tapas, raciones (portions) or a full meal out of the usual hours. Open all day and very popular with locals. Three branches around town: in the center (C/ Alfonso XII), fairly close to the Cathedral (C/Antonia Díaz) and in Triana across the city river Guadalquivir:
http://www.mesonserranito.com/Menu/i...rest=1&lang=en

Some 30 different tapas dishes, fine to sit down, relax and share. The Solomillo al roquefort tapas is to die for, and they serve a fine local speciality espinacas con garbanzos(spinach and chickpeas, delicious) among many other goodies. Known for hearty bocadillos/sandwiches. The house speciality is the Serranito sandwich.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Andalucia.html

Málaga:
In Málaga, the newly renovated Café Central on Plaza de la Constitución is a fine alternative for something to eat anytime of the day.
http://www.cafecentralmalaga.com/

And I also think the two branches of Mesón Lo Güeno is open all day, at least from about 7pm. Right in the heart of the city. Fine selection of tapas as well as full meals: http://www.logueno.es/logueno/Wellcome.html
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaur...dalucia.htmlIn Sevilla I can recommend Mesón Serranito for tapas, raciones (portions) or a full meal out of the usual hours. Open all day and very popular with locals. Three branches around town: in the center (C/ Alfonso XII), fairly close to the Cathedral (C/Antonia Díaz) and in Triana across the city river Guadalquivir:
http://www.mesonserranito.com/Menu/i...rest=1&lang=en

Some 30 different tapas dishes, fine to sit down, relax and share. The Solomillo al roquefort tapas is to die for, and they serve a fine local speciality espinacas con garbanzos(spinach and chickpeas, delicious) among many other goodies. Known for hearty bocadillos/sandwiches. The house speciality is the Serranito sandwich.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Andalucia.html

Málaga:
In Málaga, the newly renovated Café Central on Plaza de la Constitución is a fine alternative for something to eat anytime of the day.
http://www.cafecentralmalaga.com/

And I also think the two branches of Mesón Lo Güeno is open all day, at least from about 7pm. Fine selection of tapas as well as full meals: http://www.logueno.es/logueno/Wellcome.html
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaur...Andalucia.html

Younger children in Spain normally accompany their parents, and that includes being out late at night. But tapas do not really make a good meal, even in the Basque country, unless you've had a good lunch and don't need a full meal in the evening.

Sevilla doesn't have the same tapas culture as Madrid or the Basque country, but they do have some decent offerings. For tapas hopping in the Barrio Santa Cruz, you can try Modesto, which is open daily from 12:30 pm to 2:00 am. Near the Cathedral you'll find Bar la Estrella. Check out Exploreseville.com for a list of the favorite tapas bars. You can also read Maribel's Guide to dining in Sevilla.

One of the best restaurants in Sevilla is Oriza (www.restauranteoriza.com).

If you happen to get down to Jerez de la Frontera, then you should stop by Bar Juanito. If you make it to Cordoba, then try some tapas at Casa Pepe (www.casapepejuderia.com).

Y'all, I have to disagree about tapas not making a meal. I've done it on three trips--two to Andalucia and one to San Sebastian. It totally depends on the eater!

Great suggestions -- thanks!

Y'all, I have to disagree about tapas not making a meal. I've done it on three trips--two to Andalucia and one to San Sebastian. It totally depends on the eater!>>

same here, yorkshire - and it gives you the chance to taste all those goodies mentioned by kimhe.

We did tapas in Andalucia with our kids and always sought out the places that had table seating instead of the stand up option. Once seated you kind of own the table and there was no feel of being rushed to eat and move on. (I really like this about Spain!) The menus can vary from bar to bar (seafood at one place/meat at another) so if you're feeling adventuresome it's a good way to try a little of everything. We were lazy and stayed put.

We had great tapas and the best gin and tonics ever at the Bodega El Placer in Mijas Pueblo (not far from Malaga). Our "kids" (our DS and DDIL) are much older than yours, but there were children there on the night we went. It is a small place with indoor and outdoor seating. You are not rushed at all. Very nice!

