Best Restaurants in Granada for an Unforgettable Culinary Experience august 19, 2024 – Posted in: Spain, Travel – Tags: , , , , , , ,

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Find Great Restaurants in Granada

Every year, over 3 million tourists visit Granada, primarily to see Spain’s top tourist attraction, Alhambra. With so many tourists, it’s no wonder that there are also many fantastic restaurants in Granada. Surprisingly, we encountered very few tourist trap restaurants and can only conclude that there is truly excellent food to be found in this city.

We stayed for five nights and managed to sample only a small portion of the delightful mountain cuisine. Granada also maintains the old tapas traditions. This means that when you order a beer or a glass of wine, a small tapa comes with it. We didn’t end up dining at any lunch spots because the food that came with two small beers was ample after our substantial hotel breakfast. You can read more about this at the end of the article.

We arrived on a Saturday afternoon and saw that all the locals had gathered at the restaurants in and around Calle Navas. This area became our source of inspiration for dinner. However, there are many other great restaurants in Granada that we didn’t visit, and we definitely need to return to the city!

Some Tips for Dining in Granada

Before we dive into the great restaurants in Granada, it’s important to note the dining hours. Many restaurants in Granada do not open until 8:00 PM, and locals typically eat out between 8:30-9:00 PM and 11:00 PM. This makes sense in a city that is very hot in the summer. It’s recommended to get through the day with a tapas or two and then dine when it gets dark. Lunch is generally served from around 1:00 PM for a few hours.

Alongside the 3 million tourists, locals are always out and about, making it difficult to get a table if you arrive at the same time as they do. If there is a restaurant you really want to eat at, it’s a good idea to book a table for both lunch and dinner. Or do as we did: arrive when the restaurant opens, and you are almost always guaranteed a seat.

Which Restaurants Have We Chosen?

Before we start, a few words about what types of restaurants you’ll find here in our guide and what we look for when choosing them. Restaurant visits are a big part of our vacations. We don’t necessarily eat expensively but always locally and with regional ingredients. We are also always on the lookout for great food experiences and prefer to try something we’ve never tasted before. So, keep that in mind when deciding whether to follow our recommendations.

And now, let’s order!

4 Great Restaurants in Granada

Rosario Varela

Shall we start with the best first? Although we only managed to get a table at Rosario Varela on our last night in the city, it’s truly a place we highly recommend. At Rosario Varela, traditional tapas meets a fusion of aesthetics from modern Nordic design with flavors from virtually all corners of the world. It was an experience!

We ordered three share-tapas, which were more than enough – especially since small tapas kept coming with every drink we ordered! We recommend the large cheese platter with local cheeses, including the quirky payoyo goat cheese, Ensaladilla Rusa, and a flambéed Presa, a fine cut from the Iberico pig.

El Fogón de Galicia

On the more affordable side, but no less good, you must also try the tapas bar El Fogón de Galicia. There isn’t much space in the narrow bar, and it’s incredibly chaotic with food flying around – but it’s also a lot of fun! Locals compete for the few seats available, so we settled for a standing spot by the window. We had seen some of the food coming out of the kitchen and just had to try it!

After the obligatory tapa with our drinks – fried fish and olives – we got a hefty serving of revuelto with bacalao, scrambled eggs with cod. Afterwards, we had a huge slab of grilled Secreto, another cut from the Iberico pig that you shouldn’t miss. There was so much side dish, fries, and small green peppers with the pork, that we rolled home. A little tip is to order a little food at a time and then get another round if there’s more room in your stomach.

La Bodeguita Cofrade

The specialty at La Bodeguita Cofrade is the huge platters of fried fish and seafood. When we walked through the street on our first day, it was filled with locals sitting with their platters and enjoying the afternoon in the best possible way. We were only two in our party and thought it might be a bit too much for us.

Instead, we had Iberico ham with the obligatory drink-tapas, pimientos de padron – delicious fried small peppers, croquetas, and Lagarto Iberico, another cut from the Iberico pig that you should definitely try.

And a Little Extra Tip for Next Time…

Los Italianos

Los Italianos

>While waiting for our table at Rosario Valera, we popped into the neighboring restaurant La Botilleria Granada and enjoyed a small Vermouth. The restaurant turned out to be a steakhouse, and while we were there, it quickly filled up with locals coming to eat the enormous steaks displayed in the huge glass case. We didn’t get to eat there this time, but next time, it’s definitely where we’ll have a big steak in Granada!

And a Good Tip for Ice Cream!

We passed by the long line stretching all the way down and around the corner from Calle Gran Via de Colon several times. We were really curious about what could be so popular – and it turned out to be an ice cream parlor.

At Los Italianos, you get truly good ice cream, and the homemade Italian ice cream is something entirely different from the bland mass-produced cones you find elsewhere in the city.

We passed by at various times of the day trying to figure out when the line was shortest – and finally, we managed to walk right in from the street and get an ice cream. It was indeed worth all the hassle!

More Tips for Your Vacation in Granada

Hotel Andalucia Center

Hotel Andalucia Center

 

Find a Great Hotel in Granada

As mentioned, the Alhambra is Spain’s biggest tourist attraction, and naturally, this drives hotel prices in Granada to the higher end. We decided we’d rather stay somewhere a bit cheaper and enjoy a few extra days in the city. As a result, we stayed for a delightful five nights at the Hotel Andalucia Center. It’s about half the price if you’re willing to walk an extra ten minutes outside the city center.

Hotel Andalucia Center is part of a hotel chain where we’ve stayed both in Cordoba and Seville, and the excellent service is consistent throughout. The hotel is located about a 15-minute walk from the center, and with its large underground parking, it’s especially convenient for those on a road trip in Andalusia.

We stayed in one of their standard rooms, which, like all their other hotels, is spacious – and it includes an additional door leading to the bathroom. When you travel often, you come to appreciate such details. 🙂 On top of the hotel, you’ll find a lovely pool with a view over Granada, and the hotel has its own restaurant. In the morning, there’s the usual giant breakfast buffet, which is why we choose this hotel chain again and again.

Read more about the hotel here Hotel Andalucia Center and see all the other hotels in Granada by clicking here. You can also perform your own search for hotels in Granada right here:



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