You could probably stroll through most US cities and find several great restaurants serving Mexican, Chinese and Italian cuisine, as well as places dishing up classic American comfort foods. Spanish restaurants are a little harder to find, though there are some incredible places to try top Andalusian, Basque, Catalan and other regional dishes. From perfect paella to terrific tapas – and everything in between – here’s where to find the best Spanish restaurants in the US. Due to COVID-19, check websites and local restrictions before visiting.
Previously Comida Artesenal, The 120 A Tapas Bar is a relatively recent addition to downtown Rogers – and it’s one that locals are thrilled about. The focus is Spanish tapas, including albondigas – roasted meatballs in bravas sauce, made with tomatoes and paprika – calamari, croquetas and queso Ibérico frito (fried Iberian cheese). It’s perfect for a casual, cosy dinner or getting together with a group, while the brunch is described as beautiful. Think tortillas and hearty dishes with eggs, wonderfully seasoned potatoes and classic Spanish flavours of pepper, smoke and subtle spice.
This elegant restaurant is inside the Omni resort, Montelucia, and is all about the flavours of the Andalusia region in southern Spain, whose cuisine includes gazpacho, fresh seafood and cured hams, often eaten with a glass of sherry from Jerez. Here, though, the chefs make use of Arizona’s abundant produce. Many of the small plates are prepared at the tapas bar, where meats and vegetables are cooked over a wood fire and served alongside cured meats and cheeses. The flavoursome food is matched only by the gorgeous decor.
La Paella does, of course, specialise in the classic Spanish rice dish – and serves a range of styles. There’s the classic, seafood-packed pan, one dyed black with squid ink and regional variations such as paella Valenciana, which is meatier. The low-key yet charming restaurant also serves delicious tapas dishes and mixes a mean sangria. In short, all your cravings for a taste of Spain will be met here.
Love this? Follow our Pinterest page for more food inspiration
It’s all about getting together over delicious food at Duende in Oakland’s Uptown district, where tapas and pintxos fly out of the kitchen along with generous pans of paella or fideuà (similar to paella but with vermicelli in place of rice). The space itself is beautiful, with a wall of wine bottles and another brightened with bold geometric patterns. But it’s the food – infusing regional ingredients with traditional Spanish and Basque flavours – that takes centre stage.
Coqueta goes against the grain on San Francisco’s Embarcadero, where most restaurants serve grilled seafood and sourdough bread bowls of chowder. Fronted by red awnings, the chic and cosy restaurant sources its ingredients from northern California and uses them to create perfect paella and small plates like wood-grilled octopus, Catalan sausage and the best patatas bravas. Save room for dessert: unique creations include manchego cheesecake with dulce de leche (pictured). There’s now a second location in Yountville, Napa Valley.
Denver’s RiNo (River North) district is a foodie hub and Barcelona Wine Bar is one of the favourites here. Many regulars come as much for the warm welcome as for the food, though the latter is pretty hard to beat. Standout dishes include classics like patatas bravas and croquetas with ham and manchego, several styles of paella and the whole roasted branzino (a white fish). The small chain also has restaurants in other states including Connecticut, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.
Taberna del Alabardero was actually founded in Madrid, which gives some indication of the quality of the food served here. The Washington DC outpost opened in 1989 and the classically opulent decor and old-school flamenco shows are all part of the charm. The menu is a mix of perfectly prepared classics like paella and jamón Ibérico and more unusual small plates like fried aubergine with honey (pictured). On top of the excellent food, staff go above and beyond to make the experience extra special.
The food at this restaurant and wine bar is so good it has customers dreaming of holidaying in Spain. The cute and colourful space serves a range of tapas and paellas alongside bigger plates of roasted meats and grilled fresh seafood. The wine bar has regular flamenco performances, so you can enjoy dinner with a show. The wine list is excellent too.
Right behind a working garage in a building that once housed the car wash, El Carajo serves delicious plates of melt-in-the-mouth jamón, paella, grilled octopus, crisp sardines and seared meats. The snug restaurant, opened in 1981, also has a huge wine list. Throw in a cosy ambience and warm service and you have a place that consistently wins over the hearts and bellies of those who stop by.
Unsurprisingly, The Iberian Pig has a rather pork-heavy menu, from the best jamón Ibérico to hearty dishes like braised pork cheeks. More surprisingly, there’s also an extensive vegetarian menu including such delights as spring onions cooked in sherry and fried Brussels sprouts with truffle aioli. Many dishes are driven by seasonal ingredients, as well as traditional Spanish flavours. The restaurant also, rather wonderfully, has a weekday jamón happy hour, with discounts on drinks and cheese and charcuterie boards.
