Cantabria is an autonomous community in northern Spain bordering the Cantabrian Sea (Bay of Biscay), celebrated for its rugged Atlantic coastline, prehistoric cave art at Altamira, soaring Picos de Europa peaks, and a cuisine centred on fresh seafood and aged cheeses.
Cantabrian cuisine is built around the sea and the mountains. The Bay of Biscay delivers world-class anchovies (especially from Santoña, a PDO product), percebes (goose barnacles), nécoras (spider crabs), merluza (hake), and bonito del norte tuna. Inland, the green valleys produce exceptional dairy — the raw-milk Picón Bejes-Tresviso blue cheese and the milder Cantabria PDO wheel cheese — as well as beef from ancient Tudanca cattle and suckling lamb. Mountain dishes centre on cocido montañés, a robust stew of white beans, cabbage, and pork. Sweets are dominated by sobaos pasiegos (enriched butter sponge) and quesada pasiega (cream-cheese tart).
Top restaurants
Handpicked picks for the best dining experiences.
El Cenador de Amós
This is chef Jesús Sánchez's two-Michelin-star restaurant, set in a restored stone rectory building in the small village of Villaverde de Pontones rather than in Santander itself. The cooking builds tasting menus around Cantabrian produce - dairy, seafood, and mountain beef - reworked into precise, modern plates rather than served in traditional form. The dining room keeps the old building's stone walls and beams alongside contemporary furnishings, giving it a formal, quiet register suited to a long tasting menu.
Known for: Three Michelin stars; champion of modern Cantabrian cuisine using local ingredients
Plaza del Sol s/n, 39793 Villaverde de Pontones, Cantabria
El Serbal
A long-running fine-dining restaurant in central Santander that pairs Cantabrian seafood with a more contemporary, technique-driven Spanish menu than you'll find at the city's traditional marisquerías. Dishes like steamed hake with pil-pil sauce show the kitchen working classic Cantabrian pairings but plating them with more restraint. The room is modern and formal rather than rustic, aimed at a tasting-menu or set-menu crowd rather than walk-in casual diners.
Known for: One Michelin star; outstanding wine cellar with focus on Cantabrian and Rioja producers
Calle Andrés del Río 7, 39004 Santander, Cantabria
El Nuevo Molino
Housed in a restored 18th-century water mill in Puente Arce, this was chef Jesús Sánchez's restaurant before he opened El Cenador de Amós, and it kept its Michelin star under different management after his departure. The setting - old millstones and stonework alongside the dining room - is unusual for a fine-dining restaurant in Cantabria, and the cooking stays close to traditional regional ingredients like angulas and clams rather than reinventing them wholesale. It suits a slower, occasion-driven lunch or dinner rather than a quick stop.
Known for: One Michelin star; located in an 18th-century watermill in a rural setting 20 min from Santander
Barrio Molino s/n, 39478 Puente Arce, Cantabria
Restaurante Cañadío
A Santander institution built around the Plaza de Cañadío, functioning as both a standing-room pintxos bar out front and a sit-down restaurant behind it. The bar side serves classic Cantabrian pintxos and fried seafood to a crowd that spills onto the square, while the restaurant side leans into more composed plates using the same seafood and regional produce. It's one of the anchor stops for a Santander pintxos crawl rather than a destination in itself.
Known for: Santander institution; legendary rabas (squid) and pintxos bar
Calle Gómez Oreña 15, 39003 Santander, Cantabria
La Bombi
A long-standing Santander seafood restaurant known for keeping live shellfish on display near the entrance, which customers can choose from before it's cooked. The kitchen splits between grilled meat - including the chargrilled ox steak - and classic Cantabrian seafood preparations like tuna stew, putting it a notch above the neighborhood's simpler seafood bars in both price and formality. The dining room is traditional rather than modern, aimed at diners who want a proper sit-down seafood meal.
Known for: Classic Santander restaurant since 1975; favourite of locals for grilled meats and fresh fish
Calle Casimiro Sainz 15, 39003 Santander, Cantabria
Bar del Puerto
A no-frills bar near Santander's fishing harbor on Calle Hernán Cortés, serving simple, seafood-forward pintxos and small plates rather than composed restaurant dishes. It's the kind of place where you order a few plates to share at the counter or a small table - anchovy pintxos, garlic prawns - rather than sit down for a full meal. The setting is plain and functional, in keeping with its position among the harbor-area bars rather than in the fine-dining part of town.
Known for: Best pintxos bar near the harbour; try the Cantabrian anchovies in olive oil
Calle Hernán Cortés 63, 39003 Santander, Cantabria
Mesón del Oso
A mountain restaurant in Fuente Dé, at the base of the Picos de Europa cable car, serving the heavier, meat-and-stew cooking typical of Cantabria's interior rather than the coast's seafood focus. The cocido montañés and roast kid reflect food built for a cold mountain climate and a farming economy, not resort dining. It functions as a stop for people visiting the cable car or hiking the Picos, with a plain, functional dining room rather than a refined one.
Known for: Classic mountain restaurant at the base of Fuente Dé cable car; warming cocido after hiking
Barrio de Fuente Dé s/n, 39588 Fuente Dé, Cantabria
El Orujo
Popular Cantabrian Mountain Cuisine restaurant in Cantabria.
Known for: Best restaurant in Potes; serves local Liébana produce and the famous Picos de Europa cheese
Calle Roscabado 6, 39570 Potes, Cantabria
Restaurants by cuisine
Browse picks grouped by cuisine type.
