Best Restaurants in Lanzarote: Where to Eat by Area

Marina Rubicón and Playa Blanca: Start Here

The southern tip of the island around Marina Rubicón and Playa Blanca has the deepest bench of restaurants, from a modern room with a view to a lively tapas bar with live music. El Mirador overlooks Playa Blanca and costs more than its neighbours in the marina, though it runs a good tapas menu before 6pm, which is the cheaper way into the room. Next door in feel if not in address, Blue Note is a modern bar and restaurant with live jazz most evenings, so it suits a later, noisier dinner rather than a quick lunch.

Two names a short walk apart need care: Lani's Snack Bar is a good lunch stop, while the larger Lani's restaurant next door is worth skipping altogether. Keep that distinction in mind when booking, because the two are easy to confuse by name alone. La Cocina de Colacho, on the main road just past the roundabout into town, is fine dining with Spanish owners in the kitchen and front of house, expensive by island standards and worth the spend for a special evening. It opens Monday to Thursday evenings only, so it will not rescue a Friday night.

For a family-run table at the far end of the marina, La Petit Marmite does excellent fresh fish, suckling pig and shoulder of lamb, with enough range to keep a mixed group happy. El Berrugo is the late-night option: a lively tapas bar with live music that stays open late. If your evening is built around a coastal walk and a long lunch rather than a restaurant booking, the island's walking and day-trip ideas fit neatly around these marina meals; these things to do in Lanzarote give you a route before you eat.

Playa Blanca Town: Steak, Mussels and Paella

In Playa Blanca town, Romantica sits on the right at the mini roundabout as you come down the hill, before the taxi rank. Its steak and lamb are the draw, and a sea-view table needs booking in advance rather than a hopeful walk-in. Los Hervideros, the oldest restaurant in Playa Blanca, is behind the pharmacy off the main road through town; its rustic room is known for mussels and chateaubriand, and it closes on Thursdays and Sundays, so plan that meal around the calendar.

For paella, two seafront names are the easy picks. Brisas Marina, on the waterfront near Tipico Canario, does a good paella with good service, and Natura Beach Restaurant in the La Mulata area serves a casual, sea-view paella that holds up as some of the best outside El Golfo. Brisas Marina has the edge on convenience if you are already walking the town seafront; Natura Beach is the better fit if you are staying near the Rubicón Palace hotel and want a relaxed family meal.

For Italian food there are two clear routes. Casale Franco is an authentic, family-run Italian above Burger King in the Papagayo centre near the Princess Yaiza hotel, reachable from the coastal path. Luna Rossa, in the La Mulata area, serves large portions of Italian food in a casual setting with indoor tables and an outdoor balcony facing the sea, and its value and friendly staff make it the easier choice with children. Sebastyan's, nearby between Playa Blanca and Kamezí, is Greek and Mediterranean with international dishes too, and it houses a very good wine shop; the service is pleasant but more formal, and the sea views are excellent.

Two more Playa Blanca stops suit different moods. El Peregrino is a tapas bar in the back streets past the post office towards the port, on the right, and it fills with Spanish locals, which tells you what kind of evening it is: loud, informal and about the bar rather than the table. La Chalonita, upstairs on the seafront between the town centre and the port, does great steaks and flambé dishes but has inside seating only, so it is not the place for a sea view.

On Faro Park, at the Playa Blanca end of the island, the eating is small-scale and local. Coentro has won awards for its Brazilian and Spanish tapas, and El Faro is a great little tapas bar with live music on Saturday nights. Del Trevisano is the Italian option there, a good, very reasonably priced neighbourhood restaurant. If you are in Lanzarote in august, book Faro Park tables early, because these small rooms fill with returning visitors.

Puerto del Carmen: The Old Harbour Road

Puerto del Carmen's best eating sits on and around the road down to the old harbour rather than the main strip. La Cascada del Puerto and La Bodega share the address Calle Roque Nublo 5 and the same menu, with good authentic Spanish cooking; La Bodega is the more intimate room, and there is live Spanish music most evenings. Booking is not essential, but eating earlier is the safer way to secure a table at either.

Further down towards the old town harbour, Taberna del Nino overlooks the harbour car park and serves contemporary tapas alongside a main Spanish menu, which makes it a sensible stop after a walk around the port. Asia Delicious covers Thai, Chinese and fresh sushi at reasonable prices with very friendly staff, useful when part of the group wants a break from Spanish cooking. In Puerto Calero, further along the coast, Taberna del Puerto is the straightforward Spanish and tapas choice at the marina.

El Golfo, Yaiza, Macher and Nazaret: Worth the Drive

El Golfo is a Canarian fishing village and the place to go for fish. Drive down the hill to the car park, and Costa Azul is the first restaurant on the seafront, good for catch of the day, tapas and paella. The last restaurant on the right-hand side is also very good for fish, tapas and paella with good service, so arriving without a booking is not a disaster. Combine lunch with the volcanic coast at Timanfaya National Park, a short drive inland.

In Yaiza, La Bodega de Santiago serves upmarket Spanish food in a restored Canarian house with inside and outside dining, and a huge ficus tree in the garden gives shade for eating alfresco. It regularly features among nominations for the best restaurants in the Canary Islands and cooks typical Canarian dishes with fresh local ingredients. In Macher, La Cabaña is an excellent but very small restaurant, so booking is advisable. Near Nazaret, Lagomar occupies Omar Sharif's old house, now a museum and restaurant, and is worth visiting; allow about 45 minutes to get there.

Costa Teguise and the East Coast

Costa Teguise has its own cluster of restaurants, from seafood and tapas to vegetarian and tearoom options, so guests staying on the eastern side do not need to drive south for dinner. The resort's strengths are everyday eating rather than a destination meal: pick a seafood or tapas place you can walk to and keep the long drives for the Playa Blanca and El Golfo names. If you are timing a trip around the east coast, Lanzarote in september is a good month for combining Costa Teguise evenings with daytime visits to Jameos del Agua and the César Manrique sites.

Budget, Booking and What to Order

Spend the money on one destination meal, preferably La Cocina de Colacho or La Bodega de Santiago, and keep the rest of the week to tapas, paella and neighbourhood Italians. El Mirador's tapas menu before 6pm gets you the marina view for less than its main dining room, and El Peregrino, El Faro and Coentro keep a tapas evening simple. Request a sea-view table at Romantica or Natura Beach when you book, and take an earlier sitting at La Cascada del Puerto or La Bodega if you want to avoid waiting.

Days matter as much as budgets. Los Hervideros closes Thursdays and Sundays, La Cocina de Colacho opens Monday to Thursday evenings only, and El Faro's live music falls on Saturday nights, so sketch the week before you commit to a table. Lunch from 1:30pm to 4pm is when the Spanish kitchens are at their best, and dinner from 8:30pm or 9pm; arriving at 7pm often means an empty room. Between meals, save the coast and the volcanoes for the free things to do in Lanzarote, then eat later as the island does.

Plan Your Visit

Build your week around two or three booked meals and let the rest follow your location: Marina Rubicón and Playa Blanca for choice, Puerto del Carmen's old harbour road for Spanish cooking, El Golfo for fish and Yaiza for the ficus tree. If you are weighing a mainland city break against an island week, the best restaurants in alicante show how a Spanish city handles its own rice, tapas and vermut. Check the current opening days when you book, since a few kitchens keep short weeks.