Editorial Contributor
Sarah Mills
Sarah Mills has been writing about Spanish food for over a decade, with the last four years focused almost entirely on Andalusia. Granada's food scene hooked her for reasons she can explain precisely: the city is one of the last places in Spain where a drink still comes with a free tapa, which tells you something about how seriously it takes hospitality. She has written about pionono — the small cream pastry from Santa Fe that most visitors miss entirely — jamón de Trevélez cured above 1,200 metres in the Sierra Nevada, and the particular style of salmorejo that Granada bars make thicker and colder than anywhere in Córdoba. Her reviews are built around ordering what regulars order rather than what the menu pushes at tourists. She has strong opinions about which restaurants have coasted on reputation and which ones are still earning it. Her food journalism has appeared in British food and travel publications.
Credentials
Ten years in food journalism specialising in Spanish and Andalusian cuisine. Four years focused on Granada's food scene.
Granada tapas Andalusian cuisine restaurant reviews traditional dishes food journalism
45 articles published across 6 topics
Published Work
45 pieces across guides, places, and food.
Guides
9 articles- Read
Best Boutique Hotels in Granada
Eight boutique hotels in Granada ranked by location, character, and value: Albaicín palaces, Nasrid courtyards, Realejo convents, and design hotels from 55€.
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Best Flamenco in Granada
Where to experience real flamenco in Granada: Sacromonte cave zambra shows, the oldest peña (est. 1949), and sunset walks with live street performers.
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Best Luxury Hotels in Granada
Granada's top luxury hotels: the Parador inside the Alhambra walls, five-star palace conversions, boutiques with Alhambra views. Ranked by quality and location.
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Best Restaurants for Families in Granada
8 Granada restaurants that actually work with children: outdoor terraces, flexible menus, gluten-free kitchens, and local institutions where families eat.
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Best Rooftop Terraces in Granada
Where to drink with the Alhambra in view: Granada's best rooftop bars, hotel terraces, and garden restaurants ranked by view quality, food, and access.
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Best Tapas Bars in Granada
Where to eat free tapas in Granada: iconic bodegas, Albaicín tabernas, and neighbourhood locals ranked by kitchen quality, atmosphere, and authenticity.
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Best Things to Do in Granada for Couples
Eight activities worth doing as a couple in Granada: the Albaicin at sunset, Arab baths, the Alhambra, cave flamenco, and a balloon at dawn over the Vega.
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Best Wine Bars in Granada
Where to drink well in Granada: Alpujarras whites, Contraviesa labels, old bodegas and riverside terraces. Seven bars ranked by wine quality and authenticity.
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Must-Try Dishes in Granada
From pionono pastries in Santa Fe to Sierra Nevada mountain platters: 10 dishes that define Granada's food culture, where to find them, and when to order them.
Activities
6 articles- Read
Alpujarras Olive Oil Tasting Tour: Mill, Cooperative and DOP Granada
3-hour guided tour combining a 15th-century olive mill, a modern cooperative and a full DOP Granada tasting. Extra virgin, organic varieties. €38 per person.
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Granada Artisan Crafts: Taracea, Fajalauza and the Workshop Trail
Granada's Nasrid craft heritage lives on in its old-city workshops. Taracea marquetry, Fajalauza ceramics and hand-tooled leather: how to find the real thing.
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Granada Cathedral Tour
Guided tour of Granada Cathedral and the Royal Chapel. Expert commentary on Siloé's Renaissance interior and the tombs of the Catholic Monarchs. From €20.
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Granada Markets: From Moorish Silk to Sunday Rastro
Granada's markets span a 14th-century silk bazaar, a covered food hall near the Cathedral, and sprawling Sunday flea markets. Free to enter. Cash essential.
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Sunset Albaicín Walk for Couples
Guided couples' sunset walk through Granada's Albaicín to Mirador de San Nicolás, with live flamenco. €25–45. The Alhambra walls turn amber as the light drops.
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Vermouth & Wine Bar Tour Granada
3.5-hour guided tour of Granada's century-old bodegas, with vermouth on tap at Bodegas Castañeda (1927), sherry tasting, and a craft ice cream stop. €35–55.
Hotels
3 articles- Read
Hotel Boutique Casa Morisca
14-room boutique hotel in a restored Nasrid-era house in the Albaicín. Traditional central courtyard, Moorish detail, ten minutes from the San Nicolas mirador.
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Seda Club Hotel Granada
5-star boutique with 21 rooms and 6 suites, steps from Granada Cathedral. Small Luxury Hotels member: fine dining, spa, and rooftop terrace. From 300€.
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Soho Boutique Granada
4-star design hotel with spa and wellness centre on Plaza Isabel la Católica, the geographic centre of Granada. Contemporary interiors, couples-friendly.
Restaurants
18 articles- Read
Atelier Casa de Comidas
Michelin Bib Gourmand in Granada Centro. Chef Raúl Sierra's seasonal Andalusian menus at accessible prices, in a neighbourhood that visitors rarely reach.
