Centro Plaza, Nueva Andalucía: Where to Eat and Drink

At half past ten on a weekday the terrace at Starz is full of people in tennis whites and estate agents with laptops, and the Thai kitchen across the square is still shuttered. By eleven at night the square is quiet and the noise has moved a block south, to Calle Juan Belmonte. That split is the useful thing to know about Centro Plaza. Our Nueva Andalucía villa guide covers the valley as a place to stay; this page is the square's menu, and the companions on our Nueva Andalucía escorts page often meet clients here. Centro Plaza feeds Nueva Andalucía by day through Starz, Cafe Yanx and Top Thai, and by night through La Sala, Oak Firehouse and Breathe on the two streets just below it; check winter dates, because Oak closes from 1 November to 15 December 2026.

Where Exactly Is Centro Plaza?

Centro Plaza is a shopping and office centre on Avenida de Manolete in Nueva Andalucía, Marbella, facing the former Puerto Banús bullring. It sits at the flat bottom of the district, inland from the A-7 and Puerto Banús, with an underground car park beneath it and terraces around a central square. Its formal address is Centro Comercial Centro Plaza, Avenida de Manolete, 29660 Marbella.

A Square Named for Nothing Grand

Centro Plaza is not a plaza in the old-town sense. It is a block of shops, banks, a supermarket, hairdressers, estate agencies and offices built around an open pedestrian square, with restaurants on the ground floor and one upstairs terrace looking at La Concha. The streets around it are named after bullfighters, Manolete, Juan Belmonte, Mazzantini, because the ring across the road came first: Luis María de Gana built it in 1965 and it opened in 1968, according to the Spanish Wikipedia entry for Nueva Andalucía. The ring is a concert venue now, and its story belongs to our villa guide, not here.

Parking, Saturday Mornings and the Walk Down

The car park under the centre is the easy answer for anyone driving, with open-air spaces along the side as well. Saturday morning is the exception: the Puerto Banús street market sets up beside the ring from about 09:00 to 14:00, and the surrounding streets fill with traffic hunting for spaces. Arrive after three or take a taxi. On foot, the port is under twenty minutes away down Avenida de Manolete, which is the reason so many people eat at the square and then walk to the marina, or the other way round.

Starz, Cafe Yanx and Top Thai: The Square's Three Kitchens

Three restaurants face Centro Plaza itself. Starz runs breakfast to late evening and closes on Sundays. Cafe Yanx serves American and Tex-Mex food from 09:00 to 23:00 every day. Top Thai opens for lunch and dinner daily. All three have terraces, and none needs booking on a weekday.

Starz: Breakfast, Wraps and the Sunny Terrace

Starz is the square's living room. It opens at 09:00, closes at 17:00 on Mondays and at 01:00 from Tuesday to Saturday, and does not open on Sundays. The terrace gets sun all day, which is why it fills before ten with people who live in the valley. The menu is café food done properly: organic eggs on toast, a cooked breakfast it calls the Union Jack, wraps, burgers, poke bowls and smoothies. It won a Tripadvisor Travellers' Choice award in 2026. In our experience it is the best place in the district for a late, slow breakfast after a long night, and nobody minds a table that stays for two hours.

Cafe Yanx: Ribs, Pancakes and a Sunday Roast

Cafe Yanx, at local 7, is the British and American corner of the square: open from 09:00 to 23:00 every day, with pancakes in the morning, smoked apple and jalapeño ribs at night and a Sunday roast, beef, lamb or turkey with Yorkshire puddings, that keeps regulars coming back. Portions are large. Reviews on Tripadvisor run to more than 600 and the most recent date from this month, which says more about whether a place is still busy than any award. It is loud and friendly rather than romantic; we send groups and hungry golfers here, not first dates.

Top Thai: The Lunch Curry Nobody Expects

Top Thai, at Avenida de Manolete 1, opens daily from 12:30 to 16:00 and from 18:30 to 22:30. Pad Thai, green and massaman curries, som tam and crispy duck salad are the dishes regulars mention, and its sister restaurant, Top Thai Beach, cooks the same menu on the sand at Laguna Village in Estepona. Inside a shopping centre it sounds unpromising. It is not: the cooking is careful and the prices are fair for Marbella. The early kitchen close matters for planning. Order by ten, or eat elsewhere.

