Tapas like a local

In Mallorca, tapas means hopping from bar to bar: pa amb oli, frit mallorquí, variats, croquetas and an ice-cold caña, in bars where the waiter treats you like a regular. In this guide you’ll find the old-school bars, the fried-fish spots and the gastrobars. Tip: go at local time, from 8:30 pm, and order «un variat» to try a bit of everything.

Tapas Like a Resident

In Mallorca, tapas have their own dish: the variat, a plate with a little of everything the kitchen has that day, such as croquettes, frit, meat in sauce, Russian salad, squid and olives. You order it at the bar at lunchtime, with a small beer or an island wine. Frit mallorquí, made with meat, liver, potato and vegetables with fennel, comes from the pig-slaughter tradition, and pa amb oli, dark bread with ramellet tomato and olive oil, is served with cheese or cured meats. In Palma, the llonguet is the local sandwich roll, so typical that people from Palma are nicknamed llonguets.

Do as the locals do: move from bar to bar, share, and do not over-order, as portions are often generous. For creative tapas, Palma holds TaPalma from 4 to 8 November 2026, a food route with 42 venues.

Frequently asked questions

What is a Mallorcan variat?

A combination plate of several small tapas: usually croquettes, frit, meat in sauce, Russian salad, squid, tumbet or olives, depending on what the bar has that day. It is Mallorca's classic tapas meal, eaten at the bar at lunchtime, sometimes inside a llonguet roll.

Which traditional tapas should you try in Mallorca?

Variat, frit mallorquí (meat, liver, potato and vegetables with fennel), pa amb oli with ramellet tomato, vegetable tumbet and sobrassada. In Palma, also try a llonguet, the local bread roll, filled with variat.

When is TaPalma 2026?

The TaPalma 2026 food route, its 21st edition, runs from 4 to 8 November at 42 venues in Palma, with tapas drawn from local and creative cooking. The tapas competition comes first, on 2 November, at the Palau de Congressos.

Updated in October 2026