The Best Menu in Alicante, Gastronomic Capital 2025

Alicante's cuisine is in vogue. So much so that Alicante has been named this year's Spanish Capital of Gastronomy, a recognition that highlights the city's culinary richness and its commitment to local products.

To pay tribute to the kitchens that best represent this identity, the 27th edition of the Commerce and Hospitality Awards has included for the first time a special recognition for the "Alicante, Spanish Gastronomic Capital 2025" menu.

The SantaBar restaurant took first place, followed by La Muralla and La Favorita in second and third place respectively. The awards are endowed with 3,000 euros for the first place, 2,000 for the second, and 1,000 for the third.

The awarded menus invite you to explore traditional Alicante flavours with dishes like coca amb tonyina, soparet alacantí, caldero, or tomato trinchado with capellà torrat. But there's also room for innovation, with offerings like octopus taco or quisquilla carpaccio, which demonstrate how tradition and creativity can go hand in hand.

The Alicante City Council has valued aspects such as quality, originality, the uniqueness of the proposals, and the use of local products. Presentation, menu design, and popularity among customers were also considered.

The SantaBar restaurant, winner of the first prize, will keep its Alicante menu until the end of 2025. Meanwhile, La Muralla and La Favorita will offer it for the next six months. A perfect excuse to go out to eat, discover new flavours, and celebrate that Alicante, this year, tastes better than ever.

SantaBar is one of those bars that draws from the best Alicante tradition. With the monastery of Santa Faz behind it, this venue keeps its essence intact: it's a classic bar.

Its offering turns a quick bite into a gastronomic experience. Customers can choose to sit at high tables, low tables, a central bar with a large marble table where space is shared, a bar with views of the monastery, and a kitchen bar where the chef serves. Their motto: "we don't reserve, but we seat you".

La Muralla has transformed the most traditional Alicante gastronomy into something modern and current. Using some classic products like octopus, anchovy, quisquilla, or caldero fish, they have turned them into a taco or carpaccio. This establishment will not leave anyone indifferent with its proposal that earned it second place in this contest.

Located on the smallest populated island in the Mediterranean, Tabarca, La Muralla is one of those establishments that will not leave anyone indifferent with its proposal that earned it second place in this contest.

At La Favorita, they have sought a menu that shows their love for homemade and traditional cuisine with a modern and attractive presentation. At the foot of the Central Market is this establishment that works with local and seasonal products and makes Alicante gastronomy its hallmark.