The best beach bars and pubs

Among those neighborhoods El Palo occupies a special place: A small universe with its own identity within Greater Malaga. Here they coexist Seafaring culture, classic picnic areas and traditional taverns A new generation knew how to add to the scene without distorting it. This balance is exactly what makes more fans cross the city every year to eat on these streets where everything seems to go at a different pace.

If this mixture works well in any part of the neighborhood, it is in Echeverría El Palo, where… Traditional pubs It coexists with young projects that provide freshness without separating from the essence.

Our favorite places to eat in Echeverría-El Palo

after Recommendations from our editor, Carlos Mateusa good connoisseur of the region and a recognized lover of its bars, we have compiled popular stops such as Alba BrothersBreakfasts are already a ritual The roperdark bars e.g Zurichdining houses such as Juanito Juannew proposals such as Primitivo, Seafood Fry House Salvador and Lucas And other environmental basics such as About ThomasAnd beach bars Las Palmeras and Recaleta That even though they exist outside the margins of the neighborhood, they are always recommended.

Alba Brothers

We start in the Echeverría area, stopping along the way at the Hermanos Alba restaurant. This establishment is a benchmark for fresh seafood and fish, brought in daily from the Caleta de Vélez fish market.

Since 1988, Hermanos Alba has continued to strive to maintain a menu that contains the essential elements of Malaga cuisine allowing it to be one of the best rated restaurants in Malaga. House specialties are papillote, fried fish, traditional gazpachuelo, AB Vineyard soup and Russian salad.

Primitive

Just a few meters from the sea, Primitivo has become one of the most personal and most pampering projects in Echeverría el Palo. What was born in 2018 as a small place for 40 people, ended up not meeting the cuisine that Pablo and Elena wanted to develop, prompting them to jump to a larger space on the same street. This move has not changed the essence: Primitivo is still a house where embers, pickles and midday rice dishes coexist and a recipe book that moves from classic to suggestive without losing cohesion.

It is common here to find everything from refined gazpachuelo to soup or some gently prepared hummus, but also dishes that aim for the highest level: fried birds, squid in vinegar, fish ravioli or meats cured with oak charcoal. The menu changes often, with entrees that alternate between hot and cold, well-made raw foods and a rice section that many claim is one of the best in the area.

Primitivo maintains that tricky balance between neighborhood cuisine and laid-back creativity, without the fuss and with a lot of technology behind it. A place to return hungry and without haste

The roper

If there’s one place that sums up a morning in El Palo better than any other, it’s Roper’s Bar. Close to the municipal market and more than four decades after its establishment, this bar is part of the daily scene of the neighborhood: here you have breakfast, snacks and conversations as if times were different. Antonio García is in charge of the establishment, and in the kitchen – and in life – he is accompanied by María José, responsible for one of the most talked about treasures of the area: the tenderloin in lard that they make daily and that has made this bar an obligatory stop.

The reputation for tenderloin has moved far beyond the neighborhood, but at El Roper it doesn’t just stop there. They also prepare Zoraba Palenya which has as many devotees as there are stories about it, and shredded meat which is sold before the morning is over. Everything is served in the familiar style of pubs that are still real neighborhood bars, without gimmicks and with home-made products. The absolute classic Echevarría game to start the day on substance.

Seafood restaurant – Freduría Salvador y Lucas

In the heart of El Palo Market, where seafood traditions continue to set the tone every morning, one of the neighborhood’s most beloved stalls appears: Salvador y Lucas, a seafood restaurant-frieduría that occupies sites 34 and 35 and serves as a little haven for those looking for fish and seafood without detours. Her counter is an advertisement in itself: silver anchovies, luxurious shells, squid, prawns, oysters… The fish market is selected daily and treated with the respect it deserves.

Here you can eat freshly fried fish, with Malaga’s self-explanatory twist, or eat seafood already prepared thanks to its special cooking service, which is highly regarded among neighbors who eat at home but do not compromise on quality. Salvador y Lucas represents that part of the neighborhood that doesn’t change: fresh produce, live cuisine and a market atmosphere that are part of the experience. One of those places that define El Palo from within.

