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On this Day Out we have chosen venues which exhibit what Seville and wider Andalusia is famous for. Authentic tapas bars, bodegas that have remained virtually unchanged for decades, Flamenco music, bullfighting culture, Catholic parades and outrageous kitsch, churrerias, caรฑas, copas, tapas, raciรณnes. Globalisation is still kept at arm’s length in Seville’s historic centre. Providing you can tolerate some of the more controversial elements (the intense religiosity, dubious animal welfare, for example) for a few days, there is still a rich seam of culture that has yet to be hegemonised in a city that is stunning in places, sure but more notable for how it cloaks itself in tradition like a suit of armour.
The Route Map:
Stop #1 is Casa Moreno ๐ช๐ธ
This shop front with its attractive black and gold sign will initially appear to be a grocery store with a butcher’s style counter and tins on the shelves, however venture further into to find a bar snuck away at the back. This is an ‘Ultramarino‘, a throwback format. A tiny, local affair that’s truly characterful, seemingly trapped in the 1970s, surrounded by the local bullfighting ephemera (unfortunately there is no avoiding this in Seville) and hanging out with your friends among a pub offering a local and family flavour without feeling like unwelcome interlopers. Grab a caรฑa and a snack. An unmissable experience.
The next venue is the easiest connection of the tour, merely metres away!
Stop #2 is Cervecerรญa Internacional ๐ช๐ธ
In a city without an established multitap beer culture this standout venue, one of the old guard, is a pioneer. Unlike other cities, its offerings are not yet superseded by the craft revolution. Visiting here after only drinking Cruzcampo all weekend will be like supping from a cool mountain stream. Pilsner Urquell on draft and a host of European classics – particularly Belgian – provide a reminder of what beer is supposed to taste like. It isn’t just about the product though, the venue itself is worth visiting with its air of an established institution balanced by the geekier specialist element. Airy, but well personalised, it’s a space you can inhabit day or night comfortably and at ease. Well up the list of venues to visit in Seville.
A short walk now, moving closer to the heart of Seville’s shopping thoroughfare and cultural monuments.
Stop #3 is Casa Morales ๐ช๐ธ
A family operation in the city centre stretching back to 1850, huge vats: tinajas, opposite the bar will catch your eye on entrance. These were used to store house wine back in the day. Be sure to explore the venue as there are two rooms which the bar straddles. Known for good wines, sherries and vermouth, along with tapas which stretches from simple chicharrรณnes to a big raciรณn of stew or meat. Here is where you’ll start to feel at the heart of the city’s action.
Backup option: Should this very popular place be too busy, or closed, try nearby Bodega Diaz Salazar ๐ช๐ธ , a historic and tastefully refurbished city centre option.
As you leave the place, buoyed by booze and great food, you’re steps away from the Cathedral, Giralda tower and only minutes from the Real Alcazar. This would be a great moment for a diversion to explore the wonderful sights – be sure to get advance tickets for the tower and royal palace though.
Are you ready for more? Of course you are. We take a walk North through the warren of streets that is the old town, passing by Iglesia Colegial del Divino Salvador, another stunning sight.
Stop #4 is El Comercio ๐ช๐ธ
A classic central tapas bar, one that adds colour with gold script on a black sign, bar activity visible directly off the street. There is a hint of central institution about it. Inside, pass by a narrow bar to find a typical bodega room with meat haunches on hooks, tiled walls, and historic photographs of family, friends, the Easter parades and historic bullfighters. One quirk is that their beer is served in frosted glazed pots rather than glasses which adds a distinctive little flourish to proceedings. Known for its plates of churros and breakfast sandwiches, the 9pm close feels bizarre in such a busy location, but this bar is set to daytime rhythms and always has been – so that’s that, I guess.
Backup Options Nearby: La Aurora ๐ช๐ธ, El Chiringuito ๐ช๐ธ
The walk to our next stop takes you past the Setas de Sevilla. These monumental wooden ‘mushrooms’ are a relatively recent contribution to the city’s skyline, iconic in their own right and a rare example of modernity permitted in the centre.
Stop #5 is El Rinconcillo ๐ช๐ธ
Seville’s institution, an ancient bodega that will come up first on any search for old bars in the city. This establishment is run slickly with a rhythm of service that is characterful, assertive and perhaps chauvinist too. Don’t be surprised to have your food order turned around into a more convenient selection (for them) on their say so – simply hold your ground. The typical Andalusian focus on wines, sherry, vermouth etc applies here with the ubiquitous bad lager tap churning out caรฑa. The interior feels like it is inbetween two stages, the medieval and the fin de siรจcle with its ornate windows and tiles on one side, to the chunky exposed beams and gnarled wood fittings in other places. Certainly a must visit in Seville, even if it is a bit more formal than your average tapas bar. If you turn up hoping for a place you’ll have to trust to luck.
Backup options nearby: Ajoblanco ๐ช๐ธ , El Tremendo ๐ช๐ธ
Stop #6 is Ajoblanco ๐ช๐ธ
Now the evening is progressing, let’s move in a little more informal direction. Ajoblanco, a traditional tapas bar that’s been set loose from the usual on-rails confines by its charismatic Jazz-loving owner meaning you’ll find an offbeat establishment with record collection to the rear and large posters decorating the wall. He gives the place his own identity not only via the decoration but his outbursts and mannerisms. No matter what languages you speak or what you can understand of it, it’s clear he’s a bit of a character. The tapas is very decent here despite looking unpromising. It is not sophisticated but it is well cooked and overall fair value too.