Cafe Marbella is known for delicious hot and cold tapas as well as excellent paellas, with options from classic seafood and Valenciana (adding pork, chicken and chorizo), to a vegetarian version. But it’s not just the sharing dishes that are worth visiting for. Entrées like grilled meats with romesco sauce and filete San Sebastian (tilapia filet sautéed with cayenne, garlic, paprika, parsley and white wine) are worth making room for.
This seafood-focused restaurant takes its inspiration – and name – from legendary food writer M.F.K. Fisher, who famously declared: “First we eat, then we do everything else.” The bright, breezy restaurant exudes suitably coastal vibes that belie its below-street-level location in the heart of Chicago, and the menu is straight from Spain’s Basque and Catalan regions. Every dish is impeccable, from a simple tortilla to boquerones (marinated anchovies, pictured here on toast with olive tapenade and fennel).
New Orleans may be most associated with Creole and Cajun cuisines, but Lola’s bucks the trend by focusing on the Spanish dishes that have influenced the city’s flavours. The cute restaurant, in leafy Mid-City and away from the busy French Quarter, serves a menu of fish, seafood and game infused with saffron, garlic and paprika – and everything is wonderful. On a sunny day, feasting on paella, calamari and fabada (white bean stew) on the patio can feel like actually being in Spain.
Spanish cuisine can be quite heavy on the meat and seafood but, at Boston hot spot Toro, the vegetarian options are far from an afterthought. Take this vegetarian paella, pictured, packed with vibrant green vegetables and classic Spanish seasoning. It’s so good, even non-veggies describe it as a favourite. The menu also includes jamón Ibérico, boquerones (anchovies) and beef burger sliders with aioli – all best enjoyed with a glass or three of cava. According to some happy customers, this is one of the top dining experiences anywhere.
Housed in a beautiful 19th-century building in downtown Ann Arbor, Aventura was inspired by Spain’s tapas culture and recreates both the food and the ambience. The space, with exposed brick walls and archways and a pressed tin ceiling, is beautiful – and so, according to customers, is the food. Small plates include more unusual combinations like goats' cheese with charred pineapple and almonds, while the paella is always a good idea here. Be sure to try the expertly crafted cocktails too.
Small plates packed with big, bold flavours are the thing at San Chez, a buzzy spot housed in a 19th-century warehouse in Grand Rapids. With its convivial atmosphere and focus on bringing people together over great food and drinks, this is the kind of place that locals frequent and like to take out-of-town visitors to. Favourite dishes include the albondigas – meatballs that are made here with locally sourced lamb and beef – and anything on the popular brunch menu.
It’s not easy to get a seat at é by José Andrés, considered by many to be the best and most exclusive of the renowned Spanish-American chef’s restaurants. The spot, tucked in a small private room off main restaurant Jaleo's bar and paella grill, has just six seats and tends to book up months in advance. Those lucky enough to eat here enjoy a dining experience that’s as much performance as it is culinary wizardry, with a set tasting menu of Spanish dishes prepared in front of guests “like a dance”.
Barcelona is the main inspiration for the menu at Boqueria Soho. The sleek space has cosy booths, a central bar and recessed shelves packed with Spanish ingredients and spices, evoking the Catalan city’s buzzy markets. Fans describe dishes, from tapas such as boquerones con naranja (pickled white anchovies with orange) and dátiles con beicon (bacon-wrapped dates with almonds and blue cheese), to hearty breakfasts with chorizo and paprika-spiced potatoes, as the best Spanish food they’ve tried outside Spain itself. Save room for dessert: the churros, served with chocolate or dulce de leche are dreamy.
Casa Mono has earned a Michelin star with its nose-to-tail approach to Spanish cuisine. The restaurant even does its own butchery. Dishes include oxtail-stuffed piquillo peppers, confit goat, bone marrow with smoked trout roe, the signature fried duck egg, and toasted pasta with clams and chorizo (pictured). There’s also the usual patatas bravas and croquetas (here with bacalao or salted cod), though here you know they’re going to be outstanding.
The cuisine of Galicia, in northwestern Spain, is showcased beautifully at this relaxed restaurant and tapas bar near New York’s Little Italy and Chinatown. Diners at Tomiño can sit in the coastal-chic dining room or perch at the bar to enjoy small plates like grilled sardines, baked Galician pie and – a favourite here – a variety of croquetas, whose perfectly crisp coating reveals fillings including jamón and tomato, seafood and aioli and goats' cheese with chestnuts.
