Bodegas Mezquita — Restaurant in Córdoba

Our visit did not begin well, but we had a fantastic meal, so we are willing to overlook being seated next to the bathroom, despite having a reservation. It seemed disrespectful (other people without reservations got better seats), but the food and service were so good that we left in a great mood anyway.

There were only two people staffing the front of the restaurant, and they were working like crazy. Even with a lot to do, Antonio was super-nice and helpful with the menu. Plus, he recommended an excellent and reasonably priced wine, which is always a good sign— and helpful when we aren’t really up to speed on our local wine choices. So service was an A+

And if anything, the food was even better. We shared local cheeses, jamon, an especially good tortilla, and bull’s tail in a very tasty sauce. That was our first go at rabo de toro, and it was great. We had a traditional local dessert of orange slices with honey, cinnamon and a trace of olive oil. Just a wonderful meal.

A small bonus: we got a penny discount off our bill for being empathetic and another penny off for bing good company. We’ll take it!

Final note: there are several Bodegas in the area, and all have the same menu. We heard people coming in late without reservations, and Antonio kindly offered to call up the other places to see if they had any tables. The customers didn’t understand that he was actually doing them a favor (especially when he was so busy already), which...

It's difficult to eat out in Spain when travelling with a toddler, well, our toddler at least, as she tends to sleep mid-morning through to lunch, is awake during the siesta when everything is closed, and ready for dinner at 6pm when most restaurants don't open again until much later! Today, in Cordoba, we came across the Ribera branch of Bodegas Mezquita and - quite by virtue of the fact that it was one of the only restaurants open at 6pm - decided to stop for a tapas meal, rather than our only other option, which was to buy food from a supermarket and cook for ourselves in our holiday apartment. So very glad we stopped here! Between me, my husband and our 18-month-old daughter, we ordered 3 tapas-sized dishes and 2 half-sized "raciones", including the famous Cordoban oxtail stew, another Andalucían slow-cooked beef dish with cous-cous, and our first taste of "salmorejo", a thick, cold soup that is typical of Cordoba. Everything was absolutely delicious and the portion sizes were very generous! Our daughter loved the salmorejo, and even had a little bit of oxtail! What really made this visit great was the service - we had a fantastic waitress called Natalia who was wonderful with our daughter. Eating out with a messy toddler who doesn't want to sit still can be stressful but when you have staff who make you feel welcome and engage with your children it really eases the stress, so thank...

There are, I think, three Bodegas Mezquita restaurants. My favorite is the one on Calle Cruz del Rastro: it is further away from the Mezquita, and therefore from the large volumes of night revelers :-)

The staff is really friendly and helpful. They take reservations. Service is very timely. The menu is truly large, and a very significant portion of it can be obtained in "medias" which we find to be the ideal size when you have a group of 3-4 and you want to share everything.

The food is from very good to outstanding. Some of the recipes are quite lovely, in particular most of the Sefardi recipes and the guisos: I know several of them are on our "try at home" list:-) None of the others is a failure, though.

I have particularly enjoyed Jose Criado in the staff: funny, friendly, always helpful, and always around when you need him! See if you can get him to take care of you if you want really good...