A 14th-century house in the Judería
El Churrasco sits inside a historic townhouse in the Judería, Córdoba's former Jewish quarter and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Rafael Carrillo and his wife Mari opened the restaurant in 1970, turning this medieval building into a kitchen for Córdoban cuisine. Whitewashed walls, flower-filled patios, stone vaults. The adjoining cellar holds a serious collection of Montilla-Moriles.
The grill
The house speciality is the churrasco cordobés — a fillet of Iberian pork grilled over oak charcoal, the cut that gave the restaurant its name. Properly seared on the outside, juicy within, finished with a light olive oil sauce. The pigs are raised free-range in the Andalusian dehesas. The smokiness from the oak is subtle — it enhances the natural sweetness of the Iberian pork rather than overwhelming it, a balance that only comes from years of working the same grill. The jamón ibérico de bellota is sliced paper-thin by hand. People after something slow-cooked find the rabo de toro, braised until the meat slides from the bone. To start, salmorejo arrives thick and creamy, topped with hard-boiled egg and finely chopped serrano ham.
Sourcing and wine
The chef is specific about ingredients: tomatoes for the salmorejo from Andalusian orchards, olive oil from the Sierra de Córdoba mills, wines from the family bodegas of Montilla-Moriles. The cellar leads with the local appellation — a chilled fino to begin, a more complex amontillado with the grills, a syrupy Pedro Ximénez to finish. Service is attentive without stiffness, the atmosphere elegant but not intimidating.
A dish to single out
The berenjenas con miel here follow the classic Córdoban preparation: thin rounds of aubergine, dusted lightly, fried until the edges just crisp, served immediately with a thread of dark cane honey. The contrast between the slightly bitter vegetable and the dense sweetness of the honey is the point — and El Churrasco gets the balance right consistently. It makes a natural opening plate before the churrasco arrives from the grill.
Practical details
Reservations strongly advised for dinner. Budget €30–50 per person with wine. Open every day: lunch 1pm–4pm, dinner 8pm–11pm. In summer, ask for a patio table to catch the evening cool — the flower-filled courtyard seats well in good weather. Over 3,000 positive TripAdvisor reviews. El Churrasco appears in our Best Traditional Restaurants in Córdoba.