We were in Barcelona when our kids were the same age as yours. We also were able to have tapas be a meal - it does help to have your kids be somewhat adventurous eaters as there can be lots of different foods involved. We were also in Andalucia recently and on both trips we just would go to one restaurant and stake out a sit down table and not do the tapas hopping thing. We tried it one night, but it just wasn't for us. I didn't like standing at the stand up tables or standing at the bar, and it gets so crowded at the bar.

Kids??? Everywhere!!! Spain is very family oriented and considering most locals in the city live in Apts. it makes sense to be out and about with your kids. Also disagree about non-meal tapas..In Madrid,Salamanca, San Seb.,Segovia,and elsewhere we ate more at noon and then did our best to demolish the tapas locale. Never went to bed hungry! And we did go to bed early by Espana standards!!!

If you're doing Raciones, then you've gone beyond mere tapas. You can easily make a decent meal out of a couple of Raciones, and even share them with friends. Raciones are the usual way jamón is served.

Tapas are not something you'll find a lot of in Donostia-San Sebastian. There you will find an array of pintxos, mostly haute cuisine.

I haven't read all of the responses, so I may be repetitive here, but several years ago, when DD was 11yo, we visited Spain, including Granada and Sevilla (also Cordoba, Toledo and Madrid). We all very much enjoyed the tapas culture. We customarily ate late here at home, though, and DD is a night owl, so 10 pm dinners were no problem for her.

Many restaurants have tapas-type dishes on their sit-down menus. That is, a menu may have tapas portions, media-raciones, and raciones. So the entire table can get a nice selection of smaller items and still sit down. We often preferred that, after touring around all day.

At the places known for tapas, we found if we arrived early, right as we opened, we could get a seat at the bar, have a leisurely (and filling) meal, AND get a little extra help from the wait staff on what to order. That was fun for everyone.

A couple of times, at lunch, not dinner, we had mini-meals at several different places. (We did a tapas stroll more in Madrid.) Mostly, we'd fill up at the first place we stopped at.

In Sevilla, our favorite place was La Azotea, at Jesus del Gran Poder, 31. We stopped by for an early lunch, and the staff could not have been sweeter or nicer - we sat at the bar, and the food was delicious. I would say it was more gourmet tapas, not the more standard items. We went another evening for dinner, and arrived early (no reservations) and got a table. Like a number of places (ask if you're not sure), you need to order at least half-raciones if you sit at the table. That was ok with us; we still had enough to choose from, and the food was so good that we were happy to eat too much. We also ate at Vineria San Telmo, Paso Catalina d Ribera, 4 (table); Restaurante Enrique Becerra, c/ Gamazo, 2 (at the bar); and Robles Placentines c/Placentines, 2 (at the bar).

Especially at popular tapas places, they get to be a zoo as the evening goes on, noisy and crowded. Everyone is very congenial, and will pass back a tapas that you've ordered from the bar, but not very restful, and difficult with a party of 4. And if your kids are smaller (as our was), she got a bit squished in the crowd.

Granada was not our favorite city for food. We stayed in the Albaicin, and mostly had drinks and complimentary tapas at a bar in the plaza near our hotel. We had a nice dinner at Restaurante Oliver, Plaza de la Pescaderia, 12, in the sit-down restaurant, though many people were having tapas in front. Diamantes is well-known for tapas, but it was totally packed every time we went by, so we ended up at a no-name sit-down place down the street - it was still good. We had (sit-down) dinner at Puerta del Carmen, Plaza del Carmen, 1, where they had very good jamon bellota.

If you don't already know about churros con chocolat for breakfast, you have to plan on doing that. In Granada, we ate at Churrería Cafetería Alhambra, Plaza Bib-rambla. Lucky for us parents who can't stomach an entire order of churros con chocolat, they have other items too (you're not going here for the atmosphere - it reminded me a bit of Denny's). That's a great plaza for afternoon drinks, as well.

In Sevilla, get churros from Calenteria Cano y Cueta, c/ Cano y Cueta, which is a tiny storefront that sells only churros and chocolat - a sign outside says you can order coffee from two nearby cafes. So again, DD had churros and we had other items at Modesto, c/ Cano y Cueto, 5.

