Restaurante Pancho

Restaurante Pancho is a well-regarded restaurant in Santa Brígida, a prosperous hillside town in Gran Canaria's central valley, in the Canary Islands. Santa Brígida sits in the Monte Lentiscal area, which produces some of Gran Canaria's most distinctive wines from vineyards at altitude above Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and the restaurant has built its identity around this local wine culture alongside creative interpretations of Canarian culinary traditions. The kitchen brings disciplined technique to familiar island ingredients: cochino negro, the local black pig breed reared in Gran Canaria's highland municipalities, appears in preparations that reflect both traditional slow cooking and contemporary plating. Crab croquetas are a house signature — the crab sourced from the Atlantic waters off Gran Canaria's coast, the croqueta itself lighter and more refined than the standard Canarian version. The bienmesabe dessert — the sweet almond cream that appears across Gran Canaria's mountain villages — is made in-house and considered one of the restaurant's finest courses. The wine list is built around Monte Lentiscal and the broader Gran Canaria appellation alongside other Canarian islands and selected Spanish mainland labels. The dining room is comfortable and contemporary in feel, warmer and less formal than a city fine dining restaurant; the clientele is predominantly local and the atmosphere reflects this. Mains average €17; a full dinner with wine runs around €33 per person. The restaurant closes on Mondays. Reservations are essential, particularly for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays, when Santa Brígida's popularity with Las Palmas residents making a mountain lunch excursion peaks.