It’s pretty blatantly obvious to say that one of the best things about Spain is the food, especially as a food blogger–but it’s just so true that I can’t help myself. I spent a month exploring parts of northern and southern Spain last year, and I’ve put together a list of everything I ate during my adventures! From finding my new favorite drink (hello, vermouth), to discovering the beauty that is tapas culture, to eating endless amounts of patatas bravas (my one true love), this was my culinary journey through Spain by city–on a budget, of course.

(Pretty much every food item listed here was enjoyed with a vermouth, and I suggest you do the same!)

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2. Bar Santos

A bit of a touristy spot, but no less yummy on a long, hot day of sightseeing! Bar Santos is right next to the Mezquita in Córdoba, so make sure to make a stop here after exploring to get some sustenance. They’re famous for their huge blocks of tortilla, but I opted for the patatas bravas (shocker) and they were simple but good. You can’t really mess up fried potatoes and sauce, can you?

What to Order:

• Patatas bravas
• Tortilla de patatas

3. Taco Bell

I don’t wanna hear ANY Taco Bell slander from any of you, alright? We had a long final day of our Andalusian road trip and needed something to eat before making our bus on time, and sometimes… you just crave fast food. You’ve all been there and you know it. It helped that Taco Bell menus in Spain are crazy good, and the food actually tasted incredibly fresh (unlike the US)! I also just love that they call them “crunchywraps” instead of crunchwraps.

What to Order:

• Bacon cheesy double crunchywrap

4. Restaurante Tetería Alhambra

On our first day in Granada, we wanted a quick bite to eat once we arrived in town to hold us over before going out for the night. This Moroccan restaurant was right next to our Airbnb, so we popped in and had some yummy appetizers. I love a good grazing board, and this one was filled with hummus, olives, pita, falafel, and more. The gazpacho was pretty good, too! I’m a little picky with texture and this one tasted really grainy, but the flavor was 100% on point.

What to Order:

• Gazpacho
• Menú degustación - entrates (Starter tasting menu)

6. Los Manueles Reyes Católicos

This was a super popular tapas spot that we came across in Granada, and when we sat down and got our food, we immediately figured out why. Cheap drinks, free tapas, and delicious bites made to order–it was such a great spot to grab a quick bite with a drink, and there looked to be more tables for longer dining upstairs, too. Plus, the staff was incredibly friendly and let us run outside to get cash when their card machines were down!

What to Order:

• Albondiga Manueles (Manueles meatball)
• Croqueta Manueles (Manueles croquette)

8. Galletanas

When we were craving sweets (as you do), we stopped at Galletanas for freshly baked gourmet cookies, and they were delicious! I sadly don’t remember what flavor mine was, but it was pretty yummy and had white chocolate in it. I can kind of make out the word "Passion" on the sign below, but can't tell what's actually in it. There were dozens to choose from with a huge range of flavors, like pistachio, chocolate chip, peanut butter, New York (?), and so many more. Definitely worth a stop to try out a cool flavor!

What to Order:

• Pink cookie (sorry lol)

9. La Tarta

Two words: Bailey’s. Cheesecake. Need I say more?

(La Torta did have plenty of other flavors to choose from, but come on. You know you want the Bailey’s.)

What to Order:

• Bailey’s cheesecake

10. Bar Poë

Hands down my favorite bar in Granada. I found it while looking up bars for our self-made tapas crawl and it had absolutely raving reviews, so I easily picked it as my choice. I was a little nervous because there’s always the off-chance that a bar is definitely not as good as people say it is, but Bar Poë truly blew us all away! They had plenty of delicious tapas to choose from, plus multiple veggie options (which are notoriously hard to find in Spain!), and I have the confirmation from two non-meat-eaters who said that the chickpea salad was the “best vegetarian tapas they’ve ever had.” My pork stew tapa was insanely good–actually spicy, and really hearty and flavorful for just a small portion. And the best part: they came free with our drinks! Don’t ever change, Granada.

What to Order:

• Estofado de carne con Piri-Piri (Piri-Piri pork stew)
• Ensalada de garbanzos (chickpea salad)

11. La Goma

Another great tapas spot was La Goma, which was actually 100% vegan! We went here after Bar Poë on the hunt for more tapas, and La Goma did not disappoint. I wish I had gotten a photo of the menu so I could remember what we ordered, but it was hand-written on an index card and I can’t find it online anywhere. However, we got one of everything on the menu, and everything was delicious, so there’s no going wrong here!

What to Order:

• The entire menu lol 🙂

12. Ras Cafe Bar

Right off of the Paseo de los Tristes is a lovely little bar called Ras Cafe Bar. We stopped in for a quick drink on our first night in Granada, and I don’t know what it was about this bar, but we absolutely loved it. It almost felt like a mix between an Irish pub and a Spanish tapas bar, but maybe that was because of the British people we heard talking nearby. Regardless, they served a great vermouth and a delicious (and free) Iberian ham tapa that ranks incredibly highly on my list! Seriously, the meat in Andalusia in general is just so damn good.

