Every restaurant, cafe and bar featured on Ibiza Spotlight has been carefully selected for quality and value. Offering a wide range of culinary choices, ambience, location and budget, the one thing they all have in common is a strong reputation for maintaining high standards - year after year. Expect to enjoy tempting food, stylish or rustic surroundings and great service.
Restaurants
Depending on the type of restaurant and its location, eateries can offer everything from breakfast to lunch and dinner, or even just drinks and tapas-style cuisine in their more relaxed bar areas.
Breakfast menus can begin from 9:00 or 10:00 and run through until the lunch menu takes over, around 13:00. These can be offered until evening service begins, often from 19:00 and can go all the way through until midnight. Be aware that some kitchens will close between the lunch and evening menu to begin preparation for the later service.
Each menu varies, with the evening menu generally offering more of a refined and richer selection.
The Spanish will rarely eat lunch before 14.00, and you’ll find the restaurants busiest between 15:00 and 16.00. At 20:00, you'll have a good chance of obtaining the best table in the restaurant, as the locals, as well as Spanish and Italian holidaymakers, probably won't arrive before 22:00, particularly on balmy summer evenings.
Don’t be concerned if this doesn’t fit your usual eating schedule, or if you have hungry children to feed, as all holiday resorts will have restaurants and eateries which serve food all day.
Many restaurants on Ibiza open all year round, although they are likely to have different opening times to the summer. The big bonus is that in the low season, a menú del día (fixed price menu) is widely available. These offer tremendous value for three-course lunches, very often including a glass of wine, beer or soft drink.
Cafés and bars
For more informal menus and establishments, although still of a great quality, the island's cafes and local bar scene offer fantastic options. Open from the early hours until late, they offer everything from classic tostada (toasted halves of rolls with various toppings on grated tomato and olive oil) to international breakfasts and great coffee, bocadillos (full rolls with different toppings) and often a menú del día at lunchtime.
Frequented by regulars and locals, seek out the traditional Spanish establishments for the perfect opportunity to practice your Spanish. Make sure to go up to the bar counter, where you can see the selection of tapas for the day. These small snack portions, along with tostadas, are perfect to snack on while you refresh.
Ibiza Spotlight Restaurant Guide
Our Spotlight Restaurant Guide offers a fantastic overview of the island's best eateries. Covering everything from location, budget, setting and cuisine style, you can find a huge selection from our personally recommended guide.
Most restaurant pages offer updated opening hours (according to Google opening times), a detailed description and photos. In fact, if you’d like to know our direct experience of dining across the island, then our Ibiza restaurant review series showcases many fantastic island favourites.
Make sure to check out our guide on Tipping on Ibiza: all you need to know.
Local drinks to delight you
Sangria
No trip to Ibiza would be complete without a jug of refreshing sangria in the sun. A heady mix of wine, spirits, fruit juice, and fresh fruit, it is the perfect drink to sip whilst enjoying stunning views of the Mediterranean.
Many restaurants and bars offer their own 'family recipes', which are worth taking the time to compare. While there are a few different varieties, such as the classic red or white wine-based, why not indulge and opt for the cava sangria - a fruity, fizzy holiday treat?
Hierbas Ibicencas
Hierbas Ibicencas has been an island tradition for over 200 years. A delicious digestif liquor, the aniseed base is blended with wild herbs to create a slightly sweet, rich and incredibly tasty drink. Many restaurants will offer you a free chupito (shot) of hierbas after your meal to aid your digestion, although many locals will also enjoy it with ice, as a refreshing tipple throughout the evening.
Frígola
Lesser known than hierbas, Frigola is another herb-infused liquor that's enjoyed by locals. Its amber, orange hue contains a sweet thyme-infused liquor that dominates its taste. Splash it over some ice and enjoy a traditional taste of Ibiza.
Tinto de verano
Meaning ‘red wine of summer', tinto de verano is a refreshing drink similar to sangria but without the fruit pieces. A combination of red wine and a mixer called gaseosa (similar to the soft drink 7 Up) is served chilled with ice and is a great way to quench the thirst on a hot summer's day.
Zumo fresco
Freshly squeezed juices are big on the island and often available even in the smallest of Spanish bars and cafés. You can find any combination of fruit and vegetables, but a zumo de naranja - orange juice - is often the most popular.
Café Caleta
A traditional Ibizan drink, the Cafe Caleta is a hot, sweet and alcoholic way to enjoy the classic coffee. Said to be created on the shores of Sa Caleta beach by local fishermen, it contains a mix of sugar, brandy, rum, cinnamon stick, lemon rind, orange peel, and coffee beans. Typically, an after-dinner drink, it's the perfect way to warm the body after a good meal.
Spanish dishes to tempt you
Paella
The joy of sharing a delicious homemade paella with friends and family is a beautiful experience that locals and visitors can all be part of. Served in many Mediterranean and beachside restaurants, where the smell of fresh fish and saffron will draw you in.
A traditional dish across Spain, the rice is steeped in seafood flavours and mixed with fish or meat, depending on the variety. It’s then presented to you in a huge paella pan and served tableside onto plates by your waiter, creating an experience much more than just a meal.
Bullit de peix
Bullit de peix is a traditional, hearty fish stew from Ibiza that originates from the local fishing culture. The ingredients are often stewed in a greixonera (traditional clay pot) and served in two delicious courses. The first is a platter with different fish, potatoes in a creamy, flavoursome saffron sauce and green peppers. The second course is a thin layer of crispy rice cooked in the leftover broth of the first course, known as arroz a banda. It is served in a large paella pan, which traditionally is placed in the middle of the table, and all simply dig into it.
