La Oliva in Jordaan

Authentic food, served with passion. We arrived unexpectedly on a Monday afternoon but were made very welcome. I'm familiar with Spanish cuisine, but my partner isn't, and he also left impressed after a delicious sandwich. The lady serving us commented on our appearance, easily recognizable by our musical tastes, and she told us she also enjoys going to the same bands. It was fun to chat with her about music. The atmosphere was a 4 instead of a 5 because we were the only guests, so it was otherwise very quiet.

The atmosphere was good, and the service was excellent. Very friendly staff, and we were allowed to stay for a long time. The food was delicious. After dinner, we did see mice in the restaurant, but hey, it's Amsterdam.

Very expensive for Spanish tapas. The service was impeccable. The prices...

You have to try these pintxos!!!! They're amazing ❤️‍🔥 We tried 3 different ones: mushroom, goat cheese, and Rocafort, the best!

They have a fly problem. Food ok

Did not expect to eat good in the Netherlands. I am here for 9 months and this restaurant is a hidden gem! If you are near by, it’s a must from dining.

Good food and drink selection. Quality products, good service, good atmosphere and good music. A place to enjoy every moment spent there. Totally recommended.

There are many tapas restaurants in Amsterdam, but none approach the authentic high quality culinary experience of Northern Spanish restaurants like La Oliva. Every time a delight.

We weren't allowed to sit inside at a table for drinks, as dinner preparations were only 4:30 p.m. We were allowed to sit at the bar.

Excellent paella, excellent tapas, excellent address

Great little restaurant in the trendy Jordaan area of Amsterdam. Serving Spanish cuisine - pintxos and paella. Food is delicious and ambiance is very cosy. Highly recommended!

We had a nice glass of wine and some delicious pintxos at the end of the afternoon. Friendly service, great atmosphere. The nice thing is that you can get several good wines by the glass. And the pintxos selection is generous!

We had a very enjoyable and delicious lunch with eight people on Saturday! Highly recommended!

Delicious pinxos and Spanish fare. Great atmosphere and fit out. Also was very good at catering for allergies.

Beautiful place with friendly staff! The paella was tasty but nothing special. Their dessert was amazing!

I have eaten here every time I have visited Amsterdam since 2015. I ONLY go for the pintxos. It is a pintxos restaurant, so why visit and eat paella??? The pintxos are as good as any I have had anywhere. Elaborate, beautifully assembled and very tasty.

We enjoyed the chef’s selection of 6 pinxtos, and the octopus and anchovies/sweet pepper appetizers. Delicious, pleasant staff and full bellies!

we've been here a few times - good food, good drinks and nice athmosphere. Service is good and fast even when very busy and is always a nice experience. authentic food and tasty! the pinxos we ate before taking any pics. chistorres and padron peppers made it to a pic.

Don’t eat here. Tourist trap. Nothing’s fresh. Don’t do this to ur body and soul. I feel sick

the restaurant leans towards pintxos Spanish food with a few other selections. A lot of fun choosing a wide tapas like selection of dishes. The pace of serving each dish was correct and the staff where responsive to our requests

WAUW what a disgrace…It’s been a while that I ate something so terrible. Nothing was fresh, everything tasted like cardboard. As someone who is from Amsterdam: nooit meer. UPDATE: diarrhea to the max!

Good Spanish food and a great atmosphere. Spanish-speaking waiters are very attentive and helpful. Prices are reasonable for Amsterdam.

Great food and very kind staff! Will recommend to friends! All the pinchos we tried were good, and although the octopus is a starter, the portion is actually pretty big, could have it as a main course.

Everything was very good. There are 7 of us and they treated us very well. The chef is Spanish from Cantabria and all the food tasted like it was in Spain. We recommend it.

Spanish bar in Amsterdam. We went in thinking it would be cheaper to get a drink. No, it was more expensive.

We enjoyed delicious Pintxos on the (sloping) terrace with a nice Aperol Spritz.

