Santander Restaurants

The old quarter Castro Urdiales with its narrow winding streets is the perfect place for a pre-dinner drink and maybe some tapas before sampling some of the local cuisine. Specialties of the region are snails, seafood and red bream as well as canned anchovies and olive oil.

El Serbal,
Calle Andrés del Río 7, Santander
Tel: +34 942 222 515

www.elserbal.com
Monday–Friday 1:30-4:00 pm and 8:30-11:30pm Reservations required

This Michelin starred restaurant is one of the best in the area serving local cuisine prepared with market fresh ingredients. Some of his specialities dishes include sirloin of venison served with foie gras, peaches and blueberry sauce; ox sirloin roasted with fresh rosemary in a port wine sauce; baked skate with black olives and grilled anglerfish with cuttlefish-laced noodles. The fabulous desserts are made fresh daily.

Chiqui,
Avda Manuel Garcia Lago, 9
Tel: +34 942 282 700

Located near the Playa del Sardinero, this restaurant is situated in the hotel is notable for its fresh fish dishes.

Del Puerto
Calle Hernán Cortés
Tel: +34 942 633 900

The restaurant has two floors in a 100 year old building with a bar on the ground floor serving wonderful tapas, and restaurant on the upper floor with large windows overlooking the bay. Décor is sea based with sculptures by a local artist. The menu is mainly fish and there is a wine cellar with over 400 Spanish wines to choose from. Excellent service.

Gaudí's Summer Palace (El Capricho)
Barrio de Sobrellano , Comillas (49km west of Santander)
Tel: +34 942 720 365
Open daily from 1:00 to 3:30pm and 9:00 to 11:00 pm. It is closed Sunday night and Monday, and from January 12 to mid February.

This is the perfect place for lunch with its major architectural attraction, El Capricho de Gaudí, (the horseshoe-shaped summer palace with gingerbread windows and swirling turrets built in 1883). Specialties include grilled merluza (hake) with small baby clams in herb sauce, duck magret in port wine sauce with a confit of apples or crepes filled with foie gras and served with grapes and apple sauce

Bodega Del Riojano,
Río de la Pila 5 Santander
Tel: +34 942 216 750

Tues-Sat 1:30-4:00pm and 8:30pm-midnight; Sunday lunch only October-May

July-Sept, Mon 1:30-4pm and 8:30pm-midnight

Dating back to the 1500s this restaurant was once a wine cellar and you can still see the evidence of this with the old blackened wooden beams and tables. This is a great favourite with the locals who call the bodega the "Round Museum" (Museo Redondo), because of its display of paintings on the ends of old wine casks. The menu is changed almost daily and your most reliable main dish is based on the local catch of the day which can be grilled or baked to your specifications. Three of the best dishes likely to be featured are sweet red peppers stuffed with ground meat, succulent grilled pork chops or cod baked in a zesty tomato sauce. The desserts are homemade every day.

Bodega Cigalena
Daoiz y Velarde, 19
Tel: +34 942 213 062
Open Monday-Friday. Closed Sundays and for 15 days in June and October

Zacarías
General Mola 41, Santander
Tel: +34 942 212 333
www.restaurantezacarias.com
Daily 1:00-4:00pm and 8:00 pm-12:30 am Reservations recommended

Zacarías Puente Herboso is the most famous chef in Santander who was originally a geologist but his growing interest in gourmet food led to his opening this first-class restaurant. As a well-known food writer, he is the local authority on Cantabrian recipes. Try his fisherman's stew made with merluza (hake), clams, and potatoes, alubias rojas (red beans with sausage), guiso pescadores (boiled potatoes sautéed in garlic, olive oil, onion, fresh parsley and red chilli peppers) or manganos encebollados (calamari and caramelized onion).

Canadio
Calle Gómez reña, 15
Tel: +34 942 314 149

Traditional restaurant serving local cuisine including succulent pieces of hake in a creamy sauce and grilled fish, sirloin steak and cheese cake served with raspberry coulis.

If you are planning to explore the area outside of the city centre and play some golf or go to some of the more out of the way beaches then you might consider hiring a car. There are a number of car hire firms based at Santander Airport who will be pleased to have a vehicle awaiting your arrival. This also cuts down on transfer costs for you and your family.

We also provide information on other sporting and leisure amenities in Santander including an Area Guide to Santander which contains information on Santander local attractions, golf courses in Santander, the best places to shop in Santander, Santander market days and where the best Santander beaches are. We have also included a list of recommended Santander restaurants.