Fideuà
Sometimes referred to as 'seafood noodle paella', this traditional Valencian dish is made with vermicelli pasta-style noodles instead of rice. Cooked in a similar shallow pan with fish stock, it is combined with fish and shellfish, and flavoured with lemon and a side of aioli (a thick, creamy Mediterranean sauce originating from Provence and Catalonia, traditionally made by emulsifying garlic, olive oil, and salt).
Sofrit pagès
Commonly enjoyed at the island's many fiestas, sofrit pagès is a mouthwatering mix of chicken, lamb and Ibizan sausages – butifarra and sobrassada - with potatoes, garlic and spices. If you want to try a dish which is typical of Ibiza, this is the one for you.
Bread, alioli and olives
Often offered as a trio, bread, alioli and olives are a typical way to begin any meal. A seriously tasty appetiser, it's easy to forget you have a meal coming and fill up on the delicious combination. Find a restaurant that cares as much about this as the main menu they serve, and you’ll be delighted with home-baked bread, plump, juicy olives and an alioli that’s pungent, garlicy, and impossible to resist.
Spanish Tostada
While tostada may directly translate as 'toast' this breakfast meal is so much more than that. Consisting of warm, toasted white - or sometimes integral - bread, topped with grated fresh tomato, olive oil and salt, it's a simple but delicious way to begin the day. Locals will often add thinly sliced Iberian cured or serrano ham, and lashings of olive oil for the final touch.
Tapas and pintxos
To fill the hours between main meals and help soak up alcoholic beverages, these classic miniature meals are served, particularly in traditional Spanish bars and cafés. The two most common - and most loved - are the Spanish tortilla and patatas bravas.
Different to other tortillas, the Spanish version is made with eggs, potatoes and olive oil. It is creamy, thick and especially delicious on slices of crusty bread. Patatas bravas could be considered the French fry or chunky chip of Spanish culture, and are a simple dish of fried, cubed potatoes served alongside a smoky or sweet mayonnaise sauce that's equally as tasty.
Sobrassada and Botifarra
The native sausages of Balearic and Catalan culture, sobrassada and botifarra, can still be found on many menus in cafes and traditional Spanish bars. Often eaten as an addition on a tostada, sobrassada is a spreadable pork and bacon mix, seasoned with paprika that gives it a nice, warm kick. Primarily made from pork, botifarra comes in a classic sausage shape and is seasoned to enhance the natural meat flavours. Often added to stews, sandwiches or enjoyed at a summer barbecue.
Arroz de matanzas
An authentic Ibizan dish, arroz de matanzas is a rice-based stew that's enjoyed all winter, although traditionally in December during the pig slaughter. Thanks to the variety of meats, including cuts of pork, chicken, and sometimes sobrassada mentioned above, along with warming flavours from nutmeg, cumin, and allspice, it's a beautifully hearty and filling meal for cold winter days.
Greixonera
A desert not just with its roots in Ibiza, but also its Balearic sister, Formentera, it is a staple at fiestas and family celebrations. Made with sweet pastries, milk and eggs, it is similar to a bread pudding with a strong cinnamon aroma.
Flaó
An Ibizan take on cheesecake, flaó is much loved by the locals. Originally an easter tradition, the flavours of cheese, honey and mint have made this a year-round favourite.
Ensaïmada
Although a traditional Mallorcan sweet treat, the ensaïmada is enjoyed all across Spain. This Balearic pastry is filled with either cream, chocolate or sweet pumpkin (Angel's Hair) or simply dusted with icing sugar. Airy and light, the slightly flaky pastry is created into a pretty large spiralled wheel and enjoyed from breakfast through to late-night snack.
Meat
Local production of beef and lamb is minimal on the island, with most cuts sourced by local butchers. However, the quality of imported meat remains high, particularly for restaurants and chefs who are proud to serve carnivore-crafted menus. Mainland suppliers are used, along with meat from as far away as Argentina, which you’ll often find in restaurants operated by native-born owners and chefs.
The island does have its own source of free-range chicken, pollo payés. An important part of rural life here on the island, these free-range birds are a protected, rare breed. Used for both eggs and meat, the birds live a regenerative and whole-grain lifestyle, which contributes to its distinct flavour and slightly yellow colouring.
Fish
A celebrated delicacy on the island, fish is a featured dish on almost every menu across Ibiza. Whether the restaurant sits directly on the water or more inland, you are never far from the sea, meaning the fish served here is often fresh and flavourful.
There is a selection that is more typical of Ibizan waters, and will be a more regular offering on menus across the island, each with its own flavours and distinct to certain dishes.
The gerret is a hugely popular fish here on the island, often served on the barbeque simply with salt, to best enjoy its flavour. Other smaller fish, such as the razorfish, are highly coveted but more expensive. Sardines - a cheaper, smaller fish - are also a regular feature, and enjoyed by many in this uncomplicated and fresh style.
The grouper can be found around the island's waters and is often used in local stews and grilled dishes, thanks to its firm white flesh. Other popular local fish varieties include scorpion fish and monkfish.
Lobster, succulent red prawns, salmon and tuna, which may come from slightly further afield, are also heavily featured on menus, along with juicy oysters, which you’ll find offered at more high-end eateries and beach restaurants.
If you’d like to know what the whole island has to offer, our restaurant guide showcases the best of Ibiza, including meat and grill specialists, fish and seafood and our own Ibiza Spotlight restaurant reviews.
