Restaurant in Saragossa, Spain
Michelin-noted contemporary cooking at a fair price.
Quema earns back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition (2024–2025) at a €€ price point, making it one of Saragossa's clearest value decisions for contemporary cooking. The open-view kitchen behind the bar is best experienced from counter seating. Booking is easy, the menu is à la carte, and around half the wine list comes from local Aragonese producers.
At the €€ price point, Quema is one of the most direct decisions in Saragossa's dining scene. You get contemporary cooking with enough ambition and technique to earn back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition (2024 and 2025), in a setting that asks nothing of you in terms of formality. For visitors who've already done one of the city's higher-tier tables and want a second night out that doesn't repeat the same register, this is the booking to make.
Quema sits on Paseo de María Agustín, directly alongside the Pablo Serrano IAACC (Aragonese Institute of Contemporary Art and Culture), and the pairing is fitting. The building itself is functional rather than atmospheric, and the interior carries that same unpretentious logic through. What draws people back is not the room but the open-view kitchen behind the bar — and if you've been once and sat at a table, the clearest upgrade on your second visit is positioning yourself at the counter.
From the counter, the kitchen becomes part of the meal. The prep aromas that drift out — stocks reducing, aromatics hitting a hot pan , give you advance notice of what's coming in a way that a table across the room simply doesn't. For anyone returning to Quema, this is the seat to request. It adds a layer of engagement to a menu that's already worth paying attention to, and it makes the open-view format feel earned rather than decorative. Contemporary kitchens in Spain at this price tier often keep their cooking at a distance; here, the counter collapses that gap.
The menu is contemporary in the most useful sense: dishes built with clear technique, a reasonable number of choices, and no obligation to commit to a tasting format. This is an à la carte operation. Given that Saragossa's top-end tables , Cancook at €€€€ and Maite , default to set menus, Quema's flexibility is genuinely useful for anyone who prefers to direct their own meal. You can eat lightly and well, or push the order wider and it still holds.
The wine list leans into Aragon's own production, with around half the selection drawn from local producers. This is worth noting if you're building a trip around Spanish regional wine: Aragon doesn't get the same coverage as Rioja or Ribera del Duero, but the DO Cariñena and DO Campo de Borja regions produce reds of real substance. At Quema, the pricing keeps regional exploration affordable. For a deeper look at what else the region offers, see our full Saragossa wineries guide.
Michelin Plate is a calibration tool worth taking seriously here. It signals that the guide's inspectors found the cooking consistent enough to flag across two consecutive years without awarding a star. In Spain's competitive contemporary dining context , where venues like Quique Dacosta in Dénia, El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, and Arzak in San Sebastián set the benchmark , Plate recognition at €€ pricing is a meaningful signal. You are getting verified quality, not just an informal neighbourhood spot that happens to be popular.
With a Google rating of 4.5 across 996 reviews, the volume adds weight to that signal. High ratings with low review counts are easier to sustain; nearly 1,000 reviews at 4.5 indicates consistent execution across a genuinely broad diner base, not a cult following of regulars keeping a soft spot afloat.
Booking is easy. This is not a table that requires planning three weeks in advance or navigating a difficult reservations system. Walk-in prospects are reasonable by Saragossa standards, but a same-day or next-day reservation removes the uncertainty. For dining at the counter specifically, arriving slightly early and asking directly is the practical approach. For a full picture of where Quema sits among the city's options, see our full Saragossa restaurants guide.
If your trip to Saragossa extends beyond the table, our Saragossa bars guide, hotels guide, and experiences guide cover the rest of the city in the same format.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quema | Despite its functional appearance, this restaurant situated next to the imposing Pablo Serrano IAACC (Aragonese Institute of Contemporary Art and Culture) building serves cuisine that is high on quality but low on price. In this informal, multi-purpose setting, guests can choose from a reasonably priced contemporary-style menu with a good choice of dishes and observe the chefs at work in the open-view kitchen behind the bar. Half of the wines available come from the local region.; Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | €€ | — |
| Cancook | Michelin 1 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Gente Rara | Michelin 1 Star | €€€ | — |
| La Prensa | Michelin 1 Star | €€€ | — |
| es.TABLE | €€ | — | |
| Crudo | € | — |
A quick look at how Quema measures up.
Specific dishes are not documented, but Quema's contemporary-style menu is noted for good variety and is designed to be explored broadly rather than cherry-picked. The open kitchen behind the bar is part of the experience, so counter seating gives you the best view of what's coming out. Given the €€ price point and Michelin Plate recognition (2024 and 2025), ordering across several courses is the better play here.
Yes, clearly. Quema holds a Michelin Plate for two consecutive years at a €€ price range, which is a strong value signal in any European city. For Saragossa specifically, that combination is hard to beat. If you want a step up in formality or ambition, es.TABLE is the comparison to make — but Quema wins on accessibility and price-to-quality ratio.
Yes. The venue is described as a multi-purpose, informal setting with an open-view kitchen behind the bar, so counter seating is part of the design, not an afterthought. For solo diners or couples who want to watch the kitchen in action, bar seating is the right call.
Dietary accommodation details are not in available venue data. The menu is noted for a good choice of dishes within a contemporary format, which typically gives kitchens flexibility, but confirm directly before booking if you have specific requirements.
It works for a low-key celebration, especially if you want Michelin-recognised cooking without a formal dining bill. The setting is informal and multi-purpose rather than intimate or ceremonial, so if the occasion calls for a private room or a dress-up atmosphere, Quema is not the right venue. For a birthday dinner where quality food and fair pricing matter more than occasion theatre, it delivers.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
