The 12 Best Spanish Restaurants in NYC - New York - The Infatuation (2024)

Ever daydreamed about being a gamba in ajillo, bathing in warm, garlicky olive oil? Neither had we, until we started researching this guide, but now it’s our fantasy of a luxury spa treatment. New York is studded with Spanish restaurants—from the vestiges of Chelsea’s historic Little Spain to a couple of sceney Lower East Side spots—all competing for who goes through the most olive oil. After becoming 75% olive oil ourselves, we’re sharing some of our favorite places for sizzling prawn and other tapas, paella, and many glasses of sangria.

THE SPOTS

Have one bite of Cervo’s prawns a la plancha, shell on, swimming in a pool of paprika-stained olive oil, and we wouldn’t blame you for mistaking Dimes Square for the Mediterranean coast. A few things to know—the restaurant is from the same owners as The Fly, who also own their own fish tinning company, the menu is seasonal, and it's best to reserve a table a week ahead or walk in early. If it’s a nice night, ask to sit outside. Go ahead and order an extra glass of vermouth to go with the creative small and large plates, like crunchy fried shrimp heads, perfectly steamed manila clams, or juicy piri piri chicken with fries and aioli.

For classic tapas and a glass of fiery Galician red, head directly to Tomiño Taberna Gallega in Soho, which was founded in 2017 by a trio of brothers from Spain’s northwestern region. The spacious restaurant has plenty of room for groups, but also works well for a date—with worn wooden rafter that recall an old wooden ship, sailing to faraway lands where prawns swim freely in ajillo, slicks of sherry vinegar shine in a gazpacho lagoon, and casks of tinto float on by. Don’t skip the arroz negro here. It smells like a piece of burnt, ocean-soaked driftwood in the best way possible, with crunchy, charred squid. If you regularly stain your clothes, watch out: the squid ink is tougher than the mightiest Tide pen.

According to Infatuation bylaws, if you go to this Basque restaurant on the Lower East Side and don’t get cheesecake, it’s grounds for termination (barring dairy allergies). Ernesto’s cheesecake is flawless: creamy, sweet, tangy, and burnt. If it was the only thing on the menu, we wouldn’t be upset, but thankfully it’s not. The pintxos are also top notch, especially the matrimonio—two anchovies (one salted, one pickled) sitting atop a buttery slice of puff pastry. Everyone at the table should get one. Pair it with some San Sebastian-style crab, and several glasses of Spanish and Basque wines. Check out Ernie’s, their wine bar next door, if you’re just looking for a glass and some bravas.

When you see the gigantic Spanish flag waving outside, you’ll know that you’re in the right place. La Nacional is located inside Chelsea’s Spanish Benevolent Society, and the Spanish culture is on full display here. It’s also one of the best value restaurants on this list, getting a table is reliably easy, and they make three different preparations of shrimp (in olive oil, in a seafood salad, and in the paella) that we’d happily eat on repeat for the rest of our lives. Come with a big group and split the paella, making sure everyone gets a bit of that speckled socarrat.

El Quijote works equally well for sitting at the bar and crushing some patatas bravas and sangria as it does for setting up residence in one of the leather booths and sharing paella with a couple of friends. Inside the Hotel Chelsea and—until a 2022 revamp—known more for the scene than the food, this red-and-gold restaurant now does worthy renditions of classic Spanish dishes, like artichokes drenched in red wine vinegar with anchovies and jammy boiled eggs, and of course, a luxe paella. End every meal with their near-perfect Basque cheesecake.

A Basque restaurant, Txikito takes some creative license with their small plates and tapas, mixing ingredients like Japanese sausage with guindilla peppers and onions. Whatever’s on your plate at this Chelsea spot is sure to be delightful though. There’s a long sherry and vermouth list, and it’s an extremely pleasant place to sit outside, eating gorgeously sliced octopus carpaccio—or inside, next to a mural of a tree of life. The menu changes regularly, so make go with whatever’s seasonal, along with a portion of their suckling pig—a special that’s regularly available.

You can make a reservation to sit outdoors at Casa Mono, but don’t do that. Instead, walk in, put your name down and go drink some vermouth with a twist at neighboring Bar Jamón while you wait for a table. Half the fun of eating at this spot, open since 2003, is watching the chefs work the plancha in the open kitchen, while getting a lecture on Spanish wine from the servers and bartenders. This is definitely a wine-first spot—their list is so thick, it should be renamed the Encyclopedia Iberica. Ask for pairings with their creative tapas, which tend to be on the heavier and expensive side. Not everything works, but we do like their creamy eggs with uni, aged anchovy oil, and walnuts, as well as the pressed confit goat with pistachios and grilled avocado.

La Vara specializes in food inspired by the Jewish and Moorish cuisines of Southern Spain, and we love their mash-up dishes, like Cantabrian anchovies served in dukkah butter, and morros prensados, a beef jowl terrine with mustard-grape española and an herby pistachio salad. Come with someone who doesn't mind your anchovy breath: With lots of stuff to share and a long list of co*cktails and Spanish and Portuguese wine, it’s a good de facto date night spot in Cobble Hill.

This Park Slope Spanish wine bar from the LaLou team has a light wood interior with high tops and an open kitchen, but you should come here mainly to drink at least two bottles of excellent Spanish wine on the vine-covered back patio. The tapas here are classic—expect things like gildas, jamon ibérico, and $28 conservas that you could buy for $10 at the store, except they taste better in a backyard, and you don’t have one of those. Camp out for several hours, eat plump gambas al ajillo and a tortilla española that melts in the sun, and play peekaboo with a toddler who likes anchovies.

Despaña in Soho only serves their tapas on Fridays and Saturdays, which is sad, because we’d like to eat their sardine toast with goat cheese, pesto, and lemon zest just about every single night of the week. This place is actually a Spanish grocery, so their tapas feature meats, cheeses, olives, and boquerones that come from across the Atlantic, folding in seasonal vegetables and fruit. Don’t skip the tortilla with crispy crumbles of chorizo, and make sure to grab a bottle from their wine shop next door first. They’ve got big communal tables—you can easily come here with a group and order the whole menu.

Mercado Little Spain isn’t technically a restaurant. Instead, this Hudson Yards food hall from chef José Andrés is like a Spanish version of Eataly, with a slightly less corporate sheen. There are a bunch of stalls and kiosks for grab-and-go things like empanadas, flatbreads, and chorizo, as well as a few sit-down restaurants: La Barra has an extensive list of regional tapas, Leña is where you go for paella, Mar does seafood (with an onsite fishmonger), and Spanish Diner is the spot for rice, eggs, and chorizo with a side of Happy Hour sangria.

Sevilla’s food is fine. There’s truly nothing remarkable about the steak, arroz con pollo, or gambas al ajillo here, and that feels on-brand, in a charming sort of way. Open since 1936, this West Village restaurant makes up for any culinary shortcomings with its reasonable prices and buzzy, classic, only-in-New-York feel, reinforced by oil paintings, stained glass lamps, and the occasional guitarist roaming around the room. If you’re prioritizing fun over a top-notch culinary experience, bring a big group, split a few things, and be sure to dabble in the pitchers of sangria and $11 martinis.