El Torero in Newcastle upon Tyne

My brother worked here about 10 years ago.. he now lives in Spain and learnt alot from this place. Very nice food and friendly staff.. if you want a paella ring up at 11am and order it so it is ready for you at 1145-12noon . Saves a little time and the staff will thank you. Everything is fresh

Absolutely fabulous place , great atmosphere , food is amazing highly recommend

We had a lovely family meal this afternoon to celebrate Mother’s Day. The food was delicious and the service from Daniella was excellent! We’d definitely recommend and will back soon xx

Don’t know if it was our choice of dishes but it wasn’t as good as I had in my head from past experience. The prawns and bruschetta were tasty but the patatas bravas were pretty basic compared to what I’ve had in Spain before. Seemed like we got forgotten about at times for getting a drinks order in.

I’m fussy with food but this is one of the best Spanish meals I have had in a long time. Having lived in Spain, I found the food 100 percent authentic and could not fault the tapas including manchego cheese, chicken fricasse, calamari, garlic prawns and potatoes. The almond cake dessert was to die for. The staff are friendly and the service was fast. I’ll definitely be returning here when I next visit Newcastle.

Ages since l was last there but we thoroughly enjoyed the food and Danielle was brilliant. Beer was excellent also!

Excellent tapas. Great house wine. Delicious desserts. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Average all round. Slow service and food wasn't upto much. Wasn't that busy either.

Ha estado yendo aquí por probablemente 30 años. Fuimos anoche, la segunda vez por mi OH. La comida es increíble. Lo pusimos freno y teníamos tres cada uno para compartir y eso era comida más que suficiente. Puedo recomendar la ensalada con queso de cabra si te gusta el queso de cabra! Fue magnífico. También los dátiles rellenos de almendra con tocino. Excelente comida.

I actually enjoyed the atmosphere. However, people seated near to us were complaining about noise, caused they said by the wooden floors and high ceilings. Other than that, it was great. We had the set meal for three (£22 per person) it was delicious, plentiful, and quickly served. It's definitely a place to go ato again. Oh, the 1906 dark beer is absolutely tremendous.

We enjoyed the food we had no problems with that, it was the lack of atmosphere the place is large inside so it really could do with something to make it look more inviting, just my opinion sorry.

Amazing gluten free food, great value for money. Good service. Would definitely visit again.

Just a really nice place to eat, to meet friends , nice atmosphere without being overly loud

Service quick with plenty of available seating. Staff very pleasant.

Favourite restaurant in Newcastle, not pretentious and it's got a need to know it's there vibe.

We opted for the 2 person tapas set meal, no complaints from us and it was fairly priced too. The sangria is a must!

Regularmente cenamos fuera y nos encanta Tapas. Esto es de lejos lo mejor que hemos tenido en mucho tiempo. Una joya tan escondida y una relación calidad-precio increíble. La comida era excepcional, así como el servicio. Definitivamente volveré

Servicio rápido Precio razonable Personal eficiente Comida muy sabrosa y no demasiado pesada Buena gama de platos, con algunas combinaciones interesantes

Excellent paella and tapas! Highly recommended!

Wonderful place, delicious food

Went there for our Office Christmas night out... Loved the tapas for 6...

Vi este lugar recomendado en Newcastle Foodies y honestamente, fue absolutamente horrendo! No tengo ni idea de por qué la gente lo valora altamente. Éramos una fiesta de 9 , compañeros para una comida de Navidad y cada persona en la mesa dijo que era horrible. Los calamares sabían congelados, los tamaños de las porciones eran inconsistentes. Todo era comestible pero bastante caro para comida muy pobre. Es como una mala interpretación de lo que es la tapa inglesa “típica”. Tardaron siglos en conseguirnos bebidas, el ambiente era raro y se sentía un poco cantina - como y era simplemente malo. ¡Estoy desconcertado en cuanto a cómo alguien lo califica como bueno!

