Six of a kind: Spanish restaurants

In the past few years, Spanish flavors have become trendy. Scores of Bay Area restaurants are either borrowing the "tapas" designation or adding a few classic dishes to their menus. However, a few Spanish places stay true to the form. The following tapas spots are well suited to our casual lifestyles - diners can drop in for a drink and a few shared nibbles before heading off to somewhere else. This style of eating also accommodates those who want to linger and make a satisfying meal.

Good wine, a well-made cocktail and a relaxed, laid-back attitude are required.

Bocadillos

Gerald Hirigoyen, who also owns the Basque-inspired Piperade, serves up exceptional small plates in a sexy environment resplendent with flickering candles and ripe orange walls. Best bets include the pig trotters with egg salad, house-made chorizo, chilled prawns with deviled eggs, and roasted quail. To wash it down: the Kalimutxo, a drink with equal parts Coca-Cola and red wine.

710 Montgomery St., San Francisco; (415) 982-2622 or bocasf.com. Breakfast, lunch and dinner weekdays; dinner only Saturday. Beer and wine.

Contigo

Noe Valley is lucky to have such a stylish restaurant with many seating options, including an outdoor patio next to the vegetable garden. Top choices on chef Brett Emerson's menu include chanterelle mushrooms with sweet corn; tripe with chorizo and garbanzos; piquillo peppers stuffed with oxtail; and a flatbread with sheep milk ricotta, onions and wild nettles, the most expensive item at $14.

1320 Castro St., San Francisco; (415) 285-0250 or contigosf.com. Dinner nightly. Beer and wine.

Lalola

Diners at this charming corner tapas bar on Nob Hill are privy to the continual parade of cable cars outside the storefront windows, as well as very good food coming out of the kitchen. The menu features a small selection of tapas from $3 to $9, including an excellent single-serving paella, tuna stuffed with pequillo peppers, tender slices of pork loin with Brie, and a tangy goat milk cheesecake to end on a just-right sweet note.

1358 Mason St., San Francisco; (415) 981-5652 or lalolasf.com. Dinner Tuesday-Saturday. Beer and wine.

Zarzuela

Lucas Gasco has been serving up superb Spanish food at this charming location for 15 years. His rustic Russian Hill restaurant features mostly small plates, but he breaks that tradition with excellent paella and a few other larger plates, including pork medallions in piquillo sauce. Top choices: shrimp sauteed with garlic; poached octopus; the restaurant's namesake, zarzuela (seafood stew); and crema Catalana for dessert.

2000 Hyde St., San Francisco; (415) 345-0800. Dinner Tuesday-Saturday. Beer and wine.

Barlata

Daniel Olivella, who also owns the popular B44 restaurant on Belden Place, turns his attention exclusively to tapas at his Oakland restaurant. The extensive menu is divided into hot and cold tapas priced at $4 to $9; a few larger plates, such as grilled Angus beef with french fries, top out at $15. Olivella also offers latas presented in cans, such as house-cured mussels, and baby squid stuffed with sausage.

4901 Telegraph Ave., Oakland; (510) 450-0678. Dinner nightly. Beer and wine.

Cesar

Spirits was the original draw to this 11-year-old restaurant next to Chez Panisse, but Maggie Pond's small plates were so good that the food became a huge draw. She creates a salt cod and potato cazuela, probably the best fried potatoes in the Bay Area, a spicy tuna and egg bocadillo (sandwich) and seafood paella. For dessert: olive oil ice cream, and bread pudding with orange caramel sauce.

1515 Shattuck, Berkeley; (510) 883-0222 or barcesar.com. Open noon-midnight daily. Full bar. Second location at 4039 Piedmont Ave., Oakland; (510) 985-1200. Open 8 a.m.-midnight Tuesday-Sunday.

Michael Bauer is The Chronicle's restaurant critic. E-mail him at mbauer@sfchronicle.com. Go to sfgate.com/food for his blog and for comprehensive Bay Area restaurant reviews and listings.

This article appeared on page P - 18 of the San Francisco Chronicle