The BEST Churros Order In Granada

Churros: The Peak of Spanish Dessert

Since consuming our first churros con chocolate in Granada nine weeks ago, my friend Keala and I have embarked upon a quest to find the BEST churros con chocolate the city has to offer. After trying out five different restaurants and experimenting with dessert combinations to maximize flavor without forgetting about the churro itself, we have settled on a winner that resides in the bustling Bib-Rambla plaza: Cafeteria Alhambra. Our honorable mention is Café Futbol.

Types of Churros con Chocolate to Avoid  

To find good churros, we first had to understand what a bad churro is like. There are two ways in which churros con chocolate can go south: terrible hot chocolate, or terrible churros. Traits include:

1. Gelatinous hot chocolate. I didn’t know this was possible until I bought churros con chocolate from a café in Almeria that almost definitely used chocolate pudding mix to make the hot chocolate, which was slightly gray, gelatinous, and had a weird aftertaste. Do not recommend.
2. Thin hot chocolate. It should be the consistency of melted chocolate, and equally decadent—non-negotiable.
3. Small churros. We made the mistake of ordering Madrid-style churros once, which are thin, short churros that are fried miles beyond the perfect level of softness. Since they’re so narrow, there’s no soft interior spared from the aggressive frying oil. 

Best Churros: Cafetería Alhambra

Location: Bib-Rambla Plaza in Central Granada

Order: One ration of five churros, one hot chocolate, and one leche rizada. 

Perfect bite: Dip the churro in the hot chocolate and drizzle some more into the hollow center, add a spoonful of leche rizada on top, and eat!

The churros here are always freshly fried, about 10 inches long, and wide enough that the interior remains soft and slightly hollow. Leche rizada is a milkshake made from rice milk with a splash of cinnamon and lemon. And of course, their hot chocolate is absolutely divine - it melts on your tongue and draws out the simple savory flavor of fried dough. Adding the cold, ice cream-like texture on top of the thick, rich chocolate, before biting into the soft, hot, and slightly crunchy churro floods your brain spectacularly with dopamine. At the same time, the leche rizada has a mild enough flavor that you can still taste the churro.

We came here three nights in a row one time and ordered this all three times. The waitress became quite familiar with us. My only regret is not going for a fourth night.

Honorable Mention: Café Futbol

Location: Plaza de Mariana Pineda in Central Granada

Order: One ration of five churros with hot chocolate.

Café Futbol is old reliable. The churros are always fresh, and slightly thinner, if that’s your preference. Their chocolate is decadent and hot. I recommend coming here for breakfast churros, because they’re not quite as heavy as Cafeteria Alhambra, but are still delicious. Additionally, they’re slightly cheaper than Cafeteria Alhambra, which further distinguishes them in the cost-per-churro category rankings. 

To be honest, it’s hard to go wrong with most churro shops in Granada (except the abysmal Madrid-style churros, of course). Keep in mind that you may completely disagree with my opinions. In the spirit of free-thinking, I challenge you to try as many different churros as your bank account will permit, and then post a blog either tearing my name to shreds or agreeing with my criticisms and further decorating my reputation as an IES abroad correspondent. 

Happy eating!