Seafood
Restaurante La Marina
Known for: Famous for sorropotún, a traditional Cantabrian fisherman's tuna stew; sea views from terrace
Avenida del Generalísimo 63, 39540 San Vicente de la Barquera, Cantabria
Restaurante El Balneario
Known for: Legendary Cantabrian seafood restaurant attached to the old Solares spa hotel
Avenida de Las Termas 3, 39710 Solares, Cantabria
Mesón Marinero
Known for: Best seafood in Laredo; try the nécora (spider crab) in season September–November
Calle Menéndez Pelayo 10, 39770 Laredo, Cantabria
Puerta Calicho
Known for: No-frills grilled meats and seafood; very popular with Santander locals for lunch
Calle Cádiz 3, 39004 Santander, Cantabria
Spanish
Bodega del Riojano
A long-established tavern-restaurant in Santander's old quarter, built around a dining room lined with wooden wine barrel heads (bocoyes) painted by artists who have eaten there over the decades. The kitchen sticks to home-style Cantabrian and Spanish cooking rather than anything experimental, served in a dark-wood, tightly packed room that feels more like a historic bodega than a modern restaurant.
Known for: Rustic bodega atmosphere; one of Santander's most atmospheric restaurants
Calle Río de la Pila 5, 39003 Santander, Cantabria
Restaurante La Capilla
Known for: Best restaurant in Comillas; try Santoña anchovies, a protected denomination of origin product
Calle del General Mola 1, 39520 Comillas, Cantabria
Cafetería Royalty
A long-established café on Santander's seafront promenade, done up with old-fashioned wood-and-brass fittings and marble-topped tables rather than a modern coffee-bar look. It functions as a bakery-café serving Cantabrian pastries alongside coffee and breakfast plates, with a glass counter displaying the cakes rather than a printed pastry menu.
Known for: Historic 19th-century café on the seafront promenade; must-stop for traditional Cantabrian pastries
Paseo de Pereda 22, 39004 Santander, Cantabria
Asturian
Sidrería El Cantábrico
Known for: Authentic cider house serving Asturian natural cider poured from height; lively atmosphere
Calle Vargas 16, 39010 Santander, Cantabria
Basque
El Caserío
Known for: Basque-influenced cuisine in Castro Urdiales; excellent marmita de bonito in summer
Calle Correría 7, 39700 Castro Urdiales, Cantabria
Café
Café de Pombo
Known for: Historic Santander café; best place to try sobaos pasiegos, the region's signature sweet
Calle Casimiro Sainz 19, 39003 Santander, Cantabria
Cantabrian Classics
Casa Cigaleña
Known for: Excellent value menú del día at €13 (~$14); beloved by Santander office workers
Calle Daoíz y Velarde 19, 39003 Santander, Cantabria
Fresh Fish & Shellfish
El Puerto Restaurante
Known for: Harbour-front location with fresh-off-the-boat fish; seafood platters for sharing
Calle Hernán Cortés 63, 39003 Santander, Cantabria
Fusion
Restaurante Umma
Known for: Modern kitchen blending Cantabrian produce with international technique; strong wine list
Calle Daoíz y Velarde 5, 39003 Santander, Cantabria
Modern Creative
La Casona del Judío
A Michelin-starred restaurant set inside a restored 19th-century Cantabrian casona (manor house) with its own garden, on the edge of Santander. The cooking takes Cantabrian raw materials, such as hake, game and local dairy, and reworks them into a tasting-menu format with modern plating and sauce work rather than the plain grilled or stewed presentations found elsewhere in the region.
Known for: Michelin Bib Gourmand; creative tasting menus inspired by Cantabrian coast and mountains
Repuente 20, 39012 Santander, Cantabria
Pintxos & Local Snacks
Bar La Barrera
Known for: Popular with locals for quick pintxos and craft beer; packed on Friday and Saturday evenings
Calle Cisneros 5, 39003 Santander, Cantabria
Pintxos & Wine
Taberna La Conveniente
Known for: Classic tapas bar in the old town; great selection of Rioja and Cantabrian wines by the glass
Calle Gómez Oreña 9, 39003 Santander, Cantabria
Rural Cantabrian
El Naranjo
Known for: Village restaurant near El Cenador de Amós; excellent regional menú at a fraction of the price
Calle Real 4, 39793 Villaverde de Pontones, Cantabria
Food tours & tastings in Cantabria
Eat your way through Cantabria with a guide.
Browse food experiences in CantabriaWe may earn a commission from bookings made through these links.
Street food
Local flavours at affordable prices.
Rabas (fried squid rings)
Find it at: Bar-freidurías in Santander old town
Price: €4–6 (~$4.33–6.50) per ración
Pintxos spread
Find it at: Calle Gómez Oreña, Santander
Price: €1.50–2.50 (~$1.62–2.70) per pintxo
Food markets
Where locals shop and graze.
Mercado de la Esperanza
Hours: Mon–Sat 08:00–14:00
Dining etiquette & tips
Navigate the local food scene confidently.
Lunch (13:00–16:00) is the main meal; dinner rarely starts before 21:00
The menú del día (set lunch menu) costs €10–14 (~$11–15) and usually includes starter, main, dessert, bread, and a drink
Anchovies from Santoña are the region's flagship product — avoid cheap imitations; buy tin-packed Conservas Ortiz or Real Conservera Española brands
Food budget guide
What to expect at different price points.
| Level | Price | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | €10–20/day (~$11–22) on menús del día and pintxos | Street food, local eateries, and simple restaurants. |
| Mid-range | €30–50/day (~$32–54) | Sit-down restaurants with good service and varied menus. |
| Upscale | $40+/meal | Fine dining, international cuisine, and premium experiences. |