36 Best Restaurants in Spain

Rest your legs at this third-wave coffeehouse that uses a sleek La Marzocco machine and is furnished with cushy armchairs and floor lamps. There are also small-production vermouths and local craft beers to try alongside soups, sandwiches, and other snacks.

This historical Bilbao haunt (est. 1903) in the Ensanche's most popular garden and square has azulejo-lined walls, dreamy murals of rural scenes, and a painted artesonado ceiling. Stick to tried-and-true classics like Basque steak frites or bacalao al pil pil. The room overlooking the square is the place to be—if they try to stuff you in the back dining room, resist or come back another time.

One of the Canaries' few great specialty coffee shops (think single-origin beans, seasoned baristas, and Chemex pour-overs), Caracolillo is a trendy hangout in the Centro district.

Always crisp and never greasy—that's the mark of a well-made churro, and Madrid Chocolat's piping-hot baskets of fried dough always hit the spot.

This cheery yellow-tiled café serving Middle Eastern-inflected sandwiches and pastries is packed from breakfast to lunch, when neighborhood-dwellers show up for falafel, shakshuka, and spinach pie. At 8:30 pm, Golda morphs into "Golfa," its boozier late-night alter ego serving tapas and natural wine. 

Under the gilt-edged ceiling at Seville's most celebrated pastry outlet (founded in 1885), you can enjoy the flanlike tocino de cielo, or "heavenly bacon." For breakfast, enjoy a traditional feed of toasted bread with tomato and a strong coffee, served at a standing bar. Prices are reasonable despite its popularity.

There’s a Miami vibe to this bright, two-floored brunch spot, with its bold blue accents, wall murals, egg-based dishes, and park-side terrace. Details count here: from dish presentation (beautifully done) to a catchy playlist; even the take-out coffee cups have artist illustrations.  

At this sun-drenched two-table coffee shop, grab a café con leche before perusing the shelves, which are stocked with Spanish conservas (preserved foods), natural wines, and other culinary gems that make great gifts or picnic fare. In 2024, a new second location opened inside Mercado de Vallehermoso ( see Chamberí section).

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.

Always a popular place to hang out and watch barcelonins kill some time, this lively café has hosted everyone from local poets to King Felipe. The tapas are nothing special but the sandwiches are excellent and the beer is cold. Plus, this old-fashioned bar de toda la vida (everyday bar), with its long counter and jumble of tables, is open 365 days a year.

One of the oldest bakeries in the city, Brunells has occupied the same corner in El Born since 1852. Recently remodeled, it now sports a contemporary look worthy of a Wes Anderson movie, while its flakey butter croissants filled with everything from ham and cheese to salted caramel, regularly win awards as some of the best in the city.

This café, on a side street behind the church of Sant Francesc, is one of Palma's venerable institutions, in business since 1700. Drop in for coffee or hot chocolate with an ensaimada crema—a spiral-shape Mallorcan pastry with a rich cream-cheese filling. With its green-glass chandeliers, cane-back chairs, and marble tabletops, the setting is a treat in itself.

The grandmotherly upholstery, fringed lampshades, plush wingback chairs, and wooden bookshelves make Café de la Luz a cozy spot to curl up with a book, catch up with friends, or get some work done. Coffees will run you about €2 apiece, and if you're peckish, there's a good variety of sweets and open-faced sandwiches to sate your appetite. Come evening (closing time is 2 am most nights), the lights get dimmed and coffees turn into cocktails.

Pamplona's gentry have been flocking to this ornate, French-style café since 1888, but in 1926 Ernest Hemingway made it part of world literary lore in The Sun Also Rises. You can have a drink with a bronze version of the author in his favorite perch at the far end of the bar, or enjoy views of the plaza from a table on the terrace. Service is spotty; grab a beverage and a tapa here, but don't stick around for a meal.

Escape to the tranquil, air-conditioned quiet of this salón de té (tea room) for comfortable booths, picture windows, pastries, breakfast plates, sandwiches, and perhaps the only free coffee refills in the Canaries.

