Best Tapas in Alicante: Bars Worth Your Evening

What Alicante does best: rice, ensaladilla and anchovies

Alicante's kitchens are confident with three things above all: rice, ensaladilla rusa and good tinned or cured fish. Order a rice dish at lunch when you have time to sit, then keep the evening for small plates of ensaladilla, anchovies and croquettes.

The city's rice repertoire runs from dry arroz seco through creamier arroz meloso to the prized soccarat, the caramelised layer at the base of the pan. Treat a rice dish as a main event for two rather than a side, and build the rest of the meal around it.

How Spanish meal times change your tapas plan

Lunch runs roughly 1:30pm to 4pm and dinner starts from about 8:30pm to 9pm, so an early evening hunger pang needs a bar counter rather than a restaurant table. Plan a proper lunch, then graze from mid-evening at a tapas bar where small plates arrive as they are ready.

Bars that stay busy late reward a flexible approach: order two or three plates at a time, watch what comes out of the kitchen and add more. A bar seat also lets you eat well when tables are full, which is the single most useful tactic in this city.

Cesar Anca Restaurante: creative tapas off the Explanada de España

Cesar Anca Restaurante sits just off the Explanada de España and serves some of the most creative tapas in Alicante, including oxtail cannelloni with a crisp jamón crumb and a millefeuille of caramelised apple, foie gras, goat's cheese and smoked cod. The bar has been easy to get a seat at, so it suits a spontaneous early evening stop.

Order the pork cheek if it is on: it comes on buttery potato purée with a deep red wine sauce, and the dessert millefeuille filled with turrón custard is the right way to finish. Portions are rich, so two or three plates per person goes a long way.

Nou Manolin: counter seats, crystal bread and daily specials

Nou Manolin draws a queue for its bar counter, where the last seats go quickly; on two visits the final spots at the counter were the only ones left. The draw is crystal bread topped with ensalada and generous anchovies, jamón with runny-yolked quail eggs, and a changing daily special such as rich cannelloni.

Go early in the evening and accept a counter perch rather than waiting for a table, then order across the breads, the cured fish and whatever the special is that day. It is a busy, standing-room sort of place rather than a long dinner.

Gravina 4: the fish-focused bar for ensaladilla rusa and grilled squid

Gravina 4 is a tiny, fish-focused tapas bar whose ensaladilla rusa is the best in Alicante, with every component distinct inside a coherent mayonnaisey whole. Also look for impeccably tender grilled squid loaded with garlic and sweet red prawns when they are available.

Because the room is small, this is a short-stop bar rather than a long sit: order the ensaladilla, one piece of grilled fish or squid and a drink, then move on. It pairs naturally with a wander through the old town restaurants nearby.

La Taberna del Gourmet: modern tapas and first-rate produce

La Taberna del Gourmet is one of the more polished stops, a modern tapas bar with an evident focus on first-rate produce. A gilda reworked with marinated artichoke and an ensalada of tuna, potato, egg, green beans and carrot are the sort of snacks that work with a single drink.

Treat it as a drinks-and-snacks stop rather than a full meal, and expect prices to sit above the old-school bars. It suits the start of an evening before a bigger dinner elsewhere.

Bar Manero: polished, produce-led cooking with an oxtail croqueta worth ordering

Bar Manero is about as bling as tapas gets in Alicante, with caviar and vintage Champagne on offer alongside serious cooking. The oxtail croquetas are top drawer, and a confit leek with toasted flaked almonds and garlicky creamy cheese is one of the best vegetable plates in the city.

Much of the olive oil, wine and other produce is branded under the restaurant's own name, which makes it a good place to buy a bottle or an oil to take home. It is the pick for a smarter evening rather than a cheap graze.

Cerveceria El Canto: old-school value, jamón ibérico and tomato jam with queso fresco

Cerveceria El Canto is old school and popular, with a queue to get in and excellent-value tapas once you sit down. Glistening jamón ibérico, griddled queso fresco with sweet tomato jam and a montadito of marinated pork loin with brie are the plates to aim for.

The queue moves, so put your name down and use the wait for a drink nearby rather than abandoning the plan. Prices stay in the budget bracket, which makes it a sensible second or third stop of the night.

Bar Guillermo: a quiet traditional bar north of the Mercado Central

Bar Guillermo is a traditional tapas bar just north of the central market, and it was almost empty around 10pm on a visit. The kitchen turns out delicately battered calamari and salt-cod-loaded croquettes, which makes it a useful late fallback when busier bars are full.

Use it as a quiet anchor near the market before or after a shop rather than a destination in its own right. It is also one of the easiest places in the city to eat well without planning.

Cervecerías Sento: montaditos, signature lollipops and a cash-only warning

Cervecerías Sento has several branches around Alicante, and Sento Barrio has a compact, shoulder-to-shoulder bar with over 30 montaditos and signature lollipops of pork, ham, bechamel and tomato jam. The branch is cash only, so carry euros before you order.

The montaditos are the value play here, small enough to try several and filling enough for a light meal with a cold beer. In 2023 the blogger paid around two pounds each for named montaditos, but treat any figure as history and check the board in the bar.

