Casa Cordoba Montrose: Spanish Restaurant, Paella Garden

Saturday afternoon in the Crescenta Valley, a group that wants paella outdoors, and a search for a spanish restaurant near me: the answer that keeps coming up is Casa Cordoba. The restaurant has served Andalusian-leaning tapas and paella at 2331 Honolulu Ave. in Montrose since 2013, and its centerpiece is a walled garden with ivy, blue flower pots and tiled tables that feels closer to a Córdoba courtyard than to a Southern California shopping street. Live Spanish-inspired music plays three nights a week.

Casa Cordoba leans south. The kitchen describes its food as Spanish and Mediterranean tapas drawn from the cooking of Andalusia, and the team says the menu grew out of shared travels through Spain's regions. The other difference is mood. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 6 pm, musicians play Spanish-inspired sets, and patio heaters keep the garden comfortable on cool foothill nights. Dogs are welcome throughout the outdoor areas, which is unusual for a sit-down restaurant built around paella and a long wine list.

Vegetable tapas fill an entire section of the menu, and they are priced for ordering several at once. Alcachofas fritas, fried artichoke hearts with smoked paprika and garlic lemon aioli, cost $15 on the restaurant's online ordering menu, as does the pan con tomate on grilled house bread. Berenjena frita, battered eggplant finished with honey, is $14. Setas y trufas, oyster mushrooms sautéed with truffle oil, garlic and cream sherry, and broccolini con romesco with Marcona almonds, Mahón cheese and toasted ñora pepper flakes are $16 each.

From the land section, the pintxo de vientre de cerdo stacks sherry-glazed crispy pork belly, fried goat cheese and fig jam on grilled focaccia for $15, and the tosta of minced chicken and chorizo with bravas sauce and garlic aioli is also $15. The sea section includes pulpo Casa Cordoba, sherry-braised Spanish octopus over potato pavé, plus gambas al ajillo and calamares fritos. Among the larger raciones, Pasta Española con Mariscos, fideuà noodles with shrimp, mussels and clams, is $32, and a 12-ounce prime ribeye is $75.

Paellas are cooked from scratch in the pan for every order, in two- or four-portion sizes, and the kitchen warns they can take 45 to 60 minutes on busy nights, so order one as soon as you sit down. The house Casa Córdoba paella combines chicken, duck and pork chorizo. Marinera brings shrimp, mussels and clams, and arroz negro is the squid-ink version with mussels, octopus and calamari. The vegan de verduras paella, cooked in vegetable stock, is listed at $42 on the online ordering menu.

Cocktails are $16 across the board. The Galician Martini mixes Tulchan Speyside gin with Mediterranean dry vermouth and lemon oil, Mama's Favorita uses Tanqueray Sevilla orange gin with pink grapefruit soda and rosemary, and the Galleon pairs bourbon with Spanish red vermouth. Non-drinkers get $13 mocktails such as a basil orgeat lemonade. After dinner, a González Byass sherry list runs from Tío Pepe fino to Pedro Ximénez, and the $14 tarta de queso is a Basque cheesecake honoring La Viña in San Sebastián.

The best-value way in is the weekday happy hour, held Tuesday through Friday in the afternoon. Red or white sangria is $8 a glass or $30 a pitcher, house wine is $8, and beers such as Estrella Damm are $7. Five classic cocktails, including a Negroni, a Side Car made with sherry-cask brandy and the Galician Martini, drop to $10. Bites include montaditos de jamón y queso with serrano ham, manchego and roasted piquillo peppers on focaccia for $10, and a bocadillo de albóndigas, the Moroccan-spiced meatball sandwich, for $12.

The restaurant's website lists service from 11:30 am every day except Monday, closing at 8:30 pm Tuesday through Thursday and on Sunday, and at 9:30 pm on Friday and Saturday. Lunch is the gentlest time to try the garden, and a separate lunch menu is posted on the website. Music nights from Thursday to Saturday are the liveliest and the most crowded; one September 2026 OpenTable reviewer praised the patio and the live music but found service slow on a packed night, so leave extra time for paella.

Book a table through OpenTable from the restaurant's website. Groups can choose among four distinct spaces. The Andalucía garden holds up to 65 seated guests or 100 for a cocktail-style party; Galería, an indoor room with Spanish art, photography and leather booths, seats 35; Balcón, the porch over Honolulu Avenue, takes 16 for an intimate dinner; and Barcíto, the cocktail and wine bar, fits 40 standing. Rehearsal dinner and event requests go to event@casacordoba.com.

Much of the appeal is the setting itself. The building is in a classic Spanish style, and the garden, with its ivy-covered walls, blue flower pots and individually tiled tables, recalls the patios that Córdoba is famous for. Inside, Galería feels like a small gallery with leather booths. At Barcíto, the wine bar, Spanish wines and beers on tap are poured for anyone who wants a glass without a full meal, and the bottle list focuses on Rioja and Ribera del Duero.

Casa Cordoba opened in 2013 in historic Zwick Plaza. Crescenta Valley Weekly covered its ribbon cutting that year, describing owner Jeannie Bone's place as reminiscent of a street-corner café in Spain, with hand-painted ceramics, olive oils, paella pans and spices imported from Spain for sale. Over the following decade it became a full-service restaurant with a garden, a wine bar and private rooms, and its website displays an OpenTable Diners' Choice badge from 2025 alongside a thank-you to diners who voted for it.

Honolulu Avenue rewards a stroll before or after the meal. On Sundays, the Montrose Harvest Market takes over the 2200 to 2400 blocks of the avenue, the same stretch as the restaurant, with California-grown produce, crafts and artwork. On other days, wander the Montrose Shopping Park, the village's walkable run of independent boutiques and cafés, then come back for churros con chocolate or the flan de la casa with thyme-macerated pears, Marcona almonds and a cinnamon tuile.

Practical notes: Casa Cordoba is at 2331 Honolulu Ave., Montrose, CA 91020. Street parking around Montrose is metered or free for up to three hours. All major credit cards, including Discover and American Express, are accepted, along with Apple Pay and Google Pay. Corkage is $30 per 750ml bottle with a two-bottle limit, outside desserts carry a $3 per person plating fee, high chairs are available, and OpenTable lists the restaurant as wheelchair accessible. There is no formal dress code.