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Carmen Verde Luna
Dinner in a Nasrid garden, the Alhambra floodlit across the valley. Carmen Verde Luna is among the few Granada restaurants where the view earns its place.
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Casa Juanillo
Family-run restaurant on Camino del Sacromonte with an open terrace looking straight at the Alhambra. Grilled lamb, campo rice, and the walk alone is worth it.
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Cunini
Seafood restaurant in Plaza Pescadería behind the cathedral. Salt-baked fish, marble shellfish bar, fried fish from Motril. Open Tue–Sun, no split service.
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Damasqueros
Chef Lola Marín, trained under Martín Berasategui, runs a six-course weekly tasting menu in the Realejo. €69 per person, €99 with wine pairing. Closed Monday.
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El Pescaíto de Carmela
Fried fish spot near Granada Cathedral. 100% gluten-free menu, daily Andalusian market sourcing. Pescaito frito, boquerones, rice dishes, budget prices.
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Faralá
Chef Cristina Jiménez holds Granada's Michelin star (2026) in the Realejo. Three tasting menus from €74 to €120. Live flamenco bar runs below the dining room.
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Hicuri Art Vegan
100% vegan in the Realejo, walls painted by local artists. Salmorejo, vegan paella, handmade burgers. Creative Andalusian plant-based cooking around €20 a head.
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La Auténtica Carmela
Upscale modern Andalusian cooking in Granada's Realejo. Part of the Restaurantes Carmela group, with summer and winter terraces and an allergy-aware kitchen.
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La Esquinita de Javi
Granada locals' pick for navajas (razor clams) and fresh fish in Centro. Two sites, flexible portions, budget-to-moderate. Good for solo diners and groups.
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La Fábula
Chef Ismael Delgado López cooks market-driven tasting menus in a 19th-century Realejo palace. Per-course wine pairing, precise plating. Closed Sun and Mon.
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La Nueva Bodega
Three courses, bread, and wine for €10. La Nueva Bodega near Granada Cathedral is where locals eat lunch — construction crews, students, and office workers.
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Las Tomasas
A carmen terrace in the Albaicín with direct Alhambra views. Traditional Andalusian cooking — rabo de toro, salmorejo, Alpujarras ham. €€–€€€. Book ahead.
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Los Mascarones
Albaicín restaurant in the 17th-century home of baroque poet Pedro Soto de Rojas. Order migas con chorizo, caracoles, and traditional Granadan cooking.
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Páprika
100% vegan in the Albaicín, run by a mother-daughter team using ecological produce. Generous portions at budget prices. Book ahead — only a few tables.
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Pimienta Rosa
Modern Andalusian cooking in the Sagrario quarter, one block from Granada Cathedral. Standout seafood and creative desserts behind a duck-blue façade.
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Restaurante Arrayanes
Halal Moroccan restaurant in the Albaicín, run personally by owner Mustafa. Lamb tagine and chicken pastilla are the dishes to order. Closed Mon and Tue.
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Restaurante Arriaga
Michelin-listed rooftop on CajaGranada, 60m above Granada. Chef Álvaro Arriaga: Tradición (€80, 6 courses) or Paisaje (€100, 9 courses). Views and wine pairing.
Bars
6 articles- Read
Bar Aliatar
Local bar on Plaza Aliatar in the Albaicín. Residents drink here more than visitors do. Free tapas, cold beer, and a square that catches the last evening light.
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Bar Sevilla
Historic bar near Plaza Nueva where Lorca and the Granada Generation drank in the 1920s. Order jamón ibérico, ask for fino, skip the tourist traps nearby.
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Casa Fuensanta
Intimate wine bar in Granada's city centre specialising in regional Spanish labels and Alpujarras wines. Payoyo goat's cheese, picual tomato, no fuss.
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Casa Pasteles
Neighbourhood café-bar at Plaza de la Trinidad, where students eat and locals drink. Free tapas with every round; chocolate pastries worth coming before 9am.
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La Tabernilla del Darro
A wine bar on the Darro riverside with a terrace facing the river and the Alhambra hillside above. Curated Spanish wines, no tourist formula, best at dusk.
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Peña La Platería
Granada's oldest flamenco peña, running live shows in the Albaicín 5–10 nights a month. More intimate than Sacromonte caves and roughly half the price.
Dishes
3 articles- Read
Boquerones de la Costa Tropical
Fresh anchovies landed at Motril served two ways: marinated in white wine vinegar (Granada-style) or fried pescaíto frito. Same-day coastal freshness.
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Migas Granadinas
Stale bread fried in olive oil with garlic, chorizo, and green peppers. Granada's migas is bread-based, not flour-based — every household recipe differs.
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Puchero Granadino
Granada's slow-cooked pork and bean stew, served in two courses. The fennel shoot variant, available January–April, is what locals order on Sunday midday.