Very good Spanish food, and the staff is very friendly. Highly recommended place in Amsterdam!

Ate here August 2025. Superb food - and side of Spanish food I've never seen before - we had a variety of pinxtos (3 each) that the servers recommended for us, gorgeous glass of rose. Service was so friendly and helpful. Cannot recommend highly enough. Spent 60 euro including tip for 2 of us.

This place is rather hit or miss. Friendly guy greeted me and told me how everything works. I got four pinxtos with an emphasis on seafood. The best of the four was a large mushroom with blue cheese and walnut. It was outstanding. Another with octopus was fine. The final two were not bad but just ok, and I did not finish them. That would have been four stars. But it took half an hour to get the check, and after two different people said they would bring it. The place was not that full, but they did seem stressed. I suspect they did not have enough personnel.

Great service, delicious food, and the sangria too! It was very tasty. The paella was a little less seasoned this time.

Very good service with a nice warm atmosphere but the food is too expensive for what it is.

So delicious! Ate there every day I was in Amsterdam. We got the chefs selection of pintxos as well as some main dishes. Everything was so delicious! The wine was good, too. Service was awesome, will return!

This is my third time at this restaurant, and I always pray I don't get served by the waitress with the short hair. I assume she's the owner. She's aggressive in her treatment of customers and at the same time despotic. You can hear her talking badly to the rest of the staff, and it really makes you want to get up and leave. The food, yes, the pinchos are good, the pinchos are very good, really very good. Yesterday, for example, the bread was too toasted and you could barely eat the pincho, but oh well, the other times it's been great; the flavor makes you forget about the waitress with the short hair. The paella tastes like fried tomato, it's not worth it. The rest of the staff is very friendly, although you see them running around everywhere under the watchful eyes and comments of the boss. There's a waitress with red hair who's a delight. When she serves me, I always tip because the service is fantastic. In short, if you want a Spanish beer and some tapas, this is the place, but don't expect much more. I think it's a better option for lunch than dinner.

We ordered a Paella for 3 persons, of which we thought would be €32,50 (according to the menu). This ended up being 3x as much (€97,50). There is a high need to clarify the menu, because the menu states ‘minimum of 2 persons’ with the mentioning of €32,50. In the second column it says €32,50 p.p. The dish was far from any special quality, which is confirmed in the other Google reviews and therefore way overpriced. When asking for clarification the restaurant responded: ‘Wasn’t this amount clarified with you beforehand?’ It was definitely not. Not recommended.

Special place. Great chef. Creative culinary delights. Services prompt and cheerful Sidewalk seating available to watch the world go by

The food was perfect, everything we ate was extraordinary!

Service was slow. They only gave us the menu after we had already ordered drinks, and after the drinks arrived. We probably would have walked out otherwise. They do that to all their customers, probably for a reason. The food was mediocre at best. Some of the meat was dry and chewy. The salat dissappointing. The tuna brochetas were good though. Their specialty are pintxos but there was a limited varyity and they did not look fresh and appealing to us. Oh, and they do not offer you tab water, you have to buy a bottle of mineral water.

