Sevilla, Granada, Cordoba, Toledo, Looking for restaurant, bars, tapas suggestions

The only one of your destinations I've visited recently is Toledo. It is known for marzipan cookies. I bought some at a convent--I think at the Convent of San Antonio de Padua on Plaza San Antonio. I also bought some at a regular bakery that I believe was on Zocodover Square under an arcade. I got the recommendation from a book (maybe Rick's) or some online resource, but I can't find anything in my notes. I remember reading that quality varies, so maybe make a small purchase initially and then go back for more.

I spent three nights in Toledo, as I recall. Loved the city but didn't have a particularly fabulous meal anywhere using the just-wander-around technique. Some time on TripAdvisor might pay off. It gets very quiet in Toledo at night. It seems that a very high percentage of the visitors are day-trippers, so most people probably only eat lunch there.

Remember that meal hours in Spain are extraordinarily late. Whenever practical I ate my main meal at lunchtime (which is often after 2 PM).

I opted to buy the little bracelet that gets you admission (and usually also a short bilingual tour, often offered twice a day) to six or seven secondary sights in Toledo. Rick mentioned this is the edition of the Spain guidebook I used for my 2016 trip. He wasn't a big fan, but I loved those places. Lovely architecture and not many other tourists, whereas the path from Zocodover Square to the Cathedral was clogged with tourists. If you want to take advantage of the guided tours, you will need an electronic device that will show your position on a map. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to move from place to place rapidly enough to catch the tours.

I don't really trust TripAdvisor sightseeing reviews (people don't even know the correct names for the places they've been!), but I find it useful to skim through the Things To Do lists, looking for possibilities that may not be mainstream enough to appear in guidebooks but appeal to my particular interests. I have discovered some places I would really have hated to miss by doing that. The other things I do are pay attention to posters about things going on in the city (which may include special museum exhibitions of interest) and go to the tourist office. At the T.O. I look at the brochures on display and also inquire about places aligned with my special interests (art, ceramics, contemporary crafts, 20th century history). Anything attraction open for less than 18 months may not be in even recently-published guide books.

I highly recommend budgeting time for simply walking around the medieval districts of those cities. Two blocks from the key attractions and you'll probably be alone.

I can give you some restaurant suggestions and hidden gems for sightseeing. These are recent, from our trip of September 2017.

Toledo:
El Trebol - located on a side street about a block away from Plaza de Zocodover. Delicious food & reasonably priced.

Cordoba:
Regadera, Ronda de Isada 10, located on the riverbank. You need reservations. Food was delicious and unique. My dessert, for example, was violet ice cream with lime crumble, lemon foam and strawberries.

Mercado Victoria - tried food from different food stalls, such as Arabian food cooked by a Syrian refugee (lamb tagine with apricots and almonds, etc.)

Granada:
El Trillo Restaurante at Calleon Aljibe de Trillo, located in the Albayzin. Walked uphill with views of the Alhambra along the way. One of our favorite restaurants on this trip.

Sevilla:
La Azotea in Barrio Santa Cruz, at Calle Mateos Gago, 8. We loved it so much we ate here twice while in Sevilla. Some of the meals we had: rice paper rolls stuffed with cheese, prawns & leeks; salad of tomato, burrata cheese, homemade basil gummies topped with a scoop of lemon sorbet; hake en papillote with vegetables & infused lemon; and oxtail meatballs served over mushroom sauce with cauliflower and carrot cream.

Mercado Barranca - located on the banks of the Guadalquivir River. Had lunch here one day and dinner another day. Tried different kinds of tapas and drinks! A fun spot!

For less visited and quiet sites, we really enjoyed Casa de Pilatos in Seville and Palacio de Viana in Cordoba. They are definitely hidden gems!

Lucky you to be heading to Spain — you will have a wonderful time!

We went last April to Toledo, Sevilla and Granada.

I wrote a trip report that has all the details of where we ate and what we did:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-our-two-week-family-vacation-to-spain-april-2018

Favorites places to eat were:

Toledo —
Nuevo Almacen for brunch
Maruxina Lounge for tapas
La Abadia for dinner in the caves

Sevilla —
Gago 6 for paella (house specialty)
Spala Hostereria for brunch
Horno El Abuelo panaderia (bakery) on Plaza Alfalfa for pastries

Granada —
Los Diamantes for seafood (our favorite meal in Spain)
Carmen de Aben Humeya (expensive but fabulous food and view)
Helados San Nicolas for ice cream

Note that in Granada, you will receive a tapa with your drink at almost every bar. Never order food with your drink; wait to see what shows up, then order what you didn’t get 😊. On our trip, Granada was the only place in Spain where the tapa came with the drinks.