Calle Juan Belmonte and Calle Los Lirios: Where the Evening Moves

The square goes quiet after dinner, and the evening shifts a block south. La Sala on Calle Juan Belmonte stays open until 02:00, and 03:00 at weekends, with live music. Oak Firehouse next door grills steaks from 18:00 to 01:00. Breathe on Calle Los Lirios has a garden, a rooftop bar and a kitchen open until late.

La Sala: Live Music Until Three

La Sala Puerto Banús, at Calle Juan Belmonte s/n, opens at 10:00 and closes at 02:00 from Sunday to Thursday and at 03:00 on Friday and Saturday. It is a restaurant, a bar and a show at once: a singer or a saxophonist during dinner, a DJ in the main bar later, and several terraces, the rear one facing La Concha. The kitchen does crowd-pleasers well, lamb shank, sea bass, fillet steak, tuna tartare. It is the flagship of the Sala Group, which also runs La Sala by the Sea and Oak. Book the rear terrace from June to September; in October a table at 21:30 is usually there for the asking.

Oak Firehouse: Steaks Next Door, Closed Until Mid-December

Oak sits beside La Sala on the same street. Its own site describes a steakhouse built around the grill, with a rustic-contemporary room, a wine list and handcrafted cocktails, open every day from 18:00 to 01:00, and it launched a members' steak club in August 2026. The detail that matters this autumn is the calendar: the restaurant has announced it will close from 1 November to 15 December 2026. Before then, it is the best choice on these streets for a serious steak without the theatre of La Sala next door.

Breathe: Garden, Rooftop and a Kitchen That Opens at Six

Breathe, at Calle Los Lirios s/n, opens daily from 18:00 to 02:00. The building has a garden restaurant, a street-front bakery and a rooftop raw bar and cocktail terrace, and the owners make much of seasonal produce from their own farm. Sushi, a wagyu burger and bluefin tuna sit on the same menu, and it is priced at the top end of the area. The rooftop is the table to ask for in warm months; it has closed for winter in some years, so confirm before promising it to anyone.

Planet Beat, and Who Is Open on a Sunday or Monday

Two streets up, Planet Beat on Calle Califa is the cheap, cheerful Mexican bar of the area, closed on Mondays. Closing days are staggered: Starz shuts on Sundays, Planet Beat on Mondays, while Cafe Yanx, Top Thai, La Sala and Breathe open every day of the week.

Planet Beat: Tacos and a Mojito in the Las Lolas Building

Planet Beat sits at Calle Califa 6, in the Las Lolas building, a short walk up from the square. Regulars call it a hole in the wall, which is meant kindly: tacos, fajitas, nachos, a burger named the Yellow Mama, and mojitos and cider at the bar. It opens from 13:00 to 22:00 on Sundays, splits lunch and dinner on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, runs to 23:00 from Thursday to Saturday, and stays shut on Mondays. It is the place for a quick, inexpensive meal before a concert night at the ring, not for a long dinner.

Sunday Lunch, Monday Night

Sunday at Centro Plaza belongs to Cafe Yanx, whose roast fills the terrace from lunchtime, and to the evening tables below, which open as normal. Monday is trickier than it looks: Starz serves only until 17:00 and Planet Beat does not open, so a Monday dinner means Top Thai before 22:30, La Sala, Oak while it is open, or Breathe. In our experience the clients who get caught out are the ones who arrive on a Sunday flight, unpack, and walk to the square expecting Starz. It will be dark.

Centro Plaza Restaurants Compared: Which Table for Which Hour

Use the square by day and the streets below by night. Starz for breakfast, Cafe Yanx for a group or a Sunday roast, Top Thai for lunch. In the evening, La Sala for music and a crowd, Oak for steak, Breathe for a garden table or the rooftop.

Six Tables, One Block

Hours are the venues' latest published; they shorten in winter, and a phone call beats any listing.

Our Pick for a First Evening Here

Breathe's garden at 21:00, then the rooftop for one drink if it is open. It is the only table of the six where a conversation does not compete with a band or a television, and the walk to the port afterwards takes under twenty minutes. If you want energy instead, La Sala's rear terrace at 22:00 is the classic local night out. For dinners in the valley above, our Los Naranjos golf club guide covers the clubhouse terrace that golfers use.

