Restaurante Canela Café — Restaurant in La Oliva

We visited Canela Café as a group of 3 adults and 3 children after hearing that they had a play area where the kids could play while the adults enjoy a meal. Unfortunately, we were told that our group was too large for the play area and were instead seated at a different table. The staff was initially friendly, although the table we were given was quite dark.

We ordered Nachos (as a starter), Chicken Fingers with fries, Mini Burgers with fries, two “Complete” Burgers (one with fries), and a Veggie Burger (also with fries). It took an extremely long time for the food to arrive.

The Nachos, one of the kids’ meals, and some fries arrived first—well before the burgers. The burgers then trickled in one by one, with around a 10-minute gap between each, which meant the fries were cold by the time everyone had their main. This made it impossible to eat together as a group. When we pointed out that we had ordered the Nachos as a starter (as clearly listed on the menu), the waitress responded rudely and said she didn’t know that. We didn’t realize we had to explicitly ask for the starter to be served first.

As for the food: the burgers were honestly inedible. The meat was cold, dry, and flavorless. The veggie patty was soggy, greyish, and tasted artificial. The burger bread itself was dry, and when we asked about the missing vegan cheese on the Veggie Burger, the server claimed that a small blob of sauce was the “cheese.”

We returned the burgers, as they were not edible, and were met with rudeness—despite us staying polite throughout. It’s absolutely fair for a guest to mention when a dish is not up to basic standards. Afterwards, we could hear staff members complaining about us in Italian, which felt very disrespectful.

In the end, we weren’t charged for the burgers (we would have paid), but the overall experience was extremely disappointing. We weren’t expecting a gourmet meal, but a basic level of food quality and customer service should be standard. We ended up waiting over an hour, and the food was served at such different times that it was impossible to have a proper meal together.

We cannot recommend Canela Café and will...

2025: Drove from Correlejo for some lunch - it was absolutely amazing. If only more places did food like this in the larger resorts.where every menu seems so samey! We had a sandwich each and they were so worth the drive. Thank you. 2024: We loved it here - great for a cold beer and lovely, unpretentious food. We dined here three times during our week in Lajares! Brian, who I believe to be pretty new there was an absolute trooper and him and the staff work extremely hard - the bar gets very busy so have some empathy if you need to wait longer than you'd prefer. I have to be honest on our final visit we sadly aborted our last drinks order as it didn't materialise after 20 mins of waiting and my husband was getting a bit frustrated! 😁 We found the food to be brilliant - very tasty and great value. A brilliant humble bar, doing cold beer, great food and live music - what's not to like? See...

Seit mehr als 7 Jahren wohne ich in Lajares und bin immer gerne ins Canela Cafe gegangen. Der Service war immer freundlich, erschwingliche Preise auch für "locals" und die Qualität stimmte auch immer. Seitdem der Besitzer gewechselt hat, kann davon leider nicht mehr die rede sein. Und nicht, dass ich es nicht mehrfach versucht hätte... gerade heute dachten wir, versuchen wir es doch mal wieder. Bestellt haben wir an der Bar 2 Cañas und 1 Foccachia und setzten uns nach draußen. Man brachte uns 2 kleine Bier und wenig später auch das Besteck. Das Essen ließ auf sich warten. Nach etwa 1 Stunde, in der wir auf der Terrasse die einzigen Gäste waren, kam niemand mehr.. nicht um zu fragen, ob wir noch etwas trinken möchten, oder ob irgendwas fehlt, niemand... Dann ging mein Freund rein, um die Bestellung zu stornieren und die 2 Bier zu zahlen. Der Kellner und die Kellnerin wussten von nichts, nur dass mein Freund draußen gesessen hat. Die blonde Kellnerin reagierte mit "das ist ein Fehler der Kollegin, der anderen Schicht" und man sollte sich nicht so haben, darüber hinaus auf sehr gestikulierende Art und Weise, dass wir ja was hätten sagen sollen. wie gesagt, wir waren alleine auf der Terrasse, Innen vielleicht 3 Tische besetzt und 2 Kellner "kraulten sich die E..." auf gut deutsch. Der Kellner versuchte zumindestest die Kritik anzunehmen und die Situation zu lösen, seine Kollegin allerdings versuchte weiterhin die Schuld der Küche, der Kollegin oder sonst wem in die Schuhe zu schieben.. Dann kam die Frage auf, welche Sorte Bier wir denn hatten, weil wir nur "2 kleine Bier" bestellt hatten (Estrella, Tropical, 1906) am Ende zahlte mein Freund 5€, und ging hungrig zum Surf Shop Café, wo man uns schnell, freundlich und mit einem Lächeln bediente. Leider werden wir das Canela nie mehr weiter empfehlen bzw sogar davon abraten. Sehr Schade, wie sich die Dinge...