Anita's Bar Restaurant Review
The original hippy bar of Ibiza, doubles up as post office & restaurant
Situated on a busy main road in the heart of the town of San Carlos, in the Santa Eulalia region Bar Anita has gained a certain reputation over the years as a locals hang out.
Originally one of the few places that you could send and receive your post on the island, the bar quickly became a hang out for local residents. It still houses a few post boxes even today that you can see when you visit the toilets, adding to the very authentic feel that this restaurant has.
After stopping off in the delightful town of San Carlos, we decided to forgo the more upmarket eateries and instead opted for the 'grass-roots' feel in Bar Anita. It somehow seemed fitting after a visit to the hippy markets of Las Dalias just on the outskirts of the town.
The entrance to the restaurant is through a rather lovely garden area, walled to keep out the noise of the busy road that runs around the side of the building and covered in hanging plants and vines - the perfect nesting ground it seems for numerous small birds! This certainly adds to the charm of the place...that and the eclectic collection of locals who use this as a hang out.
We were delighted to find a table in the garden area, although there is plenty of seating further inside, it was not quite high season so the interior seemed to have a little less soul about it, although I imagine that on a busy hot summer day you might be glad of the space and cool of the interior!
We started, as most Ibizan meals do, with olives, bread and aioli (a mix of yoghurt or sour cream with garlic) - it was delicious! I might be converted to start all my meals from now on in this way. The olives were soaked in oil and mixed with various small pickles and capers, we happily polished this off long before our main courses arrived.
Sometimes the heat in the middle of the day can really suppress your appetite and luckily the menu at bar Anita is varied enough to suit any situation; fresh salads or a choice of various pizzas and meat dishes. We had both opted for salads as the heat was beginning creep up and we needed something to freshen the palate. My tomato and mozzarella salad was fresh and tasty with dried herbs to flavour and oil to drizzle over - just the perfect salad that I had been craving. My friend had been slightly more adventurous and gone for the Ibizan salad which was certainly more of a hearty meal with potatoes, peppers, tomato, onion, green beans and olives. A good balance between salad and a meal that will certainly fill you up - he was more than happy.
Neither of us could manage a dessert or even coffee (possibly enjoyed the bread, olives and aioli too much....) and we wanted to venture round the shops before we left the pretty village so we asked for the bill and got ready to leave.
The price was reasonable for what we got and although the menu is not very inspired or unusual, sometimes you just crave a plain meal in a chilled and relaxed environment. And that is exactly what you will get in Bar Anita. Your trip here is really more about soaking up the atmosphere and experiencing a part of the Ibizan hippy heritage!
