La Joyeria

The entrance to La Joyeria, inside the Mercado. Look for Puerta Oeste entrance.

When we first set out to find La Joyeria, we were not entirely sure what we were looking for. The address led us to the Mercado de la Encarnación, the covered market that sits directly beneath the Setas de Sevilla (the Metropol Parasol, the enormous undulating wooden canopy structure that hovers above the Plaza de la Encarnación). Inside the market, past the produce stalls and the meat counters, is Puesto 39: an unassuming stall with six beer taps and the considered attention of a place that takes what it does seriously.

The owner teaches at the local culinary school, and that background shows in how he runs the bar. Each beer on the tap list seems to have been selected to represent something specific: a style, a region, a way of thinking about fermentation. Each glass arrives with care. If you want to talk about what you're drinking, he's happy to talk. If you'd rather just drink it, that's fine too.

Six taps, each chosen carefully. The bottle and can selection runs deeper.

La Joyeria doesn't have much of a food menu: basic snacks, not much more. But you're standing inside one of Seville's best markets. Stalls throughout the Mercado sell paper cones of cured meat and cheese, freshly sliced jamón ibérico, and fresh fruit. It's impossible to visit La Joyeria without wandering through the market, and the wandering is part of the experience.

We did order lupin beans with our beers, a snack the owner referred to, with a smile, as chochitos. This is an established Sevillian term, I was assured. I leave any further translation to the curiosity of the reader.

Inside the stall: six tables, standing room when it fills up.

There are about six tables and room to stand when it's busy, which it usually is. The crowd is a genuine mix of locals and tourists. If you're coming from inside the market, the quickest way in is through the west entrance, Puerta Oeste. One practical note: La Joyeria is not open every day, and Saturday hours are evenings only. Check the current hours on Google Maps before you go.

A table at La Joyeria: the market hums around you.

La Joyeria means jewelry store in Spanish, and the market stall it occupies really was one before the current owner took over. For me, it still is. The rings just live on the coasters now, and the gems are in your glass. The Setas above, the market around you, and a carefully poured beer in front of you: this is one of the more distinctive places to have a drink in all of Spain. La Linterna Ciega is a five-minute walk, making this corner of Seville one of the better beer destinations per square block of anywhere we visited.