Probar el Buen Bar: the oozy tortilla and torreznos, plus the trade-off

Probar el Buen Bar is tucked down a city-centre side street and serves twists on classic tapas, led by a thin, oozy tortilla with caramelised onions under a savoury sabayon. Crisp torreznos with garlicky mashed potato and an ensaladilla rusa with smoked eel are the other plates to order.

The trade-off is a short menu: diners have reported items being unavailable, which narrows the choice further on a given night. Go with an open mind, order what is there and treat the tortilla as the reason for the visit.

Where to add rice: La Taverna del Racó del Pla, L'arruzz and Restaurante Govana

La Taverna del Racó del Pla is a wood-panelled tavern where the arroz seco with crisp pork, chickpeas, broad beans and charred peppers comes with a proper soccarat edge. It is popular enough that walk-ins get turned away, so book a table before you travel; it also appears among our best restaurants in alicante.

L'arruzz looks like a tourist trap from its branding but delivers salt-cod rice with sweet spring onions, caramelised cauliflower and a deep fish stock. Restaurante Govana, a family restaurant, cooks leg of veal rice with morcilla, chorizo and chickpeas under a golden caramelised top.

At Govana, order the jamón croquetas and the cinnamon-spiced French toast if you have room, and expect a meaty, wobbly rice that will not suit everyone. This is lunch territory: rice dishes take time and suit the 1:30pm to 4pm window far better than a late dinner.

Vermouth and a snack: Pipirrana Vermut and its inverted soccarat of oxtail rice

Pipirrana Vermut has a strong selection of vermouth by the glass and good vibes to match, which makes it a natural early-evening first stop. The curiosity is an inverted soccarat of oxtail rice: a bronzed crisp shell filled with meaty rice and yielding oxtail.

Deep-fried pork belly with crackling is ideal with a glass of vermouth, so pair the two and keep the stop short. It works well as a bridge between a late lunch and a 9pm dinner.

Mercado Central de Alicante: a local shop for a picnic rather than a sit-down meal

Mercado Central de Alicante is a working market set over two floors, with counters selling local fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, and jamón and tomatoes for a makeshift picnic. In 2023 it was reported open every day except Sunday, so confirm the day before you build a meal around it.

Shop here for jamón, heritage tomatoes and fruit rather than expecting a sit-down tapas meal, then eat it near the Explanada de España. It is also the right place to see how locals shop rather than paying restaurant prices for the same produce.

Cheap eats beyond tapas: Ozú, Tres Semillas and gelato at Livanti Gelato Di Sicilia

Ozú is an old-school bar with fake flowers on the tables, a chalkboard menu and an owner who picks dishes for you; a 2023 visit cost under twelve pounds for a meal with two drinks including chicken and black truffle croquettes and seared tuna. Tres Semillas, near the airport bus stop, is the vegan pick for cake, horchata and a toasted baguette with olive oil and tomato.

Livanti Gelato Di Sicilia draws long queues in the evening but is usually walk-in during the daytime, and the pistachio and dark chocolate are worth the trip. Use that timing to your advantage: gelato in the afternoon, tapas at night.

Craft beer instead of wine: Bubbles Beer Club, La Mala Buena and Malatesta

Bubbles Beer Club pours Spanish craft beers from Madrid's Kosmonauta and Valencia's Sáez & Son, and a pint of Garage TIPA cost eight euros when it was written up. La Mala Buena and Malatesta are the other names to look for if you want local Spanish craft beer rather than wine.

Treat the eight-euro figure as a historical note rather than a current price, and check the tap list on the day. Craft beer bars make a good final stop when the kitchens have closed.

Booking, queues and bar-counter tactics

Book ahead for rice restaurants such as La Taverna del Racó del Pla, where walk-ins are regularly turned away, and expect queues at Cerveceria El Canto and Nou Manolin. The bar counter is the reliable answer: several places in this guide seat walk-ins at the bar even when tables are full.

Eat lunch late, take a break in the afternoon and start the evening around 8:30pm to 9pm when kitchens reopen for dinner. Carry cash for Cervecerías Sento, and keep one bar in reserve in case your first choice is full.

What to see nearby between meals: Playa del Postiguet, Castell de la Santa Bàrbara and Explanada de España

Between meals, walk the Explanada de España with its wave-like mosaic, swim at Playa del Postiguet below the Castell de la Santa Bàrbara, or climb to the fortress for the view over the city. Plan your tapas stops around these rather than criss-crossing the centre.

The old town sits between the Explanada and the market, which is why so many of the bars above are within a short walk of each other. Build an evening route that starts near the port and drifts inland.

Plan Your Tapas Evening in Alicante

Start with lunch at a rice restaurant such as La Taverna del Racó del Pla or Restaurante Govana, then use the evening for bar-hopping between the Explanada, the old town and the Mercado Central. Keep cash for Cervecerías Sento, book ahead for the popular rice tables and accept a counter seat when tables are full.

Check each bar's opening days and current prices directly before you go, since menus and hours change and several places close for a day or two each week.