Vegetarian Tapas in Seville: What to Order and Where to Go

Finding vegetarian tapas in Seville can be challenging, especially with Andalusia’s reputation for running on jamón. That reputation is largely deserved. What rarely gets mentioned is that some of the city’s oldest, most-loved tapas are vegetarian by tradition, not as an afterthought.

We see this question a lot in our Facebook community: where can you actually find vegetarian tapas in Seville?

I’ve been vegetarian for over 20 years, live in the city, but also go out for meals with my non-veggie friends, and I’m not forcing my dietary choice on them. What this has given me is plenty of opportunities to work out which dishes to trust and which restaurants get it right.

Here’s what I’ve found, dish by dish and bar by bar.

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Vegetarian tapas in Seville that are always on the menu

Some dishes turn up on nearly every chalkboard in the city, and they’re vegetarian without anyone having to try.

Espinacas con garbanzos (spinach with chickpeas) is the one to order first. 

It’s a Moorish-era dish, spiced with cumin and paprika, and it’s on the menu at almost every traditional bar in Seville. It tastes like the city’s history with its North African influences, which is more than you can say for patatas bravas – which are nice, but just a little underwhelming after a few times.

Pisto, Spain’s answer to ratatouille, is another safe bet: tomatoes, peppers, courgette and aubergine, slow-cooked down. It’s classically topped with a fried egg, so ask “sin huevo” if that’s not your thing.

Other dependable orders:

• Tortilla de patatas (potato omelette)
• Patatas bravas (fried potatoes, spicy sauce)
• Berenjenas con miel (fried aubergine with honey)
• Alcachofas (artichokes, best in autumn and winter)
• Croquetas de queso (cheese croquettes)
• Pimientos asados or pimientos de padrón (roasted or fried peppers)
• Olives, cheese, and the ever-present ensaladilla (Spanish-style potato salad)

For a wider run-through of what to eat in the city beyond the vegetarian dishes, our guide to the 10 tapas to try first in Seville covers the full picture.

Watch out for these: vegetarian on paper, not on the plate

This is the bit most guides skip, and it’s the bit that actually matters.

Salmorejo, the thick, chilled tomato soup that’s basically gazpacho’s richer cousin, is classically served topped with chopped jamón and boiled egg. The soup itself is vegetarian. The garnish isn’t. Order it “sin jamón“, or you’ll be picking ham off a cold soup, which is nobody’s idea of a good time.

Grilled mushrooms have a similar problem. They’re often listed as a plain vegetable dish and arrive with a scattering of jamón anyway, because to a lot of Sevillian cooks, ham is a seasoning rather than an ingredient you’d think to disclose.

Even espinacas con garbanzos, which should be vegetarian as standard, is worth double-checking. 

For example, at El Rinconcillo, the oldest bar in the city, their version has at times been finished with stock from a ham bone for flavour. Recipes at long-running kitchens can shift from one day to the next depending on who’s cooking, so it’s always worth asking before you order.

Bravas sauce occasionally gets a hit of chorizo at the more traditional places too. It’s not standard, but it happens often enough to be worth a quick check.

If all this ordering-in-code sounds like more effort than you want on holiday, it’s not the only way to do it. Most tapas tours can cater for vegetarians and take you straight to where locals actually eat, so someone else does the vetting for you.

Want to find out more? We reviewed the tour in full in our flamenco and tapas tour with Devour Tours article.

Making it vegan (the harder ask in Seville)

Vegetarian is manageable in Seville. Vegan takes more work, because eggs, cheese and honey are stitched into half the classic dishes above.

The good news: a handful of dishes flip vegan with one sentence to the waiter.

• Pisto: ask for it “sin huevo” and it’s vegan as it comes
• Salmorejo: ask “sin jamón y sin huevo” and you’ve got a vegan dish
• Espinacas con garbanzos: naturally vegan, as long as it hasn’t been made with ham stock (see our note above)
• Gazpacho (cold tomato soup) and ajoblanco (cold almond and garlic soup): vegan by default, no substitutions needed

What doesn’t flip easily: croquetas de queso, most cheese-based montaditos, and berenjenas con miel if the honey matters to you. Don’t force these. Ask what’s actually vegan on the menu rather than assuming a substitution is possible, because in a lot of traditional kitchens, it isn’t.

The phrase that does the most work here is simple: “¿Es vegano?” Learn it, use it, and don’t be shy about asking twice if the first answer sounds uncertain.

6 Veggie-Friendly tapas bars in Seville

Below are my picks of traditional Spanish tapas bars, not fusion restaurants or standalone vegetarian spots. All six serve meat and fish too, which is great if there are non-veggies in the group. 

I’ve eaten my way through a fair chunk of the menu at each, though obviously not the whole thing; Seville has too many good places to try for that, even for someone with my appetite. 

What earns them a place here is that vegetarians eating at them consistently come away well fed, not apologetic.

1. Bar Alfalfa

A bit of an institution: a huge wine collection lining the walls, thoroughly photogenic, worth stopping in for a drink alone once you get past the hanging jamones (standard decor in pretty much every traditional bar in the city).

