Guillermo Lorenzo is a small-scale worker of miracles…read more Guillermo is the chef and proprietor at De Locos Tapas, and what he does at this tiny spot is difficult to believe until you experience it. He is the owner, chef, front-of-the-house guy, and server, all at the same time. How a guy who wears so many hats manages to conceive of and produce such a large variety of small-scale gourmet items at prices this low is beyond me. Our first encounter with Mr. Lorenzo actually wasn't too great. I'd earlier attempted to reserve a table through De Locos's website, but never received a response (we were in Spain without phone service, so I couldn't call ahead, and we'd just arrived at our hotel). So we trekked over to the restaurant without a reservation and waited around for the place to open at 7:30 pm in order to try our luck. When we walked in and explained our situation, Mr. Lorenzo frankly was not very friendly or welcoming, even though no other diners were present at the time. But he led us upstairs to a table nonetheless, explaining that he would need our table by 9:30. As soon as we were seated, though, the rather surly version of Mr. Lorenzo switched off like a light, and the excellent, gregarious impresario version of Mr. Lorenzo switched on. What happened over the next couple of hours was just about the best dining experiences we'd ever had at prices this low. He brought us plate after plate of wonderfully composed and almost uniformly delicious, mostly non-traditional tapas, which we ordered off of a handwritten-in-English menu (see the attached photos). While simultaneously perfectly pacing everything and playing the consummate cosmopolitan, hospitable, charming restaurant host. (A native of Bilbao with a globe-trotting resume and excellent English, he told us former New Orleans residents that his grandmother was born in New Orleans.) I've attached photos of the menu from that night, and, frankly, at this late date, I can't remember everything we had. But the ox cheeks, lamb tagine, smoked duck, oyster Bloody Mary, seabass ceviche, and red tuna tataki stood out. Everything was terrific, though, with the possible exception of the piquillo pepper stuffed with crab, which was just kind of mushy. We're not the biggest dessert eaters, but the Bailey's ice cream was terrific as well. All of this beautiful stuff, plus a couple of drinks each, set us back less than 40 euro, which just seems like an impossibly good deal. P.S. De Locos isn't all that easy to find if you're staying in the main, touristy part of Ronda. You've got to head south down the main road from the old town toward the Barrio San Francisco. Just before the road bends right as you're looking at the rather imposing Iglesia del Espiritu Santo, drop down the "ramp" on the left to the Calle Espiritu Santo, which leads to a little triangular square just inside the wall. When you get to the square, hang a left. De Locos is a the end of the row of buildings, facing the wall and square. (We went on All Saints Day, missed the "ramp," and ended up in the big square in San Francisco, where masses of locals were assembled for festivities. That got us totally turned around...)

I had a lovely meal here, large part of it which was due to the friendliness of the owner. I was…read moreable to grab the last open table (outside) as a solo diner, but would definitely recommend making a reservation as I saw multiple parties get turned away. The menu seems to have not changed much over the years, so many of the older reviews hold true. I started with a drink of sangria which I would skip if doing it again (it's a large drink and on the more liquor heavy side). I got (from most to least favorite): Foie gras - Don't miss this. Yes you can get foie gras everywhere but the one here is stellar. Perfectly seared, juicy and sprinkled with a few grains of salt, and paired with a passion fruit sorbet (tbh could have done without the sorbet). I was skeptical about ordering this but wow it was so good. Smoked duck carpaccio - The smoked duck on its own was good but not stunning, but when eaten as it's meant to be eaten (on top of toast and sweet jam), it's delicious. Recommended. Truffle eggs - I like soft boiled eggs and tbh this was just a good soft boiled egg. Didn't taste much truffle but did taste the jamon on top. Yummy but not a must get. Beef cheek - Conflicted about this one, the beef was very tender and very good, but it had an odd flavor that I didn't love. Also on the heavier end, and by the time I got to this dish, I was pretty stuffed so couldn't eat much of it. Quail's nest - I got this more for the novelty as I saw many photos of it. Pretty but not super flavorful, and hard to eat. Finished with the chocolate truffles, which are covered with dried mangos. They were good (rich and chocolately) but not something mind blowing as some reviews led me to believe. All in all, I enjoyed my meal here, and prices are quite affordable given what they're trying to do. In general, felt like they were trying to do a twist on each dish, which was appreciated, even if they didn't always work. But it's a refreshing find to find something like this in a small town like Ronda.

