Restaurant in la Nucía, Spain
One Michelin star, hard to book, worth it.
El Xato holds a Michelin star (2024) and a 4.8 Google rating across 1,300-plus reviews, making it the clearest choice for a special-occasion dinner in the Marina Baixa area. A fourth-generation family restaurant with over 100 years of history, it runs two tasting menus rooted in Alicante's coastal larder. Book four to six weeks ahead minimum — this is a hard reservation.
Yes, and it's the clearest case for a special-occasion dinner in the Marina Baixa area. El Xato holds a Michelin star (2024), carries a 4.8 rating across more than 1,300 Google reviews, and operates as the fourth generation of a family that has been feeding this corner of Alicante since 1915. For creative Alicantine cooking with genuine local roots, nothing in la Nucía or the immediate surrounding area competes at this level.
The restaurant's offer is built around two gastronomic tasting menus — Tentaciones and Centenario — both available with a wine pairing that focuses on Valencian producers. This is not a venue where you order à la carte and improvise; you're committing to a structured experience, and the format rewards that commitment. Chef Cristina Figueira trained in the same kitchen under her mother-in-law Esperanza Fuster, which means the culinary DNA here has been accumulated and refined over generations rather than imported. Her approach is grounded in Alicante's coastal and agricultural larder, with a creative layer that lifts the cooking beyond regional comfort food. The grilled langoustine tartare appears in the Michelin record as a signature reference point , technically precise, and a good signal of what the kitchen is doing with local seafood.
The dining room atmosphere sits in a register that the restaurant itself describes as wanting guests to "arrive as guests but leave as friends" , which in practice means it is warm, service-led, and notably personal for a starred venue. Francisco Cano runs the front of house and wine cellar, which gives the operation a coherence you don't always find when kitchen and floor are managed by different teams. Noise levels reflect that intimacy: this is not a loud, high-energy room. Expect calm enough to have a real conversation across the table, which makes it a stronger choice than most coastal alternatives for a dinner where the occasion matters as much as the food.
If you've eaten here before and are deciding whether to return, the two-menu structure is the key variable. Tentaciones tends to function as the more accessible entry point; Centenario, as the name suggests, leans into the 100-year history of the house. Returning guests should consider whether the wine pairing adds meaningful value on a second visit , the Valencian focus makes it worth trying at least once, particularly if you haven't explored wines from this region systematically.
El Xato is a family-run operation with the atmosphere and physical scale that implies. It is not a large-format event venue. For groups, the practical question is whether the restaurant can accommodate your party within the existing dining room configuration rather than through a dedicated private space. The database does not confirm a private dining room, so groups should contact the restaurant directly before assuming that option exists. What the venue does offer groups is the structure of a set menu format , both Centenario and Tentaciones are well-suited to group dining because they remove the friction of everyone ordering differently and allow the kitchen to pace the experience cleanly. For a group celebrating a birthday, anniversary, or professional occasion, the set menu plus wine pairing combination works better here than it would at a venue where à la carte is the main format. Parties planning around a specific date should factor in the booking difficulty , see the practical section below , and treat this as a venue that requires advance planning, not a walk-in option for a group of six.
El Xato is genuinely hard to book. A Michelin star, a limited weekly schedule (closed Monday and Tuesday, with a condensed service window across the remaining five days), and a capacity that reflects its family-run scale all compress availability quickly. Book a minimum of four to six weeks out for weekend dinner; longer if you're planning around a holiday period on the Costa Blanca. The lunch window runs slightly later in the day than many Spanish fine-dining peers , 1:30 PM to 2:45 PM on Wednesday and Sunday, slightly tighter on Thursday through Saturday , so check the specific day before assuming flexibility on arrival time.
Wednesday and Sunday lunch offer the extended 2:45 PM close, which gives the table a little more room to breathe if you want to pace the tasting menu without feeling rushed. For first-time visitors, a weekend lunch rather than dinner can be a practical choice: it fits naturally into a day that includes the coastal towns around the Marina Baixa, and the light in this part of Spain is worth eating in the afternoon to experience.
