Spain- a tapas primer

[Anonymous]

I’m heading to Spain in a couple of weeks - my first trip and I am so excited. I’m meeting a friend and going to Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona.

I love tapas - tapas in the U.S. at least! I think of them like appetizers, but obviously many restaurants here make a meal of them at dinnertime.

A co-worker told me that is not how tapas are consumed in Spain, and that it would be odd to go in around dinnertime and order 4 tapas to make it into dinner.

Please educate me when and how tapas are typically eaten in Spain (in 2025). I don’t speak Spanish but am brushing up on phrases and always like to make an effort wherever I visit to be respectful of local customs - and it adds to my enjoyment and getting to know a place.

Thank you!

(I posted this here instead of the food forum because I want to learn how tapas are consumed in Spain specifically.)

[Anonymous]

A sit-down dinner or lunchtime meal in Spain is like in the US - you order a full meal with an entree. Tapas are consumed at a bar usually earlier in the evening more as a snack. That said you could certainly make a full meal out of tapas at a bar! Nobody would think it was strange.

[Anonymous]

Yeah it’s usually one dish of tapas with a drink. Then go to another bar and have another drink another dish of tapas

[Anonymous]

Tapas are kind of dying outnon spain. Some restaurants are only serving raciones which are like half an entree and meant to be shared among the table. Boooooo.

Tapas are usually eaten standing or standing at the bar, or you grab a table and deputize one person to order at bar and bring them out to your table. Often the menu is written in chalk over the bar bc it changes frequently. Waiters also tell you all the tapas and boy that is hard to understand even for native speakers that is a common joke of how confusing it can be to listen to the list. Common for tab to be written in chalk in surface of barnin feont of you.

There are cold and hot tapas (cold mest salads basically) and hot (flamenquin, croquettes, etc). And montaditos, little sandwiches.

Exception: granada always serves a tapa with your drink but you can’t picknit.

[Anonymous]

In madrid casa labra off puerta del sol is famius for tapas (they have sit down service in dining room but it is still tapas)

And also madrid, has Tigre del Norte is an institution where you get free plate of tapas (massive) with every drink. Verrrry popular with college students lol

[Anonymous]

As others have said, you get them with a drink in a bar/cafe. Sometimes they even come complimentary -- potatas bravas are salty and are often served for free kind of like salty peanuts in the US, to get you thirsty to order more drinks.

[Anonymous]

When we were at a beach town pre-covid, there was a restaurant that basically did a "tapas buffet" for lack of a better term. They had huge amounts of tapas set up on tables in one area of the restaurant. You got a table and ordered drinks, and then would go grab whatever you wanted, each dish had a small wooden stick- there were I think 3 types representing different prices. When you finished they counted your sticks and added it to your tab.

But I suspect this was maybe an unusual thing, done to move bigger crowds through at peak season?

[Anonymous]

10 years ago, in Seville, we ate tapas at a bar with wine. Like others said, there was a chalkboard, in cursive, with all the various tapas listed. You could also point at another person's food, ask for the same, and smile.

Spanish dinner time is LATE so if you eat a lot of tapas at US dinner time, and then just skip the 10pm dinner, you'll be right along with the rest of the Spanish people.

[Anonymous]

Anything on the menu is fair game and can be eaten anytime in whatever style and portion. Seriously.

I mean, sometimes don’t you just order a couple appetizers as your meal? Or sometimes don’t you just order a bunch of stuff and share? When we travel with our family of 6, we often just order a bunch of different things to try. I doubt the wait staff judge us since we tend to spend more money sampling lots of items.

[Anonymous]

Also be prepared to eat dinner at 9pm or later. Likely later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also be prepared to eat dinner at 9pm or later. Likely later.

Or find a place that caters to tourists and eat whenever you like.

I’m always able to find a place

[Anonymous]

I feel better knowing it’s not what people eat for a meal. I could never stomach a million small plates

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When we were at a beach town pre-covid, there was a restaurant that basically did a "tapas buffet" for lack of a better term. They had huge amounts of tapas set up on tables in one area of the restaurant. You got a table and ordered drinks, and then would go grab whatever you wanted, each dish had a small wooden stick- there were I think 3 types representing different prices. When you finished they counted your sticks and added it to your tab.

But I suspect this was maybe an unusual thing, done to move bigger crowds through at peak season?

No, not unusual. Depending on the area of Spain this may be common.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When we were at a beach town pre-covid, there was a restaurant that basically did a "tapas buffet" for lack of a better term. They had huge amounts of tapas set up on tables in one area of the restaurant. You got a table and ordered drinks, and then would go grab whatever you wanted, each dish had a small wooden stick- there were I think 3 types representing different prices. When you finished they counted your sticks and added it to your tab.

But I suspect this was maybe an unusual thing, done to move bigger crowds through at peak season?

No, not unusual. Depending on the area of Spain this may be common.

Was about to say the same thing - this is how I remember eating pintxos in the Basque country, over 20 years ago.

[Anonymous]

You could also look into a “tapas tour” type bar crawl. My husband and I did one in Sevilla, it was just the two of us and a guide. He had us trying all kinds of things we wouldn’t be brave enough to order on our own. We loved it.