Why: Just go someplace that does NOT have pictures on the front door or on the menu and you'll probably get a decent to good meal.
CH in Tampa, FL USA 04/16/2007
Best: Restaurante Casa Manola-Santiago
Why: Galician food is the best and this restaurant does it right and for a very reasonable price.
Tony Ambrose in Louisville, KY USA 04/07/2007
Best: VIP
Why: When you can't stand any more ham, this is the place to find dependably good food
Worst: La Poma
Why: Nasty wait staff, charged for things not ordered (and heard neighboring patrons arguing about the same), never would return
BW in Federal Way, WA USA 03/31/2007
Best: La Paella Real in Madrid and Bodegas Casteneda in Granada
Why: La Paella was incredibly tasty. The portions were giagantic, and it was nice not to have bar food. Service was great, and sangria was tasty. Note - that you get charged for bread. Bodegas Casteneo - we did get a free tapa with our half bottle of wine. Their tortilla was the best I had in spain.
Hotel Europa's cafe in Madrid was okay. We went there because of all the incredible reviews on the wall. The people watching is great, but the food is only okay.
Worst: Kasbah in Granada
Why: Kasbah, which is located at Caldereria Nueva 4. The food was incredibly bland, the service was nonexistent, and there were some shady things going on with our bill. Thank goodness I remembered how much everything cost and that my husband was proficient enough to question the waitress on our bill. Our meal total was 23 euros, but they charged us 32 euros, which included some unknown 2.5 euro charge. We sent the bill back twice and they told us they were correct. The waitress decided to whip out the menu and a calculator and then discovered the large error (a 33%+ overcharge). Our bill magically went to 23 euros and the random 2.5 euro charged disappeared. I think it also helped that a family of 5 sat at the next table and witnessed the fiasco, which caused them to fix the mistake ASAP and get us out of there.
Jennifer in Philadelphia, PA USA 03/12/2007
Best: Bar Alcaravan, Arcos de la Frontera
Why: The ambience is amazing as it is actually in what was once the castle's dungeon. They play recorded guitar music. While there, we bought a Spanish guitar CD of the music that was actually playing while we were there (€7.80 - cheaper here than other places we checked). It is fun now, back home, to relax enjoying the music and remembering the tapas bar where we watched our tapas being cooked by the front door of the restaurant on a little hibachi and listened to the guitar music in the "dungeon" I also liked their olive tapas as it was an assortment of tasty olives. A Spanish guitar CD is a small, lightweight, souvenir to consider bringing home. This place is a short walk from RS recommended hotel, Hotel El Convento.
jmw USA 03/05/2007
Best: Nerja, Spain - Meson de Antonio on Calle Diputacion Provencial, l8,
Why: The desk clerk at Toboso apar-turis directed us to this restaurant saying it had "really good food". The restaurant is walking distance from the hotel. Meson de Antonio (952 520 033) was busy when we arrived on a Saturday night. It was well worth the 10 minute wait for a table. The fish of the day was excellent, as was the heart of palm salad. On a 3 week tour of Spain and Portugual, this was one of our best meals.
Jan Wishau in Columbia, MO USA 02/23/2007
Best: La Casita in Montejaque after Pileta Caves
Why: Very picturesque setting. Good spanish food - Rabo de Toro excellent!
Worst: Cafe and Bar Faustino -Ronda
Why: The decor was Bullfighter 70's and tired. The tapas were small and not very tasty - I suppose you could say that you did get what you paid for.
Stephen in Lausanne, VD Switzerland 01/12/2007
Worst: Santo Tome Marzipan on Plaza Zocodovar
Why: We had bought some things here that were tasty, but when we went in the following day to ask for directions, the staff was rude, told us our destination was closed (a lie!) and then laughed at us. We were polite and actually asked our question in Spanish! This is the first time this has ever happened to us. I suggest buying your marzipan from one of the many other vendors in Toledo.
Eve Strauss in Manalapan, NJ USA 01/02/2007
Best: Restaurante Santa Pola, Ronda.
