Restaurant in Llagostera, Spain
Serious Catalan cooking, easy to book.

Els Tinars is a La Liste-ranked (79.5pts, 2025) farmhouse restaurant in Llagostera serving traditional Catalan cuisine built around Palamós seafood and local producers. At €€€, it is one of the better-value entry points to serious Costa Brava dining. Easy to book, open daily for lunch and dinner, and well-suited to repeat visits across its à la carte and set menu formats.
At the €€€ price tier, Els Tinars delivers one of the most honest value propositions on the Costa Brava: a restored farmhouse setting, a well-sourced à la carte of traditional Catalan cooking, and two set menus that reward repeat visits. This is not a destination for avant-garde experimentation. If you want progressive tasting menus, El Celler de Can Roca in Girona is the obvious nearby alternative. But if you want a rooted, seasonally sharp meal in an environment that earns its recognition — ranked #505 in Europe by Opinionated About Dining in 2025 and awarded 79.5 points by La Liste that same year — Els Tinars is worth the drive.
The building is an old farmhouse, attractively restored and set with a garden terrace that operates through the summer months. When you arrive by car, you receive a code for the external car park, which includes electric vehicle charging points. Visually, the interior reads as bright and Mediterranean-influenced: light, unhurried, and calibrated for a long lunch rather than a quick table turn. The terrace in season adds a layer of ease that makes summer visits particularly good for groups or occasions where the setting matters as much as the plate. The room itself signals that this is not a casual neighbourhood spot, but it does not carry the formal weight of a multi-Michelin destination either. It sits in the middle register of Spanish fine dining: serious enough to justify the price, comfortable enough that you are not performing for the room.
The format at Els Tinars works well across two or three visits because the offer spans two distinct tracks. On one side is an extensive à la carte of traditional Catalan dishes, driven by produce from nearby suppliers and fish sourced from the Palamós auction , one of the leading on the Costa Brava. On the other are two set menus: a shorter seasonal option and a full tasting menu. The kitchen operates under chef Marc Gascons, with his sister Elena managing front of house, and the coherence between both sides of that partnership shows in how the experience holds together.
For a first visit, the à la carte is the right entry point. It gives you range: you can cross multiple Catalan categories in one sitting and test where the kitchen is strongest without committing to a structured progression. The tartare of Palamós prawns is the most requested dish and changes garnish with the season, which makes it a reliable anchor for any visit , order it regardless of when you go. The vegetable dishes draw strong praise for their freshness and depth, and represent some of the most compelling reasons to return.
On a second visit, move to the short seasonal menu. It condenses what the kitchen is currently focused on and tends to show more editorial intent than the à la carte allows. A third visit, for those who are already convinced by the cooking, is the moment for the full tasting menu , by that point you have enough context to appreciate how the kitchen structures its argument across a longer sequence. This is not a venue you need to exhaust in a single sitting; spacing visits lets the seasonal changes work in your favour.
One honest limitation worth noting: the kitchen cannot currently accommodate a fully plant-based menu despite the quality of its vegetable sourcing. Pescatarian and omnivore diets are well served. If dietary restrictions are more complex, contact the restaurant directly before booking.
Els Tinars sits in a region with serious culinary density. Within the Girona area, El Celler de Can Roca is the obvious reference point, but at a meaningfully higher price and booking difficulty. Els Tinars offers a route into the leading of Catalan produce-driven cooking without that level of planning commitment. For the broader Costa Brava explorer, this is the practical choice when you want something rooted rather than progressive. See our full Llagostera restaurants guide for a wider picture of the local dining options.
Booking at Els Tinars is rated Easy. The kitchen runs service seven days a week across both lunch (1 PM–3:30 PM) and dinner (8 PM–10:30 PM), which gives you more flexibility than most comparable Spanish fine dining destinations. For summer visits , particularly if you want the garden terrace , book at least two to three weeks in advance. Off-peak periods in autumn and winter are more forgiving, but given the restaurant's consistent recognition in both La Liste and Opinionated About Dining rankings, it does not sit empty. Lunch on a weekday is the easiest entry point if you are visiting without much lead time.
If you are planning a wider trip to the area, Pearl also covers hotels in Llagostera, bars in Llagostera, wineries in Llagostera, and experiences in Llagostera to help you build the full itinerary.
Quick reference: Els Tinars, Ctra. de St. Feliu a Girona, km 7.2, Llagostera , open daily lunch and dinner , €€€ , easy to book , EV charging on site.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Els Tinars | €€€ | Easy | — |
| Aponiente | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Arzak | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Azurmendi | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| Cocina Hermanos Torres | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
| DiverXO | €€€€ | Unknown | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Els Tinars and alternatives.
Start with the tartare of Palamós prawns — it is the most requested dish in the house and changes garnishes by season, making it a reliable indicator of what the kitchen does with local ingredients. The à la carte draws from nearby producers and the Palamós fish auction, so prioritise whatever seafood is current. If you want structure, the short seasonal set menu is the more focused option; the tasting menu is there if you want the full range from chef Marc Gascons.
Els Tinars runs seven days a week across both lunch (1 PM–3:30 PM) and dinner (8 PM–10:30 PM), so scheduling is flexible. The restaurant sits on the road between Sant Feliu and Girona — drive, not walk. Arrive by car and you will be given a code for the external car park, which has EV charging points. The format is à la carte with two set menu options; the atmosphere is a restored farmhouse with a garden terrace in summer, not a tasting-room-only experience.
The kitchen has clear strength with vegetable-forward cooking — La Liste reviewers specifically called out the vegetable dishes as exceptional. That said, a fully plant-based menu is not currently offered, which is a documented limitation noted by critics. If plant-based dining is a hard requirement, confirm directly with the restaurant before booking. Pescatarian and flexitarian diners are well served by the seafood-led à la carte.
Yes, with the right expectations. The restored farmhouse, garden terrace, and family-run front-of-house from chef Marc Gascons and his sister Elena give it a personal quality that most event-style restaurants lack. At €€€ and ranked #505 in Europe by Opinionated About Dining (2025), it carries enough credential to mark an occasion without the pressure or price of a full destination-dining commitment. For a milestone anniversary that calls for more ceremony, El Celler de Can Roca is the step up — but it costs significantly more and books months ahead.
At €€€, yes — particularly if you are already on the Costa Brava. Els Tinars is ranked #505 in Europe by Opinionated About Dining (2025) and scored 79.5 points in La Liste 2025, which places it among the more credentialled restaurants in the region at this price tier. The sourcing is local and traceable (Palamós fish auction, nearby producers), and you get both à la carte flexibility and set menu options. It is not a budget meal, but it is not priced like a Michelin two-star either.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.