We had lunch here. 4 tapas plates, a small beer, and a water -- all for under 16 Euros…read more The octopus salad was pretty good The pork cheek was very tender and cooked well The stuffed mushrooms were delightfully cheesy and had some seafood in the stuffing The pollo relleno was pretty good as well, very flavorful

Friendly people, good service, locally sourced produce, fresh fish, good desserts. We had an…read moreafternoon snack and liked it so much we went back for dinner.

Saturday afternoon and we were looking for lunch. This place was right around the corner from our…read morehotel and had some fixed price menus so we grabbed a table outside since it was warm. One gentleman handled all of the tables that eventually were all filled with patrons. Drinks came with the menu so I finally had a sangria after almost three weeks in Spain - it was good and came with a spoon to scoop out the fruit. As a starter I tried the local cold soup that is like gazpacho but is not gazpacho - it was very good. My wife got the mixed salad which had a big heaping of tuna (good thing she likes tuna). I had the chicken with fries - it was OK. My wife was daring and tried the cuttlefish - tough, rubbery and not much flavor. For desserts I had the flan and she had the rice pudding. Both were pre-packed and decent. Not sure these daily meal specials were worth it in the end...

Charming place. Good service. Typical food, but delicious flan. We had a hilarious taxi ride home,…read moreliterally barely making it in-between the narrow streets.

9 euro special was great. Tomato & anchovies salad and garbanzo bean stew were tasty first courses…read more Pork steak & fries and cuttlefish were excellent second courses. Both desserts we had were also good. A glass of wine with dinner and a shot of limoncello after dessert was also included with the special.

We've had nothing but great experiences with the restaurants in Spain - until this one. We opted…read morenot to follow the recommendations in our guide book and stopped here instead because they had a nice patio. It was a mistake. It ended up being the most expensive meal we've had in Spain, and the food was mediocre at best. Service was just ok. When we asked for the check the waiter told us we had to pay in cash because the credit card machine was broken. I'm not sure if this was true or not. If it was, we should have been told at the outset.

Bad experience. Food is totally overpriced . Their "croquetas de jamón " didn't have jamón at all …read more This place is a tourist trap.

Travel around enough in Spain, and you will eat at plenty of forgettable tapas bars. Either the…read moretidbits are the same, or a rehash of the same ingredients in different forms, or the ingredients just are not stunning. Then you come across La Cárcel, it was not outstanding tapas, but it was memorable b/c they made theirs different, perhaps even a more gourmet element. 1. Many Spanish locals and tourists eating away, good sign. 2. The tapas were more inventive or just had a unique twist which is what stuck in my head. We knew a few we wanted to try from TripAdvisor reviews, but honestly it's better just to order 1-2 to start with, then order whatever catches the eye as it's being served around you. Tapas is suppose to be just relaxing and nibbling, not full on dinner meals ordered all at once.. so try this method and you will eat a greater and better variety than blindly ordering everything all at once.

Great tapas bar close to the top of arcos de la frontera's Santa Maria church. Very friendly and…read morehelpful service. I enjoyed the octopus served in olive oil, paprika, and spices; Iberian ham toasts with the omnipresent salmorejo (tomato, olive oil, and herbs) sauce and poached quail egg; and lightly fried shrimp spring rolls. I was disappointed with the mushrooms which had almost no mushrooms and instead ended up like a potato frittata with a few mushrooms sprinkled in it. The oxtail croquettes tasted fine but I couldn't taste any oxtail at all. Very affordable at around 2 to 3 euros per tapa. Some outdoor tables (albeit about a third of the block up from the restaurant). Very happening bar on the weekends. It's busiest between 9:30 and midnight.

We wanted real wonderful authentic Paella on the beach. That is 100% what we received…read more They have been here a very very long time. I know as I was here in the late 90's and it was a staple to the community for authentic upscale back then. As you would expect it is a multi-lingual staff in some cases. It wasn't overly priced in my opinion for what was a peaceful beautiful authentic and FILLING meal. The atmosphere, the food, and wine were amazing. We would do it 100 times again.

A must visit gem! Friendly service, customer service, and fabulous food!! Thank you for a wonderful…read moreevening. The calamari was fresh and savory, while the paella was..... well, delicious is an understatement! Pics attached! Before and after pictures!