What to Order:

• Vermouth <3
• Tortilla

14. Tropicana

Our one and only meal in Ronda, Spain, was one to remember! We stopped in earlier in the afternoon to make a reservation and were able to get one for 8:00pm. The way the staff acted seemed like it was going to be busy and we were able to get a last-minute table, so we went in with the impression that the restaurant was going to be packed… only to arrive at 8:00pm to a totally deserted restaurant. Regardless of feeling a little awkward as the only people dining for a good hour, the food was remarkable and the restaurant itself was beautiful! To start, we got a cheese selection that was smaller than expected, but still delicious. For my meal, I got the cow cheek with mashed potatoes and it was tender, juicy, and flavorful, and we ended the meal with an insanely good chocolate cake. It basically was like the shell of a cake with brownie batter in the middle, which was a lot to eat, but so freaking good. Definitely an expensive meal, but worth it considering how great the food was!

What to Order:

• Carrillada de Vaca Retinta con Parmentier de Patata y Castañas (Cow cheek with potatoes and chestnuts)
• Tarta de chocolate con avellanas (chocolate cake with hazelnuts)

15. Restaurante Don Miguel

This was a short stop for us since we just wanted to grab a drink by the bridge in Ronda, but it still had to make the list just for the views alone! The staff were exceptionally friendly as well, even just in the few interactions we had with them. I don’t normally like carbonated drinks, but I ordered a Tinto de Verano here, and it was the perfect crisp cocktail to drink on a hot, sunny afternoon. Okay, it’s less of a cocktail and more wine mixed with soda, but still.

What to Order:

• Tinto de Verano

16. Piccadilly Bar Luis

I’ll always have a soft spot for my first ever meal in Spain, but it helps that this one was so good! It was my first real tapas experience, too–these were more of pinchos than tapas, but man, were they good. I had my first patatas bravas and first vermouth here, too, actually–Piccadilly was really a place for firsts! It could have been the rose-colored glasses of being in a new country again, but I think the food, the vibes, and the company were just that good.

What to Order:

• Patatas bravas
• Pinchos (self-serve)

17. Restaurante Malafama

I got a bit of an American food fix at Malafama, and it was an interesting (but welcome) switch up from the constant tapas. The food here was extremely filling, so in hindsight I probably didn’t need to get a huge plate of pork fries before getting a pulled pork sandwich, but I ordered with my eyes and not my stomach, and we’ve all fallen victim to that before. Did I still finish it all? Almost. Was that loaded fries plate wiped clean? Absolutely.

What to Order:

• Pulled pork hamburguesa
• Patatas carrillada y queso gorgonzola

18. Mercado de san Miguel

I absolutely LOVE a food hall, and Mercado de San Miguel really and truly knocked my socks off. Imagine literally every type of tapas, pincho, appetizer, finger food (whatever you want to call them) imaginable, PLUS tacos, empanadas, olives, cheese, seafood, ice cream, cocktails, wines, beers… it’s a literal foodie heaven. They have fried chicken. They have oysters and paella. They have a MOZZARELLA BAR. You have to visit this market if you’re in Madrid. I will personally hunt you down if you don’t.

What to Order:

• Empanadas (chorizo picante & rabo de toro)
• Whatever your heart desires!

19. La Ribera Gastro Plaza

Inside a historic marketplace in Bilbao, you’ll find La Ribera Gastro Plaza, an indoor food hall filled with pintxos galore. A quick Spanish food lesson: tapas are typically much smaller portions of larger meals, while pinchos (or pintxos in the Basque region) are small snacks served on top of a piece of bread held together with a toothpick. This food hall served plenty of pintxos, tapas, large meals, and drinks to last an entire evening trying out different stalls!

What to Order:

• Assorted tapas, pintxos, & vermouth (of course)

20. El Globo

If you want an intense pintxos ordering experience, go to El Globo in the middle of the day (or probably any time of day). When I say this place is packed, I mean PACKED. It’s shoulder to shoulder, shouting just to be heard, trying desperately not to spill food on the floor packed. But once the ordering part is over, and you’re lucky enough to find a spot outside to sit for a while, it’s a really lovely spot to relax and enjoy a glass of wine. Our spot happened to be across the road, but you take what you can get when it’s tapas time!

What to Order:

• Pintxos
• Vino real (house wine)

21. Arvo

Arvo was a great little brunch spot pretty close to our hotels, right near the Guggenheim. It’s run by two world travelers, and all the menu items are inspired by different parts of the world. The cafe was really cute and quirky, and was definitely a place I’d visit frequently if I lived in the area! The avocado toast was hearty and flavorful, and the sandwich and yogurt bowl my friends got both looked pretty great, too. Would definitely recommend for a breakfast or early lunch in Bilbao!

What to Order:

• Tostada Byron Bay (avocado toast with poached egg)

22. Bascake Bilbao

You can’t go to Basque Country and not get Basque cheesecake. This one was much runnier than I was expecting, so I think it might not have gotten baked long enough–however, the flavor was still to die for, and even though it might not have been the ultimate *authentic* Basque cheesecake experience, I do not regret eating the whole thing one bit.

What to Order:

• Basque cheesecake

23. La Mula de Moscú

Cocktail bars are the best kinds of bars out there, and La Mula de Moscú is definitely up there in my list of favorites. I just love a cozy room with candles and leather booths and craft drinks that don’t cost a pretty penny–this bar was expensive for Spain, but relatively cheap compared to most other cocktail bars I’ve been to! Plus, the drinks were actually delicious instead of just vaguely tasting like alcohol, and you could tell they were well curated and well crafted. I also have never seen a cocktail served in a bag, so they get extra points for creativity.

What to Order:

• Pack a Gin
• Todo al Rojo
• Colada Ahumada