A modern city with a strong vocation for tourism, Alicante boasts an incredible range of restaurants and bars. Choosing where to eat in Alicante is undoubtedly exciting, but finding an establishment with good value for money is not always easy.
Follow our tips to avoid the tourist traps and try the best of Alicante’s tasty cuisine.
Seafood and rice are the undisputed stars of Alicante’s culinary tradition and should be tried in a small beachside restaurant with a sea view. Be careful because the quality of the food in tourist restaurants is not always good: choose one of the best seafood restaurants in Alicante from our recommendations.
One or more tapas evenings cannot be missed during a holiday in Spain. To give you an authentic experience, we have selected the traditional tapas bars most loved by Alicantines.
If you follow a vegetarian or vegan diet or simply want a break from meat and fish, we offer restaurants and fast food outlets with menus without meat, fish or derivatives.
For refreshment, treat yourself to a mouth-watering ice-cream in one of Alicante’s best artisan ice-cream parlours, while if you’re a fan of the genre, cross the threshold of one of the city’s many Italian restaurants.
A gastronomic tour of Alicante is a journey through the flavours of Mediterranean cuisine, characterised by fresh ingredients and traditional recipes. The tour usually starts in the Mercado Central, the lively city market, where you can sample local specialities such as cheese, jamón ibérico, olives and seafood.
Continuing on, we explore the tapas bars in the historic centre, sampling dishes such as ‘calamares a la romana,’ the ‘escalivada,’ and the famous ‘paella alicantina,’ prepared with rice and fresh fish. The tour culminates with typical sweets, such as ‘turrón de Alicante,’ and a glass of ‘horchata,’ a refreshing drink made from chufa.
One of the best tapas bars in Alicante, much loved by the locals. It offers 100% authentic Alicante cuisine of good quality and stands out for its excellent service, which has earned it a loyal clientele.
It goes without saying that it is always crowded and since the restaurant does not accept reservations you will probably have to queue a bit before you can be seated. Don’t give up: your wait will be amply rewarded by the unique atmosphere of this place.
A traditional tapas bar in the centre of Alicante, near the central market, famous for its ‘montaditos’, stuffed mini-sandwiches, and excellent home cooking.
Open since 1956, this small bar-restaurant with very few tables is a true Alicante institution, frequented by an eclectic clientele of workers, football players, civil servants, students and tourists.
Are you sceptical about the quality of food served by beachside restaurants? Casa Julio, a popular restaurant with a veranda right on the beach in San Juan, will change your mind.
The list of dishes is very tempting: the excellent fried fish and paella are very popular, but also try the fresh fish, such as sea bream and sea bass.
The Pesca Al Peso restaurant is a fun and inexpensive way to eat fresh fish for lunch or dinner.
It looks like a fishmonger’s and just like in a fishmonger’s the order is placed at the counter: you choose the fish you want to eat, the staff will weigh it and tell you the price; you then choose the way you want it cooked and any side dishes or drinks, pay at the till, sit down at the table and enjoy the seafood delicacies you have chosen!
Many tourists miss the Rincon del Varadero, a hidden gem well known to the local clientele. This excellent restaurant located near the fishing harbour has a beautiful dockside terrace and serves excellent fresh fish and seafood dishes.
Family business is putting it mildly when one tells the story of the Don Carlos restaurant, founded 28 years ago by a former football player and rescued from the economic crisis that hit Spain in the 2000s by his nephew Jorge, a chef with work experience in London, Paris, Jersey, Shanghai and Dublin.
Today it is a well-established business that offers creative dishes that do not belong to any predefined style, the result of the international training of Jorge Curado, an eclectic chef with a 100% Alicante heart.
Traditional dishes reinvented with a modern flavour are the proposal of Nou Manolin, an elegant but not snobbish restaurant located in the centre of Alicante that has won numerous prestigious awards over the years. Admired is its counter, where the main dishes and drinks of the day are displayed, museum-like: you can opt for the counter if you want a more informal experience.
It is widely believed that the best rice in town is eaten here: come and find out if this is true!
The only restaurant in Alicante that can boast Michelen stars, Monastrell offers Mediterranean signature cuisine in an exclusive location on the city’s waterfront.
Natural wood and metals are the hallmarks of the refined design of this chic restaurant while on the table, rice is the undisputed star.
Handcrafted ice creams made from fresh quality products, without colourings, preservatives or additives. Few flavours are available, but all are special and delicious: try Bronte pistachio, nougat or Laneu cream. The lemon and coffee granitas are also excellent.
The best Italian ice cream in Alicante can be eaten at Livanti and is the result of a happy union between Sicilian tradition and Alicante products. There is a wide choice of flavours: zabaglione, nougat, coffee and tiramisu are the most popular.
A refined pastry shop a few steps from the seafront serving excellent ice cream, creamy and delicate. Nougat again proves to be one of the customers’ favourite flavours, but the dulce de leche and avellana from Piedmont are also very good. Situated directly on the ramblas, it is perfect for a strolling gelato!
This lovely restaurant-pizzeria has an outdoor terrace and an interior room decorated in a modern design that reinvents the tradition of Italian taverns. There are beautiful exposed beams and large windows from which you can watch the hustle and bustle of people passing by.
It is a family-friendly place where dishes are adapted to the needs of children at the customer’s request.
This is a typical family-run Italian trattoria serving homemade Emilian cuisine. No frills: the ambience is simple and comfortable, the atmosphere warm and friendly. It is the perfect place for those who want to feel at home.
Two enterprising and imaginative young men reinvent the Italian tradition in this small place that is as popular with holidaymakers as it is with Alicantines.
Delicious handmade piadinas, which can be customised according to customers’ tastes, are the speciality of the restaurant, where you can also find excellent soups and creative inventions by the chef.
A bright space serving tasty sandwiches, pizzas and salads, as well as natural juices and other vegetarian delicacies: this is BodhiGreen, a modern, well-kept, no-meat restaurant founded by a female, international team. The two owners, an Australian and a Basque, each have more than 20 years’ experience in the restaurant business.
In the following map you can see the location of the main places of interest mentioned in this article.
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