Third time here, beautiful food 😊🙏

Excellent food and service (thanks Bo!). Will come back 😄

Passing by in the cold wind, I was attracted by the warm lights. And the incredible dinner healed myself in the cold wind.

¡Quería probar aquí durante años! Trabajo sí, compró menú fijo y solo disfrutó de las albóndigas que eran sabrosas. Lamentablemente, todo lo demás fue mediocre en el mejor de los casos según lo acordado por nuestro partido de los 8. Las patatas sabían a patatas de horno, empapadas en ketchup. Dicho esto, el personal atento encantador y las bebidas weee bueno!

Had a lovely family celebration here, the pre-booking and communication about some allergies was really good, and we all enjoyed the evening and the food, which was plentiful having ordered a set menu for everyone. Staff were really great, and helpful, would definitely return in the future when we are visiting Newcastle

Food was incredible and service was brilliant even though they were really busy. Will definitely be back for more

Great food. Warm welcome. Welcoming atmosphere

Realmente disfruté de la comida aquí, pedimos 15 platos diferentes y todos salieron calientes y sabrosos. Si alguna vez vuelvo a Newcastle, sin duda volveré.

Great selection of tapas. The menu is well thought out. Not overly priced. No problem in getting a table on a Thursday night not long before Xmas. Staff couldn't have been lovelier. We've never been here before and we are looking forward to going back soon.

Spot on well worth the train journey food spot on & the young ladies serving were spot on.

We opted for the set menu (£22.50 per person) for two. Food was 'good' but none of the dishes were 'great'. Atmosphere could do with being warmer/cosier, maybe improved lighting.

Excellent Tapas resteraunt on the Quayside in Newcastle. Welcomed by a very nice waiter . Good menu with lots of choice .Service was excellent and food excellent. Definitely will return

Great food but no atmosphere as actually empty 7:30 Tuesday evening but also a bit mean, charging £3.75 for extra bread when only a small amount was provided with the set course. Also service was poor as they disappeared for 15 mins at a time. Won't be going there again unfortunately

Without doubt the worst food I've ever eaten in a tapas bar. The service was brilliant, but the food. Beef stew that looked and tasted like last week's roast tipped in a pot, creamy chicken that was like rubber. But the worst, and I wish I had taken a photo, was the bruchetta. Home half baked baguettes cut in half with a pink mush of tomatoes of such poor quality, you couldn't even smell what they were if you gave them a sniff, covered with raw crushed garlic on top. Had obviously been sitting a while as it was just very soggy mushy bread. The complete opposite to anything genuine or tasty. The chick peas and bowl of mushrooms were like my kids school cooking in year 7. The meat platter at the start was ok but was like the end aisle at Tesco dumped on a plate.

Amazing food and service. Best tapas we've had for a long time. Not busy and a bit chilly inside but didn't ruin the experience of great food and wine

Great service, brilliant food. Will be back

Had the most wonderful paella mixto and sangria today in a sunlit El Torero, brought back many happy memories for us, love this place! 😍

Lovely waitresses, amazing food and an even better better wine :)

Beautiful tapas, first time we’d visited after a recommendation, service great and food delicious. Lovely birthday night away

I solemnly declare: this restaurant is the ceiling of Spanish cuisine in Newcastle!

We ate here well over 10 years ago but remembered it fondly and decided to revisit with a friend. Were so pleased to see that it was 'special offer Tuesday' - any 3 tapas for £16.50 (a few exceptions, but not many) I am not really a tapas eater - not a fan of tiny dishes that you are trying to share.. but this restaurant is the exception. I had thinly sliced aubergines that were in a light batter with cane honey as one of my dishes. Such a generous portion - about 10 slices! Was so excited I forgot to photo it...sorry! We had a couple of prawn dishes, beef stew, pork and mushrooms in blue cheese sauce (amazing), chicken and mushrooms in a brandy/cream sauce, Chorizo sausage slices, serrano ham and a basket of bread with alioli. we cleared the lot - even getting some extra bread to mop up the sauces! Lovely bottle of chilled white to wash it all down and very good value. If you like tapas (and even if you aren't keen, like me!) this restaurant is a must visit whilst in Newcastle.

