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    El Merkado

    4.0 (109 reviews)
    ModerateTapas Bars, Cocktail Bars
    Closed 11:00 am - 1:30 AM (Next day)

    El Merkado Photos

    EL MERKADO ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Loud
    Hipster
    Casual
    Outdoor seating

    Recommended Reviews - El Merkado

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    Mario B.

    Lovely place with outdoor seating, reasonably priced tapas (for this touristy area) and creative drinks. We made a lunch out of ordering Tapas and trying various drinks and we were not disappointed. Not going to lie, some of the other tourist sitting around us kept looking at us as if we were crazy for ordering so much food. Whatever. Their loss. We had the sliced peppers and they were packed with flavor. Their ham and cheese sandwich was ok. Their chicken meatballs in the red sauce were to die for and we ordered seconds. Mussels also delivered on flavor and the white wine sauce they were in insured they felt fresh and juicy. The prawns were definitely fresh. The gazpacho was ok. The Serrano Ham was above average. We tried the rustic bread with avocado and egg for the hell of it and it was certainly delicious (something tells me we would have been more impressed if we weren't from California and that wasn't our daily breakfast). Overall, the small plates all packed a punch of flavor that activated one's taste buds and made them tingle. Their drinks were creative and for the warm weather, their fruity flavor both cooled us down and let us enjoy some quality liquor. I'd highly recommend this place! It's not amazing but for a random restaurant with outside seating, it certainly delivers.

    Latisha S.

    Thank you to Yelp for the find. Really good drinks, mediocre food. Mostly 4 stars for atmosphere and drinks. FOOD Croquettes (3.5 stars): at least this was warm. Not amazing but the best thing we had here. Avocado toast (3 stars): the egg was cooked well. If toast was warm it would be better. Tortilla de Patatas (2 stars): edible I guess, but this was the only thing we couldn't finish. Tastes like a cold egg pancake. Just don't order it. DRINKS Kissel Collins (5 stars): I think this was the name of it. I just asked the waiter for a yummy vodka fruity drink and he said this was off menu. Basically vodka with fresh strawberries. It was so good! My friend had something with Jameson that was really good too but I forgot the name :/ ATMOSPHERE The patio out front gets busy but it's fun to people watch and feel like you live here. We met people who told us this is more of a local spot so I'm glad we found it. Great location in old town and near more bars to continue your night. SERVICE So if you're from the states you know service is different in Europe since they actually like to take their time and not be rushed to make room. You'll have to call your server over sometimes for attention but they were really nice and even spoke English! I'd eat dinner elsewhere and come here for drinks after. Definitely recommended for drinks.

    Philippine W.

    The YAY * Great interoir, * Awesome menu for drinks; coffees, good wines, good cocktails, good-good-good. * Atmosphere, space, service, option to host events there; good. The NAY * The food.... Je suis très, très désolée but from all the tapas we ordered, I actually only liked the mussels and patatas bravas, but let's be honest, it's not thát hard of a dish. The quality of the L'assiette mixte is just not up to par. The beef had no flavour, cleary overcooked (hello grey friend). Hence, as this is a tapasbar, I'd say.... OK...! Stick with drinks!

    Avocado toast with egg.
    Kimmi G.

    I only tried one item on the menu. The guacamole toast with egg. It was ok! It would have been delicious if the bread were toasted. Sounds silly, but the flavors were amazing. But the bread was a little soft. I was craving avocado toast with egg, and since that's a number one meal in the states... this one fell a little short. I should have tried another dish as well since it's tapas.. everything other people were ordering looked amazing.

    Tapas and a mojito. Let's party.
    James L.

    Awesome. Great cocktail makers here. No joke. Tapas are also legit. Great music. Playing New Orleans funk tonight. They speak french. Nice scene. Let's Geaux! Highly recommend this spot. It's on the main drag.

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    11 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    12 years ago

    Nice tapas, friendly prices. Great outdoor seating in the pedestrian area close to the beach. I would recommend this place

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    11 years ago

    Great place near the flower market in the old Nice. Yummy tapas ;-), amazing cocktails, cool and friendly staff. Surely not my last visit!

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    10 years ago

    Best whiskey sour I've ever had in my life. Dj is solid. Ambiance awesome. & food is bomb. A definite go to when in Nice

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    11 years ago

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    9 years ago

    pretty cool spot to hangout! creative cocktails and food was good/reasonably priced

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    El Merkado Reviews in Other Languages

    Review Highlights - El Merkado

    We also got the Croquetas de Serrano, Buey, Patatas y Chorizo Frito and of course the Paëlla de Carne.

    Mentioned in 2 reviews

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    Shapko Bar

    Shapko Bar

    3.8(16 reviews)
    0.4 km
    €€

    I've been visiting this place for years and always enjoyed the live music, but the current staff…read more(two young girls and a curly-haired guy) is horrible. I was out alone that night and asked them to keep my drink behind the counter for a bit because I didn't want to leave it unattended for safety reasons while I stepped outside to smoke. When I came back, they couldn't find the drink, so I asked for another one at their expense, since it wasn't my fault they had lost it. Instead of handling the situation like proper human beings, they turned it into a huge problem and argued with me all together, even though I explained the situation multiple times in a reasonable way. At some point I just lost it and started raging, because this kind of service is disgusting. All three of them deserve to be fired immediately, and I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone as long as these bartenders are still around. I really hope the owner of Shapko sees this review and takes proper action, because uniting against your customers instead of handling things adequately is the worst thing you can do.

    Cute jazz bar recommended by the locals! We were looking for chill activities near Old Nice and…read morethis was one. I recommend coming here around 10-10:30 before it gets crowded so you can at least get a seat or have some standing room because it gets packed quickly and then security starts only letting people in if there's room. The live music took a while to set up and they really only started playing around 11-ish. By then, it's super fun and everyone gets into it. In terms of drinks - for the love of god, DO NOT order a cocktail. The wine and beer is where it's at. If there is one thing to take away from this review, it is to order the wine or even a beer! There is little cell signal in the venue but somehow, you can get a few bars near the bar. It's open until 3 AM or so if you're looking to stay out late.

    Photos
    Shapko Bar - Live jazz

    Live jazz

    Shapko Bar
    Shapko Bar

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    El Merkado - tapas - Updated May 2026

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