Enjoy - now I want to return to Spain, especially Sevilla!

Thanks again for all the suggestions and comments. It's particularly good to hear from families who've been there and done that. In general, I think we will aim for opening time and try to get a table for the evening. Looking forward to the new (and tasty) experience.

indy_dad - another fun family trip - I'm jealous again! My wife and I were in Spain for a couple of weeks a few years ago and we had tapas for about a third of our dinners and went to restaurants for the other two thirds. Like a lot of people say above, your family will have a lot of fun with the whole tapas experience - each place is different and there are a LOT of places so you will be able to find something that works for you. We usually picked one place that we liked and just ate a lot of tapas there - we did not hop from one place to another too much.

We really liked one of the tapas places where we sat at a table outside and they had the tapas already prepared sitting on the bar. We would walk in, grab what we wanted off of trays, eat them at out table and repeat the process until we were full. They had toothpicks stuck in them (small toothpicks for cheaper tapas, large toothpicks for more expensive tapas) and when finished, we just counted up our toothpicks and paid. Another place we had to order off a menu but they kept track of the amounts by writing them in chalk on the bar. When finished, they added it up, we paid and they wiped it off ready for the next customer.

We love paella so we ordered that nearly every other meal in restaurants - and it was delicious. We did not have our granddaughter with us but we saw kids everywhere having a great time. Have fun and I'm looking forward to your report!

Thanks john183 -- we are looking forward to the trip.

As Robert said, if you want a big portion of a tapas that you especially like, a media racion, or a racion is a big plate.

Our apartment was around the corner from Bar Estrella and I don't recommend it. Before I go any further, I will throw out the caveat that my daughter and I are vegetarian, so we're not the best ones to give general food advice, but - my husband is not veg and he didn't like it either. None of us liked our food there and thought it was sub-par, although the service was very good and friendly, and the drinks good. My husband had some kind of fish as well as the cold tomato soup with cream in it, and ham strips as garnish. He also had an eggplant dish. He didn't like any of it. Daughter and myself shared a salad and a couple of other tapas I don't even remember except none of it was good. It was only one of two places I ate at in southern Spain that I didn't care for. Everything we had did not taste or look freshly prepared, was bland, or just tasted "off" including the olives. The woman who owned our apartment had even warned us not to eat there, but we went anyway as it seemed to be a popular place. I just didn't care for it though. Maybe we ordered the wrong things, maybe they have great meat dishes besides the fish my husband got, I don't know... just my humble opinion.
One place in Sevilla we really liked was a cuban place called Habinita. It's off the main plaza of Plaza Alfalfa on Calle El Golfo (?) I think. We went there because they had lots of vegan dishes, but they had meat dishes too. What we had was excellent, so I assume that would carry through to the other foods they offer. The food was fresh, seasoned well, generous portions. You could also eat there a little earlier as they closed up a little earlier than other places it seemed. We went there three times, we liked it so much. Owner doesn't speak much English, but there's an English menu.

You liked Habinita because it's Vegan-friendly. You didn't like Bar Estrella because it's not Vegan-friendly.

Well I was able to order a few things at Bar Estrella. But none of us thought the food was very good quality.
It's possible we were there on an off-night. And yes, it's possible that we simply ordered food that wasn't their forte, even my husband. But there were a couple of other "regular" restaurants we went to and the food was good, and we went back to those. Another place, Huelvas Ochos, was very vegan-friendly and I wasn't that impressed with their food, but their drinks were good.

It wasn't awful but I wouldn't recommend the place.

A one time experience and you can rate a restaurant or tavern, something akin to posting on TA.

Hi! I'm Spanish, and can assure you your kids will be welcome everywhere. We usually take children with us everywhere, unless it's a very posh restaurant.

You can go from place to place or, if you find somewhere you like, just stay there. Many people do that, specially with kids, it's easier not to have to move than around. On the other hand, the times you mention are waaaaay to early. Dinner time is at 9 at the earliest, if you go before some tapas place will still be closed... And the open ones will be empty/full of tourists, no Spaniards in sight.