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.

Good service. My companions liked their food. But based on MY experience really bad food. DO NOT…read moreorder the shrimp. 5 pieces that you'd figure would be decent meal at $37 euro were not good. They also came with no sides. No sauce. Just a slice of lemon. They were very fishy tasting. I asked for grilled. They came boiled? They were Not cleaned which required a lot of work to clean myself. Really disappointed.

Excellent tapas and sangria! Located in the city center with lovey outdoor dining, and service was…read moregood! Would definitely come back here

What a delicious lunch. We tried to get in here a few times during our stay in Jerez but it was…read morealways busy (celebration time in Jerez). We fInally got in for lunch today. It was worth the multiple attempts. We shared the peppers, meatball, baked cheese and the grilled calamari. All were absolutely delicious. The calamari was out of this world. For tapas, maybe more on the pricier side but well worth it. The peppers and meatballs were both 8 euro. Can't remember the cheese or calamari prices. Our server spoke excellent English which made it easy. Inside ambience looked cute. We sat outside by the heaters. A wonderful lunch, wonderful experience and we would highly recommend. Delicious!

Delicious food in an unpretentious setting. Highly recommend the strawberry gazpacho! Courteous and…read morefriendly staff, too.

We were having a hard time with the wifi all over Spain so we were just trusting our gut (haha) to…read morefind restaurants. We walked by and saw this little restaurant up the hill, a bit tucked away and decided to check it out one night. Holy moly people!!! Easily one of our best meals in Spain! Our server was so nice and the owner was amazing and attentive. We ate early (old American habits die hard) and we were some of the only people in this little cave restaurant. You can just tell that the chef takes immense pride in their food. It showed, both in presentation and taste. We ordered a cheese plate, a jamon plate, the eggplant croquettes (with salmorejo and jamon), and the stuffed mushrooms. I go on TripAdvisor when I got home and see it's rated #3 in Arcos restaurants! Yay! Don't be like us- read restaurant reviews before you get there ;-) This is truly a gem that you don't want to miss. This restaurant is what prompted me to review both on Yelp AND Tripadvisor. It was THAT good. Oh gosh! I just remembered that we ordered paté as well. I guess I forgot to take a pic. It was HUGE for the price and absolutely delicious. I thought we were overly stuffed when leaving and didn't think we got that way from those 3 things- haha. Forgot the paté!! If you're in Arcos you really should check this place out.

What's different about Alcarvan is that it's a former dungeon of a castle - I don't think they do…read morequite enough to capitalize on the distinctiveness of that (instead, it can feel a bit like a sports bar as there are a bunch of folks watching soccer on television). The food is the standard Spanish tapas menu - heavy on fish, ham, and the mixed salad (which, of course, comes with tuna). To put it another way, Alcaravan is not a place to take your vegetarian friends. What we had here wasn't quite as exciting or inventive as other tapas places (probably the best of what we sampled was the salad) and some of what we sampled was simply unpleasant. The "meatballs" of squid had the consistency of wet bread, and the tuna was among the fishiest I have encountered in terms of both taste and smell. The folks at Alcaravan seem perfectly nice, but slightly confused. At first, they sat us as a table that was entirely too small for four people. Then, they tried to squish all of our food (three dishes) onto the too-small table, and then they moved another table between us so that two of us were sitting a good ten feet apart from the other two.

I love this place I am from Panama and here I find…read moreColombian food which is very similar. Chicken rice one word "delicious" and empanadas are my favorite the coffee OMG they make it special 10 stars for this place.

Very good latin food. Located right off base, across from the back gate behind housing. The menu…read morewas all in Spanish and the Waitress did not speak any English, but I would not let that stop you from enjoying the food. If you've had latin food before than you will have no problem using google translate to find out what the menu says. Their empanadas and plantains were very good. I had the pork and rice which was also very good. I have already recommended this place to friends and I will be returning.

We visited this quaint restaurant a few years ago while in El Puerto de Santa Maria. The food was…read moreabsolutely delicious, the atmosphere was cozy, and the chef was a delight to speak with. We went on a quieter evening so I can speak to the service when it's busy but I imagine everything is still fantastic!

Puerto Escondido is one of the best restaurants in El Puerto. It's like that little treasure which…read moreonly a few can find, hence its name Puerto Escondido which means Hidden Harbor.The food is excellent, a fusion of traditional Andalusian and worldwide cuisine -Mexican, Peruvian, Eastern,..The patio is an awesome choice for dinners. Pablo Terron, the chef, will receive you as a friend more than a customer. It's worth a try for sure!

At nearly 10 p.m., on the way to our Airbnb with no dinner and no dinner plans (per our usual,…read morehaha!), we pulled up to Venta el Palancar which had only 2 reviews. The kitchen was closed but they welcomed us to a selection of already prepared tapas. Let's be honest--I was a little hesitant; however, the cold pork, cheese, and quail egg, green pepper, and onion salad (pitirrana) in olive oil not only hit the spot but were very good. We received a warm and friendly greeting and great service. Without a doubt, as mentioned in 1 of the reviews, this is where the locals enjoy their meals (and soccer)!

This is a jewel on a somewhat desolate road. Plenty of locals eating here, but they are also…read morewelcoming to visitors. They have an English menu, but ability of staff with English varies. This is definitely not a tourist stop. This is in the midst of olive growing country, but all of the food is phenomenal.

Wow! Just wow! We arrived in Jerez, worn out from the drive from Granada. We'd had so much ham in…read moreSpain, that we wanted something simple and plain. My wife had even suggested McDonald's, just for something we were used to. Most of the restaurants were not open yet, and the ones that were just didn't hit the spot. We happened to find Casa Nicolas in Plaza del Banco, just off the pedestrian mall. After a terrific sangria with fresh melon towering above the glass and topped with a little umbrella we were starting to feel better. We shared the Chicken Amontillado, which was a half chicken, covered in bay leaves, peppercorns, onions, and who knows what else, swimming in a sherry sauce, and served with the best homemade steak fries we've ever had. It was outstanding. We sopped up every last drop of the sauce, nibbled away every last bit of chicken, fought over the last, fried potato, and had some terrific red wine to end the meal. We were stuffed. Would highly recommend a stop by. We had breakfast here the next morning, one of the best we had in Spain. And then another dinner, but sadly, we were too late for the Chicken Amonitillado--the last dish had been sold. We suffered through with some wonderful artichoke hearts and a pork dish. We highly recommend Casa Nicolas.