19 of the best tapas bars in Spain

Forget that fancy restaurant – if you’re after a true hit of Spain’s red-hot, fiesta-loving, sociable soul, take the lead of locals. Track down a tapas bar that’s been in business for donkey’s years, elbow your way to the bar, browse what’s at the counter, shout out your order, squeeze into an available corner and dig in. The idea of meeting friends for a gossip and a glass of vino, vermouth or beer accompanied by an endless parade of delicious dishes you can share is so deeply ingrained in Spanish culture they even have a verb for it – tapear – and the golden hour for this is around 10pm.

Edge north to the wave-beaten shores of Basque Country and you’ll find tapas rivaled by pintxos, bite-sized morsels served on bread, in a spoon or on a skewer, equally good as a pre-dinner snack with an aperitif or as a meal in themselves.

In Spain they say “De la panza sale la danza”, or the stomach leads the dance, so read on for our favorite tapas and pintxos spots that will sweep you (and your tastebuds) off your feet.

Madrid

1. Casa Amadeo Los Caracoles

The Madrileños are rarely afraid to come out of their shell – and neither are the caracoles (snails) that have made this fabulously old-fashioned bar in Madrid’s La Latina neighborhood famous. An enormous pot of escargots in a rich house sauce with garlic, smoky chorizo, morcilla (blood sausage) and paprika has been bubbling away at Casa Amadeo since 1942. The interior has barely changed since then, with retro patterned tiles and old pictures festooning the walls. Try the caracoles with a glass of vermút (vermouth), or go for other traditional faves like river crab and fat pork knuckles.

Tip: Casa Amadeo is just around the corner from El Rastro flea market, in full swing on a Sunday. Come before midday to score a table or be prepared to wait.

2. El Brillante

But a hungry step away from the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía and Real Jardín Botánico, bright, Spanish diner-style El Brillante gets regularly rammed with locals in search of the city’s freshest, crunchiest, tastiest bocadillos (long baguette-like bread loaf with fillings). It has been making some of the very best here since 1952. Top billing goes to the one stuffed with lightly olive-oil-and-flour battered calamari (squid), but you can also give them a whirl with fillings like chorizo, tortilla and tomato-anchovy. Or pull up a stool at the pink marble bar for old-school tapas like pig’s ears, tripe, and patatas bravas, potatoes swimming in spicy homemade tomato sauce.

Tip: Get a sweet start to the morning by heading here for churros con chocolate, sugary deep-fried dough sticks dunked in hot chocolate that’s thick enough to stand a spoon in.

3. Bar Cruz

“There’s no wi-fi but you can talk to us. We don’t speak English but we promise not to laugh at your Spanish…” reads a sign above the bar at this old-time cervecería (beer house), which has been sizzling and stirring since 1970. No frills, no fuss – this place delivers just good vibes, cold beer and Madrid’s best navajas (razor clams), grilled in olive oil, garlic and parsley and served with a lemon wedge. The tapas menus sticks with the seafood theme – try the likes of winningly fresh zamburiñas (scallops) in their shells and chopitos (baby squid).

How to find it: At the corner of Calle de las Maldonadas in the Lavapiés neighborhood.

4. Casa Toni

Swing down a backstreet near the Plaza de la Puerta del Sol and keep a sharp eye out for the retro, red-painted timber façade of Casa Toni as you trot down Calle de la Cruz. If you’re here at the weekend, join the queue. It’s worth it. Inside you’ll find a bubble of old-world warmth, with walls plastered with ceramic tiles, vintage bullfighting pictures, football memorabilia and elbow-to-elbow wooden tables. Snag one to dig into some of the finest tapas in town – chopitos (baby squid), sepia a la plancha (grilled cuttlefish), pincho moruno (spiced pork kebabs) and gambas al ajillo (prawns sizzling in olive oil flavored with garlic, chili and parsley) – it’s all delicious.

Favorite dish: The seafood is spot-on, but Casa Toni really stands out for its piggy parts – try mollejas (sweetbreads), callos caseros (homemade tripe) and crispy orejas (pig’s ears) if you dare.

Barcelona 

5. La Plata

Blink and you’ll miss dinky La Plata, a real livewire of a tapas joint in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter. Its recipe to success is sweet, simple and unchanged since it opened its doors in 1945. Come here for plates of pescadito frito (fried sardines), pintxos of butifarra (Catalan sausage) and ensalada de tomate con cebolla y oliva (tomato, olive and onion salad), just as Jamie Oliver, U2’s Bono and Anthony Bourdain once did. With just half a dozen tables, you might have to stand or wait, but that’s part of the fun – you’ll have time to soak up the atmosphere of this sunny-walled, vintage-tiled, picture-plastered bar, with just a few lucky others. 

