In Granada, dinner happens standing at a bar. You order a drink, something to eat arrives with it, and by the third round you no longer need a table. The tricky part is picking the right counter, because there are bars everywhere and plenty of them aren’t worth the stop.
These are the bars I take people to when they come and visit me, grouped by area so you can string four or five together without crossing the city. How the free tapa actually works is explained in the guide to tapas in Granada; this page is the list of places.
How to spot a good tapas bar
Before the names, the criteria, which is what will actually help you when you’re standing on a corner with no idea which door to go through:
- Look at who’s inside. If there are locals leaning on the bar at half past two, walk straight in.
- Be wary of doorways with big photos of the menu and someone inviting you in. The good bars here don’t need to hustle.
- A handwritten blackboard with the day’s dishes beats a laminated twenty-page menu in four languages.
- If the tapa changes on the second round and gets better, you picked well.
- Noise. A silent bar at nine in the evening in Granada is a bad sign.
One thing I always do somewhere new: order a single drink. If the tapa that lands is sad, pay up and move to the counter next door. Everyone here does it and nobody takes offence.
Calle Navas: the street of bars
The most famous tapas street in Granada, pedestrian and right in the centre, with one counter stuck to the next. It gets packed and it has its circus side, but there are still very good bars along it.
- Los Diamantes (Navas, 28). Open since 1942 and famous for its fried fish. Order the mixed pescaíto frito and you’ll understand the queue at the door. There are now several branches around the city: Plaza Nueva, Calle Boabdil, Virgen del Rosario in El Realejo.
- El Tabernáculo, on the same Calle Navas, one of the places still serving a properly filling tapa.
- Taberna El Quinto and Las Copas, also on Navas, for when the others are impossible.
- Los Manueles (Monjas del Carmen, 1, and Placeta Sillería), a step away, for croquettes and huevos rotos.
- Casa Enrique, known locally as El Elefante, on Acera del Darro. A narrow old wine shop of a bar where you drink standing up.
A warning: on a Saturday at half nine, Navas is heaving. If you’re in a group, go before half eight or after eleven.
Plaza Nueva, Elvira and Cetti Meriem
The area at the foot of the Albaicín, perfect for starting the evening before heading up to a viewpoint. Some of the oldest taverns in the centre are here.
- Bodegas Castañeda (Almireceros, 3). Vermouth on tap, ham, sharing boards and that old wine-cellar racket. One of the compulsory stops.
- Casa Julio, on the tiny Calle Hermosa. A hole in the wall where they fry fish better than anyone. No tables, you eat standing and you leave smelling of it.
- La Riviera (Cetti Meriem). Here you choose your tapa from a very long list, which is why it works so well when everyone wants something different.
- La Buena Vida (Elvira, 41, and Almireceros, 12), with slightly more worked-on tapas than usual.
- Bar La Trastienda (Plaza de Cuchilleros, 11). You walk in through a grocer’s shop and there’s a door at the back that opens onto the tavern. The kind of place visitors love finding.
- Bar Minotauro (Imprenta, 6), small and local in the middle of the centre.
- Om-Kalsum (Calle Jardines). Arab-style tapas and a lot of vegetarian choice, which in Granada is rarer than it should be.
El Realejo, my area
If you only have time to eat in one neighbourhood, I’d send you here. The old Jewish quarter has the most honest counters in the centre, and the people sitting at them live in Granada.
- Taberna La Tana (Placeta del Agua). A tiny wine bar where they ask what you like and get it right. My favourite place to start.
- La Botillería and Rosario Varela, both on Calle Varela, for a more careful tapa without committing to a restaurant.
- Los Diamantes also has a counter at Virgen del Rosario, 2, in case you liked the fried fish enough for a repeat.
- On that same street, Taberna Malvasía, Taberna El Aviso and El Conde, three counters in a row that make a neat little crawl.
- Papaupa (Molinos, 16), Latin American cooking, a break from all the frying.
- El Jergón (Cuesta del Realejo, 10) and Candela (Sacristía de Santa Escolástica), generous tapas and a younger crowd.
- Blanca Paloma and Puerta del Carmen, on Calle Escudo del Carmen, almost at Plaza del Carmen.
If you end up wanting to sit down, Campo del Príncipe fills with tables as soon as the weather turns. That’s proper à la carte territory, and I cover it in where to eat in Granada.
La Pescadería, Bib-Rambla and the centre
The easiest area if you’re staying in the centre, with squares to sit in and everything five minutes apart on foot.
- Bar Provincias (Provincias, 4), an old-school classic next to La Pescadería.
- La Bella y la Bestia (Cárcel Baja, 14, just off Gran Vía). Enormous tapas for the price of the drink. It’s where half of student Granada ends up and where you’ll genuinely stop being hungry.
- Bodegas La Mancha (Joaquín Costa), an old cellar for montaditos and wine from the barrel.
- Aliatar (San Sebastián, 4), very close to Bib-Rambla.
- Sibarius (Bib-Rambla, 20), if you’d rather have a table on the square.
- Bar Reca, on Plaza de la Trinidad, with a terrace under the trees. Good for the midday aperitif.