As things are turning more musical, you can’t escape Seville without a flash of Flamenco ๐ at some point. This folkloric music tradition has Romani origins with the gitano of Andalusia blending disparate cultures together in an intensely passionate, dark mix of body percussion, intricate guitar lines and melancholic vocals. As with the Portuguese Fado, the better experiences of this are likely to be low-key, low-budget and raw, rather than the more elaborate shows that are put on for tourists.
Stop #7 is La Carbonerรญa ๐ช๐ธ
A hush descends as an acoustic-led group begin. Suddenly this packed, large venue begins to feel intimate and huddled, hundreds sat on communal bench seats take in the performance. This is all yours for the price of a drink. A former coal warehouse, spacious with a courtyard and fully equipped bar for tapas and drinks, the format unusual in a city that is predominantly more direct, food focused and about what’s happening right under your nose. Certainly high up the list for venues to visit in Seville, but if you are particularly keen on taking in a folk experience it should be near the top of your list.
Stop #8 is Bar Garlochรญ ๐ช๐ธ
To round off the tour, where better than at Seville’s outstanding bar, not only a work of art in itself but a singular labour of love. You’ll find a number of iconography strewn bars in Andalusia, but this takes it to a whole other level. A beautiful tiled archway with the Garlochi sign is a hint of things to come, with steps leading to a shrine and door to a small bar. Decorated from floor to ceiling in sinister Catholic kitsch, there is no shortage of anything to look at, but that’s only part of the fun with constant incense burning filling the room with a powerful aroma, an excitable crowd and a well stocked bar for cocktails, mixers and a few beers – including local craft. An iconic place, one of the greatest in Europe.
Should any of the above 8 venues be closed we have a series of recommended backup venues for you:
Other recommendations:
Taberna Gonzalo Molina ๐ช๐ธ – The original Gonzalo Molina looked otherworldly, a rotting carcass of a bar held up with scaffolding, but like the infamous Jedovรก chรฝลกe in Prague appears to have finally expired. The operation has set up in a tiny, and still quite characterful little place, a corner bar with standing room for about a dozen at most. Offering a dark beer on tap counts as a distinctive and notable feature in this arch-traditional Cruzcampo-swilling city. With a local neighbourhood character and identity, but a decent welcome. Don’t worry about the locals, they will make room.
Casa Ricardo ๐ช๐ธ – A neighbourhood classic, superb reviews attest to a history of high quality performance, this place is well subscribed and will be packed within 15 minutes of opening in the evening. A narrow cramped venue which is festooned from floor to ceiling with framed photographs and a kitchen pumping out tapas from a modest menu with great efficiency. Hyper-informal and a big concentrated shot of Spanish flavour.
Bodega Soto ๐ช๐ธ – Far enough from the centre to have a truly neighbourly feel. This is a bigger, more pub-like venue with families and meals, but somewhere you can comfortably hang out in a typically authentic environment.
La Goleta – ๐ช๐ธ Tiny, but the more characterful for it. The simplest drop in boozer imaginable.
Bodega Santa Cruz ๐ช๐ธ A historic little bodega, this central venue is content to get ever more ramshackle and informal with wobbly seats, locals yelling banter across the counter and a large menu that slowly vanishes as the day progresses. Here the tapas was not great first time around, but it has largely excellent reviews and did impress on a 2nd visit.
Casa Vizcaino ๐ช๐ธ An authentic neighbourhood bar that’s at the heart of a social scene at Plaza de Montรฉ-Sion, lending it a great atmosphere in the evening.
Bodega Diaz Salazar ๐ช๐ธ This bar was not on our initial hitlist but its appearance was tempting and it also has a history. This now upright, stylish bodega has attractive frontage and a classical interior. A refurbishment has smartened the place up without losing its soul. This place is a fixture of central Seville and during the mid-20th centuries became a fashionable meeting spot for the political and cultural set. These days there is a mix of old stagers, some tourists and that unmistakable โcity centreโ rhythm to it, even when quieter. One of the eye-catching elements of the pub is its enormous urns at the back of the room. Try those baby aubergines pickled in chilli and garlic oil โ unreal.
Las Terasas ๐ช๐ธ Three bars in one, the original was too small to work commercially on its own so they spread out across nearby retail units. This gives it a slightly carefree feel. But in the central bar you’ll find the typical tapas bar dรฉcor with an amusingly grim exhibit of the lifespan of their previous carving knives.
Bodega La Aurora ๐ช๐ธ – Late bar on the corner with a friendly, younger crowd, typical bar wares and a toilet so small there’s zero room between the porcelain, your private parts and the door.
El Chiringuito ๐ช๐ธ A more informal, ramshackle and dog-friendly little drop-in bar with an alternative vibe, through a Mediterranean prism of course.
Clan Sibaritas ๐ช๐ธ Neighbourhood wine bar with a modern selection and off-beat vibe. Friendly and a good point of difference from the more traditional venues, without losing any charm.
Bicicleteria ๐ช๐ธ A change of speed here to this very fashionable neighbourhood bar. Still very small of course but the twee mock bike workshop/late bar format works well. It’s busy, there’s a buzz and limited seating. Also Franziskaner on tap for some utterly unknown reason, a minor bonus in this beer dead zone.
Urbano Comix ๐ช๐ธ A late bar, like a student kneipe with a younger crowd, quirky, fluorescent dรฉcor and comic book stylings. Darkly lit. Like the last place, we arrived a little early and it became quite lively as it went along. A late bar and hangout space, this is somewhere you can go to play pool, shoot the breeze and enjoy a drink that isnโt Cruzcampo or wine based. Local craft beer? They have some! (Not much). In many cities other than Seville the beer selection wouldnโt be particularly notable, which underlines the extent of the problem here. In a place like Seville this really stands out. Fans of the likes of Klapper33 in Frankfurt will get on with this place.
Interested in more Spanish bars? Head over to our Spain ๐ช๐ธ page!