First i have to say this review is only about the food quality. The service at this restaurant was actually very good — the staff were all friendly, enthusiastic, and attentive. The dining environment was pleasant as well. My friend and I came here after seeing many positive recommendations on social media, and we even walked 20 minutes just to try it. We ordered their recommended dishes: Pintxos and Paella, which seem to be their specialties. Let me start with the Pintxos. They looked okay in the display, but the taste was extremely mediocre. Honestly, I wouldn't even eat them if they were €1 each. After trying them, both my friend and I were quite disappointed. I tried to comfort my friend, saying, “At least the paella should be decent,” because from my past experience, paella is usually hard to mess up as long as the seafood is fresh and plentiful. In fact, I’ve never had bad paella before… until now. This turned out to be the worst paella I’ve ever had in my life — so bad it made me question reality. The entire dish was overwhelmed by a sour, cheap tomato sauce flavor, with zero taste of seafood. Ironically, I read reviews claiming the ingredients were fresh. Fresh? Where? The beef was tough and dry, and none of the seafood had any flavor. The shrimp and shellfish were shriveled and tasteless. There was barely any seafood to begin with, just a few large prawns placed on top for show. I honestly don’t understand — is €32.5 per person not enough for a proper paella? I was deeply disappointed. After the meal, I learned it was actually my friend’s first time trying paella. I felt so bad that this was her first experience — I had to explain to her that this is definitely not what paella is supposed to taste like. Even worse, after our dish arrived, the guests at the table next to us saw it and asked me if it was paella, then decided to order the same. I feel genuinely sorry for them — it was truly awful. At first, I didn’t want to write this review. We came with high expectations. If the meal had cost us €20 per person, I wouldn’t have said a word. But for the €45 per person we spent, the food we got was not even close to being worth it. Out of curiosity, I checked more reviews today and found that others have had similar complaints about the paella. I can only say this: If you’re looking for an authentic Spanish meal, I’m afraid this place may seriously disappoint you.

Wow, we heard Jordaan was a great place to find good food. Well, La Oliva did not disappoint. We were in a hurry, so (as we often do), sat at their small bar area where we had front row view of the incredible selection of pintxos which are basically super tasty bruchetta with all kinds of yummy toppings. Service was awesome, the chef was hands on helping customers find the perfect pintxos option. We will definitely come back.

They used to have nice food. The last times were disappointing. The pinxos were not fresh at all both times and we had 10 different pieces.

Very nice Spanish restaurant with a variety of food and drinks. They have typical tapas from North Spain, good wine and tasty desserts. Great service and location.

Real Spanish atmosphere, delicious pinxtos, good wine, very cozy surroundings!

Good pintxos, fast and professional service

We came for dinner because the waiter told us they served Spanish food and had an omelet, but then they told us they didn't have any and couldn't make us any. They also sell a rice dish they call paella, but it couldn't be more mushy and only tasted of tomato and pepper. This restaurant has very little Spanish about it, and the waiters' service is not only unprofessional but also very unfriendly.

Lovely waiting staff who looked after us very well. Explained all the dishes wonderfully and kept our beer glasses full! I will be visiting again next time I'm in the city

It was a terrible experience. We were completely ignored by the incompetent and young wait staff, empty glasses all around, had to harass them for even a good menu, every step was a disaster. We went up to pick our tapas finally, and then after some excitement about how good the dishes looked, they disappeared for 15 minutes and came back incinerated. I mean badly overcooked. Toasts were turned to crackers, tenderloin went to extra well, chicken was unrecognizable. We tried to bring this to the attention of our server but she was impossible to flag down. She was seen enjoying a cocktail in the kitchen with a pack of smokes in her hand. Finally we got a different who genuinely didn’t give a care. Still empty glasses. Promised water never arrived. Couldn’t even convince someone to give us a bill finally after further harassment we got our bill and got outa there as fast as we could. What a disgrace. And it could have been so good…

Excellent tapas for a quick bite. Quality of ingredients is there, so happy customer !

It's like being in Spain, but with excellent quality. Dutch prices, though. The staff is very friendly and has great suggestions on what to choose.

Great atmosphere and exceptional service. The tapas were amazing. Highly recommended. Congratulations! 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏 👏

Authentic and high quality food. Was very positively surprised. Also the service is very friendly.

Burgers were fantastic. Gourmet

The best Spanish restaurant and bar in Amsterdam. The food is exquisite, as are the drinks. They have delicious wines and vermouth.

pork cheek fantastic! shrimp fantastic super nice service and very nice location

Delicious food and friendly staff! Highly recommended.