• Vibe: Loud, packed, standing room only. Tiny enough that you’ll likely be holding a wine glass and a plate at the same time. 
• Order: The grilled aubergine is the one proper vegetable-forward dish. Otherwise, it leans cheese-heavy; think a cheese platter, olives, Provolone, Scamorza, and hummus. 
• Heads up: No reservations. Go before 5 pm for any real chance of a seat, or accept you’re standing.
• Bar Alfalfa on Facebook

2. Los Coloniales

Classic, unfussy tapas bar with two locations: San Pedro and one near the Cathedral. Sit-down rather than standing, and more vegetarian choices than Bar Alfalfa, if less of an atmosphere.

• Vibe: Busy, traditional, no modern twists.
• Order: The aubergine with salmorejo, or the honeyed version if you want it sweeter. My picks are the ensalada alinada (dressed carrot salad) and the goat cheese and raisin salad with salmorejo. 
• Heads up: No reservations, and they mean it: you write your name on a chalkboard waiting list. Turn up hungry and patient at peak times. If you go for the salmorejo, ask “sin jamón” unless you want the ham garnish.
• Los Coloniales official site

3. Casa Morales

Another institution, dating back to 1850, and worth the visit for the decor alone. Giant terracotta urns line the walls, with the day’s menu chalked straight onto them.

• Vibe: Old-school bodega, more about the history and atmosphere than a wide vegetarian range.
• Order: Espinacas con garbanzos, with the vegetable grill platter as a solid backup.
• Heads up: No reservations, and closed on Sundays. Open 12:30 – 4 pm and 8 pm- midnight the rest of the week.
• Casa Morales on Instagram

4. La Brunilda

Set in a restored 18th-century coach house, this is more formal than the rest of this list, which mostly feel ultra casual. Treat this more as an occasion rather than a quick stop.

• Vibe: Elevated, modern-twist tapas. More restaurant than bar.
• Order: The burrata, the beetroot salmorejo, and the goat cheese with sweet chilli sauce.
• Heads up: Booking online is your best bet if you’ve got a set date and time in mind. You might get lucky with a walk-in, but don’t count on it. The beetroot salmorejo here shouldn’t come with jamón, but it’s worth a quick check anyway.
• La Brunilda official site

5. Vinería San Telmo

Relaxed and a little upmarket, with a terrace looking over the Murillo gardens. A world away from Bar Alfalfa’s standing-room chaos, and probably the most vegetarian-friendly bar on this list.

• Vibe: Calm, sit-down, good for a slower lunch or dinner.
• Order: The grilled artichoke with egg and sun-dried tomato, and the calabacín al horno relleno de alboronía (baked courgette stuffed with alboronía, a Sevillian aubergine and vegetable stew).
• Heads up: Takes reservations and walk-ins, so it’s an easier booking than most on this list. Worth combining with a wander through Barrio Santa Cruz, since it’s right by the gardens.
• Vinería San Telmo official site

6. Vega 10

Small and tucked away on a quiet side street between Triana and Los Remedios. It’s the least traditional bar on this list, doing fusion tapas with an Asian influence rather than classic Andalusian, and I’m enough of a fan of that combination that it doesn’t bother me one bit.

• Vibe: Cosy rather than lively, small enough that it feels more like someone’s dining room.
• Order: The beetroot salmorejo, plus the vegetable risotto and vegan hot dog if you want to go fully plant-based.
• Heads up: It’s genuinely tiny, so book ahead if you can. Same rule applies to the beetroot salmorejo here: ask before you order if you want it meat-free. Worth the stop if you’re already exploring this side of the river; see our best tapas in Triana guide for the rest of the neighbourhood.
• Vega 10 on Instagram

Two more veggie-friendly restaurants in Seville worth knowing about

Neither of these is a traditional Spanish tapas bar, which is a bit of a departure from the rest of this list. But both do small, shareable plates that vegetarians in Seville rate highly, so leaving them out felt like a disservice.

7. Arte y Sabor

A Spanish-Moroccan fusion restaurant on the Alameda, and one of the more reliably vegetarian and vegan-friendly menus in the city, going back to when it started life as a dedicated vegetarian restaurant.

• Vibe: Casual, tree-shaded terrace on the Alameda, easygoing rather than smart.
• Order: The falafel, the hummus, and the vegetable tempura are all reliable. There’s a beetroot salmorejo too, if you want a Spanish touchstone on an otherwise Moroccan-leaning menu.
• Heads up: Open all day, so it’s a useful option outside standard Spanish lunch and dinner hours.
• Arte y Sabor official site

8. Fatouch

Lebanese rather than Spanish, and not tapas in any traditional sense. But it does small, shareable plates in much the same spirit, and it consistently gets named by vegetarians as one of the best meals they’ve had in the city. I genuinely love everything on their menu

• Vibe: Small, warm, and popular enough that it fills up fast.
• Order: The hummus, particularly the beetroot Hummus Rosa, and the falafel. The “sofra” tasting menu can be adapted for vegetarians if you’d rather the kitchen choose for you.
• Heads up: Reservations are recommended. It’s a small space and books up.
• Fatouch on Instagram

Veggie Tapas in Seville: FAQs

Where to go next after trying these veggie-friendly tapas in Seville

These six tapas bars are a good start, but there’s plenty more if you’re building a proper food-and-drink experience of the city.

If navigating Seville’s tapas scene sounds like more effort than you want on holiday, then start with an organised walking tapas tour, and take the guesswork out of it entirely.

Check out these other food and drink guides

• Where to find the best coffee in Seville
• Guide to Seville’s best rooftop bars
• Top bars for craft beer in Seville