El Xato is the clear anchor for fine dining in la Nucía, but the area has more to offer. See our full la Nucía restaurants guide for a broader picture of where to eat across price points. If you're planning a stay, our la Nucía hotels guide covers accommodation options in the area. For drinks before or after dinner, check our la Nucía bars guide. Wine-focused visitors should also look at our la Nucía wineries guide and our la Nucía experiences guide for what else the region supports.
For creative Spanish cooking at the starred level elsewhere in Spain, Quique Dacosta in Dénia is the closest geographic and culinary reference point. Further afield, Ricard Camarena in València is the strongest comparison for Valencian-rooted creativity at the leading level. Other Spanish creative benchmarks include El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Arzak in San Sebastián, Azurmendi in Larrabetzu, Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María, Martin Berasategui in Lasarte-Oria, Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona, Mugaritz in Errenteria, and DiverXO in Madrid. For creative cooking outside Spain, Arpège in Paris, Jordnær in Gentofte, and Atrio in Cáceres offer useful points of comparison across different price tiers and formats.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| El Xato | €€€ | — |
| Quique Dacosta | €€€€ | — |
| El Celler de Can Roca | €€€€ | — |
| Arzak | €€€€ | — |
| Azurmendi | €€€€ | — |
| Aponiente | €€€€ | — |
Comparing your options in la Nucía for this tier.
El Xato is a family-run restaurant with over 100 years of history and the intimate scale that implies — it is not set up for large parties or corporate events. Small groups of 4 to 6 should be fine, but for anything larger, call ahead before assuming availability. The tasting menu format also means everyone at the table typically eats from the same structure.
El Xato is a tasting menu restaurant built around Alicante cuisine and Chef Cristina Figueira's creative vision, which means the kitchen drives the meal rather than the diner. Dietary requests are best communicated at the time of booking, not on arrival. Serious restrictions that conflict with a seafood-forward coastal menu are worth flagging early to confirm the kitchen can adapt.
Book at least 3 to 4 weeks out, and further in advance for weekend evenings. El Xato is closed Monday and Tuesday, runs condensed lunch and dinner windows, and holds a Michelin star — seats are limited and demand from both locals and Costa Blanca visitors is high. Leaving it to the week of arrival is a real risk.
Yes — it is the clearest choice for a special-occasion dinner in the Marina Baixa area. A Michelin star (2024), a fourth-generation family operation, and a dining philosophy built around making guests feel at home rather than intimidated makes it well-suited to birthdays, anniversaries, or any meal where the evening needs to land. The Centenario menu, marking over 100 years of history, is the obvious pick for a milestone dinner.
At the €€€ price point, El Xato delivers Michelin-starred creative cooking rooted in Alicante cuisine, two tasting menu options, and Valencian wine pairings — that combination is strong value relative to comparably awarded restaurants in larger Spanish cities. If you want à la carte flexibility, this is not the right format. But for a set-menu special occasion dinner on the Costa Blanca, there is no comparable option in the area.
There is no direct alternative in la Nucía at the same level — El Xato is the only Michelin-starred restaurant in the Marina Baixa area. For Michelin-level creative cooking elsewhere on the Costa Blanca, Quique Dacosta in Dénia is the regional benchmark, though it operates at a higher price point and booking difficulty. For a more casual dinner in la Nucía itself, the options drop significantly in ambition.
Lunch is the more relaxed option — the midday window on Wednesday and Sunday runs slightly longer (until 2:45 PM versus 2:30 PM on other days), and a long tasting menu lunch with Valencian wine pairings is a format the Costa Blanca climate suits well. Dinner is the better pick for a formal special occasion. Both services offer the same tasting menus, so the choice is more about pace and atmosphere than what's on the table.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
