Where to Eat in Torremolinos: From the Old Town to La Carihuela

Torremolinos eats well in three areas: the Old Town around Calle San Miguel for tapas and Mediterranean fusion, the Bajondillo–Playamar promenade for a meal by the beach, and La Carihuela for espetos, grilled sardines from chiringuitos on the sand – where a Chiringuito Larry espetero won the Costa del Sol's 2025 title. Tapas bars cost least, seafront restaurants more and tasting menus most, and the tasting menus need booking.

Where should you eat in Torremolinos?

Pick the area by the meal you want: the Old Town for tapas and dinner, the promenade for lunch by the sea, and La Carihuela for espetos, fish and rice. A seafront promenade runs the length of the town's beaches, and stairs such as the Cuesta del Tajo climb from it to the Old Town.

We list only venues we could check on their own sites or official listings, so searches such as halal, sushi, Italian, "open now" and "near me" are better answered by a map app and the restaurants' own pages.

Where do you eat in Torremolinos Old Town?

La Tierra, at Cuesta del Tajo 10, is the Old Town pick for a proper dinner, in our judgement: Mediterranean fusion built on traditional Málaga cooking, on the stairs that connect Calle San Miguel with the seafront promenade, next to the Torre de Pimentel, according to its own website.

Casero (La Comida Mediterránea) serves Mediterranean "modern tapas" at dinner, and its listings put it at Calle Skal 4, near La Nogalera in the town centre, not in La Carihuela.

Sabor a Málaga is a permanent gourmet market with restaurants, tapas bars and food shops, in the former municipal-market building on Plaza de la Independencia. It opened in 2021, according to andalucia.com, and Turismo Torremolinos calls it "a mandatory stop for lovers of gastronomy".

Elsewhere in the centre, Andalucía Tourism's listings describe three more kitchens. Mesón Galego Antoxo, at Calle Hoyo 5, opened in 1981 and cooks Galician seafood, fish and meat. La Cacerola, at Calle María Barrabino 5, is a family-run barbecue for home-made burgers, pork ribs and Aberdeen Angus steaks. El Bodegón, at Calle Cauce 4, is a family business since 1972 with international cooking, a French touch and crêpes – not a tapas bar.

The official sources name none of the tapas bars in the streets around Calle San Miguel, the town's main pedestrian street, so we don't either – and a free tapa with every drink is not something we could confirm anywhere. For tapas you can count on, use Sabor a Málaga's bars or one of the annual tapa routes listed by Turismo Torremolinos.

Is Torremolinos Old Town worth an evening? For food, yes – it has the tapas streets around Calle San Miguel and La Tierra on the stairs down from it, and our Torremolinos walking tour covers the rest of the Old Town on foot.

Where can you eat on the seafront?

On the Playamar promenade, MorroFino at Paseo Marítimo 69 cooks traditional Mediterranean food, with gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options, according to its own site, which names dishes such as ensaladilla, grilled langostinos, flamenquín and tartares.

On the Bajondillo side, El Dorado serves traditional Andalusian dishes, tapas, seafood, fish and meat on Calle Peligro, right on the beach of El Bajondillo, according to Andalucía Tourism's listing.

La Carihuela, at the western end of the seafront, is where to eat espetos on the sand, from the grilled-sardine chiringuitos along its promenade. Andalucía Tourism's listings place the chiringuito La Jábega on the sand of La Carihuela, off the Paseo Marítimo, and La Lonja next to the promenade, on Calle San Ginés. Our guide to beach clubs and chiringuitos in Torremolinos covers which to pick.

Want a sea view? Eat on the promenade or the sand. The Old Town is a staircase up from the seafront, not on it, and we don't promise a view that a restaurant doesn't describe itself. For the beaches in front of the promenade, see which Torremolinos beach to pick.

What is the best seafood and espeto in Torremolinos?

