Where to eat in Benidorm — the best local restaurants and tables worth booking, filtered by cuisine and picked for tourists, expats and families.
Benidorm's food reputation is unfair. Beyond the all-day-breakfast strip of the New Town, the Casco Antiguo (Old Town) is a genuinely good Spanish eating quarter: 'Tapas Alley' (Calle Santo Domingo) is wall-to-wall traditional bars, and La Cava Aragonesa on Plaza de la Constitución is a local institution — a vast tapas-and-wine list you graze at the bar.
This is the Valencian coast, so rice and seafood are done properly — caldero and arroces at old-town tables like La Señoría, seafood tapas at La Picaeta de Maties, and fresh fish along the Poniente seafront. And yes, the resort side delivers too: Benidorm has one of Spain's densest concentrations of restaurants of every nationality, so whether you want gambas al pil pil or a full English, it's a few steps away.
A lively old-town restaurant with a popular roof terrace — an international menu spanning steaks, curries and tempura, known as much for its buzz and service as its food.
Plaza de la Constitución, Benidorm
A Benidorm old-town institution on Plaza de la Constitución — a heaving tapas and wine bar with a huge list of montaditos, cheeses and cured meats and a serious cellar. Order at the bar and graze.
A quiet old-town alley table doing seafood-led traditional tapas with fresh Valencian ingredients — grilled squid, artichokes, salads and more.
A seafood-and-rice specialist — fresh fish and generous arroces (seafood rice and paella), a reliable choice for a proper Valencian lunch.
An Argentine grill for serious meat-eaters — chargrilled steaks and ribs in a warm parrilla setting, one of the town's go-tos for a steak.
A popular Mediterranean and European table known for its grilled fish and octopus — friendly, dependable and a local favourite.
An old-town favourite for Valencian rice — its speciality caldero (a rich, brothy rice) alongside paella, tapas and seafood, with quiet outdoor tables.
A long-standing seafood restaurant with a leafy outdoor courtyard near the centre — big shared shellfish platters, from clams to crayfish, and the day's fresh catch.
A friendly, great-value spot for tapas, paella and a menú del día — generous plates and jugs of sangria at prices that keep regulars coming back.
The Old Town. 'Tapas Alley' (Calle Santo Domingo) is lined with traditional bars, and La Cava Aragonesa on Plaza de la Constitución is the famous one — a huge list of montaditos, cheeses and cured meats you order at the bar, with a serious wine cellar.
No — that's the reputation, not the reality. The New Town and Rincón de Loix have plenty of British and international bars, but the Casco Antiguo is a genuinely Spanish scene, and being on the Valencian coast means excellent local rice dishes and fresh seafood.
Head for the Old Town. For Valencian rice and caldero try old-town tables like La Señoría; for seafood-led tapas, La Picaeta de Maties. The bars along Calle Santo Domingo are the traditional heart of it.
Old-town tapas bars are mostly walk-in. For a table at the popular sit-down restaurants and for dinner-and-show venues like Benidorm Palace, book ahead in summer and at weekends.