The Albaicín
Up here you eat differently: fewer counters, more square. The good spot is Plaza Larga, where the neighbourhood does its shopping.
- Bar Aixa (Plaza Larga, 5), a lifelong local with tables outside for watching the barrio go by.
- Casa Torcuato (Pagés, 31) and Casa Gabriel, on the same street, already in the upper Albaicín.
- Los Nazaríes, also on Plaza Larga.
The obvious move is to combine it with the climb to the viewpoints: tapas on Plaza Larga, then San Nicolás or San Cristóbal for sunset. And if the night keeps going, the Sacromonte is a short walk away.
Where locals actually go
This is the part guides tend to skip. Ordinary neighbourhoods, no monuments, ten or fifteen minutes’ walk from the centre. The tapa is usually better here and it costs less.
- Bar Ávila (Verónica de la Virgen, 16, in the San Antón area). Careful, a lot of people look for it in the centre and it isn’t there. Worth the walk.
- Taberna Nico (Martínez de la Rosa, 16), over by Pedro Antonio.
- Bar Poë (Verónica de la Magdalena, 40), tapas from half the world and a university crowd.
- Bodega Los Tintos (San Isidro, 24), a pure neighbourhood cellar.
- El Bar de Eric (Calle Escuelas), one of those that serves a different tapa each round.
- Cervecería Madrid (Avenida de la Constitución, 12), old-school, with very well poured beer.
If your budget is tight, this is your area. More tricks in eating cheap in Granada.
A five-stop tapas crawl
This is the one I do when someone comes for a weekend and wants to get it right in a single night. Start around half eight in El Realejo and finish near Plaza Nueva.
- Taberna La Tana (Placeta del Agua): wine and its tapa, to open the evening without filling up.
- Los Diamantes (Virgen del Rosario): now yes, fried fish at the bar.
- La Botillería (Varela): the sit-down stop, since you’ve done two standing.
- Bodegas Castañeda (Almireceros): vermouth and a board to share, down in the lower centre now.
- Casa Julio (Hermosa): the last one, standing and quick, a beer and something fried.
It’s about twenty minutes of walking in total. If you have night left over, head to whichever flamenco show you booked, as the later sets start around then.
When to go (and when not to)
- Midday: 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm. My favourite slot, fewer people and the tapa is just as good.
- Evening: from 8.30 pm, with the peak around 10 pm.
- Sunday night and Monday: many bars close. Check before you turn up.
- August: some of the old classics shut for holidays, and the heat barely lets you leave the house.
- Holy Week, Día de la Cruz and Corpus: brilliant atmosphere, impossible counters.
Mistakes I see every weekend
- Sitting at the first terrace you pass by the Cathedral or on Gran Vía. You’re paying for the view there, and the tapa shows it.
- Ordering a tapa and a full ración at the first stop. You fill up and the crawl is over.
- Walking into a small bar as a group of eight. Split in two, you’ll fit better and get served faster.
- Staying three rounds in the same bar. The whole point here is moving on, because each counter has its own speciality.
- Treating the free tapa like a voucher. It comes with the drink, and in some bars you choose it while in others they decide.
If you want to build the trip around eating, look at Granada in a weekend or the two-day itinerary. And if you haven’t booked a room yet, staying in the centre or El Realejo puts all of this on your doorstep: I cover it in hotels in Granada city centre.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best tapas bars in Granada?
The classics I wouldn’t skip: Los Diamantes (Calle Navas, open since 1942, for fried fish), Bodegas Castañeda (Almireceros), Casa Julio (Calle Hermosa) and Taberna La Tana in El Realejo. For a huge tapa, La Bella y la Bestia on Cárcel Baja.
Which area has the most tapas bars?
Calle Navas is the most concentrated and the best known. El Realejo has fewer bars in a row but, to my taste, better ones. The Elvira and Plaza Nueva area works well if you’re heading up to the Albaicín afterwards.
Is the tapa free in every bar in Granada?
In most neighbourhood and old-school bars, yes: it comes with the drink. In newer places with more elaborate cooking you pay for it separately, and the same goes for the very touristy terraces in the centre. It’s all explained in the tapas guide.
Can you choose your tapa?
Depends on the bar. In some you pick from a list, like at La Riviera. In others the tapa is whatever they’re making that day and it rotates round by round. Asking when you order your drink costs nothing.
Do you need to book a tapas bar?
Not for the bar itself, you come and go. If you want a table for dinner, especially at the weekend or with more than four people, book or turn up early.
What time do people have tapas in Granada?
From 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm at midday and from 8.30 pm in the evening, with the busiest moment around ten. Before eight in the evening you’ll find the bars half empty.
Are there tapas bars for vegetarians?
Om-Kalsum, on Calle Jardines, is the easy answer: Arab-style tapas with plenty of vegetables. Papaupa, in El Realejo, also works. In the classic bars, say so when you order your drink, because the default tapa usually involves meat or frying, and they’ll almost always sort you out.
To round off the food side of your trip, there’s where to have dinner in Granada, where to have breakfast and the main guide, what to eat in Granada. And if you’re still working out the city itself, start with the neighbourhoods of Granada.
Cover photo: Chabe01, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.