La Sitarilla — Restaurant in Granada

Every time we check into a hotel in a new town, we always ask the hotel staff where they would go to eat. Simple as it sounds, this question can be interpreted in many ways. Do we mean where locals would prefer to eat or a place with a google-worthy review? Fortunately, the locals were unequivocal on this occasion -  La Sitarilla.

Show up early. That's the only instructions we received. We arrived 25 min before opening only to find ourselves queuing behind 5 other parties! Fret not, the interior is much larger than it appears from the outside. Punctuality thankfully is one of their hallmarks and we were promptly and efficiently ushered to our table at the precise opening time.

Word of caution. Begin with ordering your drinks only. This being a traditional Spanish tapas establishment, each drink already comes with the house 'cover' of a moderately sized tapas. Don't be over enthusiastic like we were and order additional dishes with our drinks. A la carte menu items are very generously proportioned and fit for larger groups. Together with the tapas that accompanies each drink, there's a real risk of over ordering !

LS has a fairly extensive menu of traditional tapas. If you're in to 'meat & potatoes' comfort food,  try the Sitarilla meatballs. It came with a heaping pile of coarse cut chips slathered in a thick tasty gravy and could possibly feed a medium sized family. However, our absolute favorite was the grilled padron peppers. It had a light exterior char with perfect blistering on the skin of the peppers. It's piquant, slightly bitter smoky taste worked well with a sprinkling of coarse salt. Memorable !

The restaurant completely filled up in a blink of an eye, with a good mix of both locals and foreigners. I'm guessing they're all here for the same deal as I am, a great tapas experience. By that I mean the drinks are cheap, the tapas are generous (and tasty), the ambience lively and the service top notch...

It’s a very popular restaurant in Granada so make sure to arrive at least 20 minutes before opening to secure yourself a table. When we arrived, there was already a queue to get in. The place has an authentic, Andalusian vibe to it, there’s a lot of detail to observe when it comes to the interior. Similar to many bars in Granada, you get a tapas when you order a drink - for us, this was a small plate of carne en salsa which was exquisite with a lot of flavour to it. I’ve tried many carne en salsas in Granada but this was probably the best one by far. The croquettes were also very delicious however the pulpo a la gallega was very chewy and dry so I don’t recommend you ordering that here. The service was fine, although the two waiters seemed a bit overwhelmed and they’d definitely need more support. It also took quite a lot of time for them to serve the octopus. Some of the forks were aa bit dirty and the music was also pretty loud so it was challenging to have a conversation. And another minus is that the smell from the kitchen gets into the seating area so your clothes get the oil smell - they should improve on the ventilation system in the kitchen. The prices are okay, more on the expensive side for Granada standards. Overall, we had a good experience and I recommend to visit this place as it offers quality, Spanish cuisine. However, it felt a bit overhyped for what it offers - there’s a similar place few streets away called Bar de Antonio which is less crowded, a bit cheaper and...

Tldr; it was very okay and I truly just don’t understand the hype.

I came here because I’ve read multiple reviews online raving about this place and heard of people lining up early for this place. Taking this is a sign that it must be legit, I eagerly walked over 15 minutes before restaurant opening and waited in line patiently

Food: the one tapa I got was quite cold and the meat was very obviously over cooked and chewy. I didn’t even want to order anything after that.

Drinks: The sangria I got was quite good. They decorated it very uniquely so that’s a plus and it didn’t feel too overwhelmingly sugary.

Service: I get that they’re busy but the servers just seemed very curt. Not bad but not amazing either. Probably just stressed from being short staffed.

How to eat there: I arrived around 10 minutes before opening and there was a huge line in front of the restaurant already. I would definitely recommend going early or else you’d have to wait a while. And I don’t know if i would recommend this place as a place to wait at.

Prices: it’s not bad, comparable to your average Granada tapa bar.

Overall it wasn’t a bad experience but I just don’t understand why people would wait in line for this personally. Maybe I just got the wrong dish? It was a very underwhelming...