Bars where the drink still arrives with an unrequested plate of food

Granada holds to a custom most of Spain has dropped, where the tapa is neither ordered nor billed but comes attached to whatever you drink, and changes with each round. What lands on the plate is the bar's own decision, from a slice of tortilla to fried fish to a bowl of habas con jamón. These are kitchens where the practice is still standard rather than a promotion.

Places in this collection

  • La Buena Vida — On Calle Elvira, where a great deal of the free tapas served are perfunctory, this one sends out plates that would pass as paid dishes else…
  • Casa Torcuato — An Albaicín kitchen that sends out revuelto de aguacate con gambas, morcilla with caramelised onion and fritura de pescado as the unrequest…
  • Bar Ávila — Every drink brings a plate, picked from a running list that includes jamón asado — the house signature — plus caracoles, callos and carne e…
  • Paprika — A vegetarian and vegan kitchen playing by the same rule as the meat bars: order a glass of wine and a plate arrives unbidden, vegetable pae…
  • Bar Trastienda — The opening plate is deliberately plain — salchichón with fresh bread, set down with the first drink and asked for by nobody. It is the old…
  • La Botillería — The free plate skews modern: mini-hamburgers with caramelised onion and fries have turned up as the opening tapa, with more worked dishes f…
  • Los Manueles — The complimentary plates here run to the ambitious end of the tradition — rabo de toro, croquetas and other house dishes arriving with the…
  • La Riviera — Unusually for Granada, the free tapa is not imposed but chosen: order a drink and you pick from a list that runs to croquetas, albóndigas,…
  • Bar Casa Julio — The default plate is battered, deep-fried fish with slaw, and the anchovy version — boquerones in spiced batter — is what the bar is known…
  • Bodegas Castañeda — A drink here is answered with a plate you did not choose — albóndigas in tomato sauce, chicken with peppers, croquetas caseras — and the pl…
  • Bar Los Diamantes — The kitchen deals almost entirely in fried seafood, and none of it needs ordering: a drink brings boquerones, gambas fritas, calamares, nav…

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