I couldn’t fault El Torero if I tried. Me and my partner came for restaurant week and the deal was amazing value for money. My partner needs to have dairy free food, and the menu had “DF” for dairy free food which I’ve never seen before!! The servers were all so lovely, and Spanish-speaking which made it feel so much more authentic. I’ll deffo be back even when restaurant week is over. :)

Superb food, we had nine filling tapas dishes for £22.50 each, very filling and very tasty. The furnishings are a little sparse but the food makes up for it,

Wow, wow, wow! There’s not much more to say really… Food was absolutely lovely. Potatas were lovely and flavoursome, with a nice hint of salt. Brochetas de Pollo was beautifully cooked, with a lovely marinade; was just a shame there was only one skewer! Nice bread too. Service was really good too. Food came out relatively fast, but (and as expected, and as I didn’t mind) did not come out all at once. Overall, an amazing place to come for food at a reasonable price (drinks slightly more costly!), with great service and a nice, relaxing atmosphere. I truly cannot wait to return!

Highly recommend. Food was really fresh. Beautifully prepared. Had an offer on too, 3 tapas for £16.50. Staff were friendly and efficient. love this place.

Enjoyed the tapas...big portions! Staff really friendly

We stopped over in Newcastle on our way abroad for a holiday. Having read a few reviews we settled on El Torero. It was a Wednesday evening so no great issues getting a table. On entering the restaurant it definitely had an authentic Spanish feel. However, that's where the similarities with Spain ends. Having lived in Spain i would say I'm pretty qualified to comment on Spanish food. We were a family of 5 so we did order what we thought would be plenty, opting for the set El Clasico Tapas times 5. As the plates arrived we could quickly see that the portions were meager to say the least. Gambas Pil Pil for example gave us exactly 1 Prawn each. All the other dishes were equally frugal and bland. I asked the waitress if she was bringing anymore food out and she simply laughed. I also asked if the chef was Spanish and 'not tonight' was the reply. Overall very poor and very overpriced. Definitely wont be returning.

Best Spanish food I’ve had in the 9 years I’ve been living in UK. I love the decor and vibe. The staff are super friendly and very professional.

Delicious food at a very reasonable price!

one of the best meals i've had in a long time, portion sizes are large for tapas too :)

Just had the most lovely lunch here. Although my friend didn't make it, I was made to feel at ease by myself and taken care off. The recommendations for the tapas were welcomed. High quality food, great prices and lovely selection of wine. Highly recommend. The hospitality was amazing

Really enjoyable visit with friends. Service was excellent and we all really enjoyed the food. Wide selection of dishes. Seen mixed recent reviews on here but we had an excellent meal

Lovely waitress and great tapas; ordered 5 dishes between 2 people which was a little too much for dinner, for us oldies! Only reason for 4* not 5 was that we wenton Sunday evening & it was a bit quiet.

First thing first, the tapas were really good and tasty. There are no faults with the tapas, highly recommended! But I was very disappointed with the paella, because the paella wasn't cooked with the pan but cooked separately then put it inside the pan once it's cooked. There were no crusty parts around the pan, the entire pan was smooth all over, not the traditional Spanish way. In summary, remember to order the tapas but don't order the paella 🥘 - otherwise you will be disappointed!

Wonderful place, it was recommended to us, I recommend it to you. We had a lovely evening.

We popped into El Torero in passing, as visitors in town with a show to go to and not much time to spend over a meal. The place was maybe half full on a Monday evening at 6.45, and we were greeted by a very pleasant waitress. When we explained to her that we had 40 minutes maximum and needed the food pretty quickly, she said she couldn't guarantee anything, but would do her best. She got us seated, and produced menus and wine list immediately, bringing the glasses of wine we'd ordered right away, and waiting while we went through the menu. We ordered potatos with chorizo and red pepper, prawns, chicken in rice, chick peas, and pork in mushroom and cream sauce. It arrived very quickly - OK, I know you're thinking 'microwave', but all I can say is that we couldn't fault anything, and the pork was particularly good. Since the portions were generous and we were in a hurry, we couldn't finish it all, so a box was provided for a carry-out. It cost us £43 including the drinks, which is a fair bit less than we'd pay for the equivalent back home in Manchester. I notice comments here about faded decor, but TBH we have been in places just like this in Spain, and the atmosphere felt really authentic. We were very happy with our on-the-spot choice, and the waitress got a decent tip!

