Photo: Tripadvisor

The Square Cafe

Name: The Square Cafe
Address: 4JVW+WMF, Casemates Square, Gibraltar GX11 1AA, Main Street & Town Centre, GI
Telephone: +350 200 41100
Price range: ££–£££

Cafe · MediterraneanMain Street & Town Centre££–£££

A Mediterranean restaurant in Main Street & Town Centre that rates below most of Gibraltar, on 100 Tripadvisor reviews.

Gibraltar Index

3.6 / 5

Tripadvisor3.1100

Google3.7255

A weighted blend of both, not an average. How this works

Ratings read 6 September 2026.

Our review

The Square Cafe sits on Casemates Square with a large terrace, scoring 3.1 on Tripadvisor from 100 reviews and 3.7 on Google from 255, for an Index of 3.60. We re-read the reviews on 6 September 2026, the newest posted that same day. The Google score is kinder than Tripadvisor's, but the 2026 reviews on both platforms lean towards the same complaints.

What still works is breakfast and churros. The reviewer on the day of our read called the English breakfast really delicious and the right size, while describing the place itself as run-down, with no toilet paper and staff you have to beg for a menu. Churros with cafe con leche remain the reason locals and returning visitors come, and the garlic bread and a June tapas meal at a good price also get a good word. Two 2026 Google reviews simply call the food and service great.

The paella is the dish to avoid on the evidence: two May 2026 reviewers describe it as gritty with sand and broken shell, one calling it dangerous and clearly old, and a July review in Chinese says the seafood rice was not fresh and spoiled the day. Add a Norwegian visitor in May served filthy cutlery and glassware, and a Spanish family in July asked by the waiter what they had lost coming here, and the unpleasant service we noted in July has not eased.

The older complaints stand: courses out of sync, churros arriving twenty or thirty minutes before the coffee, a vegetarian breakfast charged at full price, staff who walk away mid-sentence. Pigeons on the tables and an unenforced no-smoking policy are minor by comparison. One 2024 Tripadvisor review refers to the place as 'The Castle', which may be about a different business, so we give it little weight.

Come early for churros and coffee, or a breakfast, on the terrace in the thick of Casemates, and treat it as a cheap morning stop rather than a lunch or dinner; the paella and the fish platters are where the worst reviews come from. Nobody from Gibraltar Index has eaten here; this write-up is from the reviews, which say what they said in July, with the paella complaints now added.

Written from the Tripadvisor reviews and both platforms' scores on 6 September 2026, not from a meal we ate — nobody from Gibraltar Index has eaten here. We show the Google rating but have not yet read Google's reviews for the write-up. The recurring themes it draws on are below.

What reviewers consistently say

Our summary of recurring themes across the 27 most recent reviews, written in our own words and read on 6 September 2026. Recent reviews from both platforms are quoted, with attribution, further down.

Churros with cafe con leche and the English breakfast are what people still come for.
The paella drew three separate 2026 complaints about sand, shell and seafood that was not fresh.
Service ranges from absent to rude: begging for a menu, glasses banged down, a waiter questioning why Spanish visitors had come.
Cleanliness slips: dirty cutlery, no toilet paper, pigeons on the tables.
The location and the price keep it full, not the welcome.

What it gets right

Churros and coffee the way locals take them
A good English breakfast and garlic bread
Big terrace on Casemates Square at a fair price

What it gets wrong

Paella and fish dishes repeatedly criticised, twice for grit and sand in 2026
Service that is often absent and sometimes rude
Run-down and not always clean

How it compares

It holds 3.1 out of 5 on Tripadvisor from 100 reviews — well below the Gibraltar median of 4.1 across 106 restaurants with enough reviews to rank, and on a solid body of reviews.

Among comparable places, it is 20 of 21 Mediterranean options we track, by rating.

It is priced in the middle of Gibraltar's range.

How the Gibraltar Index Score is built

It is not an average of the two. Each source is weighted by how many reviews it carries, then pulled toward the Gibraltar average so a high score from a handful of reviews cannot outrank a strong score from thousands. The Square Cafe scores 3.1 from 100 on Tripadvisor and 3.7 from 255 on Google, which the model blends to 3.6.

We read the 27 most recent Tripadvisor reviews and summarised what recurs, in our own words; the reviews we drew on are quoted below, attributed to their authors. The Tripadvisor and Google scores are each shown 1:1 as those platforms publish them; the Index Score is ours and the formula is above. Nobody from Gibraltar Index has eaten here, so nothing is a first-hand verdict.

Recent reviews

Shown from each platform, attributed to the reviewer. We don't edit them — read the full set at source.

Tripadvisor★★★☆☆3.1· 100

All on Tripadvisor →

2026-06-15
Nice tapas
had a tapas meal here which was nice the service was great and had a nice meal for a good pricemore →
beechy2603 · via Tripadvisor
2025-06-14
Do not go there!
Churros arrived 20 to 30 mins before the coffee. We politely asked the waitresses but they ignored us and walked away mid conversation. When the drinks arrived I said finally and she started banging the glasses on the table. Super rude. Worst service I have ever had at a restaurant.more →
234elisham · via Tripadvisor
2025-04-15
Poorly presented food
We chose this restaurant because it looked the busiest and most popular. When inside,checked to see if they could accommodate us with a vegetarian breakfast. So take off the the sausage and bacon. And still attempted to charge us the same price. My wife left most of hers because it was soggy courgette,with fatty oil,egg was burnt and toasmore →
T2832ADgrantw · via Tripadvisor
2024-08-12
Bad Food
Food tasted off, the tuna was awful texture and the pork had an acidic taste - told the waiting staff who were not interested so we paid for our meal rather than make a fuss and went and ate somewhere else! Would avoid at all costsmore →
Kenbo1002 · via Tripadvisor
2024-04-17
Churros and Cafe con Leche
Churros and Cafe con Leche is very much part of morning life in Gibraltar and something that we like to include in any trip we make. The Castle is very much a local hangout but very welcoming for tourists too. It’s not overly sophisticated and service could be slightly quicker on occasion, but overall, a good experience.more →
Markadlz · via Tripadvisor

Google★★★★☆3.7· 256

All on Google →

2026-09-06
We have very mixed feelings about this place. It’s relatively run-down. There’s no toilet paper in the restroom, you have to ask for a few napkins. It might be funny as a joke, but this wasn’t one. The waitstaff are practically nonexistent, if they’re there, you have to beg for a menu, because, say, this might be your first time here. We more →
Ermi Mirek · via Google
2024-01-19
Went for a coffee and Churros (thin). Coffee arrived, no Churros. When they arrived, they were too fat, lots of unfried dough inside. I told them I had requested thin. So they went off to get some. 10 minutes later the Churros arrived, coffee was now cold. I told a member of staff & was ignored. Do not go here, service rubbish & their chamore →
Vincent Power · via Google
2026-08-20
Oribil . De evitatmore →
Andrei Dragan · via Google
2026-07-29
糟糕的海鮮飯，不新鮮的海鮮，一頓破壞旅遊心情的餐點more →
Christy Tsai · via Google
2026-07-27
Food was amazing and the staff very good and welcomingmore →
Lorraine Barton · via Google

Reviews are the opinions of their authors, reproduced from Tripadvisor and Google with attribution and a link to the original. The Square Cafe did not provide them and Gibraltar Index did not solicit or edit them.