La Cárcel

What a GREAT meal!!! Recommended by a native of Arcos, this is refined cuisine in a simple mountain setting, and ridiculously affordable. We were unsure what to expect when we walked into the empty restaurant at 8 pm, but we were about to have one of the best meals of our three week trip through Andalusia, in a restaurant that was packed with Spaniards by the time we left. Version with sherry sauce, baked goat cheese on homemade red pepper marmalade, great local wine, even the olives were the best! Loved it, and wish we had time for a second+ meal at La Carcel.

delicious little restaurant in the middle of a very small street. we ate outside, the service was exceptional, the waiters were very friendly and took the time to communicate with us (as we barely speak Spanish but understand it well). The portions are generous, the food is fresh and tasty. The one star missing is for the drinks : the white wine and the sangria that we ordered didn’t taste much, but overall we had a great time! we paid 57€ for 1 « media » (1/2 portion) entrance, 2 main dishes, 2 glasses of white wine and 2 sangrias.

Located near the top of the hill along the main tourist route, La Cárcel is a great place for lunch or dinner. The food is excellent and extremely well priced. The warm goat cheese and homemade red pepper jam is outrageously decadent and an excellent plate to share. The staff are very friendly and the timing of delivery for multiple dishes excellent. The location is on a narrower part of the street so its not the best for outdoor dining and you might want to try somewhere further along the road if that is what you are after. Inside is bright and clean.

We stopped here for some tapas before going to Arcos de la Frontera. Everything was delicious and super cheap. The crockettes cooked in a pot were the best we've had in our trip so far. The king prawn puff pastry were also delicious. They were like mini egg rolls. The date and cheese puff pastry was also good but very rich. If we were to come again we'd pick a dish with fresh seafood instead of three fried tapas.

Food was really good for value. I recommend retinta beef sirloin and tomato kumato with anchovies, red onion, and wakame. The waiters were friendly and food was served quick.

Delicious tapas for a reasonable price. We got the chicken tenders, shrimp wrapped in zucchini and lamp chops. Highly recommend!

Insanely wonderful. Best tuna ever. All food was just fantastic. Charming, charming service... Would give 10 stars if I could. Just my kind of place.

Great spot for some authentic food. I had the croquetas de caña de lomo, the tuna steak and dessert tarta de turrón and it was all delicious! Plus the staff were superb! Well recommended 👌🏻

Another cute little outdoor restaurant located on a hill. Our sever had a little bit of trouble understanding us, but he was super friendly. Pez Espada (€9.00)- 3/5 I never really see swordfish on the menu, so I took advantage of that here. They do give you a very generous piece of fish, however, it was bland. Too much olive oil and not enough actual flavor. This also came with salad and dressing on top in which I think the dressing should have been on the fish which would have made it taste much better. Payoyo (€6.00)-4/5 This was just a platter of goat cheese and they also gave us olive oil on the side in which we put over the cheese and ate with the bread. Nothing special but it was nice to try.

Travel around enough in Spain, and you will eat at plenty of forgettable tapas bars. Either the tidbits are the same, or a rehash of the same ingredients in different forms, or the ingredients just are not stunning. Then you come across La Cárcel, it was not outstanding tapas, but it was memorable b/c they made theirs different, perhaps even a more gourmet element. 1. Many Spanish locals and tourists eating away, good sign. 2. The tapas were more inventive or just had a unique twist which is what stuck in my head. We knew a few we wanted to try from TripAdvisor reviews, but honestly it's better just to order 1-2 to start with, then order whatever catches the eye as it's being served around you. Tapas is suppose to be just relaxing and nibbling, not full on dinner meals ordered all at once.. so try this method and you will eat a greater and better variety than blindly ordering everything all at once.

Great tapas bar close to the top of arcos de la frontera's Santa Maria church. Very friendly and helpful service. I enjoyed the octopus served in olive oil, paprika, and spices; Iberian ham toasts with the omnipresent salmorejo (tomato, olive oil, and herbs) sauce and poached quail egg; and lightly fried shrimp spring rolls. I was disappointed with the mushrooms which had almost no mushrooms and instead ended up like a potato frittata with a few mushrooms sprinkled in it. The oxtail croquettes tasted fine but I couldn't taste any oxtail at all. Very affordable at around 2 to 3 euros per tapa. Some outdoor tables (albeit about a third of the block up from the restaurant). Very happening bar on the weekends. It's busiest between 9:30 and midnight.

If you want great food in a friendly local setting, this is a great place to go. The restaurant is small with only a dozen or so tables. The decor is simple but very clean and bright. It appears to be a family run restaurant. When we were there the clientele seemed to be a mix of locals and tourists, and the staff was equally attentive to both. We ordered the grilled artichoke with ham and the grilled asparagus with mustard and honey as starters, and they were absolutely delicious. Perfectly cooked with just the right touch of seasoning. It's not one of the more visible restaurants in the old town area, and you may walk by it without noticing if you aren't paying attention, but it's definitely worth looking for!

Just arrived in Arcos and stopped in for our first meal based on the Rick Steves' guidebook recommendation, it did not disappoint. The menu was available in English, in addition to the traditional tapas it also included quite a few new options. We recommend the shrimp with pineapple sauce, it was a large shelled shrimp wrapped in lettuce and a spring roll wrapper, fried, and served with a drizzling of a sweet/sour sauce and from the cold menu the white asparagus with salmon and avocado, which was served over lettuce. All in all a memorable mid-day treat in a well air conditioned space.

We had an excellent meal here on our recent trip to Spain, actually one of the better meals of the trip. The goat cheese with red pepper jam was amazing, I would go back just for that dish!

Very unique tapas not your typical selection. Really well prepared very nice service. Time to navigate down these steep street with full stomach: )