Alma de España is chef Elier Rodriguez’s first restaurant, a tribute to the grandmother who taught him to cook on a tobacco farm in Cuba. His path from there ran through Le Cordon Bleu in Atlanta, a two-Michelin-star kitchen in Las Vegas, and stops at Le Cirque and Del Mar before landing in Sarasota. That background shows up on the plate here, Spanish technique built on the food he grew up on. The restaurant sits in one of Sarasota’s better restaurant stretches, the kind of area where good dinner options are hard to avoid.

If you like paella, then this is the place to go!

Tasting Notes

Food

We started with the ham and cheese croquettes and the octopus, both really good on their own, and the appetizers overall were flavorful across the board. Still, the paella is what stood out and what stayed with me after the meal ended.

For our entrée, we split the Paella Valencia for two. The chicken on it was the best piece of chicken I have ever had. It was cooked perfectly all the way through, leaving it extremely juicy and flavorful. The rice mixed with the mushrooms is what elevates it further, cooked right into a cast iron pan that gives it burnt, smoky edges packed with flavor a regular pot just can’t produce. This is probably the best paella I’ve had anywhere.

Service

The staff was friendly throughout, though service wasn’t especially attentive in the first few minutes at the table, and that’s what kept the score from being higher.

Atmosphere

The restaurant sits in a genuinely good corner of Sarasota, surrounded by other solid restaurants worth checking out. Outdoor seating is a real plus here, especially welcome once winter settles in. The one real drawback is the floors, worth watching for, since they were noticeably slippery.

Rate It Score

Alma de España landed an 8.4 on Rate It. The paella carries the whole meal, that cast iron pan turning simple rice into something genuinely memorable, and the croquettes and octopus back it up as a strong start. What holds the score back traces to the first few minutes at the table, service that took a bit to find its footing, and floors that could use some attention. None of that changes the plan. I’ll definitely be back for the paella.