Why: We actually had some trouble finding high end cuisine, but this place was so fabulous we went there two nights in a row. I'm usually a seafood eater but I love figs so I tried a pork medallion with figs dish. Knocked my socks off! The meal began with wonderful bread and two different (very) olive oils to dip it in. Spain has such extraordinary olive oil, and we were very disappointed that most restaurants did not offer bread and olive oil. The waiter did not speak English, but was most tolerant of our bad Spanish and gave us two lovely evenings. A close second goes to Taberna del Alabardero in Sevilla. Without Rick's book we would never have known about the student served lunch. It was wonderful! Can't resist -- one more: La Bola Taberna in Madrid. It rained a lot while we were in Spain. Cocido Madrileno is the perfect antidote and lots of fun to eat. We went twice. The second time the place was full of office workers on their lunch hours and literally every one was eating cocido Madrileno.
Worst: Bar Cerveceria Gambrinus, Toledo
Why: Stale bread, high prices, surly waiters. You can do much better -- easily.
Mary O'Connell in Hingham , Ma USA 12/31/2006
Best: the vegetarian restaurant on the same street as Residencia Lisboa, in Madrid
Why: delicious, healthy food!
Worst: the one in the White Hills town of Zahalla
Why: greasy. disgusting rest room.
Barak Gale in Index, WA USA 12/21/2006
Best: Cafe New Orleans in Nerja
Why: A little walk,but these guys know how to feed americans after being in Europe for 5 weeks. Everything home made, from Cajun and Creole dishes to Bananas Foster for desserts. Make reservations. Two other recomendation would be El Convento in Arcos de la Frontera and Carson Lopez de Toledo in Toledo.
Worst: None
Why: where ever we went in Spain for, Tapas or anyother snacks we had a ball and enjoyed the food.
Jack & Sieni Page in Phoenix, Az USA 12/06/2006
Best: Restaurants near the Modern Museum Barcelona
Why: I'm afraid that I can't provide names. But they are on the street you take off La Ramblas to the Museum. On the right hand side. Affordable and the food was great.
Worst: Any Restaurant on the La Ramblas
Why: What a rip off these places are. Ask dinner or drink prices before you order. I was charged 8 Euros for a tiny glass of sangria, for 2 tapas 7 Euros. Crazy.
Lynne Forbes in Mission Viejo, CA USA 11/24/2006
Best: El Pintor, Barcelona
Why: This was an excellently served and created meal. Hands down, the best meal of my trip in Spain. The ambiance was perfect after a long day of sightseeing and the staff very accomodating. An excellent "splurge".
Amy Battis in Beverly, MA USA 11/21/2006
Best: La Mallorquina in Madrid
Why: Fabulous pastries and awesome "chocolate"!!! It had a fun atmosphere and the wait staff were also fun and helpful.
Mark and Jill Caulfield in Chaska, MN USA 11/01/2006
Best: Alavera de los Banos in Ronda
Why: Soothing atmosphere and absolutely outstanding food!!
Elizabeth Easterling in Tyler, TX USA 10/14/2006
Best: Casa Pepe, Near O Savinao, Galicia
Why: Great home cooked meat...but no potatoes avaliable!!!
Joe in Eindhoven, Netherlands 10/14/2006
Best: Europa Cafeteria - Madrid
Why: Great food at a good price! The people watching is great if you sit outside. The scene right off the Puerto del Sol on a Saturday around midnight is not to be missed - especially if you add some sangria! The service was great and I actually wish I had stayed at the attached hotel - they were very nice and actually showed us a room and gave us a price list. All in all a great restaurant and hotel.
Heather in Pittsburgh, PA USA 10/10/2006
Best: La Gloria de Montera in Madrid
Why: The food is fantastic!!! And an excellent value! Great tapas restaurants are near Plaza de la Santa Cruz in Sevilla. In Tarifa Bar el Frances is wonderful so as Morilla.