Family-run restaurant Cúrate occupies a 1920s bus depot and it’s as hip as that suggests. There’s no pretension here, though, with small plates and platters of house-cured chorizo and sobrasada served in a cosy, convivial setting. Diners can select from a menu of tapas like berenjenas con miel (fried aubergine with honey) and Galician-style octopus, or let the servers choose for you. Whatever you get, it’s bound to be delicious – especially with some Spanish wine or perhaps a glass of sherry.
Pacific Northwest ingredients are made the star of the show at Can Font, which infuses them with classic Spanish flavours and elevates them with sleek, modern presentation. Customers reckon you can’t really go wrong with any of the tapas, from classic croquetas and patatas bravas to inventive twists on traditional dishes like pulpo a la plancha – seared octopus with butterfly tea-infused potato purée.
Helmed by Jose Garces, winner of US TV series The Next Iron Chef, Amada puts on regular events and hosts ‘Tapas y Vino’ Sundays, where diners can pair small plates with half-price bottles of wine. It all adds to the warm, friendly atmosphere, so eating here feels like visiting loved ones who happen to be excellent Spanish chefs (and have cellars stocked with the best wines from the country too). Customers say all the tapas dishes are great, particularly the crab-stuffed piquillos (peppers), lamb meatballs and patatas bravas (pictured).
Playful Barlata takes its name – translating as ‘can bar’ – from the tapas culture of eating from small tins of vegetables, meat or seafood. Here, food celebrating the traditions of northern Spain is cooked fresh, with gambas al ajillo (garlic prawns), paella, and Wagyu beef and pork sausage meatballs winning plenty of praise. The vegetarian options are a cut above too, with dishes like garbanzo bean stew with spinach, soft egg and pine nuts (pictured).
These are the iconic US restaurants we’ll never get to visit
Si Tapas stands out among Dallas’ sleek restaurants with traditional Spanish cuisine served in a cute cottage setting. The menu puts a modern spin on classic tapas, with moreish dishes like morcilla de arroz frita (fried blood rice sausage), artichokes sautéed in lemon cream and the perennial favourite, gambas al ajillo (prawns in garlic, pictured). The croquetas are also incredible. Throw in a well-curated selection of Spanish wines and sherries, and a gorgeous patio, and you have a slice of Spain in Texas.
A blue clapboard house is the charming setting for Sketches of Spain, close to Dallas’ Bishop Arts District. Pick from a daily selection of pintxos – try octopus cooked Galician-style with potatoes and sweet paprika in a copper cauldron – or share a pan of fideuà (noodles with seafood, cooked in the same style as paella). Go at happy hour for deals on sangria and huge, Spanish-style G&Ts.
This stylish restaurant looks like a villa from the outside and resembles a minimalist art gallery on the inside, with this 1920s-built house showcasing pieces by iconic Spanish artists including Picasso and Miró. With a kitchen helmed by Barcelona-born chef Luis Roger, BCN focuses on Catalan flavours. Expect warm service, a great selection of cocktails and wine and exciting dishes like posh patatas bravas and suckling Ibérico pig (pictured).
The ambience, the service, the food… It’s all good at this favourite Spanish restaurant in Bellevue, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Castilla is the type of place locals want to take visitors, and the combination of a warm, welcoming atmosphere with inventive takes on tapas makes it a winner for date nights or dinner with friends. Many of the dishes, including pork fillet wrapped in bacon and Spanish flatbreads with ingredients from tomato, basil and mozzarella to chorizo, beans and manchego, are cooked in a wood-fired oven.
The Harvest Vine specialises in cuisine from Spain’s Basque region and, according to loyal customers, the restaurant gets it spot on. It isn’t cheap but flavour-packed dishes like the berenjena (roasted aubergine with tomato, cheese and anchovies) and rabo de toro (slow-cooked oxtail stew in pastry) are so good that it’s worth a splurge. Order a range of small plates so you can try as many dishes as possible – and, if you can, sit at the bar with a view into the open kitchen.
Gather as many people as you can if you’re planning to visit Olde Madrid. That way, you can try more of the delicious tapas on the menu here. Everything is good at this warm, family-run restaurant, though there are a few standout dishes that regulars particularly recommend. The duck croquetas, pulpo (octopus) and albondigas (meatballs) are highlights among the small plates, while Maria’s beef stew (pictured) packs in smoky, spicy, garlicky flavours.