Thank you, Adriana for the warmest of welcomes. Great food — hopefully we can return.

Excellent service! I loved the food and the atmosphere created inside the restaurant!! food-music-decoration

Brilliant will definitely be going back

Went for a meal with my daughter. Very nice rustic feel about the place. Very pleasant staff, we felt it was good value and portions were large...doggy bag needed!

Dated old classroom with zer atmosphere

We visited for lunch on the bank holiday weekend . The place was empty and lacked any kind of atmosphere . The place is in need of a refurb as it looks dated . The waitress was pleasant but the food was very average . We wouldnt rush back based on this

Nice unpretentious restaurant, reasonably priced and no stags or hens would think of entering :)

Potato omelette was hard and rubbery. Maybe it had been microwaved, anyway just nasty.

Delicious food and good variety

Absolutely amazing food and service especially the cream pork 😋

Set up a steep Hill this tapas restaurant probably has no parking. We ate early at 5.30 as going to a gig but there were quite a few others already there. Good choice of tapas which are substantial brought quickly- we were out by 6.40. Tasty esp the mushrooms in wine and garlic but beef stew was quite dry. Approx £38 for 6 tapas, large red wine and lager so good value. Best thing- lovely waitress!

We found this little gem where nearly everything on the menu was GF and DF. https://eltorero.co.uk/ Lovely building, fab staff, food was out of this world, needless to say, Wife stuffed her face. She didn't itch, have tummy pain or bloating, didn't get rendered to occupying the bathroom, no itchy eyes / redness or watering, no feeling sick- just a pure lush evening that I could eat pretty much most on the menu and not worry. The staff even went out of their way to remind me of any foods that my husband ordered which she couldn't eat. Which service. Outstanding value too. Top tip: order before 1700hrs and get 3 tapas dishes for £16.50 ,I think it is. Or, register via email and receive a 20% off code to use which can't be used with any other offer. Please check the website for exclusions, it is something like can't be used on Fri or Sat night and bank holidays.

Brilliant restaurant in a tucked away part of Newcastle. The food was nice and the man working there was very helpful.

Bread. Salad. 3x prawns. 3 croquets. Small rice, potato. Small lamb dish and small pork dish 3x dates wrappped in bacon and small olive, cheese and ham dish for £61.50. Every dish had lettuce to look bigger. Did not convince me of the value... ;-(

The food was average, the whole place looked like it needed a spruce up and visiting the gents toilets wasn’t a pleasant experience. The drinks were nice and prices quite reasonable. What let the entire experience down was the service or lack of service, we visited on a Saturday afternoon and it wasn’t too busy but still took an eternity to get drinks and dirty plates removed. We won’t be returning!!!

We chose the set menu for two which had a variety of tasty dishes and we felt was very good value. A few things we might not have ordered turned out to be among our favourites. Service attentive and with a smile, despite being busy at times.

Truly wonderful food, a great variety of meat, vegetarian and vegan. The dishes were large and cost much less than we expected. The atmosphere was great, and the staff were friendly and worked quickly. I highly recommend it!

Good selection of tapas as expected. Came here for valentine's and really enjoyed the food and wine

The food here is amazing. Working my way down the Tapas menu! Great location. Great atmosphere. Never disappointed. (The posters are of bullfights, a bit - well - not a good idea and probably will put people off)

Excellent tapas restaurant. First visit in several years and immediately asking why has it taken so long to return? The menu is vast, clearly labelled for dietary requirements and good portions. Every dish we had was delicious. Service is friendly, the venue has retained lots of features of the Victorian building which is lovely and all these elements make a great relaxed dining experience.