Great place to eat for birthdays. Nice service

What a joke. Never again. I seriously don’t know who’s leaving all these good reviews ,maybe people who’ve never had real food in their life. This so-called “Spanish” restaurant is an absolute disaster. First of all, I got food poisoning after eating here. Yep, full-on stomach cramps and misery. The pinxitos were old and dry, like they’d been reheated ten times. Also pretty expensive and not worth it. Service wasn’t pleasant , there’s this older lady working there who just slams everything on the table like she’s mad at you for even showing up. Zero charm, zero warmth — just straight-up chaos. Honestly, the whole dinner was a mess. We didn’t enjoy a single thing, and we left feeling sick, ripped off, and pissed. If this is what people consider a “great” restaurant, then I seriously worry about their taste buds.

amazing waitress Martyna and tasty sangria!

Small ES in NL with sangria, carajillo and paelja. Thank ypu girls!

Blond waitress Martyna - wonderful service, she explained everything to us, recommended sandwiches and served incredible sangria… food was amazing but the service?? Just wow! Give this girl a rise!

Wonderful location to take a breather in the very lively Jordaan district. Great pintxos, tortilla very good, great vegetarian selection. The landlord really welcomes everyone and is a real mood lifter, as is his entire service team.

Great restaurant with very good Spanish food. The place is spacious and very well decorated, the food is spectacular and the service impeccable. They are a great team in a fairly touristy area, near the Anne Frank house, a must-see. Highly recommend

Very welcoming restaurant. Very friendly staff and excellent food. UPDATE: I confirm my first positive impression. This time we tried the Jamón Ibérico de Bellota and the Paella de Marisco. All very good. Also this time excellent service and average price.

Eating well in Amsterdam is not easy in spring. We were all the more pleasantly surprised by La Olivia. There is a very wide range of pintxos and they were very tasty. If Spanish then La Olivia!!!

The best place we have eaten in Amsterdam. Very friendly staff, great food and at a reasonable price

Passed by by chance and it looked nice so we took a table outside on the street and ordered a salad each. It was very good. Super nice staff!! They were best known for their Pinchos but we were craving salad. Recommended

Beste Spanish food en service I ever had! Loved every minute

This place was listed as one of the most romantic restaurants in Amsterdam in iamsterdam website, if you are going with that expectation it is going to be a disappointment from ambience perspective outright, and the food was mediocre at best specially for the price, few pieces of ordinary seafood with melted cheese on a supermarket grade bread, the service was ok. We travelled from Oud-West part of the city to Jordaan to go to this restaurant with the exception that it is one of the most romantic places in Amsterdam, we could have gone down our street and there were plenty of more romantic places, … mentioning this restaurant as one of the most romantic restaurants iniamsterdam dot com article is deceiving, and I specifically felt obliged to write this so hopefully this doesn’t happen to someone else that goes with that expectation.

The food is excellent and the service is 10! It is without a doubt one of the richest corners of Amsterdam, where in addition to the flavor and quality, the innovation of its dishes and its selection of wines surprises. I will return again and again, always eager to fill myself with authenticity and taste.

Outstanding tapas. Great flavors, friendly helpful staff, as good as any top tear meal in London or Paris. Highly recommended!

One of the coziest streets in Amsterdam, if you ask me. Nice place for pinchos, wine and people watching ✨🍷🫒

Spectacular!! All incredibly tasty. To recommend a million times!!

The place isn't bad, the prices are expensive, but by Amsterdam standards, it's average... the only thing is that you could tell the owner was a bit of a slave driver and was constantly complaining to the waiters, not letting them catch their breath. There was a girl from Madrid who served us very well, although she seemed exhausted... those things also make or break a place. I hope the owner takes note.

Great little Spanish restaurant in great area. Wonderful service, tasty food and great sounds. A perfect little afternoon detour 😃

Great pinxos and the staff nicely explained each one, there were about 20! The service was a bit overwhelming we had 3 different waiters who kept us asking the same questions. Also very strange but whenever we asked for more tap water they kept taking our glasses to a tap. Which doesn’t feel hygienic. The atmosphere was nice it was busy and there was music playing in the background. I’d come back just maybe sit at the bar next time

The best pinchos in Amsterdam by far. Thanks for teleporting me to Cantabria! The waitress with short hair was super nice to us. We will return 100%

Always a pleasure to come over and over again

Very tasty food and friendly service

Normal food. Air extraction problems. The clothes directly to be washed because of the smell you are wearing….