Victoria Scranton in Houston, TX USA 10/07/2006
Best: Restaurante Cason Lopez de Toledo
Why: Best dinner in Spain to date (we are still in Spain), greatly enhanced by very friendly and helpful wait staff. All parts of the dinner were perfectly prepare. They have a non-smoking section. 90 Euros for dinner, with wine,and well worth it.
Jerry in O'Neill, VT USA 10/05/2006
Best: Bodega Castaneda
Why: Great Tapas, friendly staff, good prices
Worst: La Poma, Barcelona
Why: That place is a RIP... Get that out of the book
Robert Kwan in San Diego, CA USA 09/22/2006
Best: Meson Candido in Segovia
Why: We had excellent service, a great window view, and personal attention by the owner. He even posed with me for a picture! The food was fantastic---Castilian soup, roast suckling pig, and sublime arroz con leche. Price was reasonable for the service and quality.
Diann Danska in Benicia, CA USA 09/02/2006
Best: El Caballo Rojo in Cordoba; tapas at Bodega Santa Cruz and Las Teresas in Sevilla
Why: El Caballo Rojo: Definitely try their gazpacho (called salmorejo) as an appetizer, and their oxtail for the main course. Also, drink their special reserve red wine - it was absolutely delicious! Bodega Santa Cruz: Their tapas were delicious, and definitely try their coffee. Las Teresas: The tapas here were also delicious, but the best part of the experience were the waiters. They were extremely friendly, social, and had a cute sense of humor.
Worst: Restaurante Modesto in Sevilla
Why: Their waiters weren't so accommodating, and one of them recommended a dish to me that I found to be sub-par (the sardines). Their other fish dishes were average and not worth the price.
Christine Lee in Staten Island, NY USA 08/28/2006
Best: Pepe Rico in Nerja
Why: This recommendation is way overdue...we ate at a number of wonderful restaurants in Nerja, but we had to go back for a second meal at Pepe Rico....very good spanish cooking...good wine and not too expensive...the chef (Joaquin) created memorable dishes with fresh local ingredientes..don't miss this place...its right up the street from the Balcon of Europe, about 2 or 3 blocks from the main sqare. The address was Almirante Ferrandiz, 28, tele 95 252 02 47
Bill Young in San Leandro, CA USA 08/15/2006
Best: El Padrastro Restaurante, Mijas (near Malaga)
Why: Top notch service located in tiny town, Mijas, approx. 30 minutes from Malaga. Approx. 50 minutes from Marbella. View was gorgeous and food delicious. Extremely relaxing; no rushing. Perhaps more enjoyable as adults. White glove treatment.
The Leonards in Londonderry, NH USA 08/05/2006
Best: Taperia in Plaza Plateria, near Prado.
Why: Food was pretty good, price was good, and we were in the shade earlier than the other taperias in the same plaza.
Worst: Several - for reasons of taste.
Why: Some of the tapas selections only included the well-aged ham and sausages. At my stage in life, that's just asking for trouble!
Joe and Kathie Myers in Sylvania, OH USA 07/31/2006
Best: Sobrino del Botin
Why: The roast suckling pig was fabulous, and fair priced.
Worst: Museo del Jamon
Why: More locations in Madrid than Starbucks has in in NYC! Got tired of just seeing the name everywhere.
Dale in Fairfield, OH USA 07/24/2006
Best: Cafe Artemesia II
Why: We had the best dinner of our visit at this place, and even my non-vegetarian companions commented on what a wonderful dining experience it was!
Lee in Washington, DC USA 07/12/2006
Best:
Why: Toledo- La Abadia(on Plaza St. Nicolas)-excellent
Barcelona- Cometacinc(Near Placa St Just i St. Pastor)- best meal I had in Spain!
Matt Dangel in Columbus, Oh USA 07/10/2006
Best: Casa Rua
Why: Not only were the bocaditos de calamares good the tortilla espanola was delicious! The sidra is delicious, too, and the price is right.
