I loved this teeny tiny little cafe/bar/tapas place. They still do what you'd expect every bar in…read moreSpain to do: serve a small plate (tapas) with every drink. So your Euro doesn't only buy you a small beer or wine but also a small plate of chorizo, some cheese or fried potatoes. They have good coffee for a Euro (cortado) and some cocktails (the classics) too. Very friendly service and a modern, clean interior should have people queueing out the door.

As good as it gets for raw oysters within a 3-mile radius! Coming from Boston, we have oysters ALL…read morethe time but these delicious bivalves made my heart flutter. We shared a few of every variation of oyster they had that day: Cantabra, Gillardeau, Hihna and Tia Maraa. If you're lucky enough to have the Gillardeau available the day you're there, order these. They're meaty, sweet and just perrrrrfect. The local Cantabra ones were quite a surprise. They were unique in that they were super salty in a different way but if you're like me, you need to order at least 1 as it would be a total shame not to try the local version when you're there. The Hihna and Tia Maraa varieties came in as a close second to the Gillardeau - Large, sweet and slightly briny. Highly recommended! Now for the dark horse - The smoked cod (bacalao ahumado) was amazing and NOT to be missed. These flavorful pieces of heaven were accompanied with a mustard and a horseradish cream sauce with a bottle of red pepper flakes. The combo of the sauces, pepper and the cod was divine and elevated it to the next echelon. We wished we still had room to order another smoked fish and at this point regretted that we stuffed ourselves with so many pinchos before ending up here ha! Overall, worth the trip and worth the splurge!

Great place to get a small taste of Santander…read more I came here on the way to another restaurant to get some oysters and a couple of drinks. Well . . . we really came here to get drinks on the way to the other restaurant, but the oysters were a great addition. This place is not as crowded as some of the other places on Calle Pena, which worked well for us because the service was very prompt. Also, this makes the dining experience quite nice, quiet get together. Plus, the waiters/bartenders were really chatty and friendly. As someone from the states, I was really surprised to see that La Mar carried Tabasco sauce as a condiment for the oysters. I do not think that I saw a single bottle of Tabasco at any other point during my trip. The oysters were super cheap and super fresh. Also, the bar carries Tanqueray Rangpur, which is my FAVORITE gin and I was ecstatic to see it because I cannot find it anyway in the NYC.

What a fantastic place to enjoy craft beer in Santander! The selection was wide and service was…read moreattentive. Loved the decor and attention to detail, too. You're in a spot full of locals, so you'll definitely get a good feel of the people and overall vibe of the city. Vale!

I'm visiting my daughter who lives in Santander. This was the end of my stay, so the two of us…read moredecided to go out for a nice dinner. This is a fantastic location with great views, but I recommend staying away from the restaurant side. Before our meal, the server walked around with an enormous tray of warm bread and said, "We start with bread here. Would you like some?" We had bread plates in front of us, and we accepted. The meal was delicious. When she brought the bill, it was hidden inside a closed book, and she also stood waiting for payment with the card payment machine in hand. I usually look over my bill, but due to it being higher end and inside the book, with her standing ready for payment, I would've felt awkward, so I paid. I later realized why they did that: once I saw my bill, I discovered we'd been charged for the chunks of bread (€5 each), and for an additional glass of wine. I've been to high end and very high end restaurants around the world, and I've never seen this before at such an establishment.

Our stop here, was pretty special, our tour group picked for us this restaurant for lunch at…read moreSantander. It is located near Queen Victoria Blvd. The location is right on the beach. Was a beautiful view on this beautiful day! They have 2 restrooms, one in the dining room and one in the tavern (one person each). But the staff, saw the women group lining up, came by to let me know, there's more in the tavern side. Our food: Cesar Salad. Was so good! It also came Fresh Hake from Santander, served with tomato sauce, but instead olive oil. (I was given lots of oil on my plate, but the lady - well known world traveler - decided to exchange with mine Hake. We got the Local Cantebrian Dessert. See photos.

Let's take a trip to Chicago of the 1920s...via Santander…read more Although it appears that this place as been around for a while (judging by the review from 2018), Little Bobby's might be a bit of a hidden gem in Santander. A friend of a friend from the U.S. mentioned this place, and none of the Santanderios (around 40yrs of age) that were with us knew about it. Upon crossing the the threshold of the bookcase door, we were immediately transported by to the Prohibition Era of Chicago circa the 1920s...fortunately, without the mobster gangsters from that era. The first thing that I noticed upon entering Little Bobby's (hmm, that sounds weird; just pretend I wrote "upon entering Little Bobby's cocktail lounge") was the blasting air conditioning. Because of that amenity, I immediately fell in love with the cocktail bar...without even having a cocktail. ;) As expected, the cocktail bar/lounge had a very impressive variety of cocktails and top-shelf alcohol brands. I'll give them credit because from my understanding (after visiting Santander 8+ times) folks prefer to consume beer, wine and gin-tonics over multi-ingredient cocktails, so cocktails bars is not a big thing in the city. However, I noticed that a few cocktail bars have sprout up in Santander during our last visit. Perhaps, increased tourism in this area is building a foundation for this particular niche. However, I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing, but time will tell. Although our time at Little Bobby's was short, because we were spent from a long day of walking around and boozing at other places, I absolutely had a blast in the chill (both figuratively and literally), laidback environment. Overall, service was great although my drink (a Manhattan, which is basically a whiskey martini) took a little longer to prepare compared to other three cocktails that folks in my group ordered. Prices were a bit higher than standard restaurants in the area, but I guess that is to be expected for a place like Little Bobby's. Although the cocktail prices were a bit higher, the end result was somewhat worth it - especially if you want something outside of the typical caña or gin-tonic. I definitely hope to return to Little Bobby's the next time I'm in Santander.

Most things in Santander can be done within 2 days and loses its appeal after. Little Bobby's…read moreSpeakeasy is very different. It's like walking back in time and submerging yourself in old fashioned vibes. The decoration is perfection and spacing and music is smooth. Perfect ambiance for a night out with friends you've known for years and friends you just met. It a place I keep going back to in a town that can be lackluster after a few days.