Why the Square Works for Residents, Golfers and Visitors

Centro Plaza serves a real neighbourhood. Nueva Andalucía had 17,727 residents on the 2019 register, rising by roughly a third in summer, and many of them shop, bank and eat here. Golfers come down from Las Brisas, Los Naranjos and Aloha, and visitors arrive from the port.

A Neighbourhood Square, Not a Tourist Strip

José Banús laid out Nueva Andalucía from 1964 as a tourist development of 1,005 hectares, with Puerto Banús at its foot. The district now holds about an eighth of Marbella's population: 17,727 people on the 2019 register, and around 30% more in high season, according to figures quoted on its Wikipedia page. That is why Centro Plaza still has a bank, a supermarket and a hairdresser among the terraces, and why the breakfast crowd at Starz is mostly residents. It is also why most of these menus are priced for people who eat here every week, not for a single night on the quay.

Golfers Coming Down the Hill

The three courses of the Golf Valley empty towards the square at lunchtime. A round at Las Brisas, described in our Las Brisas golf club post, or at Los Naranjos finishes around one, and Top Thai or Cafe Yanx is a ten-minute drive away. The mistake we see most is planning a 22:00 dinner at Top Thai after a day on the course: its kitchen closes at 22:30. Book La Sala or Breathe for late dinners and keep Top Thai for lunch.

Starting an Evening With a Companion at Centro Plaza

Centro Plaza is the easiest meeting point in Nueva Andalucía: central, lit, full of terraces and close to the villas. The district is inside Marbella, so a booking starts at one hour, €300, and she usually reaches you within 25 to 30 minutes. Most clients meet for a drink, then dinner below the square.

Meeting at a Terrace, Then Dinner Below

Meeting at the square works because nobody arrives anywhere conspicuous: a terrace at Starz before it closes, or a drink at the front of La Sala, then dinner at Breathe or Oak a few minutes' walk away. A dinner date is booked for three hours or more, which suits this block exactly: a drink, dinner, and a walk down to the port or back up to the villa. Clients staying in the valley often prefer the companion to come to the villa first and share one taxi down. Either works; tell us which when you book, and give us the venue name rather than "Centro Plaza", because the square has several entrances.

The Money, Briefly

Rates match anywhere else in Marbella: €300 for an hour, €600 for two, €900 for a three-hour dinner date, €3,000 to €4,000 for a night. You cover her taxi, which is short within the valley, and nothing rises at weekends or in summer. Have euros ready, or set up a transfer or crypto payment, for the moment she arrives; cards are not an option, and a 25% deposit is asked only when you book ahead. The detail is in what a booking costs and how payment works, and dinner plans can change free up to 24 hours ahead under our cancellation guide. Our escort agency in Marbella answers on WhatsApp at any hour, and our girlfriend experience companions suit an evening that drifts from terrace to table.

Frequently Asked Questions

What restaurants are in Centro Plaza, Nueva Andalucía?

Three face the square itself in 2026: Starz, a café-restaurant with a sunny terrace; Cafe Yanx, American and Tex-Mex food from 09:00 to 23:00; and Top Thai. A block south, on Calle Juan Belmonte and Calle Los Lirios, are La Sala, Oak Firehouse and Breathe for evenings.

Is there parking at Centro Plaza Marbella?

Yes. There is an underground car park beneath the centre and open-air spaces alongside it. Saturday mornings are difficult, because the Puerto Banús street market sets up beside the old bullring from about 09:00 to 14:00. Arrive in the afternoon or come by taxi on market days.

How far is Centro Plaza from Puerto Banús?

It is a short walk inland from the port, under twenty minutes on foot down Avenida de Manolete and across the main road, or about five minutes by taxi. Many visitors eat at the square and walk down to the marina afterwards, or have a drink in the port and walk up for dinner.

Which Centro Plaza restaurants are open late?

La Sala stays open until 02:00 from Sunday to Thursday and until 03:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Breathe serves until 02:00 and Oak Firehouse until 01:00, apart from its winter break from 1 November to 15 December 2026. On the square, Starz closes at 01:00 from Tuesday to Saturday.

Is Centro Plaza open on Sundays?

Partly. Cafe Yanx opens every day and is known for its Sunday roast, Top Thai serves lunch and dinner daily, and the evening restaurants on Calle Juan Belmonte open as usual. Starz closes on Sundays, and many of the shops and offices in the centre do too.