Mercado Central de Alicante. Wikimedia Commons
Alicante Food Guide — Local Cuisine & Best Restaurants 2026
From the Mediterranean's finest rice dishes to Spain's nougat capital — eat your way through Alicante
Alicante's food scene is the Costa Blanca's best-kept secret. Overshadowed by San Sebastián's pintxos bars and Barcelona's avant-garde kitchens, Alicante quietly delivers some of the most honest, deeply satisfying Mediterranean cooking in Spain. This is a city built on the sea, and the sea returns the favour on every plate: red prawns from Santa Pola, rice cooked in rock-fish stock, squid so fresh it's still translucent. The province of Alicante is also the birthplace of turrón — Spain's essential Christmas nougat — and home to a 2,500-year-old wine tradition that's enjoying a serious renaissance. Here's everything you need to eat, drink, and know.
Essential Alicante Dishes
Arroz a Banda
If Alicante had a national dish, this would be it. Arroz a banda translates to "rice apart" — and that's exactly how it's served. The rice is cooked in a deeply flavoured fish stock (fumet) made from morralla — the small rock fish and crustaceans that local fishermen would traditionally set aside as unsellable. The result is a paella-style rice that absorbs every drop of seafood essence, golden from saffron or ñora pepper, served in a separate dish from the fish that created the stock. It's almost always accompanied by alioli — garlicky mayonnaise that melts into the hot rice. The dish originated among the fishing communities of the Costa Blanca in the 19th century and remains the definitive taste of the Alicante coastline.
Arroz a la Alicantina
A close cousin to arroz a banda but with a crucial difference: the rice is cooked directly with seafood and vegetables in a paella pan. Expect prawns, squid, mussels, and local fish mingling with saffron rice, often garnished with strips of roasted red pepper. It's the dish you'll find at every beachfront chiringuito and family Sunday lunch. Different from standard paella in its use of local fish varieties and the distinctive Alicante touch of ñora (dried red pepper) in the sofrito base.
Fideuà
Think paella, but swap the rice for short, thin noodles (fideos). Fideuà was supposedly invented in the 1920s in Gandía, just up the Valencian coast, and quickly conquered Alicante. The noodles are toasted in olive oil before being cooked in fish stock, absorbing maximum flavour while remaining slightly al dente. Typically loaded with monkfish, cuttlefish, and prawns, it's served with — you guessed it — alioli. The best fideuà in Alicante has a crispy bottom layer (socarrat) where the noodles have caramelised against the pan.
Arroz con Costra
A specialty of Elche and the surrounding Vega Baja region, this showstopper dish takes rice cooked with rabbit, chicken, and chickpeas, then tops it with beaten egg and bakes it until a golden crust forms. The contrast between the creamy rice beneath and the crispy egg crust on top is magnificent. It's traditionally cooked in a clay cazuela, and breaking through that crust at the table is a ceremonial moment.
Gamba Roja de Santa Pola
The red prawn of Santa Pola is not just a dish — it's a cult. These deep-water prawns (Aristeus antennatus), fished from the waters off Santa Pola 20 km south of Alicante, are among the most prized crustaceans in Spain. Their intense red colour, firm texture, and astonishing sweetness (they're often described as tasting more like lobster than prawn) command premium prices — up to €120/kg at the market. The preparation is deliberately minimal: grilled a la plancha with sea salt, or simply boiled. Anything more would be an insult to the ingredient. Available at the city's best seafood restaurants and the Mercado Central.
Turrón
Alicante is the world capital of turrón, a nougat made from almonds, honey, sugar, and egg whites. There are two main types: turrón de Alicante (duro/hard) — a brittle brick of whole toasted almonds bound in honey caramel; and turrón de Jijona (blando/soft) — where the almonds are ground to a paste, creating a smooth, crumbly texture. Jijona (Xixona), 25 km north of Alicante city, has been the centre of turrón production since the 15th century. The industry now produces over 30 million kilograms annually. Turrón is traditionally a Christmas food, but in Alicante it's available year-round from specialist shops.
