A lot of people spend their money on luxurious restaurants, thinking they are eating Canary food, but in reality this isn’t true. To go to a ‘Guachinche’, a place with traditional food of the island, located in a garage where all tables are different and the seats are crooked. Maybe it is not the most attractive plan for your holidays/vacation, but for the people from Tenerife, it is something to look forward to every week, waiting for the weekend to come so they can go to these authentic places and eat the delicious Canary food.
A ‘Guachinche’ in Tenerife is a traditional and familiar place that mainly offers typical Canarian food with wine. Here the most important thing is the drink since they don’t offer a varied menu. You will find the majority of the Guachinches in the north of Tenerife, in the municipalities of Los Realejos, La Orotava, Santa Úrsula, La Vitoria and La Matanza.
The wine is traditionally stored in a special and particular container. To serve it, they pour the wine in glass juice bottles. Once used, they are cleaned, dried and the wine is served in it. A nice way to recycle.
Guachinches only open their door in those seasons when the harvested wine is ready to sell. Only a few months, generally from November to April. But nowadays lots of restaurants call themselves Guachinches, taking advantage of the good reputation they have, but in reality it isn’t a guachinche. So it is important to know how to distinguish them.
How can you tell a guachinche is a real one or an imitation? Easy. The real ones have a very humble menu, often written by hand. There is usually no printed menu since the waiter in charge will tell you what’s on the menu, and if there is one, it is a very modest one. They only sell water and wine, and there are only four or five dishes to choose from.
They do not stand out for their decoration since many of them are located in living rooms or garages in places with little traffic or half way up the mountain. The tables are probably not the same, the tablecloths are made of paper or the chairs are lame, but don’t be scared. In this place the really important thing is the food and the wine and, if for something they are so requested, it is for its price-quality.
Some of them are located at almost inaccessible places, so renting a car will be the best option to access these unique establishments. But don’t worry if you didn’t rent one, because many others are at places near bus stops, or ‘guagua’ as we say on the Canary Islands.
It will be worth it to try authentic wrinkled potatoes with mojo, the delicious meat feast, ‘gofio’ stew, which is a mixture of cereal flour and chicken broth together with chopped onion, or ‘ropa vieja’, a union of shredded meat, potatoes and chickpeas.
To get to know some of them, we leave you a short list with two authentic ‘guachinches’.
Guachinche Las Galanas (Los Realejos)
The name of this guachinche is a bit strange, but it has a history. It is called this way because the grandfather of the owners was a handsome man and when they saw him arrive, the neighbors said «here comes the ‘galán’” which means stud in English. So when the time came to give the place a name, the question was quickly answered. Las Galanas. A familiar place where the workers form a united front.
Las Galanas is located in the municipality of Los Realejos, in a fairly accessible place and it is perfect for fish lovers. They serve dishes like octopus, tolls, cod, chicharros, bonito and chickpeas, cooked chickpeas or ‘garbanzos’ that in the Canary Islands are said to be feminine, ‘garbanzas’. In addition, you cannot miss the homemade red and white wine.
Curiously, the wine will be served to you in some quite striking glass bottles. In old juice bottles, to be exact. Las Galanas reuses the Libbys juice bottles once they are empty to sell their wine. You’ll love it. just as much as their huge backyard where you can sit and eat the best Canarian food.
Guachinche Los Rincones (Candelaria)
It’s necessary to have a vehicle to access this place, since it is located far from the coast and in a place with little traffic. Guachinche Los Rincones is located on a farm, a 15 minutes’ drive from the Basilica of Our Lady of Candelaria. Tables of different materials, chairs made of log, animals, a sign with the name written on wood … But one of the things that most impresses is its ceiling, made of rocks.
On their menu you’ll find ‘huevos al estampido’, the ‘ropa vieja’, chickpeas, corn stew, ‘escaldón’ and meat feast. In addition, the wine they offer is homegrown. But don’t worry if you don’t like it, because you can also choose water or Seven Up.
Even two desserts: one with lemon and one with cheese, a typical Canarian dessert that mixes milk, eggs, lemon and condensed milk. Many of the ingredients collected from the farm of the guachinche owners.
Do you want to repeat it? Of course. The ‘guachinches’ are not the most beautiful and refined places that you can go to in Tenerife. But it is one of the places where you will taste the best dishes, drink the best wine, enjoy the Canarian culture and everything at a great price. When you leave licking your fingers and completely stuffed, remember that the humility of these places is the ingredient that keeps them open from their origin.