I'm often asked to name my favourite tapas bar in Sevilla but for me that’s really an impossible question. Even choosing a “top 5” isn't possible. There are so many places I love here, and they are all favourites in one way or another, and for all kinds of different reasons. They also differ in style... I mean, you can't really compare the classic Andalusian cooking at Casa Román with the sophistication of La Barra de Cañabota. It also depends on the day and my mood. And the weather. Is it hot and sunny or cold and rainy? Do I fell like being somewhere modern and buzzy or where I feel cosy and at home? Do I fancy eating that ONE particular thing that only one bar in the city does to perfection? Will I have to stand or is there seating available? And especially these days... what are the chances of getting in if I haven't booked (and of course plenty of tapas bars don't take bookings at all). I have never, and will never, queue to get into a tapas bar in Sevilla. Anyhow, as you can see, there are so many variables.
However…
I've always said that if I were ever made to choose between traditional and modern tapas bars (as in, you can only eat at one type of tapas bar for the rest of your life) then traditional always wins. But even then I have a cluster of beloved family-run places that l love pretty much equally and honestly couldn’t say which one was my favourite. Because I don’t think any of them are actually “better” than the other, they're just different and all of them are special in their own way with their own character. So then they all end up being my favourites.
Except…
Times have changed. Especially post-lockdown (not post-covid, that bastard is still with us). Tourism in Sevilla has skyrocketed and I think many traditional tapas bars don't know whether to count their blessings or curse their “luck”. In an attempt to appeal to everyone (never a good idea) many bars have changed their menus and opening times to attract and appease this sudden influx of new tourist revenue. Result: watered down food offerings and loss of character and charm. Others maintain their regular menus and schedules but are now finding queues of tourists outside their doors at opening time. Result: many locals have stopped going. I mean, we are quite used to finding our favourite bars heaving when we arrive and then hanging around with drink in hand waiting for some space at the bar or a table to open up, but queues and waiting lists are simply not what tapas bars are all about.
And then…
Then there is Casa Morales. Celebrating its 175th anniversary this year. In 1850 Leocadio Morales Prieto, the great-grandfather of current owner Reyes Morales, opened the doors of his winery/bar. In the beginning there was a small bar in one of the two adjoining buildings, the one facing calle García de Vinuesa (Antigua Calle del Mar), and a winery (bodega) and warehouse behind it with the entrance around the corner. This was where the family sold their Valdepeñas wines to the sevillano public, brought down in trucks and stored in the massive and magnificent tinajas (cement and clay urns) that still line the walls today.
In their day they held close to 4000 litres of wine each and remained in use until the 1980s when the rules changed and it was no longer permitted to sell bulk wine outside your own region. The Morales house wines are still being produced but now they are aged and bottled in Valdepeñas. After this the Morales family made a few important changes. They decided to open up both sides of the building as a bar, but there was still no kitchen or even any food sold. “Not even an olive or an altramuz (lupin bean)”, says Reyes. Though sometimes clients would pop over to a nearby food shop or to the fried fish takeaway next door and bring in their own snacks.
Meanwhile, Reyes had trained as a pharmacist because her parents wanted her to have her own career. She began working at a neighbourhood pharmacy by day, and then helping out at the bar in the evenings with her father and uncle. It was during Semana Santa in 1992, which coincided that year with the opening of EXPO 92 in April, that Reyes started selling montaditos (small sandwiches) that were prepared in the family home upstairs. It was the first time Casa Morales had offered food in the bar.
Later a massive renovation was undertaken on both buildings, replacing all the old wiring and plumbing and adding a long mahogany bar and small kitchen to the former winery warehouse. The Morales family managed to achieve one of the most difficult yet desired things of all… fixing what needed fixing but otherwise leaving everything as it was, just slightly more polished, out of respect for their history. Thankfully the tinajas also remained. Reyes told me some people suggested taking them out so they could make room for more tables but… then she just shrugged and looked around and the message was clear. Not on her watch.
There are so many little treasures everywhere you look, and they all have a story. You can still see the curious door in the wall above what is now a small office, which opens into a room where the bodega workers used to sleep, accessed by a ladder. And there is the gaslight lamp next to the bar, with gas tubes still attached, though now it is fitted with an LED bulb. By chance I took a photo the other day of a wooden box with a small brass-hinged door on a wrought-iron metal stand that is sitting on the shelves above the kitchen. Reyes told me it was an old-style wine cooler. She then said that not long ago an elderly man came into the bar and when he saw the box he told her that it was his, that he had made it all those years ago, and it brought tears to his eyes seeing it again.
Finally in 2000, after working two jobs for over 15 years, Reyes gave up her position at the pharmacy to dedicate herself full time to her family legacy. An only child, and with only one cousin on her father's side of the family, she was the obvious heir apparent after her father Eduardo's death in 1994. She told me “I had to do it, because I realised that this is mine, and it lives right here” placing her hand over her heart.
These days the bar is run by Reyes Morales and her husband Juan Carlos García, with son Eduardo and nephew Javier poised to take over the reins when their time comes.
Once the kitchen was installed there was more focus on the tapas offering. Initially a couple of cooks helped Reyes form the initial menu, and then chef Óscar Franco joined the team in 2007. He's been in charge of the kitchen ever since, with Reyes helping out from her prep kitchen in her home upstairs. She says with a smile that Óscar won't let her in HIS kitchen. They collaborate on the menu and have been fine-tuning it over the years, working together to create one of the best and most classic tapas offerings in the city. Also one of the most delicious ones. With top quality everything, from Ibérico charcuterie and exquisite cheeses to fish and meat, all from premium producers… it’s impossible to go wrong here.
During this celebratory anniversary year Reyes and Óscar are offering a special Tapa del Mes each month. In January it was grilled bacalao topped with mushrooms cooked in Morales red wine. This month it’s artichokes with jamón (I have yet to try it). I'll be adding photos of each anniversary tapa to the Casa Morales page on my Sevilla Tapas website throughout the year. They'll also appear in my Substack notes. Stay tuned!
I realise that this still hasn’t answered the initial question of whether I have a favourite tapas bar in Sevilla or not. Or has it? I’ll never tell.
But I can finally tell you the definitive definition of what a tapa is, according to Reyes. It’s an aperitivo of just the right size that allows you to ask for another one.
Lovely Shawn. Plus it really is a very special place.
Great post, love hearing about the history of these classic bars! Thank you!