Family of 3 shared a mixture of tapas, all tasty, service great…particularly liked the tentacle squid in batter and the albondigas.

I have been to this lovely restaurant quite a few times now and always enjoy my visits. .There is a great choice on the menu with a variety of food to satisfy all tastes in food; whether meat eater or vegetarian. I really enjoy tapas and would rate this restaurant highly. Friendly and attentive staff. A good range of wines, if you like a wee tipple. I will certainly return on my next visit to Newcastle.

Nice food, good portion sizes, good variety of tapas.

Really great experience. Food was good and well priced, service was stellar and the restaurant itself is charming. We’ll definitely be back.

If you are Asian, this is highly recommended. Most of the meals were salty or tasteless. The only thing I enjoyed was alcohol. However, the service was good.

Had a great meal here on Saturday, as part of the Restaurant week. The food came quickly and was lovely, the service was great and the atmosphere overall was also lovely

Lovely food and ambience. Visited on a Saturday night and got seated no problem. All 3 of us got 3 dishes for £15 each to share, the quality of the food was lovely, very flavourful and filling. Would definitely return.

We visited for lunch in the week before Christmas and took advantage of the three tapas for £14.95 offer. All the food was good. There is a very good wine selection and the service was excellent. It has a large and well decorated interior, which was nice and warm.

I’ve been coming to El Torero for over ten years now, and have always had outstanding food and service here. I’d recommend it to anyone visiting Newcastle.

Great meal for sharing. Amazing food and the portions are just right. We ended up with lots of plates and finished almost everything. The meatballs were fantastic, the croquettes excellent, and the beers were great, too. Highly recommended.

Last minute choice managed to fit us in at short notice lovely atmosphere great staff very food choice of food and great quality 6 of us all enjoyed a great range of food recommend

Food was great. Really authentic and super tasty. We felt sorry for the two young members of staff who were run ragged trying to take orders, serve, run the bar, etc. The big problem with the place is that it's an old building with high ceilings and there was no heating on. They try to take the chill off with some portable electric heaters, but shivering while you eat your food is not great, and obviously the food goes cold more quickly. I'd definitely give it another go, but not during the winter.

Great food and friendly staff, one of the best tapas restaurants in the north east

Good quality food of good sized portions and at a good price.....a little rustic but part of its charm. Drink prices are good too

This was honestly a really strange experience for a tapas restaurant. We entered and after sitting for 15 minutes without menus or drinks we joked that it was a very authentic led back Spanish restaurant after all. Yet once we ordered all 10 tapas, with the exception of 1, arrived at the same time which I've never experienced before. Some where delicious, others a bit stale and some tasted bought in. The croquettes where so heavy and dense that I couldn't even finish one, the rice tasted delicious, fresh and packed full of flavour, the bread was on the turn. The food came that quickly that we never even got the glass of red wine we wanted. Strange all round with a mixture of food and service.

Great food, just like eating in Spain. Friendly, helpful staff. It was a quiet night but still felt good as the music and staff were lovely and authentic.

First time here and woukd return. A very extensive menu and the place was very busy so glad we booked. Food quality was very good and most of it definitely seemed homemade which is always a bonus. Had 4 dishes each as we were quite hungry but 3 would be enough. Service after the meal was a slight let down as had to wait a good 25 minutes for plates to be cleared

Service non existent we got seated and then no one came back to give us menus we had to go look for someone. It was like a loud school food hall and food wasn't great. We found a hair in our food too. Wouldn't recommend.

Amazing food! Great with sangria and friends! One of my favourite restaurants.

Very good food and wine and excellent service at a reasonable price. We were looking for an interesting restaurant and this caught our eye as my wife had never eaten at a Spanish restaurant - she was impressed!

Fabulous restaurant we dine here often absolutely lovely as always.....thanks again we will be back

Always incredible food and service here