Casa Pepe de la Judería

casa pepe

I can’t believe I am just writing up Casa Pepe for the first time. I’ve actually eaten here a few times in the dining room but it was early days on the blog and, looking back at the photos I took back then, I decided it was better to start fresh. This visit we just stopped in for a couple of (excellent) tapas and had a look around.

Casa Pepe is one of those traditional places which has become a part of the fabric of its locality, with a perfect position at the beginning of the main street leading into the Juderia from the Mezquita. It was founded in 1920 as La Taberna del Triunfo, but owes its name and fame to José Jiménez Aroca (popularly known as Pepe el de la Juderia), who took it over in 1930.

It has now expanded into seven small dining rooms in the traditional style of the building, one larger more modern room on the 2nd floor, and a large rooftop terrace with views of the belltower of the Mezquita. It’s fairly formal, with efficient uniformed waiters and good quality tableware, but still friendly, and reasonably priced. The cuisine is mainly traditional, from cold soups and fried berenjenas to roast meats, including an excellent shoulder of lamb as well as pork dishes. Some nice fish and seafood, too.