Calpe has a food scene that punches well above its weight. For a town of around 22,000 residents, the quality and variety of places to eat is genuinely impressive — and after ten years living on the Costa Blanca, I still find somewhere new here that surprises me. Whether you're after a long lazy lunch at a beach chiringuito with your feet practically in the sand, a proper sit-down rice dish cooked the Valencian way, or a fresh fish dinner watching the sun drop behind the Peñón de Ifach — Calpe delivers.
This guide cuts through the tourist traps and takes you to the places locals actually eat. Consider this your edible map of the town.
The Fishing Port: Where to Eat the Freshest Fish in Calpe
If you eat nothing else in Calpe, eat fish at the port. The Lonja (fish auction house) operates every weekday afternoon, and the restaurants clustered around the Puerto Pesquero benefit directly from that catch. Casa del Pueblo and Restaurante El Bodegón are both solid choices here — nothing fancy, plastic chairs, paper tablecloths, and fish so fresh it barely needs cooking. Order the gamba roja de Dénia if you see it on the board — it's the best prawn in Spain and Calpe sits right in its territory.
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Find rentals →For a slightly more polished port experience, Restaurante Atalaya has a terrace overlooking the marina with excellent rice dishes. The arroz a banda (rice cooked in fish stock, served separately from the fish) is a local staple you absolutely should try at least once. Don't confuse it with paella — a local will quietly correct you if you do.
Chiringuitos on the Beach: Lunch with a View
June is peak chiringuito season. By mid-morning the beach bars along Playa Arenal-Bol and Playa la Fossa (also called Levante) are setting out chairs and firing up the grills. This is where holiday lunches go on for three hours and nobody minds.
Chiringuito Ensidesa on La Fossa beach is an institution — they do a decent menú del día for around €14-16 with wine included, and the views straight out to sea with the Peñón looming behind you are hard to beat. El Portet beach, a small cala just south of town, also has a lovely little chiringuito that gets busy fast — arrive before 1:30pm if you want a table without a wait.
The Old Town & Around: Hidden Gems Worth Finding
The casco antiguo (old town) of Calpe is small but atmospheric, and a handful of excellent restaurants have set up in and around it. Restaurante Peix & Brases on Carrer de la Mar consistently impresses — the name translates as 'Fish and Embers' and they mean it. Wood-fired cooking, locally sourced ingredients, and a wine list that goes beyond the usual suspects. Book ahead in June; they fill up fast.
For something more casual, the tapas bars along Carrer Cervantes and the streets behind the church are perfect for an early evening crawl. Order croquetas, boquerones en vinagre (anchovies in vinegar), and patatas bravas — small plates, cold beer, good value. This is how locals eat dinner: slowly, socially, over several hours.
La Bodeguilla de Calpe near the old town wall is worth a mention for its wine selection and Iberian cold cuts. It's not a full restaurant but more of a vinoteca — perfect for a pre-dinner drink that turns into a full evening.
Best Rice Dishes in Calpe
Rice is serious business on the Costa Blanca. The Valencian interior is rice country and the coast brings the seafood — together they produce some of the finest rice dishes in Spain. A few specific recommendations:
- Restaurante Ifach: On the main Avinguda de Ifach, good traditional paella valenciana and arroz negro (black rice with squid ink). Reliable, fairly priced.
- El Puerto: Down near the fishing port, known locally for its arroz con bogavante (rice with lobster). It's a splurge but if you're celebrating something, this is the one.
- Note: Real Valencian paella takes 20-25 minutes to cook properly. If it arrives in five minutes, it wasn't made fresh.
Practical Tips for Eating in Calpe
Lunchtime is king: The main meal of the day in Spain is lunch (2pm-4pm). The menú del día — a set lunch menu of starter, main, dessert, bread, and drink — is incredible value, usually €12-17. Use it.
Book ahead in June: Summer fills up the good places quickly. WhatsApp reservations are commonly accepted if you don't speak Spanish — a simple message with date, time, and number of people is enough.
Avoid the main strip if you want value: The restaurants directly on the beachfront promenade tend to have the worst value-for-money ratio. Walk one block back and prices drop noticeably.
Dinner starts late: Spanish dinner is rarely before 9pm. If you arrive at 7pm you'll often be the only people in the restaurant — not necessarily a problem, but worth knowing.
Staying in Calpe: Book Your Apartment Direct
Calpe's best restaurants are spread across town — the port, the old town, the beaches — so staying centrally (or having transport) helps enormously. If you're planning a foodie trip, a holiday rental in Calpe with a well-equipped kitchen also lets you shop the local market and cook for yourself some nights, which is half the fun.
Booking directly through JV Properties saves you up to 18% compared to booking through Airbnb or Booking.com — and that saving is basically a very good dinner at El Puerto with wine. Worth thinking about.
Calpe is one of those places where the food and the setting work together so well that eating out becomes a genuine part of the holiday experience rather than just fuelling up. Go to the port for fish. Find a chiringuito for lunch. Get lost in the old town for tapas. Repeat until it's time to go home.
