I'm visiting my daughter who lives in Santander. This was the end of my stay, so the two of us…read moredecided to go out for a nice dinner. This is a fantastic location with great views, but I recommend staying away from the restaurant side. Before our meal, the server walked around with an enormous tray of warm bread and said, "We start with bread here. Would you like some?" We had bread plates in front of us, and we accepted. The meal was delicious. When she brought the bill, it was hidden inside a closed book, and she also stood waiting for payment with the card payment machine in hand. I usually look over my bill, but due to it being higher end and inside the book, with her standing ready for payment, I would've felt awkward, so I paid. I later realized why they did that: once I saw my bill, I discovered we'd been charged for the chunks of bread (€5 each), and for an additional glass of wine. I've been to high end and very high end restaurants around the world, and I've never seen this before at such an establishment.

Our stop here, was pretty special, our tour group picked for us this restaurant for lunch at…read moreSantander. It is located near Queen Victoria Blvd. The location is right on the beach. Was a beautiful view on this beautiful day! They have 2 restrooms, one in the dining room and one in the tavern (one person each). But the staff, saw the women group lining up, came by to let me know, there's more in the tavern side. Our food: Cesar Salad. Was so good! It also came Fresh Hake from Santander, served with tomato sauce, but instead olive oil. (I was given lots of oil on my plate, but the lady - well known world traveler - decided to exchange with mine Hake. We got the Local Cantebrian Dessert. See photos.

The food was insane good. Only had a salad and tomato and anchovies pincho with cheese and the…read moreflavor was out of this world. Bottle of great Cava and dinner only $40 Euro. Wow.

One of the best tapas place that me and my friend stopped by during our 5 days northern Spain road…read moretrip. We tried 4 different tapas and they were all very good. Lots of variety to choose from as well. The waiting staff was very attentive and were willing to try to speak some English for us travelers.

Casa Lita, located in the heart of the neighborhood, Puerto Chico, has a huge variety of pinchos,…read morereasonably priced wines, and great view of the Paseo de Pereda. They have several wines and their prices written in chalk above the bar, which makes ordering a good Rioja or Ribera easy. Everyone orders at the bar. You can sit anywhere you like, including my favorite place, right in front of the window so that I can watch the people passing by.

Outstanding ambiance. Dynamic creation of pinchos. Ok enough with BS. Food is really awesome. They…read morekeep bringing out tapas/pinchos and the servers do a great job explaining what is in all of these creations. My advice...order a bottle of wine and eat until you are almost full. Then run as fast as you can to the ice cream shop down the street.

Recently renewed and under the direction of Sergi Arola, this restaurant is a great new option in…read moreSantander. They suggest small plates to share for the table but they also have proper dishes. Good salads with different dressings than just oils and vinegar. Small bites like Bocata de Calamares absolutely delicious. Lubina was awesome, well cooked, crusty skin, gorgeous. Desserts good but maybe not to the same level as the rest of the menu. The views to the beach and ocean are unique.

Compared with other local places, the food is good, served with some class and into a nice…read moreatmosphere, if you go inside. Outside the tables are too close one to another and is hard to stay into a good mood for lunch when the terrace is full. Of course, if you're a noisy type of person, you will not be disturbed by those poor other people who like to eat in a more quite manner. We took the menu offered for lunch (two dishes and desert) and we paid 16 euros each.

Great food and service!! Seafood is fantastic, just like the service!!…read moreGo, you will be happy you did!!

This was a major pleasant surprise for us. We just had great snacks and drinks, but someone said,…read morenow is the time for real food. The local reviews were great, so we wandered in search of La Mulata (it's named after a kind of crab). It is quite far from the main waterfront and it is in an unlikely spot inside a collection of stores. When you enter, you think that you are just in a seafood market as there are chairs and the bounty of Santander is right there for you to see. But then you are escorted to the back and there is this wonderful private spot with white table clothes. We had no idea what to expect as this is a truly local spot, there weren't any English menus as far as the eye could see. Still, we were put in the good hands of the place and she rattled off a host of things and we just nodded and said yes. Boy, are we glad that we did. The prices are incredibly reasonable (like the rest of Santander compared with the tourist prices of say San Sebastian), but the quality is incredible. This place prides itself on great fish and plenty of it. We started with a great appetizer of shrimp and then we had some terrific stew that was so rich and wonderful. The best thing was the whole seabass though. We each had a portion and they were delicious and flavorful. So if you are in Santander and have an appetite this is the perfect place.

Lucky for anyone who loves a good glass of wine and pintxos (and who doesn't?!), Santander has a…read morevery lively pintxos bar scene. Around 8pm, people start to trickle into the bars to have a glass of wine before dinner. Bodega Cigaleña is one of the most memorable of the pintxos bar - first and foremost, the sign at the door declares it is a "museo del vino". As soon as you enter, you very much feel that you are walking through someone's wine collection. Vintages of Rioja that go back as far as the 1920s decorate the shelves and the slate gives the feeling that you are in a cellar. The decor and the way that the bar zig-zags (it is not one long bar) gives the impression of coziness, privacy as you snag your own little nook, and a non-pretentious atmosphere to enjoy wine. Old people and young people alike choose to hang out here. As for the selection of wine, there is tons of it! Each denominación de origen (Spain's terminology for wine appellations) that surrounds Cantabria was well-represented and whether you wanted a red, white, or rose, there were plenty of choices priced under 3 euro. Silly me, I set a goal of wanting to taste every wine on the list; in reality, I tasted three on my two visits here. The bartender seems to have the power to read minds and always knew when me or one of the other clients was ready to try something new. And then there are the pintxos, which are of just of good a quality as the wine served. The tortilla was perfect and made the "Galician way" - just a little bit raw and softer in the middle. After a glass of wine on an empty stomach, the tortilla was all the more satisfying (and prevented me from becoming very drunk). The anchovy pintxo is just three anchovies served over a slice of bread; not overly impressive, but I think that the lack of flavor and texture of the bread was probably to blame. Bodega Cigaleña was definitely one of the most memorable "food and wine" portions of the trip to Santander. The wine, the food, the service - everything is of very high quality.

They have a selection of inexpensive, high quality wine and a selection of expensive high quality…read morewine. The place is small, bit as it is not as popular anymore, there was no issue finding room. It is not a place I would suggest for finding sates, but it is a nice place for wine and snacks.

Wow! Insane. Best food in Spain we have had. How can food be this good?? The cured salmon plate…read moreis maybe one of the most original and interesting dishes I have had in years.