Worst: Chocolaterias Valor
Why: This was not authentic chocolate; it was too dark and thick and not sweet enough. It was such a new bright place; chocolate con churros should be in a traditional local joint.
Jose Calderon in Coconut Creek, FL USA 07/09/2006
Best: Cabolino do Demo
Why: Good vegetarian food can be hard to come by in Spain! Sadly, this place is now closed.
Joseph Sargent in San Francisco, CA USA 06/16/2006
Worst:
Why: La Baguette in Barcelona (you didn't recommend it) - - it is close to Plaza de Cataluyna. We stopped for a quick lunch. The sandwiches were all listed on a large sign with the prices. We ordered 2 sandwiches and 2 beers. They asked if we wanted to eat inside or out. We said inside. It was a "takeaway" type of place, but when we sat down, they presented us with a bill almost double the price listed on the menu. They said it was the price they charge for eating inside. My husband tried to argue with the guy, but no luck. Another table with two American women said the same thing had happened to them.. The place is a ripoff! We didn't encounter this problem anywhere else in Spain. Please let people know!!
J. Boerger in Coppel, Tx USA 06/12/2006
Best: Kasbah and Los Italianos in Granada
Why: Kasbah - The food was incredibly good. We went on Flamenco night, so the place was hopping (downstairs). We were upstairs and for a while it seemed as though no one remembered we were there. Nevertheless, the food was outstanding - we had the Salmonejo (the best we had in all of Spain), an incredible aubergine dish and equally delicious cous cous dish. It was more than enough for two and with a few drinks was less than 30 Euro. We would go back in a minute.
Los Italianos is definitely a local hang out. Busy, busy, busy and you'd better know what you want. We had no clue, but saw a couple leaving with what looked like 7 or 8 little scoops of different flavoured ice cream. Through gestures, and broken Spanish/English we figured out it was the Capricho (I think, it's one of the only ice cream items that is $2.50 Euros). Insanely good. I can't figure out why we didn't go back for more?!?!?! Overall, we found we just couldn't eat badly in Spain.
Deirdre Logan in Vancouver, BC Canada 06/05/2006
Worst: M. Palacios, in Toledo
Why: food was slight and stale, and thus too expensive, canned music was loud and intrusive.
Suzaan Boettger in NYC, NY USA 06/05/2006
Best: Vinoteca Salinas II, Granada
Why: Vinoteca Salinas II in Granada was perfect for us! We're big wine drinkers and it offered dozens of really good wines by the glass for tasting, plus a huge selection of tremendous Spanish wines by the bottle. And it seemed like for every plate of tapas we ordered, we got a free one. We had five glasses of really good wine and a substantial meal with a half-dozen different items and didn't spend 30 Euros!
We also enjoyed Las Terasas in Sevilla. This gave us more the feel of a local bar with the surly waiters. We sat at the bar so we had quick access to food and drink.
Tom Kelly in Park City, UT USA 06/03/2006
Best: Cafe Central, Tarifa
Why: They had a fairly diverse menu, and numerous dishes I would eat (I am a very picky eater). This was the only place I found that served good pasta on my entire trip!
Julie Williams in Nashville, TN USA 06/01/2006
Best: Bodega Castorena(I think that was the name)(Sevilla)
Why: The food was reasonable and good. The added bonus was that musicians kept coming through the little alley way where they had tables set up.
deborah Evenich in Petaluma, Ca USA 05/30/2006
Best: New Transito Pizzeria Tarifa
Why: Located inside the fort walls great food, great prices and Sangria with cinnamon sticks.
Worst: VIPS Madrid
Why: Bad food and bad prices. Soggy versions of various types of cuisine.
Tom Shover in Chicago, IL USA 05/23/2006
Best: Cafe Sevilla
Why: Very lively atmosphere in the bar. Our waitress was super nice and accomodating. The paella was served fresh and was absolutely delicious. We washed it down with two pitchers of delectable sangria to finish off a perfect dining experience.
