Restaurant in Alacant, Spain
Alicante's rice benchmark. Book upstairs.
Piripi is Alicante's most consistent address for rice dishes and daily-sourced fish, holding a Michelin Plate (2025) and an OAD Casual Europe ranking. Fish arrives from the Dénia and Santa Pola auctions each morning. At €€€, it delivers on that sourcing commitment. Book the upstairs dining room for a proper lunch; the ground-floor bar works for walk-ins.
Piripi is the right call for a first visit to Alicante's rice and seafood tradition. It holds a Michelin Plate (2025) and ranks #808 on Opinionated About Dining's Casual Europe list, which positions it firmly in the top tier of everyday dining in the city — not a special-occasion splurge, but a confident choice for a long lunch built around properly sourced fish. At €€€ pricing, you are paying for ingredient quality and a two-floor format that suits both bar snacking and a seated meal. If you want one place to understand what Alicante does with rice and the Mediterranean's daily catch, book here.
Piripi sits on Avenida Oscar Esplá, one of Alicante's main thoroughfares, at number 30. The ground floor runs as a tapas bar where you can eat standing or perched at the counter — a practical option if you arrive without a reservation or want something quick. Upstairs, the dining room is more composed: tablecloths, a longer menu, and the kind of pacing that suits a two-hour lunch. For a first visit, the upstairs room gives you the full picture of what the kitchen can do.
The kitchen's defining commitment is daily sourcing from the fish auctions at Dénia and Santa Pola. Both are working fishing ports on the Costa Blanca, and buying direct from auction means the fish on your plate was landed that morning. This is not marketing copy , it is the operational logic that makes Piripi's seafood and rice dishes worth ordering over safer, blander alternatives elsewhere in the city. The à la carte menu reflects what arrives each day, so the specials board matters here. Ask the staff what came in from Dénia or Santa Pola before you order.
Rice is the anchor of the menu. Alicante sits at the geographic heart of Spain's rice-growing region, and Piripi's reputation is built on executing these dishes at a level that justifies the €€€ price point. The extensive à la carte also runs signature tapas and daily fish and seafood specials , the combination gives you flexibility whether you want a full meal or a focused order of two or three dishes at the bar downstairs.
With 3,862 Google reviews averaging 4.4 stars, the volume of feedback here is a useful signal: this is not a place riding a single wave of press attention. Consistent scores across that many covers suggest reliable execution rather than occasional brilliance. For a first-timer, that consistency matters , you are unlikely to hit an off night.
Booking is rated Easy. That said, Alicante's lunch culture means the dining room fills quickly on weekday afternoons and is busy throughout the weekend. If you want the upstairs room rather than a bar stool, a reservation is the practical move. The ground floor bar remains a walk-in option if your plans are flexible.
See the comparison section below for how Piripi sits against its closest peers in Alicante.
For broader context on eating and drinking in the city, see our full Alacant restaurants guide, our full Alacant bars guide, and our full Alacant hotels guide. If you are exploring the wider region, Quique Dacosta in Dénia , the same port that supplies Piripi's fish , represents the Costa Blanca at its most ambitious. For rice dishes elsewhere in Spain, La Xarxa in Tarragona and SeBE in Costa Teguise offer useful points of comparison. Among Alicante's other serious kitchens, Baeza & Rufete, Alba, Celeste y Don Carlos, Distrikt41, and El Portal Alicante - Krug Ambassade each address different price points and styles. For the broader Spanish fine-dining context, Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona, El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Arzak in San Sebastián, Azurmendi in Larrabetzu, and Martin Berasategui in Lasarte-Oria set the national benchmark.
Piripi operates an à la carte format, not a tasting menu. The better approach is to order two or three dishes anchored around the rice and the day's fish specials, which reflect what was sourced that morning from the Dénia and Santa Pola auctions. That gives you a more representative meal than any fixed sequence could.
It works for a celebratory lunch rather than a formal dinner event. The upstairs dining room has the right atmosphere for marking something, and the Michelin Plate recognition gives it credibility as a destination choice. If you need a more formal setting, Baeza & Rufete at €€€€ is the step up within the city.
The two-floor format helps. The ground-floor bar suits smaller groups who want flexibility; the upstairs dining room can accommodate larger parties with advance booking. Call ahead for groups of six or more , no booking contact details are listed publicly, so check the venue directly.
The menu is seafood-forward by design, with rice dishes and fish as the core. Vegetarian and other dietary needs are leading confirmed directly with the restaurant before arrival, as the menu shifts daily with what is sourced from the fish auction.
At €€€, yes , if you order the rice dishes and the daily fish specials. The sourcing model (daily auction buying from Dénia and Santa Pola) is what you are paying for, and it shows in the quality of the fish. If you want a lower price point in Alicante, La Taberna del Gourmet at € covers similar regional seafood territory for less.
Yes. The ground floor runs as a working tapas bar and you can eat at the counter without a reservation. It is a good option for solo diners or if you want a shorter, more informal visit. The full rice dishes and kitchen specials are available upstairs in the dining room.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piripi | €€€ | Easy | — |
| Baeza & Rufete | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| La Taberna del Gourmet | € | Unknown | — |
| Nou Manolín | €€€ | Unknown | — |
| El Portal Taberna & Wines | €€ | Unknown | — |
| Steki | €€ | Unknown | — |
A quick look at how Piripi measures up.
Piripi does not offer a tasting menu — it runs à la carte throughout. Order around the rice dishes and the daily fish specials sourced from Dénia and Santa Pola auctions; that combination is where the Michelin Plate (2025) recognition makes sense. If tasting-menu format is what you want in Alicante, look at El Portal Taberna & Wines instead.
The upstairs dining room works well for a celebratory lunch. The Michelin Plate (2025) and OAD #808 ranking give it enough standing to mark something, and the à la carte format lets you pace the meal rather than being locked into a set sequence. It is a better fit for lunch occasions than formal evening events — hours are not confirmed in available data, so check availability directly.
The two-floor layout helps with group flexibility: the ground-floor tapas bar suits smaller, informal groups who want to order casually, while the upstairs dining room is the better option for larger parties wanting a sit-down meal. For groups with a specific size or seating requirement, check the venue's official channels since booking policy details are not publicly confirmed.
The menu is built around rice, fish, and seafood — sourced daily from the Dénia and Santa Pola fish auctions — so it is not naturally accommodating for those avoiding seafood. Vegetarian options and other dietary needs should be confirmed with the restaurant before booking, as the menu is seafood-forward by design.
At €€€, yes — provided you order the rice dishes and daily fish specials. The daily-auction sourcing from Dénia and Santa Pola is the practical justification for the price point, and a Michelin Plate (2025) alongside an OAD #808 ranking (2025) confirms the kitchen delivers at that level. If you order only tapas from the ground-floor bar, the value case is less clear against cheaper alternatives in Alicante.
Yes. The ground floor operates as a working tapas bar and counter dining is available without a reservation. It is the practical choice for solo diners or anyone who wants to eat without booking ahead — though the full rice and seafood menu, and the experience that justifies the €€€ price range, is better accessed in the upstairs dining room.
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