I looked for the ceramics museum in Sevilla and couldn’t find it; I read later that maybe it has closed?? I could be wrong..... We enjoyed wandering around Triana even without finding the museum.

Make sure you take time to walk around the Albaicin in Granada — you will feel like you wandered into a different time.

Have a great trip!

— Deb

Great responses and thanks for the link! Keep them coming! I'll be sad if the ceramic museum is closed. It sounds interesting.
@acraven, In one of the RS videos he is tasting marzipan, He tries the fruit shaped ones and seems to indicate that it was "ok". Then he goes back to an old favorite. I've watched it a few times to try to pick up the name, but I never can find anything thru google (or in my case BING) any idea what the favorite marzipan treat's name?

No, I'm sorry. Bakery items often aren't labeled, so I probably just pointed. Not much risk that I won't like sweets as long as it's a top-quality source.

I've uncovered my notebook from that trip. It doesn't give the name of the convent, but the shop was Santo Tome. Probably the local tourist office and hotel personnel would be able to direct you to the right convent if there is more than one.

The Toledo convent that Rick mentions in his guidebook (Convent of Santa Rita) is now closed. Like acraven, we also purchased marzipan at the shop Santo Tome. We bought a box of assorted marzipans (all nut, no fruit, and really good) and also a selection of the fruit marzipans (didn't love these so much, and I think it's also what Rick didn't like). The shop was crowded, which can be an indication of good quality. We didn't buy any other marzipan -- one box was plenty; they are very sweet and one goes a long way! -- so can't compare to other places.

I just googled to try and find the location (there are multiple) and found that they have a website with an online store. You can take a look at the offerings to see if any match up to the video you saw: Santo Tome. We liked our box of "dulces surtidos" (assorted sweets).

Yum!

I doubt it is Seville's best venue objectively, but if you have an interest in "old fashioned" then you must visit El Rinconcillo whose claim to fame is being Seville's (perhaps Spain's, but don't tell Cadiz!) oldest bar still operating. It is attractive, though obviously well-photograped these days.

Granada is a main place where they still keep the tradition of serving a free tapa with your drink (you'll get something elsewhere too, but it might just be a dish of olives or some cheese, whereas in Granada it will often be something more exciting). Murcia is the same as Granada, incidentally. I've never come across the tapa being used as a cover for the glass. That's probably from one of the "creation myths" of why tapas was invented (there are quite a few), and where it happens is probably done for tourists or a recent approach.

hi jules
Sent you a message about some things in Spain if interested
aloha

Hi Jules,

Since I was traveling with my elderly mother,
who eats a very early dinner, we mostly ate tapas in all the cities we visited.

In Córdoba, our favorite meals were at "Casa Pepe de la Judería", and at, "Bodegas Mezquita".

In Sevilla, "La Antigua Bodeguita", on Plaza San Salvador became our favorite place for authentic tapas. The food was delicious and we ate there three days in a row! This place is very popular with the locals so you know it's good ; )

In Granada we enjoyed some delicious tapas and dessert at El Huerto de Juan Ranas right across from the Mirador de San Nicolás.
Make sure you sit on the open terrace bar (less expensive than the restaurant by the same name down the street) and get there early enough before sunset (maybe an hour before) so you can enjoy the amazing views of the Alhambra across the canyon.

While in Granada, make sure you try the deliciously creamy ice cream at 'Heladería Los Italianos' on Calle Gran Vía de Colón, 4, across the street from the cathedral. Also try 'Casa Pasteles', a great bakery at Plaza Larga in the Albaicín.

In Toledo we enjoyed some tapas at Cervecería El Trébol on the small side street behind the Tourist Information Office.
Make sure you try one of their signature dishes, "La Bomba", a potato fritter stuffed with meat and served with aioli sauce and tomato sauce. The grilled vegetables are also delicious.

Enjoy your trip!

Edited to add... I almost forgot, while in Córdoba, we also enjoyed a good meal at Bar Miguelito, away from the tourist area, across the Roman Bridge (near our hotel NH Córdoba Guadalquivir). BTW, there's a small "Fruteria" (fruit shop) across the street from the Plaza de Santa Teresa near the restaurant.