No visit to Valencia is complete without having paella. While you can get paella throughout Spain, Valencia is its birthplace and the city is extremely proud of it. Because of that, you'll see it offered throughout the touristy areas — but I don't recommend just ordering it anywhere. It's a dish most Valencians make at home, always over an open wood fire. If you want an amazing experience, take a short car ride out to the beach and go to Casa Carmela. It was literally the best paella I've ever had (and I make a mean paella). They have a massive indoor kitchen with live-fire cooking, often 20–30 paellas at a time. Traditional Valencian paella is made with chicken, rabbit and small snails — you'll need to make a reservation and order the Valencian-style paella in advance. It's totally worth it.

A popular lunch spot inside the Central Market, with seating around a large U-shaped bar. It's run by celebrated Valencia chef Ricard Camarena, who turns ingredients straight from the market stalls into creative takes on tapas and bocadillos. We had to wait about 30 minutes for a spot, but the food was great.

A super cute, very local cafe in the Ruzafa neighborhood, known for its brunch/early lunch (Almuerzo). From morning until about 12:30 p.m. they serve a menu of inventive sandwiches and snacks. Finish your meal with a cremaet, a traditional Valencian coffee-and-liquor drink. Or just order a cortado — the most common Spanish coffee, a short pull of espresso with a roughly equal amount of milk.

Horchata is a very local Valencian drink. It's different from Mexican horchata — in Valencia, it's made with a type of tuber called the tiger nut. It's cold, milky, sweet and nutty, with a very distinct taste. I personally love it. You can find it throughout Valencia, but many touristy places just serve industrial bottled versions, so it's worth seeking out places that make it fresh. This place is super cute and right in Old Town near the Santa Catalina church. You can also get churros and chocolate, another very common Spanish treat. Horchatería Fabián is also supposed to be great — but we never made it there. Most Spaniards enjoy horchata and churros as an early evening snack, so most of these places reopen after lunch around 4 or 5 p.m.

This is a bar and live music venue. Every Tuesday is flamenco night. While flamenco really is more of a Southern Spain specialty, this place is legit. If you're there on a Tuesday, I totally recommend checking it out. It's in Old Town, but a little off the beaten tourist path. We grabbed dinner before the show at Sorbito Divino, a wine bar right around the corner in a super cute small plaza.

This is a local jazz club that was highly recommended by Joey's Spanish family. We ran out of time and never made it there, but it's supposed to be great.