This was a wonderful find in Old Town. Old Town seems to be quieter part of the city with less…read moretourists. The food was amazing. It was a nice change from the tapas that we had been eating for the past couple of days! The tuna tartare was excellent. The tuna was fresh, and the crusted black sesame was crunchy. The octopus carpaccio was amazing too. There was so much flavor -- black salt, banana peppers, some other spicy chilis. It was flavorburst! There was also a good selection of interesting burgers, which we ended up getting the alligator. It was amazing. Alligator meat was similar to chicken meat in taste, but its texture was more delicate and crumbly. It was almost melty! We loved it. Everything we ate was amazing. I would say that the flavors are definitely on the heavier side (such as adding quite a lot of BBQ sauce on the burger and a little bit too much black salt and banana peppers on the octopus) but other than that, I had an amazing meal.

Fantastic food! From the walnut pesto, the tuna avocado carpaccio, and the awesome ox tail, we…read morereally enjoyed our lunch!

To be clear, there is no menu. You get whatever they are cooking for the day. They ask you if…read moreyou have any dislikes or allergies which will be accommodated. It was also made clear that it was 45 Euro per person. With that said, we had the most amazing meal. I feel like I won't eat for a week. First up was toast with tomato relish and the BEST olive oil. Delicious. Followed by asparagus with parmesan. The salad was pumpkin with burrata and greens (I think my favorite), a white fish with roasted veggies, steak with spicy potatoes, and then poached pear in white chocolate for dessert. We have been in South Spain for six weeks and this is our most memorable meal to date. We highly highly recommend.... oh, and we came home with a bottle of wine. Delicious

We entered the restaurant and were greeted by a server who informed us that there was no printed…read moremenu. She explained that the meal was a prix-fixe style, although she didn't use that term. We were initially led to believe it was a daily pre-set menu. The server showed us the evening's offerings (pointing to a refrigerated display case with red meat, fish, and vegetables), which she said was 45 for meat and 30 (or 35) for fish, including appetizers, vegetables, and dessert of the day. Drinks were not included. When we asked for a wine list, we were told there wasn't one, and that they would choose the wine for us instead. We would have ordered another glass, but we had no idea about the price. The server inquired about any allergies, and I mentioned that while I wasn't allergic to anything, I didn't eat red meat. Despite not selecting the dishes, the following were brought to us: Appetizers Main course -- she brought red meat for both of us, but I declined since it was made for two Fish Dessert In the end, we were charged for each item individually, and our bill came to 145 Euros. While the food was good and the server was friendly, we felt we were misled and taken advantage of. If they are going to charge separately for each item, customers should at least have the option to choose what they want to order.

We went here based on previous yelp recommendations and found it to be excellent for atmosphere and…read moretapas. We ordered grilled veggie platter, cheese and jamon, and croquettes with our wine. All were delicious! The owner was warm and gracious. This restaurant was one street from the historic bridge. We walked from our hotel. Couldn't be more convenient.

Absolutely amazing....great food and great ambiance. We asked for a wine recommendation and got a…read moremind-blowing local red. We ordered menu and tapas and every dish was very good. The family owners made the experience very special. And to be honest, all we were looking for was a hot meal. Perfect if you want a long, social Spanish dining experience.

Very affordable tapas bar! Got about 5 small plates for two people and left full during lunch. The…read moresnails were tender but could have been seasoned and elevated with salt and spices. The octopus salad was very light and refreshing. The anchovy toast was extremely salty but otherwise tasty. The potato salad was smooth, creamy, and very tasty. We also got a cheese, cracker, and jam platter which was delicious and a nice "dessert" too. Also ordered water and grape juice. Total for two was €12.50! Bill attached with Spanish names for dishes and select photos of dishes. Amazing spot to stop in for a bite. Service was incredibly friendly too.

We loved our lunch here. Two guys worked here ......one serving and one making the tapas. These…read moregentlemen were nonstop working the entire time we were there. Hard workers. We had so much food and all that including two beer was about 15 euros. Cheap ! I loved the bocadillo, the snails, the octopus salad and the lomo. A great place to stop for tapas in Ronda.

