What to eat in Alicante
Rice is eaten at noon and tapas after half past eight
- Rice
- At lunch
- Set menu
- €12–15
- Rice for two
- €30–50 in a mid-range place
Rice in Alicante is a lunch dish. The city takes its tapas late and spends the morning at the market with a coffee, and on Saturday with a glass of something stronger. In 2025 it carried the title of Spain's gastronomic capital.
Arroz a banda, arroz con costra and caldero
The dish to know is arroz a banda, rice cooked in a fish stock and served with a spoonful of alioli. It is the most typical plate in the city. Made to order, it belongs to lunch. A rice dish on an evening menu is a warning sign. At weekends around midday two long-standing places fill up first, Nou Manolín on Calle Villegas, open since 1971, and Piripi on Avenida Óscar Esplá, open since 1994. Book either one, and ask for the rice by its name, since that is how it sits on the menu.
Three more rices turn up on menus. Arroz con costra comes from Elche and Orihuela, made with chicken or rabbit and cured meat under a crust of egg that is baked in the oven, while paella alicantina, with chicken, rabbit and vegetables, is seen less often than the Valencian version. Caldero is the rice of the island of Tabarca, with the fish stock and the rice served in two parts. Between the fish and the crust the choice is easy: take arroz a banda on a first visit, and take the crust if the day ends up in Elche. The city also counts 34 restaurants that carry the mark Alicante City of Rice. For a lunch by the water there is an old restaurant in the marina, the Dársena.
Check the same room on both sites: price and cancellation terms can differ.
Breakfast, aperitif and tardeo
The Mercado Central is a modernist hall with close to 300 stalls, and the fish, fruit, spices and cured meats are only half of the reason to come. A counter inside serves breakfast and an aperitif, and on Saturday the crowd spills onto the pavements around the hall for the vermouth hour, known as tardeo. Go early. It trades in the morning from Monday to Saturday and is closed on Sunday, so the visit belongs before noon. Salazones, the salted fish such as mojama and mullet roe, are part of the same tradition and turn up on a plate beside a drink.
Tapas after half past eight
Dinner starts late. The bars of the old town do not fill until about 20.30, so an early arrival finds a quiet room and a waiter with time to explain the menu. Aim for the narrow streets of Santa Cruz, Calle Labradores and Calle San Pascual, where a spot at the bar is as good as a table. Look for coca amb tonyina, a flat pie of tuna, onion and pine nuts that comes as a small plate. A few bars and a few plates beat one long sit-down, and the evening runs later than you expect.
Turrón and sweets
Turrón is the sweet of the region. It comes in two kinds. The hard Alicante version has whole almonds in it, while the soft Jijona is made from ground almonds and honey, and neither is a substitute for the other. Each takes its name from a town, and the label tells you which one you are holding, so read it before you pay.
What it costs
A set menu at lunch runs about €12–15. A rice dish for two in a mid-range restaurant comes to €30–50, and the old-town tapas round with drinks costs €15–20 a head. The set menu does most of the work, because it carries a full lunch and leaves the evening free for tapas. Put these together and a day of eating well stays reasonable, provided the rice is ordered at lunch and the evening is spent on small plates.
Where to next
Nomadinho scores out of 100, the same ones behind “Where to go”.
If you like Alicante
Three places with the closest scores, from any country.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Where do you eat proper rice in Alicante?
At lunch, in a place that cooks it to order. Nou Manolín on Calle Villegas and Piripi on Avenida Óscar Esplá are the established names, and both need a booking at weekends around midday. A restaurant that carries the mark Alicante City of Rice is another starting point.
When do you have dinner in Alicante?
After half past eight. The bars in the old town start to fill from about 20.30, so an earlier table means an empty room.
How much does a meal cost?
A set lunch menu is about €12–15, rice for two in a mid-range place is €30–50, and tapas in the old town with drinks cost €15–20 a person.
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