Dress up to visit this truly elegant restaurant, where you receive royal treatment from the Spanish staff, who are accustomed to attending to the real thing -- Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia have dined here. The Taberna is also a favorite of dignitaries attending meetings at the nearby World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

The dining room is ornate, with red tufted banquettes, green satin stretched across chairs, and gilded cherubs placed at ceiling corners. Order a plate of tapas to start: lightly fried calamari, shrimp in garlic and olive oil, artichokes sautéed with thin smoky Serrano ham, and marinated mushrooms. Although the a la carte menu changes with the seasons, several paellas (the menu says each feeds 2, but you can ask for a single serving) are always available. The lobster and seafood paella served on saffron rice is rich and flavorful. (Ask to have the lobster shelled; otherwise, you do the cracking.) Another signature dish is the stuffed squid sauced in its own ink. The wine list features 250 Spanish wines.

This is the only Taberna del Alabardero outside of Spain, where there are five locations. All are owned and operated by Father Luis de Lezama, who opened his first tavern outside the palace gates in Madrid in 1974, as a place to train delinquent boys for employment.