Dining and Drinking

According to official statistics, Granada has more bars per inhabitant and square kilometer than any other city in Spain. Everyone here - rich and poor - goes out to eat and drink regularly. All the visiting tourists eat and drink out as well. Consequently there are an enormous variety of bars and restaurants to choose from. What's more, the cost of living is comparatively low so you'll find that drinking and dining are pretty cheap.

You'll probably notice how everything tastes fresher and has more flavor than you're used to. That's because traditional methods are used to cure meats and mature cheeses. Fresh produce is grown locally, gets lots of sun and it's picked ripe because it doesn't have to travel far.

The tradition of giving free tapas with drinks in bars is still going strong here even though it's dying out elsewhere in Spain. In fact, bars in Granada compete with each other to win custom by offering even bigger and better tapas. Taking a tapas tour is a great way to get to know the city and the local cuisine at the same time. Have enough tapas and you won't need to bother about an evening meal. It's paradise for gourmets and hedonists. Some of the typical tapas you'll be offered are adobos de cazón (dogfish marinated in paprika and olive oil), carne en salsa (chunks of pork in tomato sauce), berenjenas rebozadas (breaded and fried aubergines) and boquerones en vinagre (anchovies marinated in vinegar). You still come across traditional little tapas bars that just serve wine and ham to laborers and where flamenco is the only music. A couple of blocks away you'll find smart restaurants with fancy decor catering to business executives on expense accounts.

The best place for tapas at midday is the busy Antigua Bodega Castañeda, which lies at the foot of the Albayzín district. Lunch doesn't normally start until around 2pm, so you'll want to have two or three drinks before deciding where to have your main meal of the day. You can stay in the area around Plaza Nueva, where there are lots of other tapas bars, or take a short stroll along Carrera del Darro to try some savory snacks in Casa de Todos. Have a proper sit down lunch and take your time in El Rincón de San Juan de Dios, which serves succulent meats from northern Spain, or Sibari, located below the magical Alhambra. Some of the traditional dishes served here, and in the rest of Granada, are tortilla sacromonte (omelette with bull's testicles), habas con jamón (broad beans and ham), pipirrana (tomato and cucumber salad), migas (breadcrumbs fried in olive oil with raisins and chorizo sausage) and the plato alpujarreño (fried potatoes, fried egg, cured ham and spicy sausage). The brilliant use of herbs and spices has been handed down from generation to generation since Moorish times. You won't leave here hungry or malnourished.

After lunch, head for Calle Elvira and its Moroccan tearooms. Stop in at Alfaguara to relax over an exotic tea, a sticky pastry or some healthy natural fruit juice.

If you've spent the afternoon visiting the historic sights, you'll be thinking about food and drink again by 8p. Have a beer and tapas in La Antigualla and then make for the Middle Eastern restaurant, Arrayanes, to savor some dishes with a subtle mix of herbs and spices.

If you've still got lots of energy and want to dance, head for Calle Pedro Antonio de Alarcón and the adjacent streets like Calle San Juan de Dios and Calle Gran Capitán. This is the nightlife zone with the greatest concentration of bars, clubs and pubs. It's a university city with a young population who like to party.

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