Restaurante Marucho — Restaurant in Santander

I have to say I was extremely disappointed with this restaurant in just about every area - food, service, and price. After reading all the positive reviews, I was so excited to come and try my Spanish out (I’ve been studying for the last 3 years in university), but upon entering, was handed an English menu. This wouldn’t have been a problem except for the fact that when I said “No gracias, quiero practicar mi español,” they refused to give me a Spanish menu and put my mom and me in a corner table, and didn’t check on us except for bringing food and the bill. The staff was very lively and friendly - just to all the local Spanish customers. What made me most upset, however, was that they told me they were out of a dish I wanted, so I had to order something different - but somehow 20 minutes after I got my food, someone ordered the exact same thing and was brought it. I haven’t felt discrimination in Spain for being an English speaker anywhere nearly this bad except for this restaurant. Aside from not being my first choice of dishes, my food was mediocre at best. I waited to write this review until I had tried a few other coastal restaurants in Spain to ensure that this was not the norm, and now I am confident that it is not. From all the positive reviews, I truly doubt this is everyone’s experience, but I wonder how typical it is for English speakers, since it did appear every Spanish person was happy with their food...

We've never met with such a disrespectful treatment as of this given by the female waitress dressed in black wearing a scarf on her head. Waiting tables is not about reacting by "qué??" and an irritated face when we asked in English for water, wine or check, it's not about ignoring the request to take away an empty dish to have some more space or to grab unfinished salad to serve another dish ordering, not asking or recommending, not to touch the hot pan- as we managed to understand Spanish. It's hard to believe the waitress didn't know a single word in other languages used commonly in restaurants or that she didn't even try to communicate with us. If so, please note that the place serves only locals. Comparing the amount of wine by glass we were served with the amount for a local can only support our negative opinion. All in all, the food was just ok, but the woman made us feel so unwelcomed that we left the place and will...

A small, but very popular place serving fresh and well-prepared seafood. This is a rustic, old-fashioned fish-on-a-plate tavern, so don’t expect anything too fancy.

I had the tomato salad, albondigas of monkfish and grilled langostinos. The langostinos were tasty, but the albondigas were bland (yes, even the sauce was a bit boring). The tomato salad was nothing special, and I don’t understand why it’s a recommendation in the menu. The bread was excellent.

The prices for the seafood are ok, but overall I paid more for this rather average meal than what I’ve done on some of the finer, high-rated restaurants in Santander.

The atmosphere is great with an informal vibe and smiling staff.

And despite my personal experience, if you want to eat fresh fish and seafood served in a simple and straight-forward way among the locals, there is a very good chance you’ll...