Granada is one of the cities where you eat best for the least money, and that’s a real relief when you’re travelling. Between the free tapa, the set lunch menus and the neighbourhood bars, you can eat well every day without your wallet feeling it. Here’s how to eat well and cheap, with specific spots and a local’s tricks, without falling into the tourist traps.
The free tapa, your best ally
First and most local of all: here you order a drink and they bring you a tapa at no extra cost. With three or four stops, a drink and its tapa at each, you’ve sorted dinner for the price of a few beers. It’s the cheapest (and most fun) way to have dinner. How it works in detail, in the guide to tapas in Granada.
Cheap, generous tapas: where to go
Not every bar gives you the same value. These are among the ones that deliver best, with a big tapa for the price of a normal beer:
- Los Diamantes (Navas and the Pescadería): the fried fish tapa is a classic and the sharing plates are great value.
- La Riviera (near Elvira): here you choose your tapa from a list and they’re generous. One of the best for value.
- Bodegas Castañeda: a classic in the centre, with a hearty tapa and traditional sharing plates.
- Casa Julio (Calle Hermosa): a legendary hole-in-the-wall for fried fish, cheap and delicious.
- Bar Ávila and Bar Provincias (the Pescadería): generous homemade tapas in the liveliest area, at a good price.
- Café Bar Poë (by the Plaza de Toros): tapas from around the world, lovely and cheap, great for a change.
The full list by area, with what to order in each, is in the guide to the best tapas bars in Granada.
Cheap restaurants and set lunch menus
For a proper midday meal, the menú del día (set lunch menu) is your friend: starter, main, drink and dessert for a fixed, very reasonable price. The best homemade menus are in the neighbourhood bars, away from the Cathedral and the tourist squares.
The areas where I’d look for a cheap menu: the Pescadería and around, the Magdalena district, and above all the university area (Fuentenueva), full of places built for a student budget, with some of the cheapest menus in the city. You’ll eat a full menu there for what a couple of plates cost in the centre.
If you want a sit-down restaurant without the bill spiralling, the guide to where to eat in Granada has a selection by area and for every budget.
Eating well and cheap: my tricks
- Get away from the Cathedral and the tourist squares: two streets over, the same dishes cost half.
- Share plates: instead of one dish each, a few sharing plates works out cheaper and you try more things.
- Have tapas for dinner and save the set menu for your main midday meal.
- Weekday menu: many places only do it Monday to Friday at lunch, and that’s when you eat cheapest.
- Where the locals eat, better and cheaper. If a bar is full of locals at lunchtime, walk right in.
Cheap dinner
For the evening, the cheapest option is dinner as tapas: you go from bar to bar and sort out dinner one tapa at a time, for the price of the drinks. If you’d rather sit down to dinner without spending much, I go through the options (tapas-style, with a view or budget) in the guide to where to have dinner in Granada.
And to fit meals into the rest of your trip, the main guide to eating in Granada.
Frequently asked questions
Can you eat cheap in Granada?
Very cheap. Between the free tapa and the set lunch menus, it’s one of the cities in Spain where you eat best for less, especially away from the tourist areas.
Where to eat cheap in Granada?
At the generous tapas bars (Los Diamantes, La Riviera, Casa Julio), in the neighbourhood bars of the Pescadería and the Magdalena, and in the university area, where the cheapest menus are.
How much does it cost to eat in Granada?
You can have dinner as tapas for the price of the drinks, and a set lunch menu for a fixed, very reasonable price, especially in the neighbourhoods and the university area. Sharing plates is another cheap way to eat well.
Where are the cheapest set lunch menus?
In the neighbourhood bars away from the tourist centre, and above all in the university area (Fuentenueva), built for a student budget. They’re usually weekday lunchtime menus.