A meal at La Azotea is not your typical Spanish dining experience, but in all of the right ways. The food is bold, modern, inventive, and served with finesse, while maintaining a recognizable loyalty to the pillars of Spanish cuisine. As a result, La Azotea is always packed. With the success of the original restaurant, it’s owners took the hint and opened not one, but three more outposts in Sevilla, and the crowds keep coming. There is probably not a single local who hasn’t been there, been meaning to go there, or at the very least, known that they should go there.

Although considered expensive by Sevillano standards, La Azotea’s reputation for great service and fantastic food keeps their limited number of reservations full weeks in advance. The menu is updated regularly according to season and what’s looking good in the neighborhood markets. There are so many drool-worthy options on the tapas menu that you’re likely to have a difficult time deciding what to eat. The portion sizes of the tapas are generous enough to share a bite or two among your ogling dining companions, and ultimately you get to try more that way. However, there is one restriction in terms of ordering tapas: you are expected to do so in the bar or a high-top table.

If you want to take a seat in the proper dining “zone” you should order medias or raciones, if you are with a larger group, that should suite you just fine. Whether you go to La Azotea to tapear or for a relaxing meal, you can eat to your hearts content, throw back a few glasses of wine, top off the experience with dessert and you still should leave with damage under the 20 euro mark. And don’t forget to wash it all down with a cafe con leche for good measure.