Tip: A glass of the house vermouth – served neat, chilled and over ice – is a match made in heaven for the tapas, especially in summer.

6. Bar Cañete

Dive into the warren of streets off La Rambla to pin down this El Raval tapas bar, where the atmosphere and the menu has a touch of class. Vaulted ceilings, red-leather banquettes, white tablecloths and a long polished wooden bar give this family-run affair art deco flair. You can sense the passion in the kitchen and the profound understanding of flavor at Bar Cañete, where the menu riffs creatively on market-fresh seasonal produce in gourmet tapas you won’t find elsewhere – veal meatballs with porcini, soft, creamy aubergine with miso, deboned suckling Iberian pig, and spicy octopus with trinxat (a Catalan take on bubble-and-squeak with cabbage, potato and pork).

7. El Vaso de Oro 

A pebble-skim away from the beach in Barceloneta, El Vaso de Oro is a cervecería (beer house) in the classic mould – dark wood walls, mirrors and high beams preside over a space packed to the rafters with high-spirited locals. White-jacketed waiters with efficiency and wit. Jostle your way to the bar to order a cold, foamy one and tapas, swinging from fresh calamari and gambas (prawns) to bread layered with silky jamón. It’s often busy so be prepared to sit at the bar or stand and nibble.

Granada

8. Bodegas Castañeda

Nudge your way to the huge hams dangling above the bar at this marvelously old-school tapas haunt near the cathedral. With a wood-paneled, picture-crammed interior, Bodegas Castañeda whisks you back to the 1920s with panache. Wines and vermouths are tapped straight from the casks, service is speedy, and the tapas are bang on, with fresh ingredients going into the likes of pulpo a feira (tender octopus cooked in olive oil and paprika), thick hunks of tortilla, oxtail stew and confit of cod.

9. Cisco Y Tierra

Tapas bars don’t come more authentic than this 1920s treasure, hidden away down a cobbled backstreet in Granada’s historic heart. Cisco Y Tierra has stayed true to its roots for more than a century. With a rustic interior of wood beams, lanterns, brick floors and bullfighting posters, it fizzes with Andalucian soul. Prop yourself up at the marble bar for a homemade vermouth, freshly tapped from the barrel, and tapas that sing of the seasons, from tartare of salchichón (spicy cured sausage) to revuelto de espárragos con queso azul (scrambled eggs with asparagus and blue cheese), and pata de pulpo (octopus leg). 

10. Más Que Vinos 

Slip down a narrow back alley just paces away from the city’s Gothic giant of a cathedral to find Más Que Vinos, which wings the rustic look into the 21st century with white walls, contemporary lighting, exposed brick, slatted wood and bistro seating. But, let’s face it, you’re not here for the decor, you're here for the food. Ask the friendly staff to recommend Andalucian wines that match season-led tapas big on flavor, such as berenjenas fritas (fried aubergines) drizzled in local sugarcane syrup, Granada baby broad beans with eggs and ham, and artichokes with jamón ibérico – all prettily presented. 

Favorite dish: Order a tabla (sharing platter) for a mix of Granada cheeses and cured hams.

San Sebastián

11. Bergara Bar

Elevating the humble pintxo to giddy gourmet heights, Bergara Bar in San Sebastián’s upbeat Gros district is unmissable. The vibe is more modern than most, with white picnic tables, metro tiles and monochrome hues setting the scene for a palate-awakening array of hot and cold pintxos. Each inventive dish is a mini marvel in taste and texture, whether you go for txalupa (mushroom gratin with prawns), itxaso (monkfish with seafood cream), bacalao ajoarriero (crumbled salt cod with potatoes, tomatoes and prawns) or udaberri (courgette with creamed crayfish). Choose from the counter or blackboard.

Tip: The pintxos tasting menu including dessert and two drinks is a snip at €35 (US$36).

12. Bar Valles

Properly off the well-trodden trail in the Donostia neighborhood, where the city gives way to the dazzlingly sunlit Bay of Biscay, Bar Valles is a San Sebastián legend. For it was here that the first-ever pintxo was created in 1948: the Gilda, created in Rita Hayworth’s honor. And almost 80 years later, locals are still piling into this gorgeously old-world, wood-paneled bar for this stunningly simple, one-bite pintxo of pickled pepper, oil-cured anchovy, and Manzanilla olive. For something more substantial, order raciones (sharing plates) of cheese, chorizo, spiced octopus and wafer-thin jamón carved from the bone.

How to find it: It's sometimes referred to as Casa Valles on Google Maps, and you'll find it on Calle Los Reyes Católicos.

