Eating in Sevilla
A popular Andalusian meal is fried fish, particularly marinated adobo. The soups, such as salmorejo (Córdoba-style super-thick gazpacho) and ajo blanco (almond-based with garlic), are tasty.
If you're hungry for dinner before the Spaniards are, do the tapas tango, using the "Tapas Tips" from this book's introduction. Wash down your tapas with fino (chilled dry sherry) or, more refreshing, tinto de verano (literally, "summer" red wine), an Andalusian red wine with soda, like a mild sangria. A good light white wine is barbadillo .
Eating in Triana across the River
The colorful Triana District — south of the river, between the San Telmo and Isabel II bridges — is filled with rustic and fun eateries.
Tapas: The riverside street, Calle Betis (Betis is the Roman name for the Guadalquivir River ), is best for tapas bars. Before sitting down, walk to the Santa Ana church (midway between the bridges, two blocks off the river) where tables spill into the square in the shadow of the floodlit church spire. It feels like the whole neighborhood is out celebrating. On Plazuela Santa Ana, two restaurants feed the neighborhood: Taberna la Plazuela is self-service, doing simpler fare with enticing €9 tostones — giant, fancy Andalusian bruschetta (good for 3-4 people) and €1.80 montaditos (little sandwiches). Restaurant Bistec, with most of the square's tables, does grilled fish with enthusiasm. I liked taquitos de merluza (hake fish), but for a mix of fish, ask for frito variado (11:30-16:00 & 20:00-24:00, Plazuela de Santa Ana, tel. 954-274-759.)
For tapas in a rougher bull bar, head a block down the street where Bar Santa Ana — draped in bullfighting and Weeping Virgin memorabilia — is busy filling locals from a fun list of tapas like delicia de solomillo — tenderloin (long hours, closed Sun, Pureza 82, tel. 954-272-102).
Riverside Dinners: For a restaurant dinner (with properly attired waiters and full menus as opposed to tapas), consider these neighbors on Calle Betis, next to the San Telmo bridge. Río Grande is your candlelight-fancy option (€30 dinners, daily 13:00-16:00 & 20:00-24:00, tel. 954-273-956); its terrace is less expensive, more casual, and a better value. Next door, the simpler Restaurante La Primera del Puente serves about the same thing with nearly the same view for half the price (Thu-Tue 11:30-17:00 & 20:00-24:00, closed Wed and the last half of Aug, tel. 954-276-918).
At the Isabel II bridge, in the yellow bridge tower, El Faro de Triana offers inexpensive tapas, a €6 lunch menu , €15 à la carte dinners, and the best views over the river from the top floor (Thu-Tue 8:00-1:00, closed Wed, tel. 954-336-192). Nearby, in tippy tables lined up along the riverbank, La Esquina del Puente (along with a couple other places) serves pescados fritos (fried fish) raciones for €8 to locals out for maximum romance at a minimum price (Wed-Mon 12:00-16:00 & 20:00-23:00, closed Tue, Puente de Isabel II, tel. 954-330-069).
Tapas in Barrio de Santa Cruz
For tapas, the Barrio de Santa Cruz is trendy and romántico . Plenty of atmospheric-but-touristy restaurants fill the neighborhood near the cathedral and along Calle Santa María la Blanca.
From the cathedral, walk up Mateos Gago where several classic old bars — with the day's tapas scrawled on chalkboards — keep tourists and locals well fed and watered. (Turn right at Mesón del Moro for several more.)
Cervecería Giralda (at Mateos Gago 1) is a long-established meeting place for locals. It's famous for its fine tapas (confirm prices). A block farther you'll find Bodega Santa Cruz (a.k.a. Las Columnas), a popular standby with good cheap tapas. At the next intersection, turn right off Mateos Gago onto Calle Mesón del Moro, which leads past the recommended San Marco pizzeria to Las Teresas , a fine and characteristic little bar draped in fun photos. It serves good tapas from a user-friendly menu (daily, Calle Santa Teresa 2, tel. 954-213-069). Just down Calle Santa Teresa is the artist Murillo's house (free when open and a good example of a local courtyard). Calle Santa Teresa continues past a convent of cloistered nuns to the most romantic little square in Santa Cruz.
Dining in Barrio de Santa Cruz
Corral del Agua Restaurante, a romantic pink-tablecloth place with classy indoor and charming courtyard seating, serves fine Andalusian cuisine deep in the Barrio de Santa Cruz (plan on €25 per meal, Mon-Sat 13:00-16:00 & 20:00-24:00, closed Sun, reservations smart, Callejón del Agua 6, tel. 954-224-841).
Restaurante La Albahaca fills a luxurious mansion with tables spilling onto a quaint Santa Cruz square, offering French Basque and Spanish food in a convenient location next to the Los Gallos flamenco club (daily menu €30, €18 plates, Mon-Sat 13:00-16:00 & 20:30-24:00, closed Sun, air-con, Plaza de Santa Cruz 12, tel. 954-220-714).
