In this guide
💡 The Short Version: The restaurants named by the most independent paella pages are Casa Carmela (8 of 10), La Pepica (7), Restaurante Navarro (5), and Bon Aire, Goya Gallery, L’Alqueria del Pou and El Racó de la Paella (3 each). Paella valenciana has no legal recipe, only rice is required, and it is a lunchtime dish cooked to order for two or more. Casa Carmela makes its Valencian paella only to order and is closed on Sundays. Palace Fesol closed on 27 September 2026. Or book a class: the paella class with a Central Market tourad is from €70, and the evening workshop with tapas and drinksad from €65 (GetYourGuide).
📊 The evidence behind this guide. Nothing here is ranked on one visit. The counts are the independent pages about paella that name the restaurant, among ten read: Tourme, ValenciaMove, Eurovista Trips, Seek Spain, Spain Inspired, valencia-trip.com, Valencia Secreta, Ocio en Valencia and two BBC Travel pieces. The second count is the 39 publishers of general Valencia food lists that name it. Pages by restaurant groups that promote their own businesses, and Visit València’s own list of rice restaurants, are not counted. How the guides are made
⚠️ Check the day. Casa Carmela is closed on Sundays and needs a booking for its Valencian paella. Napicol serves lunch only, and Arrocería Pinedo Beach rests on Tuesdays. Most restaurants cook paella for two or more people.
What the dish is
Paella valenciana is rice cooked in a wide pan. The Generalitat Valenciana declared it a Bien de Interés Cultural Inmaterial in 2021, as heritage, and the decree says the dish has many variants and names rice as the only essential ingredient. It sets no recipe. Visit València describes the authentic paella as chicken, rabbit, ferradura green beans, garrofó beans and tomato, seasoned with olive oil, saffron, sweet paprika and rosemary, in a classic pan on gas or firewood, with round rice from the D.O. València. English Wikipedia adds duck and snails to what it is said to contain.
A paella valenciana in its pan. Photo: Jan Harenburg, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Seafood paella (paella de marisco) is sold widely. A mixed paella of meat and fish is on some menus, and Visit València says Valencians keep meat and fish apart.
- The socarrat is the toasted layer of rice at the bottom of the pan. Each diner takes the triangle in front of them and eats from the pan.
- Lunch. Visit València calls paella a lunchtime dish, and the decree speaks of the family Sunday lunch.
- Other rice dishes are on the same menus: arroz al horno, baked rice with meat, chickpeas and potato; arròs negre, with squid ink; arroz meloso, creamy rice; and fideuà, with noodles.
- World Paella Day is 20 September, a Monday in 2027.
The restaurants named by the most sources
| Restaurant | Where | Paella pages (of 10) | General lists (of 39) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casa Carmela | Malvarrosa | 8 | 20 |
| La Pepica | Malvarrosa | 7 | 11 |
| Restaurante Navarro | Old town | 5 | |
| Bon Aire | El Palmar | 3 | 4 |
| Goya Gallery | Ruzafa | 3 | 3 |
| L’Alqueria del Pou | Outside the centre | 3 | |
| El Racó de la Paella | Campanar | 3 | |
| Casa Roberto | City | 2 | 6 |
| Arrocería Maribel | El Palmar | 2 | 2 |
| La Barraca de Toni Montoliu | The Horta | 2 |
A second restaurant called Navarro is in Serra, so check the address before you book. Commenters on Reddit’s r/valencia name Casa Carmela in more comments than any other restaurant, and say the good paella is outside the old town, in El Palmar, Malvarrosa and Campanar. Wikipaella, a non-profit association of volunteer inspectors, lists ten restaurants in the city of Valencia for rice cooked on firewood, among them Casa Carmela, El Famós, El Racó de la Paella, Llisa Negra and, in El Palmar, El Graner, El Redolí, L’Establiment and Nou Racó.
The restaurants
Casa Carmela
Calle Isabel de Villena 155, Malvarrosa · Monday to Saturday 13:00 to 16:00, closed Sunday · Cited by 8 of 10 paella pages · casa-carmela.com
Open since 1922, on the beachfront, cooking over orange wood and using only local ingredients. The menu has 20 types of rice. The Valencian paella is made only to order, in a limited number each day because of the cooking time, so the restaurant says to book it in advance; a booking is not valid until the restaurant confirms it. The other rices are on the menu without an order.
A paella cooking over a wood fire. Photo: Ferbr1, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
La Pepica
Avenida Neptuno 6, Malvarrosa · Monday to Friday 13:00 to 16:00 and 19:30 to 23:00, Saturday and Sunday 12:30 to 16:00 and 19:30 to 23:00 · Cited by 7 of 10 paella pages · lapepica.com
A rice restaurant on the Malvarrosa since 1898, with a terrace facing the sea. Its site says the paella Pepica, a seafood paella with the seafood peeled, was first made for the painter Joaquín Sorolla. It serves dinner from 19:30. The restaurant takes bookings by phone or on its site.
