A despacho de vino, not a tapas bar
Taberna La Manzanilla is at Calle Feduchy 19, in the stretch between the Mercado Central and the Plaza de la Candelaria where Cádiz's best tapas bars cluster. Directo al Paladar's Cádiz guide calls it one of the city's most emblematic despachos de vino. It is a wine counter first and a kitchen a long way second, so come for the drink and treat the food as a supporting act.
The house line is simple. As one Cádiz guide puts it, only Sanlúcar wines aged in the bar's own barrels are served. Manzanilla from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, the pale, saline cousin of fino, is the speciality, and the name on the door says so.
How old is it?
Sources disagree. Two guides give 1932, another says the 1930s, and a 2014 National Geographic Traveller piece dates it to 1942. Treat it as a bar that has been pouring since the 1930s. One account describes it as founded as the Cádiz outpost of a Sanlúcar manzanilla bodega, which would explain why the wine is tied so closely to that town. The family running the counter today is described as the third generation behind it.
What to order and how it works
Order a copa of manzanilla and expect a small dish of olives alongside, an old-fashioned courtesy that is not universal in Cádiz. Writers who have stood at the bar report sherry drawn from barrels behind the counter and served at room temperature, and a bill chalked on the dark wooden bar.
Food is limited. The mini cheese, which comes in a few flavours, and a plate of jamón are the usual recommendations. If you want a proper meal, eat elsewhere in the Santa María or Candelaria streets, then come back here for the last glass.
Wine by the litre
The bar keeps the old habit of selling wine by the litre to take away, with prices listed that way. A National Geographic Traveller writer describes five unfiltered sherries sold in litre bottles straight from 500-litre barrels, plus 70-year-old sherry vinegar. Stock changes, so ask what is on rather than assuming that list. For comparison with Cádiz's newer wine counters, see Listán Wine Tasca and Gorrión Wine Bar.
Before you go
Guides from 2025 and 2026 list the bar in the present tense. Published opening hours disagree between listings, and some say it is closed on Sundays, so phone ahead or check the door before planning around it.