New York has plenty of Spanish restaurants. Some of the most interesting are not really restaurants first. They are the dining rooms of Spanish community organisations, set up by Spanish emigrants and open to anyone who walks in. Here is a two-day plan built around three of them, plus one Galician taberna in Manhattan.
Opening hours at community venues can differ from regular restaurants, so check each place before you go.
Saturday: Astoria, Queens
Lunch at Casa Galicia
Casa Galicia at 3709 31st Avenue is a Galician cultural centre founded in 1940 to keep Galician heritage alive in the city. Its restaurant serves traditional Galician and Spanish food, with tapas and seafood at the centre of the menu.
Galicia, in Spain's northwest corner, is known above all for seafood. If it is on the menu, pulpo a la gallega is the obvious order: boiled octopus sliced onto a board and finished with olive oil, coarse salt and pimentón. Empanada gallega, a large filled pie cut into slices, is another regional staple.
Dinner at Centro Español de Queens
Also in Astoria, at 41-01 Broadway, the Centro Español de Queens - Círculo Español has a restaurant inside the club. It serves tapas, main dishes and homemade desserts, with Spanish wines and beers. It makes a relaxed Saturday dinner: order a few tapas to share, then a main each.
Sunday: Manhattan
Lunch at La Nacional, Chelsea
La Nacional at 239 West 14th Street is the cantina of the Spanish Benevolent Society, which describes itself as the oldest Spanish cultural institution in the United States. The restaurant is open to everyone. The non-profit works with culinary institutes in Spain and sponsors visas for Spanish chefs to run the kitchen, and the aim is good food at reasonable prices in a neighbourhood setting.
It is a good place for the classics. If this is your first stop for Spanish food in New York, start with croquetas or tortilla and go from there.
Evening at Tomiño Taberna Gallega, SoHo
End the weekend back in Galicia. Tomiño Taberna Gallega at 192 Grand Street cooks Galician food, and Lucía Freitas, one of the best-known chefs in Galicia, is its chief culinary adviser. The dishes it names give a good idea of the menu:
- Pulpo a feira, the Galician name for octopus prepared the fair-day way.
- Almejas a la marinera, clams cooked in a white wine and garlic sauce.
- Tortilla de Betanzos, named for the Galician town known for a softer, runnier omelette than the usual version.
- Pimientos de Padrón, small fried green peppers. Most are mild, a few are hot.
If you had octopus in Astoria on Saturday, ordering it again here is a fair comparison between a community kitchen and a chef-advised taberna.
Planning notes
- Casa Galicia and the Centro Español are both in Astoria, so Saturday can stay in one neighbourhood.
- La Nacional in Chelsea and Tomiño in SoHo are a short subway ride apart.
- For more Spanish options across the city, see our New York listings.