An espeto is a skewer of sardines grilled over a wood fire – traditionally a cane skewer, set in a boat filled with sand – and La Carihuela in Torremolinos is one of the Costa del Sol's classic espeto strips. Málaga's own beaches claim the dish too, so we don't call any one beach its birthplace.

In 2025, Nicolás Joaquín Gavín Muñoz of Chiringuito Larry in La Carihuela won first prize, "Mejor Espetero de la Costa del Sol 2025", at the XI Concurso de Espetos de la Costa del Sol, organised by the Círculo de Empresarios de la Costa del Sol and reported by El Español. It is the one independent judgement we found, so we don't rank the other chiringuitos.

For a sit-down fish or rice meal, Andalucía Tourism's listings describe three La Carihuela addresses:

• La Lonja, Calle San Ginés 11: Málaga and Mediterranean cooking with freshly caught fish, in a marine-themed dining room between Calle San Ginés and Calle Mar, next to the promenade.
• Casa Juan Los Mellizos, Calle San Ginés 20: "one of the most typical restaurants in Torremolinos", in its listing's words – traditional local dishes with rice dishes among its specialities, several dining rooms and a large terrace on the square in La Carihuela.
• La Jábega, Paseo Marítimo de La Carihuela: a chiringuito serving fish and shellfish, rice dishes, meat and fish brochettes of bream, sea bass and turbot.

Turismo Torremolinos calls the town "the home of fried fish, also known as 'pescaito frito'". Outside La Carihuela, MorroFino on the Playamar promenade names grilled langostinos on its own site.

Where can you have a special-occasion or romantic dinner?

For a special-occasion dinner, Torremolinos has two tasting-menu restaurants we could verify: Excellence in La Carihuela and Restaurante La Experiencia at Avenida Joan Miró 19. La Experiencia's own site describes contemporary fine dining on a set tasting menu, with a reservation required.

Torremolinos is a beach town with few formal restaurants, in our judgement, so a relaxed dinner for two is often the better fit. La Tierra in the Old Town and El Dorado on the Bajondillo side are the relaxed options.

In Montemar, El Figón de Montemar, at Avenida de Carlota Alessandri 21, serves traditional Spanish home cooking, and its Andalucía Tourism listing says it is recommended in the Michelin and Repsol guides.

Caliu Restaurant, at Avenida de España 18, serves international Mediterranean, Spanish and European cooking at dinner, according to its own site. For a drink afterwards, see our guide to Torremolinos nightlife.

Is it expensive to eat out in Torremolinos?

It depends on where you sit: tapas bars cost least, seafront restaurants more and tasting menus most. That's the pattern; we found no reliable index that compares Torremolinos with other towns.

At La Tierra in the Old Town, the restaurant's own menu lists starters at ~€11–18 and mains at ~€15–26 – one published menu, not an average for the town.

Operators change prices between seasons, and many restaurants close one weekday, so check the menu and opening days on the restaurant's own site before you go.

Are there markets and local food shops?

Torremolinos has two street markets at the Fairgrounds, according to Turismo Torremolinos: on Thursdays for all sorts of goods, and on Sundays for antiques. We don't print their hours, so check with the tourist office before you go.

For local food, the town's old municipal-market building on Plaza de la Independencia is now Sabor a Málaga, the gourmet market with restaurants, tapas bars and food shops.

Turismo Torremolinos also lists two annual tapa routes, the Ruta de la Tapa and the Ruta de la Tapa de la Abuela, with a "Tapasporte" passport. Their dates change from year to year, so ask the tourist office.

For a local breakfast, order a tostada or a mollete – toasted bread or a soft Andalusian roll, usually with olive oil, tomato or ham – at a café bar, the everyday Andalusian habit.

Eat tapas in the Old Town, lunch on the promenade and espetos in La Carihuela, and book a tasting menu for the one big night.

To plan the rest of the trip, see where to stay in Torremolinos and our guide to things to do in Torremolinos.

FAQ – Restaurants in Torremolinos