When Daniel Márquez Pedrosa first opened IberiCo, it wasn’t with plans for a restaurant empire. In fact, it wasn’t even a restaurant.
“I started first on Hickmott Road,” he says, joining Exposed at one of the restaurant’s cosy corner tables. “I had a little shop focused on Spanish products and we built up a customer base.”
That was summer 2020. Dan fitted out an empty unit himself, poured in his savings and began importing Spanish produce with help from his dad, who shipped goods over from Spain before post-Brexit rules tightened.
The idea was simple: an eat-in deli with a few tables, somewhere people could sit and enjoy small bites built around quality ingredients. Then Covid restrictions returned. “We had to become a shop again. Everything shut down,” he recalls. “But people couldn’t go out, so they bought food and products to have at home instead. It kept us going.”
The name signals quality – a reference to the black Iberian pig and to the Iberian peninsula itself. “I wanted something that had the ‘co’ at the end as well, like a company.” More than branding, it was about identity: proper Spanish products, done properly.
Brexit continued to complicate imports, making small mixed shipments unworkable. Around the same time, a unit became available in Dyson Place. The landlord owned both properties and offered Dan the chance to move. Initially, he planned to scale up the deli concept. What changed things was finding a Spanish chef.
“Absolute luckiest person in the world,” he says of meeting Silvia, who remains head chef today. A friend of a friend connected them. “We sat, we chatted, we connected straight away.”
They opened on Friday 13 August 2021, less than two weeks after getting the keys. “It felt like everyone we knew came over,” he says of that first night. “It was crazy.” Post-lockdown Sheffield was ready and raring to go out again.
From the start, IberiCo’s ethos was straightforward: cooking from scratch with good products and challenging what he sees as a poor reputation for tapas in the UK. Cutting corners – batch-buying frozen products and pre-made sauces – was never an option. “I didn’t want to be like a chain… this wasn’t ever going to be the start of a franchise. If we don’t succeed, it’s not going to be because of quality.”
That commitment shows in small details, like making croquetas by hand each week rather than buying them in. It also shapes how the menu evolves. They don’t overhaul it seasonally. Instead, specials act as a testing ground. “If people go crazy and we run out of it the first night, then we know.”
Above all, it has to feel welcoming. Success isn’t expansion. It’s regulars spreading the word, coming back and feeling right at home when they do.
Dan leaves us while we take our tall chairs at the pintxos bar, designed for casual walk-ins to enjoy a few well-priced dishes (£5–£7 on Pintxos Tuesdays). Two crisp Alhambras land on the counter and we pick through a selection of tapas, brought out fresh and within minutes of ordering.
First up, fresh, warm bread with oil and balsamic – simple, but exactly what you want while you decide where to dive in.
The Jamón Ibérico platter arrived like royalty, lauded on the menu as ‘the king of Spanish charcuterie’. Silky, marbled slices with that deep, nutty sweetness you only get from quality cuts.
Patatas bravas followed – proper homemade crunchy wedges rather than apologetic cubes smothered with alioli and a smoky brava sauce.
The Galician beef picanha was a standout. Barbecued to perfection, with a blush in the middle and a char that tasted of real flame rather than a grill pan. The asadillo pepper salad cut through the richness with a soft sweetness and a hint of acidity.
Then came the Iberico pork pluma mini burger – a small thing, but packing a punch. The pork was juicy and deeply savoury, lifted by crisp red onion and a sharp caper salad that stopped it from tipping into indulgent overload.
Finally, the gambas rebozadas – two XL Argentinian prawns in crisp panko jackets. Crunchy on the outside, sweet and tender within, they’re textbook crowd-pleasers.
Around us, plates are wiped clean with bread, glasses refilled with Rioja and Albariño, and I remark that the atmosphere feels more summer payday weekend than a Tuesday evening in February.
Dan smiles. “We’ve got a lot of people who have been with us from the beginning,” he says. “It’s a real, authentic Spanish atmosphere – it has to be – and I think what defines us is our honesty. It’s open to all and everyone’-s welcome. When someone brings a friend and you prove them right, that’s our job done.”
Web: ibericosheffield.com
Insta: @iberico_sheffield
Visit: 2 Dyson Place, S11 8XX
