After a hike in El Torcal you will want a good, no-fuss meal. These are the places we recommend to our guests, from the village to Antequera. Opening hours vary with the season: at the ventas (traditional country inns) and smaller places, it is best to ring or book ahead.
In Villanueva de la Concepción
- Bar Oasis (Av. Blas Infante, opposite the apartments): tapas, rabo (oxtail), carrillada (braised pork cheeks) and churros for breakfast. It has a terrace.
- Mesón Bar Jiménez (Plaza de Andalucía): good-value tapas and good coffee, with a village atmosphere.
- Mesón-Bar Godoy (C/ Real): chivo, carrillada and molletes. In the morning, tejeringos with zurrapa.
- Bar Casa Diego: traditional cooking and a family atmosphere.
- Venta Hermanos Moreno (Barriada Pastelero, within the municipality): proper old-style venta cooking, with chivo, codillo, porra and chargrilled meat. It gets busy: book on 657 06 56 99.
Around El Torcal
- Restaurante Torcal Alto, next to the Visitor Centre: migas, porra antequerana and bienmesabe, with vegetarian, vegan and children's options and a terrace with views. It gets busy at lunchtime.
- Rincón del Hortelano (La Joya, southern side of El Torcal): tapas, croquetas and chuletón, very close to the village.
- Restaurante Museo Molino Blanco (on the road up from Antequera to El Torcal): an old mill turned restaurant, serving meat dishes and migas.
- Caserío de San Benito (Antequera): a country house more than two centuries old with an ethnographic museum. Rice with rabbit, chivo, migas and porra.
- Venta Los Patos (El Torcal area): a rustic venta by the river, simple and cheap. Open at lunchtime only, cash only and no mobile signal.
- Venta Los Atanores (Valle de Abdalajís): chivo, rabo de toro and lomo en manteca. Best to arrive before 14:00.
In Antequera
- Arte de Cozina: one Sun in the Repsol Guide, with old recipes from Antequera and Málaga. Next door, Arte de Tapas, from the same group, for nibbles at the bar.
- For tapas: La Cantina, Recuerdos Tapas Bodega (one of the most recommended porras, best booked), Mesón Adarve and Mar de Gloria.
- Classics: Toral, an old-school bar with porra, migas and bienmesabe, and Bienmesabe Santa María, with a terrace by the Colegiata.
- Convent sweets: the Carmelitas Descalzas (Discalced Carmelite nuns) bakery sells mantecados, roscos and almond tostas.
What to try
- Porra antequerana: a cold cream of tomato and bread, thicker than gazpacho, served with hard-boiled egg, tuna or ham.
- Mollete de Antequera: the classic breakfast bread roll, with Protected Geographical Indication status. With olive oil, tomato or zurrapa.
- Chivo and migas: the dishes of the sierra.
- Bienmesabe antequerano: a sweet made with almond, sponge cake and cinnamon.
- Habas (broad beans): Villanueva's local produce, which has its own festival in April, the Día de la Haba.
- Local olive oil and wine: extra virgin olive oil and wines from the D.O. Sierras de Málaga.
Meet the producers
- Molino del Hortelano (Casabermeja): organic olive oil mill with tours, tastings or breakfast.
- Casa de la Cabra Malagueña (Casabermeja): goat's cheese workshop and tasting.
- Mollina wineries, in the Antequera area: Cortijo La Fuente, Tierras de Mollina and La Capuchina.
All of these visits must be booked in advance.
Eat in the village and sleep just steps away. Apartamentos Villa Torcal · Check availability