Arrocería Maribel
Calle Francisco Monleón 5, El Palmar · lunch only, service 12:45 to 16:15 · Michelin Bib Gourmand · arroceriamaribel.com
A rice restaurant in El Palmar, a village in L’Albufera, where Visit València dates paella to the 16th century. The site asks you to order the paella or rice when you book by phone, and to book online outside its phone hours of 10:30 to 18:00. Dinner is not served. See L’Albufera for the buses.
Napicol
Calle San Isidro 28, Meliana · Monday to Sunday 13:30 to 17:30 · Michelin Bib Gourmand · napicol.com
Michelin lists it for rice dishes and farm-to-table cooking. The site says booking ahead is essential. Meliana is a town north of the city.
Arrocería Pinedo Beach
Carrera del Riu 426, Pinedo · closed Tuesdays, except in summer · Michelin Selected · arroceriapinedobeach.com
A rice restaurant at Pinedo, on the city’s coast south of the port. It is open all year, and the site gives phone hours from 10:30 to 18:00.
Goya Gallery
Calle Borriana 3, Ruzafa · Michelin Selected · Cited by 3 of 10 paella pages
The Ruzafa restaurant on both the Michelin selection and Visit València’s list of rice restaurants. Michelin lists traditional cooking and rice dishes: see Ruzafa.
Bon Aire
Calle Cabdet 41, El Palmar · Cited by 3 of 10 paella pages
A rice restaurant in El Palmar on Visit València’s list, named by 4 of the 39 general lists.
Visit València’s own list of rice restaurants also names Casa Quiquet, La Barraca de Toni Montoliu, Bergamonte, Casa Isabel, La Alegría de la Huerta, Pelayo Gastro Trinquet, Vaqueta Gastro Mercat, Villa Indiano, Maremar, La Colonia de Carmela and Llar del Pescador. Palace Fesol, the rice restaurant on Calle Hernán Cortés open since 1909, served its last meals on Sunday 27 September 2026, and some lists still name it.
Paella classes
A class is the way to eat a paella alone, and the one that cooks it with you. Prices are GetYourGuide’s lowest “from” prices, per person. Sea Saffron’s own site prints the same €70 for its class.
| Class | Operator | Length | From | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paella Cooking Class with Central Market Tourad | Sea Saffron | 3 to 3.5 hours | €70 | 1,225 at 5.0 |
| Evening Guided Paella Workshop, Tapas and Drinksad | My First Paella | 3 hours | €65 | 432 at 4.9 |
| Real Paella Class, Market Visit and Sangría Workshopad | My First Paella | 3.5 hours | €65 | 429 at 4.9 |
| Paella Workshop and Algiros Market Visitad | Valencia Club Cocina | 2.5 hours | €62.10 | 326 at 4.9 |
| Make Your Own Paella, with Shopping at Russafa Marketad | La Llarga | 3 hours | €59 | 131 at 4.9 |
| Paella and Market with Jordi, Valencian Champion 2025ad | Paella with Jordi | 3.5 hours | €54 | 31 at 5.0 |
The market visits run on mornings from Monday to Saturday, because the municipal markets close in the afternoon and on Sundays. Valencia food tours compares these with the tapas walks.
At the table
- Book and say which paella. Most restaurants cook it to order for two or more people.
- Go at lunch. Visit València calls paella a lunchtime dish.
- Recipe claims. Some sources say the 2021 declaration standardised the recipe. It did not: it protects the dish as heritage and sets no ingredient list.
Plan the rest
Where to eat in Valencia has the counts for every kind of food, best horchata in Valencia covers the drink and the pastry, and 3 days in Valencia fits a long lunch to the sights. The beaches are beside Casa Carmela and La Pepica, and what to book before you go to Valencia lists the closed days.
Common questions
Which paella restaurants do the most pages name?
To Casa Carmela on the Malvarrosa beachfront, named by 8 of the 10 independent paella pages read and by 20 of 39 general food lists, then La Pepica with 7 of 10 and 11 of 39. Restaurante Navarro in the old town is named by 5 of the 10.
Is there an official recipe for paella valenciana?
No. The Generalitat Valenciana declared paella valenciana an intangible cultural asset in 2021 as heritage. The decree says the dish has many variants and names rice as the one essential ingredient. Visit València describes the authentic paella as made with chicken, rabbit, ferradura green beans, garrofó beans and tomato, and seasoned with olive oil, saffron, sweet paprika and rosemary.
Is paella a lunch or a dinner dish in Valencia?
Lunch. Visit València calls it a lunchtime dish. Some restaurants serve it in the evening too, among them La Pepica, which opens from 19:30.
Do I need to book a paella in Valencia?
Yes. Most restaurants cook it to order for a minimum of two portions, according to Visit València. Casa Carmela makes its Valencian paella only to order, in a limited number each day, and is closed on Sundays.
Where can I eat paella if I have only one person or want to cook it?
A class cooks one for you to eat: GetYourGuide's paella classes are from €54 to €89, and the Sea Saffron class with a Central Market tour is €70 on the company's own site too. The market visits run on mornings from Monday to Saturday.
What is the socarrat?
The toasted layer of rice at the bottom of the pan. Visit València says the paella is eaten from the pan, each diner taking the triangle in front of them.
