All the guidebooks say that eating places in Spain are very strict about their open times: 1-4 for lunch and after 9 pm for dinner.
My question is, what are some good bets if you are hungry between those mealtimes? Do they have the equivalent of patisseries or delis where you can pick up sandwiches, savory pies, tortillas or other light takeaway stuff?
In Greece we always easily found bakeries that had spanikopita or cheese pies. And we ate a lot of fruit!
When we took the RS Spain tour, we encountered the eating places not re-opening until about 9 PM when that is past our bed time. We solved that problem by going to "tapas bars", places that are open most of the time and ordering several small plates of food for out dinners. It was our first experience with this type of eating but we just walked in and looked over what others were eating and then ordered what looked good. That worked most of the time.
Yes. Bars will have tapas and sandwiches, and of course there are bakeries, coffee shops, grocery stores, markets, sandwich shops, and in large cities, all those fast food restaurants. Finding a place to get something to eat is easy. In smaller towns your options may be limited to bars and grocery stores.
It's not that "eating places" have those hours, it's restaurants. Other places to get food are open outside those hours, such as bakeries, sandwich chains (like Pans & Company, a local version of Subway), and of course tapas bars.
It is true that if you want a standard sit down restaurant, you do have to go during those hours. Furthermore, if you show up at 1 for lunch or 9 for dinner, you are actually an hour or so early, and will beat the crowd (not a joke).
Thanks, everyone.
Is it OK to go to bars in Spain if you do not drink and only want to eat?
Yes, full service restaurants have set hours but restaurants aren't the only eating places. They aren't even the only eating places with sit down service. Tapas bars and casual cafes have food all day. And just like anywhere else there are ice cream stands, storefronts selling take away sandwiches and other fast food, grocery stores and markets with prepared food counters and things like containers of cut up fruit as well as regular groceries you can eat as a snack like fruit and vegetables, yogurt, etc.
It's no problem to go to a food-serving bar and drink a non-alcoholic beverage with whatever food you order. At least no one has ever looked at me funny when I did it.
Yes, you can go to a Tapas Bar and have a non-alcoholic beverage and tapas. Also, gelato is a great hunger pain solution until you’re hungry for some tapas.
Tapas bars are not the same as "drinking bars"; they do serve various beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), but are mostly about food. All ages are welcome, and no one is going there to get hammered. In fact, you can just order food with no beverage at all, if you choose.
Tapas bars are not the same as "drinking bars";
Oh! You're the first person to make that point so clearly. I imagined them as being like English pubs - which from all the detective novels I read seem to be more for drinking beer than for eating, though they do serve simple meals. As a nondrinker, I don't even know much about American bars since I have almost never been in one, even though I have visited all 50 US states.
Thanks so much for explaining that! Now I can relax about the eating aspect of our trip.
Actually, we don't have "drinking bars" as such, in the sense you might be referring to. Alcohol is served in many establishments, from bars to restaurants and almost everything in between but (1) is not served to under 18 and (2) people ordering alcohol doesn't (normally) do so to get hammered.
You'll find in many of the more touristy locations that a lot of restaurants open earlier to cater for those not used to eating so late. We've never had a problem finding restaurants that are open at 19:00 hours.
There are plenty (hundreds of thousands), of local bars where people go for a drink (not necessarily alcoholic) during the day/evening and might have a tapa as a snack. They are places to socialise just like the English pubs you mention, not drinking dens. However, it's not true these bars are mostly about the food and few would go to them simply to eat a main meal.
But, especially in the city central and tourist areas where you are more likely to be, I assume, many of what tourists call "tapas bars" are really cafes focusing on the food with drink as a side-line. In many of these there will also be bigger raciones portions if you want more of a meal and they are a good choice if 9 is too late to eat.
And in many tourist centres, you won't need to wait until 9 for the restaurants proper to open anyway. They know there is an earlier market available to serve so they open for it.
Also gelato is an Italian word not Spanish, perhaps not even Catalan?
Thanks, everyone. I'm relieved to know we have so many more eating options than are implied in the guidebooks. I don't mind at all putting together a meal from a lot of small plates. It gives us more cuisine to sample!
What I would mind is being disparaged for not ordering drinks. Decades ago this happened to me and my sister in a restaurant in Switzerland when we did not order wine with our meal. The waiter scolded us and tried to bully us into ordering what he thought should go with our dinner. I was barely 20 and would have been swooning if I had had the glass of wine he thought was proper.
Anyone know the Spanish for non-alcoholic beer?
Anyone know the Spanish for non-alcoholic beer?
Cerveza sin alcohol. Although you're better off ordering something else!
LOL @Nick, no, it's neither in Catalan. I used to try to explain that the word gelato is foreign to us, it's ITALIAN, and neither we Catalans nor the Spanish use that word. But I gave up as too many visitors "insist" in misusing it :))
In Catalan language, spoken here in Catalonia, you say GELAT (ja-LAT) and in Spanish, HELADO (eh-LAH-do) and in both cases we use this as a generic term to refer to ice-cream, regardless of the type/style.
Technically speaking though "gelato" --besides being "the" Italian word for ice-cream--, it's also a style of making ice-cream with a base of milk and sugar, less fat, less air and more flavouring than other frozen desserts. Thus, any store selling this type of ice-cream, regardless whether in Italy or abroad, could correctly use the term "gelato" to refer to its products. It so happens though that we, locally, don't, we use the generic term: gelat.
I've posted sort of the same question earlier. One of the responses had a good suggestion. You can go to the mercados, i.e. Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid.
We had no problem finding places to eat early in Barcelona.
There is a ubiquitous chain called Rodillas that is open non-stop during the day. It's handy for sandwiches and salads.
Here's another option. The Gourmet Experience in El Corte Ingles. The one on Gran Via has a great view too.
El Corte Ingles is a good option. My wife is diabetic and occasionally has trouble holding off until Spanish dinner hours we have found El Corte Ingles to be a good option. For the original questioner, El Corte Ingles is a department store with outlets throughout Spain and they usually have a restaurant (usually on the top floor) that is open all hours the store is open.
We typically stay at apartment hotels and keep some food in. We often eat breakfast and an evening snack in the apartment. Some nights the afternoon eats and a glass of wine or two and we are done for the evening.