Restaurante Modesto is a bustling local favorite serving pricey but top-notch Andalusian fare — especially fish — with atmospheric outdoor seating and forgettable indoor seating. They offer creative, fun meals — look around before ordering — and a good €17 daily menu with energetic, friendly service. Their mixed salad is a meal (daily, just off Santa Cruz near Santa Maria la Blanca at Cano y Cueto 5, tel. 954-416-811).
Eating Cheap in Barrio de Santa Cruz
Bar Restaurant 3 el de Oro is a fried-fish-to-go place with great outdoor seating and a restaurant across the street that serves fine wine or beer. You can order a cheap cone of your choice of tasty fish and sip a nice drink, almost dining for the cost of a picnic. Stand in line and study the photos of the various kinds of seafood available — un quarto (250 grams for about €5) serves one (daily until 24:00, Santa Maria la Blanca 34, tel. 954-426-820).
Restaurante San Marco offers cheap pizza and fun, basic Italian cuisine under the arches of what was an Arab bath in the Middle Ages (and a disco in the 1990s). The atmosphere is air-conditioned and easygoing (good salads, pizza and pasta for €6, daily 13:15-16:30 & 20:15-24:00, closed much of Aug, Calle Mesón del Moro 6, tel. 954-564-390).
Eating with Atmosphere along Calle García de Vinuesa
I don't like the restaurants surrounding the cathedral. But many good places are just across Avenida de la Constitución. Calle García de Vinuesa leads past several colorful and cheap tapas places to a busy corner surrounded with happy eateries.
Horno San Buenaventura , across from the cathedral, is slick, chrome, spacious, and handy for tapas, coffee, pastries and ice cream (open daily, light meals are posted on the door, good quiet seating upstairs).
Bodega Morales is farther up Calle García de Vinuesa (#11, Mon-Sat 12:00-16:00 & 20:00-24:00, closed Sun, tel. 954-22-1242). While the front area is more of a drinking bar, go in the back section (around the corner) to munch tiny sandwiches (montaditos) and tapas and sip wine among huge kegs. Everything is the same price ( montaditos -€1.80, tapas-€1.80, half- raciones €6 — order at the bar) with the selection chalked onto huge kegs.
Freiduría la Isla (next door) has been frying fish since 1938 (they just renovated and changed the oil). Along with pescado frito , they also sell wonderful homemade potato chips and fried almonds. Try €4.80 cazón (marinated shark) or frito variado for a fish sampler. Their €1.20 gazpacho is a great starter (Mon 20:00-23:30, Tue-Sat 13:00-15:30 & 20:00-23:30, closed Sun).
At the end of Calle García de Vinuesa, angle right and you'll find several good places. The "5J" Bar on the corner is a mod alternative to all the traditional bars — popular with locals for its ham.
El Buzo Restaurant is a busy neighborhood place on a lively street corner with good outdoor seating and homey indoor seating, frisky service, and great fish and seafood (€15 meals, more with seafood, be careful: appetizers are priced per person and they push pricey options, daily 12:00-24:00, Calle Antonia Díaz 5, tel. 954-210-231). Just down the street, Cafetería Mesón Serranito is full of bull lore and locals consuming €6 platos combinados (Antonio Díaz 4, tel. 954-211-243).
Bodega Paco Gongora is colorful and a bit classier than a tapas bar with a tight dining area and a popular tapas counter specializing in fish. It's sit-down meals are well-presented and reasonable (daily 12:00-16:00 & 20:00-24:00, ask for the English menu, off Plaza Nueva at Calle Padre Marchena 1, tel. 954-214-139).
Picnickers forage at the covered fish-and-produce Mercado del Arenal (with a small café/bar for breakfast inside, Mon-Sat 9:00-14:30, closed Sun, not lively on Mon, on Calle Pastor y Landero at Calle Arenal, just beyond bullring). A more bustling market recently opened, just across the Isabel II bridge in Triana.
Dining Between Cathedral and Plaza Nueva
Taberna del Alabardero, one of Sevilla's finest restaurants, serves refined Spanish cuisine in chandeliered elegance just a couple of blocks from the cathedral. While the à la carte menu will add up to about €45 a meal, for €47 they offer a fun seven-course sampler menu with lots of little surprises from the chef. Or consider their €15 starter sampler followed by an entrée (daily 13:00-16:00 & 20:00-24:00, closed Aug, air-con, reservations smart, Zaragoza 20, tel. 954-502-721). The service in the fancy upstairs dining rooms get mixed reviews (understand the bill).but the setting is stunning.
Taberna del Alabardero student-served lunch: Their ground-floor dining rooms (elegant but nothing like upstairs) are popular with local office workers for their great-value student-chef sampler menu (€10.10 for 3 delightful courses, Mon-Fri 13:00-16:30, €14.75 for same thing on Sat-Sun). To avoid a wait, arrive before 13:30.