Juanito Juan

Completely Salvador Allende Street,Juanito Juan It’s one of those places where time passes to the rhythm of the neighborhood. It was born as an honest dining restaurant, serving straightforward, no-make-up Spanish cuisine, and continues today in the hands of the team that worked alongside the historic Enrique and Pippin, maintaining the essence that made the establishment a haven for so many regulars. You don’t come here just in passing: you come because they know you, because they serve you by name wherever you sit, and because the kitchen continues to address the sea in front of you.

What’s served at the table is easy to explain and hard to forget: a Russian salad that many consider a reference, impeccable fried foods – acidias, victorianos, anchovies, orteguillas – and carefully cured seafood, from some marinara-style oysters in bread dip to some delicate shells that taste exactly like Malaga. They also prepare daily fish stews and traditional dishes that change according to the market, all in a modest but cozy dining room where the important thing is always on the plate.

About Thomas

It is located on Pío Baroja Street About ThomasIt is a place that combines homemade cuisine with marine nods and a menu based on the best seasonal produce. Here the seafood comes straight from the market: usually clams, clams, scallops or some well-cooked prawns on the counter inviting you to order ‘something to nibble’ before sitting down.

The cuisine alternates between a traditional touch and a more modern touch that appears from time to time: fabada every Thursday, toasted noodles, grilled anchovies, croquettes, scorpion fish pie or octopus carpaccio that work particularly well in season. They also serve meats and stews – cochifrito, Iberian sirloin, oxtail – and a selection of entrees that changes depending on the market. In the room, the proposal is completed by a well-chosen wine cellar, designed to accompany a snack and a longer meal.

Tomás’ is one of those bars you want to go to almost any time: for a portion of seafood, for a Thursday spoon, or to feel like you’re in a place where product and good treatment rule.

Palm trees

On the border between El Palo and Pedregalejo, Las Palmeras represents the new generation of beach bars that have managed to modernize themselves without losing their nautical roots. With almost half a century of family history behind him, today it is Enrique – the third generation at the helm of the company – who keeps the legacy alive without abandoning a more precise proposition, where the market product continues to set the daily pace.

Here you come to look at the display case and decide: fresh seafood, natural shells, cooked shrimp, oysters that barely touch the fire, and a selection of flawless fish. On board, Espetero makes sardines, sea bass, sea bream or even larger pieces when the day allows, always with that right touch that characterizes a good beach bar. They also prepare traditional stews – monkfish soup, pasta with dogfish, and gazpachuelo – reminiscent of traditional Marengo cuisine.

The experience is split between a beach terrace and a quieter indoor room, both accompanied by a surprisingly large wine cellar for a beach setting. A bar on the beach that shows that tradition and modernity can coexist without losing authenticity.

La Recaleta

La Recaleta is actually located outside the center of El Palo, but is just a short walk from the neighborhood and is well located in Playa del Dedo, one of those places that forces us to expand the map. It’s not a typical beach bar – despite their insistence – but an upscale version of the genre where the sea dictates the menu and the kitchen moves with a precision unusual on the beach. In charge of the kitchen is Javi Ruiz, alongside his partners from the La Milla group, Luismi Menor and César Morales. Javi is a chef from Malaga with experience in strong houses (Sollo, La Cosmopolita, Santi Taura), who here interprets the seafood recipe book with a modern, respectable look and very close to the everyday product.

The proposal combines impeccable fried foods, perfectly seasoned anchovies, powerful sous vide according to the catch of the day and more creatively cut dishes that surprisingly fit this beach. They also do whole grilled cuts – sea bass, snapper, mullet – with those hard-to-find crispy interiors. The winery is more contained than its “big brothers” in Marbella, but sufficient for those who want to accompany the feast with something more than just a cold beer.

La Recaleta is, in essence, a beach bar that plays in another league without abandoning the scenery: sand under your feet, the sea in front of you and a cuisine that shows that excellence can also live a stone’s throw from Tintero. An obligatory stop for those looking to eat well next to the Mediterranean.