Tucked away in a hallway sized room, Taberna 1931 is a fun little bar slinging excellent tortillas…read moreand excellently prepared bar food to a never ending hungry crowd. They won the 2016 Betanzos Tortilla Festival award for the best torilla espana. And we have to commend the judges for their fine sense of good taste. While our favorite is still across the alley at Casa Miranda, Taberna 1931's tortilla is something that needs to be sampled. Do not be intimidated by the shoulder to shoulder crowds. It is not that difficult to find an opening and get a treasured spot at the bar where the gals that run this join will joyfully dish out delicacies from their well designed "carta" written on the wall above the bar. They also dispense drink and food from the window facing the alley so you can eat and drink outside with everyone else who could not fit inside. We thoroughly enjoyed Taberna 1931 not only the great food but also the spirit and energy of the people who work there. We will be back.

The main restaurant is reservation only, so when Gayle and I arrived after a long day on the Camino…read moreIngles, we were nicely referred to their alternate Meson O Pote just down the alley and with the same menu as far as we could tell. This place came highly recommended, both in terms of the restaurant and the signature Tortilla dish in this area of Spain. The famous Meson O Pote/Betanzos tortilla is basically cooked local eggs and Kennebec potatoes and olive oil. We ordered a full one as this was our big meal for the day after a long hike. I gobbled it down, while Gayle was a little more tentative. My Estrella Galicia beer made it all the better for me. One cool thing is seeing fellow Camino pilgrims that we ran across during the day at the restaurant too. There was a certain familiarity and comradeship that was very inspiring.

The food is great here. Had the tortilla, pimientos de padrón, and a tomato salad. The for dessert,…read morethe torrijas with ice cream. Everything was amazing and the service was friendly. Definitely recommend it and will be back!

La Penela is located in the Plaza de María Pita. The restaurant has enclosed seating in the plaza,…read moreas well as seating inside the restaurant (there is also a bar area). We sat inside the enclosed area in the plaza, which is also good for large parties. As with most restaurants directly on the plaza, the prices are a bit higher than one might expect for this area of Galicia, but the quality of the food is outstanding. We were brought some crackly, fluffy Galician bread, which is impossible not to pick at, while we decided what to order. We ordered both a bottle of wine and sangria. As someone who is particular about sangria, I was very impressed at how well the it was mixed. It was less punchy and sweet than some sangrias, but retained its fruitiness and was very refreshing. For appetizers, we shared the pimientos de padron which were cooked to absolute perfection. It made me miss the home cooking that I once got to enjoy. In this batch, there were no hot surprises but the peppers were crispy without being soggy and perfectly salted. We also shared the croquetas de bacalao, which were some of the best I've ever had. There was so much bacalao in them and the outside of the croquetas retained their crispiness without the insides getting mushy. For a main course, I had the merluza. The best part of going to Galicia is access to seafood where the fish were caught earlier that day. The merluza was so fresh, and the red sauce it is prepared in did not overpower the fish. The portion was quite generous too - I had leftovers, which I shared with the rest of my table. By the time we had dessert, the only option available was ice cream. (There is a much better ice cream shop about a 5 minute walk away.) It would have been nice to try the Tarta Santiago or one of the other homemade desserts.

Our go-to place in Betanzos for excellent torilla espana and the local white wine served in a bowl…read more Casa Miranda has been the traditional hands down winner of the annual Betanzos Torilla Festival held every October. Last year the crown was won by the bar across the alley from them but in our opinion Casa Miranda has not lost a step. We have to say we have never had a better tortilla. We have yet to find anything on their menu that dissatisfies. Funky old world decor, and normally packed with those in-the-know about where to get honest food and reasonable prices. Beware though they do get busy and its best to come early or scout it out to go when there is a break in the action. Table service is fine but for better service and a more interactive experience stand at the bar.....it's great. We will be back.

This place is a hidden jewel eating to be discovered! The best gambas I ever had, also, try their…read moreclams (zamburilas) out of this world!