Lucky for anyone who loves a good glass of wine and pintxos (and who doesn't?!), Santander has a…read morevery lively pintxos bar scene. Around 8pm, people start to trickle into the bars to have a glass of wine before dinner. Bodega Cigaleña is one of the most memorable of the pintxos bar - first and foremost, the sign at the door declares it is a "museo del vino". As soon as you enter, you very much feel that you are walking through someone's wine collection. Vintages of Rioja that go back as far as the 1920s decorate the shelves and the slate gives the feeling that you are in a cellar. The decor and the way that the bar zig-zags (it is not one long bar) gives the impression of coziness, privacy as you snag your own little nook, and a non-pretentious atmosphere to enjoy wine. Old people and young people alike choose to hang out here. As for the selection of wine, there is tons of it! Each denominación de origen (Spain's terminology for wine appellations) that surrounds Cantabria was well-represented and whether you wanted a red, white, or rose, there were plenty of choices priced under 3 euro. Silly me, I set a goal of wanting to taste every wine on the list; in reality, I tasted three on my two visits here. The bartender seems to have the power to read minds and always knew when me or one of the other clients was ready to try something new. And then there are the pintxos, which are of just of good a quality as the wine served. The tortilla was perfect and made the "Galician way" - just a little bit raw and softer in the middle. After a glass of wine on an empty stomach, the tortilla was all the more satisfying (and prevented me from becoming very drunk). The anchovy pintxo is just three anchovies served over a slice of bread; not overly impressive, but I think that the lack of flavor and texture of the bread was probably to blame. Bodega Cigaleña was definitely one of the most memorable "food and wine" portions of the trip to Santander. The wine, the food, the service - everything is of very high quality.

They have a selection of inexpensive, high quality wine and a selection of expensive high quality…read morewine. The place is small, bit as it is not as popular anymore, there was no issue finding room. It is not a place I would suggest for finding sates, but it is a nice place for wine and snacks.

Our favorite dining experience in Santander! We ordered 4 dishes and everything was delicious! We…read morehad a multi course meal the night before and this food blew that meal away! They did not have a menu in English, so we just looked at pics on Yelp to see what looked good (and this worked great!) The grilled squid was amazing!!

Old-school tapas bar with a good choice of tapas, jamon, wines. Very friendly staff and authentic…read morestyle. A must-see!

As good as it gets for raw oysters within a 3-mile radius! Coming from Boston, we have oysters ALL…read morethe time but these delicious bivalves made my heart flutter. We shared a few of every variation of oyster they had that day: Cantabra, Gillardeau, Hihna and Tia Maraa. If you're lucky enough to have the Gillardeau available the day you're there, order these. They're meaty, sweet and just perrrrrfect. The local Cantabra ones were quite a surprise. They were unique in that they were super salty in a different way but if you're like me, you need to order at least 1 as it would be a total shame not to try the local version when you're there. The Hihna and Tia Maraa varieties came in as a close second to the Gillardeau - Large, sweet and slightly briny. Highly recommended! Now for the dark horse - The smoked cod (bacalao ahumado) was amazing and NOT to be missed. These flavorful pieces of heaven were accompanied with a mustard and a horseradish cream sauce with a bottle of red pepper flakes. The combo of the sauces, pepper and the cod was divine and elevated it to the next echelon. We wished we still had room to order another smoked fish and at this point regretted that we stuffed ourselves with so many pinchos before ending up here ha! Overall, worth the trip and worth the splurge!

Great place to get a small taste of Santander…read more I came here on the way to another restaurant to get some oysters and a couple of drinks. Well . . . we really came here to get drinks on the way to the other restaurant, but the oysters were a great addition. This place is not as crowded as some of the other places on Calle Pena, which worked well for us because the service was very prompt. Also, this makes the dining experience quite nice, quiet get together. Plus, the waiters/bartenders were really chatty and friendly. As someone from the states, I was really surprised to see that La Mar carried Tabasco sauce as a condiment for the oysters. I do not think that I saw a single bottle of Tabasco at any other point during my trip. The oysters were super cheap and super fresh. Also, the bar carries Tanqueray Rangpur, which is my FAVORITE gin and I was ecstatic to see it because I cannot find it anyway in the NYC.

This is a lovely place to eat tapas. The restaurant inside is decorated with lots of wood and is…read morevery busy. I would normally have looked for a table inside but as it was so sunny and warm, we opted to sit out. We had a delicious dry Rose, along with pulpo, prawns, salad and jamon and coffee at the end. It came to €15 per person- great value. This is located just down from silken colisseum and is definitely worth a look if you're in the area. I really enjoyed out relaxing lunch.

Do you enjoy being shouted at for not understanding that they'd finished serving? Do like when…read morewaiters roar after you while throwing their arms up in the air because you brought your drinks outside and you HAVE TO drink them at the the bar? Are you excited at the prospect of trying to speak your best Spanish to a waiter, only to have him roll his eyes and sigh at you? If so, this is the place for you.

This is a great spot to while away the hours until its time for dinner. In Santander this is…read morelocated a few blocks in from the ocean. It is right on a square and the place was filled with locals enjoying a drink and some bites before the real evening started. We sat outside which was great (as an aside, the name means Whale Tavern which is kind of great). There are quite a few tables outside and the place was quite crowded. We had some good local beers and got to meet someone who was from South America, spent time in Florida and had been teaching English here in Spain for a while, so a great place to meet interesting people. Since we were a bit hungry, a small snack turned out to be a pretty complete meal. And there was nothing wrong with that! The mussels were excellent. Normally Mussels can be a bit shall we say "fishy" and are loaded with butter sauce, this preparation was different, really light and they were fresh and delicious. We also had the local scallops cooked the local style which is with half of the shell still on and then a really delicious oil and garlic mix on top with a nice browning. Really good. Then we tried the squid which was also wonderfully done, a nice grilling and then a salad with it. One of the treats was trying some very inexpensive but great Rioja, the 2017 Marques de Murrieta was terrific. Overall this was a great spot for a quick bite and sightseeing.