San Ginés is to Madrid what Café du Monde is to New Orleans: a historical fried-dough mecca. For generations this 19th-century café has been frying spirals of piping-hot churros and porras (the churro's fatter, chewier cousin—try them!) day and night. Dunk your breakfast in café con leche or Cola Cao (Spanish chocolate milk) since the melted dark chocolate, which tastes processed, isn't what it used to be.

Trace the western side of the Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales until you reach Chocolatería Valor, an ideal spot to indulge in piping-hot churros dipped in thick hot chocolate. Valor's churros are chewy, puffy, and snipped into batons, more akin to porras (churros' baking-soda-leavened sibling) than to standard crispy churros.

These carb geeks cut no corners—breads here are leavened with sourdough and made with organic stone-ground flours, and the beans for their complex coffees are roasted in-house. Drop into the postage-stamp dinette for breakfast or an afternoon pick-me-up, and savor airy all-butter croissants and any range of sweet and savory pastries and breads.

The opulent Confitería El Riojano was founded in 1855 by Dámaso Maza, the personal pastry chef of Queen Maria Christina of Austria, and the original mahogany counters and ornate display cases are still in use. The pastries are hit-or-miss these days, but the ladyfingers (soletillas) dunked in hot chocolate are a safe bet and the historical ambience compensates for any culinary foibles.

Tucked away in a small alley that's easy to miss, Departure Coffee is a neighborhood go-to for freshly brewed coffee any way you like it, plus a selection of toasts and pastries. There’s an eclectic mix of old and new here: the building dates to 1867, when it was horse stables for the Valldonzella convent, and the entrance doors, which are the original stable doors, feature a mural by Barcelona urban artist, SM172.

Faraday is a chic little café known for its meticulously roasted beans, mathematically precise baristas, and gorgeous midcentury modern furniture. Laptops are allowed.

Expertly pulled espressos, natural wines, and standout food—think velvety scrambled eggs, Korean fried chicken sandwiches, and homemade cakes and pastries—have made this café on Plaza del Biombo an instant hit with locals and expats, many of whom treat the roomy communal table like a coworking space (just be considerate and order more than a coffee if you plan on staying awhile). At the time of writing, the café was gearing up to launch dinner service.

Gallo Nero is owned by a true Tuscan who knows his stuff. The first of two locations—the other one is on La Rambla—the menu skips the typical pasta and pizza you’re used to seeing and instead, focuses on charcuterie boards and Tuscan sandwiches (called a "schiacciata").

Spaniards love their morning cafés con leche and afternoon cortados (espresso with steamed milk), but until a few years ago, it was hard to find a truly great cup of joe in Madrid. Enter Hola Coffee, whose multilayered third-wave espressos and cold brews are made with beans the company roasts itself. From-scratch baked goods and open-faced sandwiches will make you want to stay awhile; printed "Cool Beans" T-shirts make zany souvenirs.

Owned by a former professional cyclist and decorated with an abundance of bike memorabilia, this inviting café serves healthy, organic breakfasts and lunches—avocado toast, egg dishes, quinoa bowls—along with superb coffee roasted at the founder's other enterprise, Espresso Mafia. It's a popular fuel-up stop for local cyclists.

More than a bookstore, the café and restaurant here serves an all-day buffet until 9 pm. Readings, concerts, and book presentations round out an ample program of events. The child-friendly and Wi-Fi–equipped librería features a covered roof terrace that's perfect for munching a slice of cake while catching up on email.

Diverging in spirit from the stuffier baroque-style cafés of the neighborhood, this cozy spot with mismatched vintage furniture attracts an artsy crowd. 

Beyond the single-origin coffee drinks made from locally roasted beans, there are warming chai lattes, shrubs, and (seasonal) cold brew at this quiet café that has an abutting pastry shop called Misión Bakehouse. There are plenty of plant-based options on the breakfast and lunch menu as well. Tables are for coffee-sipping and dining only, so if you brought your laptop, sit at the high-top communal table or on the wooden "bleachers."

This coffee shop with exposed-brick walls is an adorable breakfast nook worth seeking out for its single-origin brews and well-priced plant-based brunches.

Get your brunch fix here with killer homemade pastries, eggs Benedict, and single-origin coffees.