95 Best Restaurants in Spain

Around the corner from the Mercado de Atarazanas, this is Málaga's oldest bar, founded in 1840. Málaga wines and finos flow straight from the barrel, and the walls are lined with sepia photos of old Málaga—including some of Picasso. Wash your wine down with plates of cheese, shrimp, or cold cuts.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This very small, quintessentially Spanish bar, with no seats and numerous photos of matadors and flamenco dancers, seems out of place surrounded by the tourist shops and overshadowed by the Mezquita, but its appearance—and its prices—are part of its charm. Tapas (from €2.50) such as albóndigas en salsa de almendras (meatballs in almond sauce) and bocadillos (sandwiches that are literally "little mouthfuls") are excellent in quality and value, while the tortilla de patata (potato omelet) is renowned and celebrated both for its taste and its heroic thickness. When it's busy, drinks and food are served on plastic and you often have to eat outside on the street.

This take-no-prisoners abuelo bar near the top of El Rastro is famous for griddled sardines, served hot and greasy in an odiferous heap with nothing but a flick of crunchy salt. Beware, super-smellers: eau de sardine is a potent perfume.

This sun-filled corner lunch spot at the foot of Montjuïc, with coveted terrace seating just across the street, is a cut above the neighborhood’s typical tapas joints. Nearly everything is organic, from the simply prepared Mediterranean-style dishes to the ecological wines; even the sodas are sourced from lesser-known, sustainability-focused brands.

Famous for its patatas bravas amb allioli (potatoes with fiery hot sauce and allioli, an emulsion of crushed garlic and olive oil), accompanied by freezing mugs of San Miguel beer, this old-fashioned Sarrià classic is worth seeking out. You'll have to elbow your way to a tiny table and shout to be heard over the hubbub, but the effort is richly rewarded.

Winner of many a miniature cuisine award (don't miss the prawn-filled txalupa tartlet), this Gros neighborhood standby offers outside-the-box takes on traditional tapas and pintxos. It also serves more substantial dishes for sit-down meals.

An excellent spot for coffee or a G&T, this is a classic establishment in the old fishermen's neighborhood. The sunny terrace in front and the bar inside are excellent places for drinks and sandwiches.

Ooey-gooey oversize croquetas stuffed with hot béchamel and any range of fixings (start with the classic jamón) are the tapa to order at this snug neighborhood hangout.

Down a side street off the Avenida de la Constitución, this historic bar (formerly a wine store) takes you back to 19th-century Seville, and it is still run by descendants of the family that established it in 1850. Locals pack the place at lunchtime, when popular dishes include menudo con garbanzos (tripe with chickpeas) and albóndigas de choco (cuttlefish croquettes). The wine list is, as you would expect, extensive. There are two bar areas: the largest fronts the store and looks out onto the street, and the other is home to huge ceramic wine barrels and tiled walls.

The tapas are offal-y good at this pocket-size bar specializing in variety meats like pig ear (served crackly with spicy brava sauce) and zarajos (lamb intestines wrapped around a stick and fried until crisp, an old-school Madrid snack).

This hip neighborhood favorite has around a dozen tables and an extensive eclectic menu geared toward sharing that features game meats, seafood, and cheeses from the mountainous northern region of Cantabria. Organic wines sourced from around the country make for spot-on pairings.

Fried calamari a la romana, made with fresh, ultra-tender squid as opposed to the standard frozen stuff, is the star tapa at this 117-year-old Hemingway hangout that's confusingly not Alemana (German) in the slightest.

A bright and booming tapas bar with a few tables outside, this spot is always packed for a reason: good food at reasonable prices. Try the montadito de solomillo y foie, mini-morsels of foie gras-topped tenderloin that will take the edge off your carnivorous appetite without undue damage to your wallet, or the garlicky shrimp.

Cervecería Cervantes is improbably down-to-earth for such a posh, tourist-oriented neighborhood—the kind of place where you throw your olive pits right onto the floor. Most patrons come for the ice-cold cañas (half-pints), but there are traditional tapas of varying quality.

This legendary seaside spot opened in 1913 and spawned the term that’s given to similar bars dotting the Spanish coast. There’s nothing particularly outstanding about the food—typical seafood tapas, much of it fried—but the waterfront terrace is ideal for soaking up the sun and more than a century of history.

Cinco Jotas ibérico ham is a sight to behold: translucent and shimmering like shards of red stained glass, a shade darker than prosciutto and twice as fragrant. That's because this famous producer uses only 100% purebred, acorn-fed Iberian hogs. Let the master ham cutters at this swanky indoor-outdoor restaurant guide you to porcine nirvana with a gorgeous charcuterie plate paired perfectly with a glass of bone-dry fino sherry.

At the bottom of Rambla de Catalunya, this scaled-up tapas bar draws a throng of mostly international clients and has tables outside on this busy part-pedestrianized street all year- round. The solomillo (miniature beef fillet) is a winner here, as is the broqueta d'escamarlans (brochette of jumbo shrimp). You'll find similar dishes for less elsewhere, but the combination of location and reliable quality here means that the lines for seats are invariably long.

Though every drink comes with a complimentary croqueta at this pocket-size bar frequented by locals, the crisp, gooey orbs are so succulent that you'll want to order a few extra. Be sure to sample the smoky cured beef cecina rendition.

Just down the street from the Museu Picasso, dangling botas (leather wineskins) announce one of Barcelona's liveliest and most visually appealing taverns, with marble-top tables and walls decorated with colorful ceramic tiles, some of which may look like they've been here since the joint opened in 1929. Prepare to wait in line outside as it's invariably packed to the rafters with a rollicking mob of local and out-of-town celebrants.

In a quiet square just off La Rambla, you could easily pass by Gats without being lured inside, but that would be a mistake if you're looking for a casual spot for seasonal tapas. Expect to see some familiar staples, such as jamón ibérico, pa amb tomàquet, and padrón peppers, along with more unexpected flavor combinations.

This pocket-size bar's raison d'être is its garlicky seared-shrimp brochette topped with zippy carrot vinaigrette.

On a square next to the Bretxa farmers' market, this traditional little bar that opens at 7 am is a well-priced standby with a genial old-school staff.

If you can find this dive (literally: it's a short drop below sidewalk level), you'll encounter a warm and cluttered space with a dozen small tables and a few spots at the marble counter. Try the excellent pa amb tomàquet and Manchego cheese, Iberian cured ham, or tortilla de patatas (potato and onion omelet).