Atrio Restaurante Hotel

Jose y Pepe and the whole team made this another memorable evening. The service is always exceptional, almost choreographed, and both the staff and owners make each visit feel warm and personal. At my last visit, the lengthy menu featured ibérico pork throughout, and it was an amazing experience. Expect to spend at least two hours over the meal. Atrio has been Cáceres' top dining experience for decades, and for good reason. The wine service and unequaled cellar are reason enough to visit. If you love wine, don't miss their carefully chosen selection.

We had a family lunch on Jan 1st and really enjoyed it. The menu was very good, and the wine pairing was pleasant. As expected, service and the interaction with the Chef & owner were very good too. A great experience, and the wine cellar is a must-see.

The kind, cheerful, welcoming Matre D made us laugh on the way out by stuffing house made caramels into my partner's purse. The flavor was okay, but they were hard and grainy, either quite old or not made well. The texture was way off, much like the rest of the meal. I feel bad saying this, and put off writing for weeks, but the meal was expensive and we expected far more from Atrio. I don't expect perfection from a three Michelin star restaurant, but I do expect near-perfection, and at least for shortcomings to come from mistakes or accidents. Here, there were many problems, sometimes seemingly by design. We'd eaten at several Michelin star and Michelin-rated restaurants over the years, including one the previous week on the coast outside Porto that was otherworldly. This experience didn't measure up. Some food was fantastic, but some I'd pass on. There wasn't a clear theme tying the courses together, and at times stronger flavors dominated so much that we couldn't see why the other elements were there. The whole dinner felt like speed eating. Each course arrived as soon as the previous plates were cleared. Leaving a bite behind was the only way to slow the pace, but some dishes were only one, two, or three bites. We should have asked them to slow down, but it didn't occur to us until the end. We were one of three or four tables throughout dinner, and everyone got the same rushed service. We also had the wine pairing. Who wants to rush through wine? We wanted time to enjoy each course with its glass, instead of having the next poured while half a glass was still on the table. We weren't asked whether we wanted the coursed wine pairing. Instead, they offered a glass of champagne, which we happily accepted. Only after the first course arrived did we realize they hadn't been asking about wine for the whole meal. We asked about the pairing, and they offered two. We picked the cheaper one, maybe €180, and immediately got a large glass of sherry, which seemed odd while we still had lots of champagne left. None of it made sense. There were six glasses for more courses than that, so we had to ask the sommelier which wine went with which food. It all felt sloppy, and at this price it wasn't acceptable.

Signing up for a tasting menu makes me a little nervous since it's long and expensive, and I can't know in advance if I'll like it. Atrio was no worry at all. It suited our group so well that days later we were still talking about particular dishes. Pig appeared in every dish, though only about half felt especially focused on pork. I didn't expect it, but the lard-crisp pastry in the appetizers was one of my favorite parts. The service was excellent too. I'm really glad we went.