Delicious, but really tasty, pinxtos. Also good wine and friendly service. Cozy, just a little too cold in terms of temperature in the room.

The food excellent. I recommend not to miss trying the skewers.

The service was good, a very nice brunette girl served us, the skewers and the pumpkin cream were a success, in fact she offered us some bread with aioli to accompany the cream and it was very good. The paella is not worth paying for 60 euros for a paella for two people is a lot and it doesn't seem like enough quality for the price. When paying, my companion told the waitress about the paella and when leaving I heard a very unfortunate comment from one of the waiters at the restaurant. bar, which made me leave there quite dissatisfied. I will return yes but certainly not for the paella.

I’m sorry but good this place is very mediocre. We tried 4 tapas but only one (with steak) was good, the rest were disappointing. Honestly, the brioche with herring on the local market for €3.5 was 1000% better than these tapas. Ambience is nice though. I’d go to this place only for drinks, but not food.

Very tasty tapas/pinxos in a nice restaurant, not too big/not too small. Well worth a visit.

Very nice little shop with delicious pintxos and very nice innkeepers. Landed there by chance and enjoyed every minute!

Overpriced! Good flavors, but unreasonably expensive. We paid for a paella with two small crayfish, two small shrimps, 4-5 small shellfish... 64€!!!!!!! In the catalog it says it's for 2 people...(I disagree) Also, if the chef wants to sell fine dinning, he should respect rules such as not serving shrimps and crayfish uncleaned.

Good value for money and great service, we will repeat!!

Very cozy restaurant with great food and very attentive service, a real gem among all the options in Amsterdam. The only disadvantage we found was the temperature at the window, very cold

Delicious food. Tables in the back are very close together. Not my favorite.

Fantastic tent in Amsterdam. Extremely friendly staff! Delicious sandwiches, good pinchos and highly recommended for your visit to Amsterdam!

Really very tasty food! And the service also thought along with us. Nice atmosphere, the only downside was that it was a bit cold near the window. I think they still have single glass. But I could be wrong.

Very nice restaurant. We like coming here, the service is attentive and very friendly and the food and atmosphere are as it should be.

La Oliva in Amsterdam is a real gem! The setting is warm, the staff are exemplary in their kindness and kindness, and the menu... incredible. Each dish is bursting with flavor, prepared with fresh, quality products. The experience is surprising, because tasting tapas in Amsterdam may seem unexpected, but it is a real favorite. Variety, freshness, and pleasure: it all comes together. Every time I visit Amsterdam, it’s a must for me. An address that I recommend with my eyes closed!

I got the avocado, kimchi, artichoke & alioli sandwich (normally served with almond alioli, but I requested regular alioli). It was SO GOOD, I'm dreaming of it still. The bread was crunchy and warm, the flavors were balanced and surprising, I loved it. The staff was also very kind. My mom got the goat cheese salad and enjoyed that too.

Came here for lunch and had a perfect sampler tray, all gluten free! Highly recommend

That day, at De La Oliva Restaurant, we not only discovered new flavors, but also a spark that fueled the connection between us. He left us unique memories and deep emotions, recorded in the perfect combination of love, food and service. Without a doubt, this place became our special corner in Amsterdam, a place that time, with its relentless passage, will not be able to erase. Unique and recommended 20/10.

Great food, great service, great wine ⁷

Nice ambiance and good service, but unfortunately, the food was very disappointing. We tried five different dishes, and each one lacked flavor and authenticity - definitely not what we’d expect from Spanish cuisine. For the quality, the prices felt quite high. I wouldn’t recommend this spot, especially with so many better options available on the same street.

Fantastic place in the Jordaan. Cozy, good staff and delicious Northern Spanish snacks. Had a great evening here.

Good Spanish hostel, but the service is a bit slow

Delicious sandwiches. Also gluten-free!