Chris McClure in San Francisco, CA USA 04/26/2006
Best: Madrid VIPS
Why: Near Prado, and served our starving late afternoon crew when many others weren't serving meals at that time of day. We had a lot of trouble syncing our eating habits to the local timetable
Patrick Farrell in Baltimore, MD USA 04/21/2006
Best: Restaurante Puerto Rico, near Gran Via
Why: Great food, great prices, kind staff and a very authentic feel of blending in with the locals. The three-course menu has many choices...even for someone who is not fond of Madrid cuisine.
Worst: Museo de Jamon, Tapas chain
Why: The prices are good, but we went to 2 different locations and they were rude at both. I don't think it was us, because this rudeness only appeared at the Museo de Jamon. There are much nicer places to get tapas and raciones.
Brian Kozakowski in Cherry Hill, NJ USA 04/20/2006
Best: El Torro Bar from the Pub Crawl
Why: Friendly Staff, great inexpensive Tapas - we stopped here every night we were in Madrid. By the last night we were treated like family!
Rick Fan in San Francisco, CA USA 04/19/2006
Best: Pinoxto Bar, Market, Barcelona
Why: The owner Juan has so much personality that he almost rivals his wonderful pastries and fantastic coffee
Yelena in Boston, MA USA 04/19/2006
Best: Los Italianos in Granada
Why: It's actually gelato, not real food, but it was terrific!
For real food: fish about anywhere was excellent.
Worst: tapas anywhere
Why: Unidentifiable stuff served standing up in smokey bars. The horror of ingesting squid or octopus certainly held me back. I'd rather be hungry.
Suzanne Lacey in Vista, CA USA 04/17/2006
Best: Ronda: Restaurante Del Escudero
Why: Great quite patio, good food, and friendly service
John in San Diego, Ca USA 04/16/2006
Best: La Fonda & Les Quince Nits
Why: Hands down La Fonda was the best food related experience of our entire trip. Four courses for two and a bottle of wine for just a shade over 30 euros. The food was amazing and waitstaff was even friendly.
David and Juliana Matsumoto in Seattle, WA USA 04/01/2006
Best: small cafeterias in Madrid
Why: fairly inexpensive with decent food. With the dollar being weak against the euro, we avoided the more expensive resturants.
Gretchen Gallucci in Worthington, OH USA 03/26/2006
Best: El Barrilito in Tarifa
Why: Good location, great for prople watching (Outside tables only). Great sandwiches and "Panini con Queso" (french bread pizza) for cheap prices. Have lunch or dinner here and get an extra sandwich or two to take with you for lunch the next day.
Michael Roberts in Vancouver, WA USA 03/20/2006
Best: La Tramoia - Barcelona
Why: Great food at reasonable prices. We ate at the bar and upstairs at the restaurant.
Worst: San Marco - Seville
Why: Cheap, but Italian food at its worst.
Julie Joyce in Woodbury, MN USA 03/19/2006
Best: 1) Restaurant Elisabets
Why: Great value, and delicious food!
ken in Concord, CA USA 03/08/2006
Best: El Pintor, and Bilbao in Barcelona, Carmelo in Sevilla
Why: Both the El Pintor and the Bilboa are near the Catedral in Barcelona (the Bilbao is on the square) the El Pintor is just what Rick says..the place to spend a little more for a really great mean...best Paella in Spain...the Bilbao is a great tapas bar...its got a terrific assortment of prepared tapas replenished often...good service and reasonably priced. The Carmelo in Sevilla is really convenient to the Las Casas de la Juderia...best potato dish in all Spain (don't know what it was called but it comes with a quail egg on it...and I think piquillo peppers..)
Worst: I forget the name but it is an expensive restaurant near the Cathedral at the intersection of Mateos Gago and D Demondo
Why: It was expensive...it was mediocre at best...
Bill in San Leandro, CA USA 02/09/2006
Best: Rodilla (chain fast-food) in Madrid
Why: You could get sandwiches and American style salads. They were very fresh and tasty.
Gale Sellers in Melbourne Beach, FL USA 02/03/2006