One of my favorite meals in Spain. It is situated in the middle of small street close to Puente…read moreNuevo, which could easily be a tourist trap. Maybe I should get out of that mentality, because everywhere we ate in Spain that was close to popular attractions was decent. Anyways, I digress. The service was excellent. It was definitely fine dining. They used an aerator for our wine, and kept refilling when our glasses were close to finishing, which was attentive service. The cod and avocado salad was amazing. They used avocado skin rather than avocado meat, which gave the salad an extra crunch rather than creaminess, which I thoroughly enjoyed and was unexpected. There were orange slices, quail egg bits, and black olives (which were NOT at all bitter, despite other occasions we've had black olives). It was a wonderful balance. The paella was delicious. We got the seafood paella; although it wasn't as crunchy as we had hoped, the seafood flavor was super saturated. Plus, there was sooo much good and fresh seafood! Salmorejo was soooo good. We did a cooking class the previous day where we made salmorejo and we couldn't get enough! It is similar to gazpacho, but tomato-based. No salmon in it as you might guess :P But very creamy and topped with chopped hard boiled egg and quality jamon. There was a leg of jamon sitting on a table next to me looking DIVINE, so I was excited to have it in our soup. Tiramisu was delicious too. Not typical to what I've had before, but the ladyfingers at the bottom were not crushed, but rather whole. I loved it! Also, quite possibly the BEST wine we had all trip. So sad we couldn't bring it back with us, but ask for their recommendation, and you won't regret it... It was a local Ronda wine. If you're around the area, definitely check it out! Great date spot, romantic and quaint.

Top-notch service and great food. One of my favorite meals in Spain…read more Given the late lunch-time heat, we chose to sit alone inside to people watch at the window and take in the bull fighting artwork in the comfort of AC. The meal started with 3 complimentary bites (Spanish omelette, tuna, and mussels). I had the garlicky gazpacho to start, which was poured into my bowl for a little table side pizzaz, followed by the fried eggplant which was very light and delightfully sweet. The bull tail was impressively large (although a lot of it bone), and cooked so tenderly no knife was needed. The flan dessert was a bit of a work of art and its taste on par with its appearance. Finally, our meal ended with complimentary sweet wine. The service could not have been more attentive nor nicer. We realized when we exited we were the only ones left because of siesta, but there was absolutely no rushing. Should I ever return to Ronda, it'd be my first stop.

Beautiful location and delicious food. We got the octopus and the black rice and both were very…read moreflavorful. Service was excellent as well.

On our first night I had the pulpo (octopus) and it was amazing! Maybe the best pulpo I've ever…read morehad, so it you like that go for it. It'd get 5 stars if not the other times we've gone and I've had other dishes that were average, the tuna tataki and the salmon (I love seafood). It's also frusting you never know if this place is going to be open. They open sometime between noon and 2pm... except sometimes they just don't all day and it doesn't seem to be on any schedule. If it's not, Meson Coto Alto next door is great... Oh, and the desserts are amazing... really really delicious.

Maestros is where we had breakfast on our 2nd day in Ronda. It is a typical Tapa bar,…read morequintessential European experience that we were looking for. Conveniently located opposite Plaza de Toros, where we were headed after breakfast. Very friendly owners and customers. We sat at the bar and ordered breakfast, like Europeans do. I had the Atun(Tuna) sandwich and TH tried the Iberian ham sandwich. The coffee/tea were great.

Bar Maestro was suggested to us by the host at our AirBnB. It was relatively easy to find and on a…read moreMain Street in Ronda. The place itself is unassuming, very old Spanish in style, and clearly frequented by many locals. We had just come from Granada so we had a learning curve when it came to ordering here. Obviously the employees didn't speak much (if any) English so make sure if you visit you have a decent amount of Spanish to help you with ordering. I recommend making sure to specifiy that you want tapa sized portions (if you're looking for tapas) because a couple of the dishes we ended up with were full "rationes" and 1/2 "rationes" and much bigger than we anticipated until we wisened up and started asking for tapas. Overall this place was really cheap! For 2 beers, a half order of the tomato and potato dish, a full order of ensaladilla and a tapa size of the mini ribs our bill came out to roughly €12,50. The food was well (aggressively) seasoned and very flavorful. If you're looking for authentic tapas in Ronda, this is certainly a good spot to try!