El Lechuguita — Restaurant in Ronda

Ah, my friend, if only you had been there… Ronda — a beautiful little town perched on a cliff, straight out of a fairy tale. You stroll gently through its streets, the sun slowly setting, the old bridge whispering stories while birds chirp like they’re singing you a serenade. And just when your soul finds that quiet spot between day and night, when hunger starts to whisper that it’s time for something real — you start looking around for a place to eat. But it’s preseason, you know how that goes — half the places are closed, the other half you’re not sure if they’re open, and the internet gives you suggestions, but nothing really convincing. And then — bam! El Lechuguita. A tiny tapas bar, unassuming, but with a line out front like they’re handing out gold. No reservations — “sit and wait,” just like your uncle from the village would say. So we waited. We got in, small tables, charming as can be. The menu? A QR code, numbers, you just write down what you want. Simple as can be, and it works like clockwork. The food? Oh, the joy… every little tapa a piece of poetry, every bite whispering, “just one more.” Cured ham, cheese, little croquettes, something baked — all made with love, warm, homemade, like your aunt coming out of the kitchen with a plate and a smile. And so we came back every night. Not for the bridges or the buildings, but for that feeling of home — for people who truly want you to enjoy, and for food that’s not just eaten, but experienced. That’s why we return. For the people. For the taste....

When I think El Lechuguita I think of two things. Great food and madness inside. I can honestly say I never in my life ate in a busier place. The bar is small and the crowds are large. I managed to secure a spot at the end of the bar, next to the toilet door and believe me this was a top spot considering many people have their plates in their hands and eat back to back with others. Besides the good food the prices are really low and here I seen tapas starting from 0.80 eur so this is also a good reason to spend some time here even if you don’t enjoy busy places. As you can see from my pictures I ate quite a lot of things, drank a beer and paid 8 eur so in terms of quality/price this place is great. El Lechuguita deserves a look even if you don’t reach the bar to order food. It is a place that is never quiet, filled with laughter and joy, food everywhere and great prices for those on a budget. Even though they are amongst the priciest things on the menu I can honestly advise you to try the shrimps. At 3 eur per portion they are a great addition to anything you...

Our host recommended El Lechuguita and it’s definitely a place where locals go! You can’t make any reservation and it’s a very popular place so she recommended going either 1 hour before the kitchen closes or 20-30 minutes before they reopen at 8pm. We were there on a Friday evening so decided to be there at around 7.45pm which was very good: we were among the first round seated and could also have one of the few tables outside. Afterwards you had to wait quite a bit.

You get a table assigned to you and a piece of paper on which you note done the tapas you wanna have. You then take the piece of paper inside where you order drinks and give it to the person there. You get the drinks and food is then delivered to your table. It is recommended to order 3 or 4 tapas per person. If you wanna reorder you just go up to the counter, tell them your table number and which tapas you wanna order.

We really liked the variety of tapas, lots of local and typical stuff...