🥘Where to Eat in Marbella — Our Local Picks🦐
Welcome to one of our favourite sections.
Are you a foodie like us? Then you've found the right place to start planning your Marbella gastronomy adventure.
This is our actual list — the places we eat at ourselves, the owners we know by name, the dishes we order without thinking. Not a tourist-trap round-up. If your favourite isn't here, tell us — there are so many options, so little time.
🎥 Watch us trying them out: Marbella Food Tours playlist on YouTube.
🐟 Espetos — sardines, salmonetes & the chiringuito ritual
The most Marbella thing you can eat. Fresh fish threaded onto bamboo skewers, salted, and grilled over a wood fire built inside a beached fishing boat (the moraga). Sardines are the classic — but espeto de salmonetes (red mullet) is the move when you want something a little finer. June through September is the season, but the best months are now — June, July, August — when the fish are at their fattest.
Most chiringuitos along the coast claim to do espetos. Most of them don't do them right. These two do:
- Chiringuito Basilio —fresh fish on the beach, right outside Skol Gardens. Two minutes from any Skol apartment.
- El Sombrero —the local pick when you want to know it's done properly. The fire is built right, the fish is right, the people running it know what they're doing.
Tip: order them by the half-dozen (media docena de espetos) with a cold cerveza or tinto de verano, around 2pm. Don't dress up. Sand on your feet is required.
🇪🇸 The Spanish experience — tapas, pintxos, fresh fish
- Lekune — Basque pintxos on Avda. Fontanilla. Pile them up at the counter, count the toothpicks at the end.
- Los Mellizos — fresh fish and some meat, right on the Paseo Marítimo.
- Paladar — gourmet tapas and Spanish cooking at Hotel Lima.
- Primera Selección — shop and restaurant, where everything is prepared in front of you.
🏛️ In the Old Town
The cobbled streets behind the Plaza de los Naranjos — 10 minutes from Skol on foot, but a different world once you're in it.
- Bar Altamirano — fish and seafood in a beautiful tiled square. Honest, busy, local.
- Casa Curro — shrimp, octopus, Andalusian cured meats, on Calle Pantaleón.
- La Tienda de Casa Curro — their delicatessen shop right next door. Take some jamón home.
- Marisquería Casa Curro — seafood counter across from the shop.
- Bar el Estrecho — tapas and more, on Calle el Estrecho. Tiny, packed, brilliant.
🌍 International
- Gulzar — authentic Indian, Camilo José Cela 2.
- Jacaré Marbella — Brazilian BBQ buffet in the park.
- 11.11 Societe — Mexican-Asian fusion. The margaritas are the point.
- Mr Noodles — woks and snacks, Camilo José Cela 4, right behind Skol. Fast, cheap, good.
- Origen — BBQ meats, Calle Gregorio Marañón, right behind Frank's Corner.
- Hacienda Patagónica — Argentinean tapas and grilled meat, across from the marina entrance.
- Genji Sushi — homemade sushi at a traditional Japanese bar.
☕ Breakfast & brunch
The pre-beach ritual. Coffee + something baked + a plan for the day.
- Maleva Bakery — speciality coffees and the kind of bread you'll buy a second time before you've finished the first.
- Kafein Coffee & Kitchen — speciality coffee, pastries, proper brunch. Two locations: Old Town (C. Pedraza, 3) and Golden Mile (N-340, km 176).
- Margots — real brunch and proper Italian coffee.
- Morning People — vegan breakfast and brunch. The wellness crowd's HQ.
- Cafetería Heladería Lisa — the local coffee shop on the corner. No frills, all soul.
- Sottozero — Italian coffee shop on the Paseo Marítimo.
Working remotely? Most of these have fast WiFi and don't kick you out. See also our 10 best digital-nomad cafés in Marbella.
🥂 For that special occasion
Reservations are a must.
- Lobito de Mar — seafood, fish, and tapas on the Golden Mile (Dani García group).
- Los Mellizos — fresh fish on the Paseo Marítimo. A Marbella institution, and the kind of place you book when it matters.
- Chiringuito Puente Romano — the Sunday lunch institution. Feet in the sand, white linen, sea breeze.
🍸 Drinks & rooftops
- Best cocktails: Santa Florentina — quiet, classic, perfect.
- The Claddagh — your local Irish pub, right at Skol Apartments. Useful to know.
- Nellies — the Irish pub on the port.
- Lucky Leprechaun — the oldest pub in Marbella.
Rooftops:
- Lima Hotel by Paladar — colourful cocktails.
- Fuerte Hotel — best views of Marbella from up high.
- Linda Hotel — Old Town cosy.
⛵ At sea
Drinks on the water are a proper Marbella thing. Paddle out, motor out, jet-ski out — there's almost always a floating bar somewhere between Marbella Club and Puerto Banús.
Rent the kit:
- Nalusur — paddleboards, kayaks, e-bikes. Marbella's original adventure outfit, 15 years in. The people you want for paddle SUP yoga at sunrise.
- Marbella Sports Boat — boats, jet skis, buggies. Based at Marbella marina.
- Aqua Time — fleet of boats by the hour, with or without a skipper. Flyboard, parasailing, jet skis if you fancy the adrenaline. Bases at Puente Romano Beach and the marina.
Where to drink once you're out there:
- BarcoBar Marbella — the Costa del Sol's first proper floating cocktail bar. Drifts between Marbella and Banús — follow them on IG for the day's coordinates.
- Mojitos a Bordo — the name does the work. Usually parked near Marbella Club.
- 1970 Yacht Club — newly opened in Puerto Banús. Worth the cruise over if you've already got the boat.
Stay walking-distance from all of it
Every place on this list is within 20 minutes' walk (most under 10) from Skol Apartments. No car, no taxi queue at midnight, no missing the last espeto of the night.
👉 Browse our apartments 👉 The Marbella Guide — what else to do while you're here 💬 Message Daniela & Vincenzo on WhatsApp — for a table reservation, a personal recommendation, or just to say hi
See you soon under the sun, Daniela & Vincenzo Skol Apartments Marbella