Where to Eat in Córdoba in 2020: Your Ultimate Foodie Guide
Córdoba is an amazing city to visit, less than an hour’s train ride from Seville. It’s home to some of the best food in the south of Spain, so find out where to eat with my ultimate foodie’s guide to Córdoba!
A few weeks ago, I went to a friend’s wedding in Córdoba. The wedding was beautiful: spring is an amazing season in southern Spain! There were flowers, flamenco, and enough Spanish ham to feed a small village/one Spanish wedding.
It’d been a few years since I’d visited this city, and I have no idea why. I love Córdoba! Even better, it’s only 45 minutes outside of Seville.
I’d completely forgotten how adorably maze-like the streets are. They even surpass Seville in how easy it is to get completely turned around (which is no easy feat—Seville is a cartographer’s nightmare come to life).
And the food, oh the food! Córdoba is the birthplace to some of my favourite tapas in Spain; dishes like cola de toro (stewed bull tail) and salmorejo.
This town really is a foodie’s dream. You’ve got these traditional dishes, sure, but also a whole bunch of modern, fine dining, and funky fusion joints to try as well.
So, the next time you can, make sure you come to Córdoba. Eat, drink, and be merry, and make sure to check out my favourite places for getting your tapa on with my foodie’s guide to where to eat in Córdoba!
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Where to Eat in Córdoba: A tapa to bottom list
You’ve arrived in Córdoba: great. Step one complete. But now the question is; where are you meant to eat?
Like most Spanish cities, Córdoba is home to more bars than you could ever hope to visit in one human lifetime. Luckily, I’ve done the hard work for you and written out my favourite spots to chow down on tapas! Since there’s so much to choose from, I’ve got my picks broken down by theme.
Best Traditional Restaurants in Córdoba
Given that Córdoba is home to some of Spain’s most traditional tapas dishes, you’d be missing out if you didn’t try them.
Aside from cola de toro and salmorejo tomato soup, Córdoba is also well known for its mildly pornographic flamenquín. This extremely phallic-shaped food item is made from slices of Spanish jamón wrapped in pork loin. If that doesn’t sound good enough already, then you coat the entire thing in egg and breadcrumbs and deep-fry it to hell and back.
It’s delicious, and very unfortunately shaped.
Good versions of this deep-fried meat tube are a must-try, but bad ones are truly terrible. Make sure you get the good stuff by visiting one of these places below!
These are also the best spots to try the other cordobés classics you’ve been planning on your list of where to eat in Córdoba.
- Taberna Salinas (Calle Tundidores, 3). Opened in 1879, you can’t get more classic than this.
- Bodega Guzmán (Calle Judíos, 7).
- Taberna Góngora (Calle Conde de Torres Cabrera, 4).
- Taberna San Miguel Casa El Pisto (Plaza de San Miguel, 1). As the name suggests, these guys are famous for their “pisto”: the Spanish ratatouille.
On tortillas near and huge
I’ve spoken before about my insatiable lust for Spanish tortilla.
Spain’s famous potato omelette is the best thing you can do with starch, eggs, and oil—and Córdoba is home to one of my favourites. This is a real whopper of a tortilla, a monster made of two individual tortillas fused together to make one giant, golden wheel of fluffy, potato-ey goodness.
It’s the King Kong of tortilla española, and you need to try it.
The venue couldn’t be more Andaluz if it tried. This tiny hole-in-the-wall bar is right across from the main landmark in Córdoba, the Mezquita Cathedral/Mosque.
You’ll see happy customers grabbing their tortilla on paper plates and sitting down on the steps of the Cathedral to eat it. You’ll also be balancing a plastic cup of beer in one hand and a fork in the other, in true Spanish style!
For the best tortilla in southern Spain, head to:
- Bar Santos (Calle Magistral González Francés, 3).
Modern Bars and Restaurants in Córdoba
Sure, Córdoba might be famous for its super-traditional and some times R-rated cuisine. But it’s also home to some of the most modern interpretations of southern Spanish food you’ll find!
It’s well worth researching some of these places when thinking about where to eat in Córdoba.
Córdoba is even home to a couple of Michelin-starred restaurants, as well as Andalucia’s first ever female Michelin-starred chef, Celia Jiménez. But while I do love a good Michelin meal every now and then (more then than now), it’s not the most everyday of food. So I didn’t try either of those places when I was in town (but if you go, please send me photos to drool on).
Stars aside, Córdoba is also home to several bars serving up-to-date interpretations of regional food. I love cooking like this, food that’s distinctly local but surprising and full of modern flair.
Explore the new side of Andalucian gastronomy by checking out:
- Regadera (Ronda de Isasa, 10). Market-fresh produce presented with modern style and traditional roots.
- Cuatromanos (Calle San Felipe, 13). The thought bubble of two local brothers, taking the food from their mum and their home and putting a new spin on it.
