Bistros, trattorias and the everyday places where Palma actually eats.
Bistros, trattorias, taverns and neighbourhood rooms: the mid-tier places where Palma actually eats.
Bodega La Rambla has poured vermouth and served variats on Via Roma in Palma since 1940, plating the island's combination dish across small portions.
Signature: Variat, Ensaladilla rusa
Order: The variat, Mallorca's combination plate, with the ensaladilla rusa on the side.
Tip: Evenings run Thursday to Saturday only. Sunday and Monday are lunch alone, and it shuts for a summer break in August.
La Rosa Vermutería & Colmado pours house vermouth on Carrer de la Rosa in Palma, running as a tavern, a grocery counter and a dining room at once.
Signature: House vermouth, Tortilla
Order: House vermouth with the thick tortilla pintxo cut from the counter.
Tip: Open noon to midnight every day, which makes it the easiest fallback in the old town.
Bar Espanya stacks pintxos along the counter on Carrer de Can Escursac in Palma, with patatas bravas under sobrassada and croquettes filled with bullit.
Signature: Patatas bravas with sobrassada, Croquettes
Order: Patatas bravas topped with sobrassada, then a bullit croquette.
Tip: The counter pintxos go fast. Arrive at opening, 13:00 or 18:30, for the full spread.
Can Trispol builds llonguets, the split Mallorcan roll, in a back street of Sa Gerreria in Palma, with seven or eight fillings and island wine by the glass.
Signature: Llonguet
Order: A llonguet with sobrassada, the most Mallorcan of the seven or eight fillings.
Tip: The room is tiny and the schedule moves with the season. Call ahead rather than turning up on spec.
Café Poupette runs brasserie service beside the Sa Feixina park in Palma, open from 09:00 to 21:00 every day for coffee, lunch and evening plates.
Signature: Brasserie plates
Order: A brasserie plate on the park terrace, at whatever hour suits.
Tip: One of the few Palma kitchens serving straight through, useful between Santa Catalina and the old town.
Ca n'Ela Vegan Restaurant is a fully plant-based kitchen on Carrer de la Mar in Palma's La Lonja, plating Mediterranean vegan food across two services.
Signature: Seasonal vegan plates
Order: Whatever the kitchen is running as its seasonal Mediterranean plate that week.
Tip: Two services only, lunch and dinner, and it closes Sundays. The room seats very few.
Celler Sa Premsa has poured from wine barrels near Palma's Mercat de l'Olivar since 1958, serving arròs brut, sopes mallorquines and gató almond cake.
Signature: Arròs brut, Sopes mallorquines
Order: Arròs brut, then gató almond cake with almond ice cream.
Tip: It is the most tourist-facing of Palma's cellers, but the Mallorcan menu is the real thing.
La Malvasia is a red-fronted room on Plaça del Mercat in Palma pouring Ca'n Pico Malvasia alongside Mediterranean plates and a long celiac menu.
Signature: Tapas, Fresh fish
Order: A glass of the house Malvasia with whatever fish is on the board that day.
Tip: One of the few central Palma kitchens with a properly worked-out gluten-free menu.
Mestís sits beside the Santa Catalina market in Palma, folding Baja California and Mexican cooking into Mallorcan produce in a colourful room.
Signature: Tuna tostadas, Octopus with mole
Order: Tuna tostadas to start, then the octopus with mole.
Tip: Weekends open at 10:00 for brunch. Midweek it is a dinner-only kitchen from 16:00.
Can Frasquet is an all-day bar and kitchen on Carrer d'Orfila in Palma's old town, running Mediterranean plates and burgers from 11:30 to 23:30.
Signature: Burgers, Tapas
Order: A burger at the bar, or a spread of tapas if you are two or more.
Tip: Straight-through service makes this one of the few old-town kitchens open at 17:00.