Guachinche La Casona

“Guachinche” is a traditional restaurant at Tenerife. It’s called like that because the former inhabitants of the island were called Guanches and the restaurants are mostly situated in the mountains, a bit away from cities. The owners are producing their own wine which one can try in the restaurant as well. The Guachinche I have visited several times during my time at the island is called “La Casona” and is situated in the city La Orotava which is about 15-20 minutes by car away from Puerto de la Cruz.

You can enter by car and drive on a small street through the vineyard until you arrive at the actual restaurant. It’s a nice house in a traditional style with a lot of wood and very simple. The restaurants like that are mostly or even always administrated by the families themselves and everyone is helping, grandpa up to children. When you plan to go on Saturdays, plan a bit more time because a lot of the Spanish people use to eat there during the weekend – sometimes you have to take a number and wait.

They don’t have menus, so you should know at least a bit Spanish or have someone with you who does, because they will tell you what you can order but most of the time they don’t speak English or other languages. But in the worst case scenario you can just look what’s on the table of the neighbours and show what you want to have. There are usually not more than 5 different main dishes and all of them are based on a lot of potatoes and meat. You drink wine and water to you dish, if you want you can also have “vino tinto de verano” which means “red wine of the summer” and is red wine mixed with Sprite – very delicious!

You should go there very hungry because the dishes are heavy and large, but they taste great! If there is any place in your stomach remaining, you can have one of the desserts of the day or a coffee after the main dishes. The most surprising might be the bill at the end – usually you don’t pay much more than 10-15 euros per person which isn’t a lot compared to the amount of food you get.

If the weather is nice and there are no clouds a Guachinche usually offers a great view over the valley – La Casona has an amazing view at the Orotava Valley.

So if you like to discover traditional food and people, visit a Guachinche, it’s an unforgettable experience.