Seville 

13. Las Teresas

Huddled away in the mazy, cobbled alleys of Seville’s old Jewish neighborhood, Santa Cruz, near the city’s showstopping Gothic cathedral, Las Teresas has been a firm favorite on the tapas circuit since 1870. Inside, it’s a time capsule, with its antique tiles, black-and-white photos, vintage flamenco and bullfighting posters, and huge legs of ham suspended above a polished marble bar. Star of the menu is the jamón ibérico de bellota, cured leg of ham from acorn-fattened pigs, but you should also try the solomillo (pork tenderloin) slow-cooked in whisky sauce and morrillo de atún (grilled tuna neck).

Tip: It’s right in the heart of town, so if you want to score a table, come early evening before the locals rock up. 

14. Freiduría El Arrecife

When somewhere is famous city-wide for just one thing, you can bet there’s a good reason. South of Seville’s historic center and well off the tourist drag, Freiduría El Arrecife is like a briny blast of the sea, with its blue and white paint job, fishing nets and nautical knick-knacks. You’re thinking fish? Right you are. Locals flock here for stunningly fresh pescaíto frito – ultra-fresh fish and seafood battered to crunchy golden perfection. 

15. El Rinconcillo

With its antique bottle-lined cabinets, vibrantly patterned Triana tiles and enormous hams hanging from wooden rafters, El Rinconcillo serves tapas with a pinch of Andalucian soul. Opened in 1670, this is Seville’s oldest bar, passionately run by the De Rueda family since 1858. They know precisely what makes the Sevillanos tick: excellent regional wines and sherries that wash down a tempting array of tapas with a sprinkling of Moorish spice. If you try just one dish, make it espinacas con garbanzos, a hearty, warming spinach and chickpea stew, flavored with garlic, cumin, coriander and cloves. 

Tip: For a fully-blown wine and tapas feast, hook onto one of the tastings arranged here by A Question of Taste. 

Balearic Islands

16. La Bodeguilla, Mallorca

Palma’s sociable nature means that locals are often in the mood to tapear when the sun plops into the Med rather than go for a blowout dinner. The capital of Mallorca has some cracking places to do just that, among them La Bodeguilla, run by two food-loving brothers. It’s a grown-up, monochrome space, with giant hunks of jamón serrano dangling from the ceiling, wine-barrel tables and black, bottle-lined walls referencing the phenomenal wine list that canters boldly around Spain. The produce-led menu pops with sophisticated takes on island flavors from grilled Iberian pork shoulder with leeks and mustard to scarlet shrimp slick with garlicky aioli.

Favorite dish: Let tapas be the lead-in to La Bodeguilla’s signature dish: cochinillo mallorquín (roast Mallorcan suckling pig), served with creamy Panadera potatoes and green salad.

17. Sa Vida, Ibiza 

On the fringes of Ibiza Town’s fortified, World Heritage–listed old quarter Dalt Villa and just a whisper away from the glitter of the Med, Sa Vida is like a blast of fresh sea air, with its bright, turquoise-and-white interior and nicely chilled vibe. Bare wood tables let the tapas do the talking. And what tapas! You can really sense the love and originality in a menu that skips gleefully from smoked sardine with crisp bread, homemade tomato chutney and yellow chili pepper, to seabass ceviche, "coal" cod with wasabi mayo, and sous vide eggs with Iberian ham and straw potatoes. Pair tapas with the perfect bottle of vino – there are 700 to choose from.

Tip: If you’d like a taste of it all, go for the wine-pairing menu, where wines are expertly matched with five savory dishes and dessert.

Bilbao

18. Gure Toki

Everyone raves about this pintxo bar, tucked under the elegant colonnades on the neoclassical Plaza Nueva, right in Bilbao’s historic heart, Casco Viejo. The interior is cooler than most, going in for an industrial-chic look, with monochrome tones, exposed stone and pipework and clever backlighting. At Gure Toki, Basque recipes are reimagined in a menu dabbling in creative pintxo waters, with mini marvels like tempura crab, beef ribs with seaweed, and scallop with curried breadcrumbs and potatoes – all exquisitely prepared and presented and gone in a bite.

Tip: There’s a terrific cellar to match the food and many wines are available to taste by the glass – just ask.

19. Claudio: La Feria del Jamón

The name gives the game away: this much-loved pintxos joint down a backstreet near the Nervión River belongs to the butcher on the opposite side of the street – hence the ceiling-mounted forest of humongous legs of jamón. This place sells every part of the pig except the oink. Pull up a chair in the rustically retro interior or out on the cobbled pavement to feast on the likes of chorizo, salchichón (smoked sausage), lomo (air-dried pork loin) and morcilla (blood sausage), paired with regional cheeses and wines.

Tip: Fancy buying some amazing charcuterie for a picnic or to take home? Pop across the street to the shop.