Around the Cathedral of Murcia there are a number of dining spots known for their pleasant terraces and wide selection of tapas. If you want to sample the most traditional delights, here you can find Murcia’s famous meat pies and pasties, usually served with a cold beer. On the terraces you can enjoy marineras, tigres, baked octopus and montaditos (snacks on bread) of all kinds. As winter draws in, order michirones or caldo con pelotas (meatball stew) in any of the restaurants or small tapas bars in the area.
Alfonso X, colloquially known as the Tontódromo (a place full of people strolling around), this is one of the most important and well-known avenues of the city. It’s a place that invites you to stroll and get lost in the hustle and bustle of the crowd, and the lights of the windows of small local shops. Here, dining options combine traditional restaurants with a busy pedestrianised street, with plenty of spots to stop for coffee or drinks: Pérez Casas. At the end of the Avenida de Alfonso X, we arrive at Plaza de Santo Domingo. There are various fast food franchises, several quality pizzerias, chocolate shops and cafés. In Plaza Julián Romea there are a number of small restaurants perfect for a quick bite: sandwich shops, pizzerias and cafés, all of good quality and with a family atmosphere ideal for those with children.
Surrounding Campus de la Merced in the city of Murcia, there’s a student atmosphere of bars and taverns with affordable prices, ideal for nights out. The type of crowds who frequent the area mean that the food on offer is suited for young people, who want to enjoy a meal out without spending too much. Walking towards the river, you can bar hop through the Plazas of Santa Eulalia, Cristo Resucitado and Cristo del Rescate, until reaching Plaza San Juan, where you’ll find traditional restaurants, bars, taverns and other new spots with gourmet offerings, but at a low price. Sushi, burgers, Indian, vegetarian, vegan... A wide selection that has made this area of the city a culinary melting pot.
In the old town is one of the city’s most iconic and popular places: the Plaza de las Flores. You can enjoy a great selection of restaurants and cafés, almost all with outdoor terraces, with a fantastic festive atmosphere every weekend. With food on offer focused on light snacks and meals of typical Murcian cuisine, this is the most well-known place in the city for the widest variety of high quality tapas. Spreading out from Plaza de las Flores are an infinite number of narrow streets, all filled with bars and tapas joints with a young, casual vibe. Down one of these streets, passing through Plaza de San Pedro, you reach the Véronicas Market, a traditional market where you can be typical products from the land, the sea and the hills
In the suburbs surrounding the city of Murcia are countless traditional restaurants and bars, reminiscent of those typical small town tapas bars where you can have a bite, try some tapas or enjoy an aperitif. This are places with a working-class background, meaning the restaurants and tapas bars in these areas have very affordable prices to suit all pockets, and almost all have a lunchtime menúdeldía set menu. Some of these districts (such as San Antón, San Andrés, San Antolín and San Basilio) have a growing immigrant population, which has led to a proliferation of a wide variety of restaurants from different cultures and countries around the world, to service the growing demand in these areas. In the small towns surrounding the city, there are a number of large restaurants where you can enjoy longer, more relaxed lunches and dinners with family and friends. We’ve moved away from the bustle of the city centre, and it shows in the size of the restaurants and the long after-dinner conversations, which are quieter and more relaxed. It's the perfect place to enjoy the weekend with the kids, or eat with large groups. There's a huge selection, with many restaurants to choose from. In recent years, we have witnessed the birth of the “new Murcian cuisine". A number of gourmet restaurants have chosen these towns to settle in, offering a more elaborate and more prestigious style of cooking.