- Restaurante La Boca (Calle San Fernando, 39). Generous tapas and share plates with an international influence.
- Garum 2.1 (Calle San Fernando, 122). Classic Cordoba tapas specialities given a modern spin.
Breakfast in Córdoba: A trip from toast to toast
Is there anything better than Spanish breakfast? It’s so simple, so tasty, so perfect for starting the day.
Just like breakfast in Seville, people start their mornings in Córdoba the right way: with toast. The classic tostada is a fresh hunk of toasty bread smothered in golden, peppery extra virgin olive oil and whatever else you could ever desire.
Traditionally, it’s sliced or smashed tomato and maybe some jamón, but tradition be damned! These days, you can get anything you’d like on toast, from funky homemade marmalades to the most hipster of avocado combos.
You’ll even find a few newer places offering up a more familiar, international brekky featuring eggs and pancakes. And that’s no easy feat—the first time I made eggs for breakfast, my Spanish friends looked at me like I’d stabbed their mothers. Eggs are strictly lunch and dinner food.
Check out my recommendations for the best breakfasts in Córdoba below! You’ve got everything from classic to modern, and everything in between.
- Cafe Bar La Cueva (Plaza de Jerónimo Páez, 7). Taste the traditional breakfast of Spain, and go away dripping with olive oil! You’ll also soak up the views, across from the city’s archaeology museum.
- Café Viena (Calle Ángel de Saavedra, 8). Try traditional breakfasts, as well as some Viennese style cakes and torts.
- Breakfast Club & Co (Calle Lucano, 12). Looking for a hip breakfast spot? This is the place for you. Discover pancakes, bacon & eggs, milkshakes and anything else your hipster heart yearns for.
Drinking in Córdoba: The best bars and where to find them
There is so much more to taste than just food here. Apart from delicious tapas, Córdoba is home to a blossoming craft beer scene, as well as some great traditional and not-so-traditional wines.
Craft Beer Bars in Córdoba
Spain has always been more of a beer country than anything else. The people love their wine, but not as much as the golden nectar that streams frothily from all of the 300,000 bars across the country.
Andalucía is the far end of the spectrum on this one, drinking four times as much beer as wine each year! It’s no surprise that Cruzcampo–the South’s most popular beer–is also the most sold beer in the country.
But you shouldn’t just stick to Cruzcampo. It’s great on a hot day, but there is so much more to get your teeth stuck into (as much as that’s possible with a liquid)!
Córdoba is home to one of the country’s most rapidly growing craft beer scenes, with a pretty big range of brews made locally. Try them out at one of my tips for the best craft beer in the city!
- Califa (Calle Juan Valera, 3). Cute bar serving their own line of Califa craft beers from Cordoba. Also, some tasty snacks!
- La Trapperia Beer Shop (Calle Toril, 4). Try a range of local and international craft beers in a dungeon-like setting. (In a good way).
Wine Bars in Córdoba
With intense summer heat, this region is known as the “frying pan of Spain”. Now, that might not seem the best place to plant delicate grapes—but you’re in for a surprise!
One of the oldest winemaking regions in the south of Spain is in the province of Córdoba, and you’d be missing out by not trying the local wines.
Called Montilla-Moriles, this appellation is also known locally as the ‘Empire of Pedro Ximénez’, after its star grape. It’s the quieter but more brooding cousin of Sherry, the most famous southern wine.
These wines are made in the traditional way, aged and blended in a style unique to Andalucía. You’ll find that the wines are full-flavoured and unusual, with the most famous ones being the intensely sweet and sticky syrups coming from Pedro Ximénez grapes dried out under the blazing sun.
Think wine, but made from raisins!
But if sweet and sticky doesn’t appeal to you, don’t worry! Córdoba also has an emerging modern wine scene, with plenty of choices found at more trendy local bars.
If you’re looking to try any wine in Córdoba, these are your best bets.
- Jugo Vinos Vivos (Plaza San Andrés, 5). Half shop, half bar, all great! Local Cordobes owners Gaby and Javi offer interesting and modern local wines and seasonal tapas dishes to pair.
- Taberna La Bodega (Calle Alhaken II, 4). Bustling local tavern specialising in the traditional wines of Cordoba, served from the barrel!
- Taberna La Montillana (Calle San Álvaro, 5). A classic 1948 bar given a modern facelift, but still specialising in Montilla-Moriles wines.
Read more
Enjoy my foodie guide to where to eat in Córdoba? Check out my tips on the best tapas in Seville, where to eat in Granada, and the best places to eat in Malaga.
And while you’re at it, check out my other foodie guides to my favourite eating and drinking destinations!
My friend Katie (the bride from the top of the post!) runs a great blog all about Córdoba. Read more about where to eat and what to do at Always Olives.
Have you been to Córdoba recently? Let me know where you ate and drank (and if I missed anything!) in the comments!