Where to Eat in Alicante
The Old Town (El Barrio) — Tapas Central
The labyrinthine streets around the Cathedral of San Nicolás and Plaza del Carmen are Alicante's culinary heart. Calle de los Labradores and Calle San Francisco are ground zero for the tapeo — the sacred Spanish ritual of hopping from bar to bar for a small plate and a drink. The traditional order is caña (small beer) or a glass of local wine, plus one montadito or tapa per stop. Six stops over two hours is a respectable evening. Look for places where locals are standing at the bar rather than sitting at tables — that's the sign of a proper tapas joint. The barrio is also where you'll find Alicante's best traditional rice restaurants, many family-run for generations.
Mercado Central
The two-storey modernist Mercado Central on Avenida Alfonso el Sabio is not just a place to shop — it's an essential food experience. Built in 1921 with a facade adorned in ceramic tiles, the market houses over 290 stalls selling everything from Santa Pola red prawns to Jamón Ibérico de Bellota, D.O. Alicante wines, local cheeses, seasonal fruit from the Vega Baja, and mountains of turrón. Several stalls have small counters where you can eat on the spot — the oyster bars are particularly good. Go in the morning (9 AM-2 PM) for the fullest selection. Closed Sundays.
Playa de San Juan Chiringuitos
The 6 km stretch of Playa de San Juan is dotted with chiringuitos — open-air beach bars serving grilled sardines (espetos de sardinas), cold beer, and arroz dishes with your feet in the sand. These seasonal spots (typically open Easter through October) are the essence of Mediterranean summer. The sardines are skewered on bamboo sticks and grilled over open fires — smoky, salty, and perfect with a squeeze of lemon. The best stretch is around the northern end near Muchavista beach in El Campello.
The Marina & Explanada
The restaurants lining Alicante's marina and Explanada promenade divide firmly into two categories: tourist traps with picture menus, and genuinely excellent seafood restaurants. The trick is to walk one block inland from the Explanada to find the real gems. That said, several of the marina-facing restaurants with terraces are perfect for a sunset drink and a plate of fresh-caught langostinos. The Paseo de Gomiz area at the Explanada's southern end has some of the city's longest-established seafood houses.
Drinks & Nightlife
D.O. Alicante Wines
The Alicante wine region has been producing wine for over 2,500 years — it's one of Spain's oldest. The D.O. Alicante encompasses two distinct sub-regions: the coastal Marina Alta around the northern Costa Blanca, producing fresh aromatic whites from Moscatel and Merseguera grapes; and the interior Vinalopó valley, known for powerful reds from the Monastrell grape — the region's signature variety. Monastrell produces deeply coloured, intense wines with notes of blackberry, spice, and Mediterranean herbs. The Fondillón is Alicante's legendary wine — a fortified red aged for a minimum of 10 years in oak barrels without topping up, creating an oxidative, complex, nutty style unique in Spain. Wine bars in the Old Town are the best places to explore these. The Ruta del Vino de Alicante (Alicante Wine Route) connects over 30 wineries open for visits.
Horchata
While Valencia claims horchata as its own, Alicante's horchaterías are equally passionate about this refreshing drink made from tiger nuts (chufas), water, and sugar. Served ice-cold, it's the antidote to a hot Mediterranean afternoon. Traditional horchaterías like Heladería Borgonesse on the Explanada have been serving it for decades alongside fartons — elongated sweet buns designed for dunking.
Food Festivals & Events
Alicante's food calendar runs year-round. The Jornadas de la Gamba Roja (Red Prawn Days) in Santa Pola (May/June) celebrate the region's most prized seafood. The Ruta de la Tapa (Tapas Route) runs in spring and autumn, with dozens of bars competing to create the city's best tapa for a fixed price (typically €2.50-3.50 including a drink). The Feria de la Cerveza (Beer Festival) in May brings craft breweries from across the province. And from November, the city's turrón shops shift into high gear for Christmas demand. The Muestra de Turrón, Chocolate y Dulces Navideños (December) brings producers from across the province to showcase their nougat, chocolates, and Christmas sweets.