A few weeks ago, Dan and I spent 3 days in Barcelona. It was a whirlwind tour of Picasso, modernisme, and flamenco, but one of the biggest highlights of our trip was the food. So i’ve decided to make a post solely dedicated to our culinary exploits in Barcelona!
Instead of worrying with making dinner reservations, we planned on piecing together most of our meals with a variety of tapas. The result was a culinary experience similar to sitting at the chef’s table for a multi-course tasting menu, but with way more bang for the buck.
At the end of this post, I’ve included advice on how to eat like a local and tips for navigating the fast-paced tapas scene.
Where We Ate & What We Ate
Just a few days before our trip, we found ourselves as a party with several people that had at different times spent many years living in Barcelona. When it comes to finding the best restaurants, no amount of internet research is as good as a couple of solid personal recommendations. So I was sure to jot down all the names and immediately went to work weaving the list of “must-eat” places into our itinerary.
The majority of places on this list were personal recommendations, so I thought it would be worthwhile to pay the favor forward to you, my dear readers.
Tapas at El Xampanyet
After attending a flamenco show in the El Born neighborhood, we turned to our trusty travel guide for recommendations on where to eat in the area. This led us to the tapas bar El Xampanyet, which has been in operation since 1929 and still has a lot of its original decor.
The place was packed with people vying for a spot at the bar, ourselves included. Eventually, I was able to catch the eye of the waiter behind the bar who helped us find a spot at the bar and even defended our territory from encroachers (I think as a reward for our patience).
We were finally looking at the menu, which was all in the local language Catalan and quite overwhelming for newbies like us. So when the waiter stopped by I simply asked if he would pick for us, saying that we were adventurous eaters and open to trying whatever is good.
This, as it turned out, proved to be a great strategy. Plate after plate started to arrive, each more delicious than the last!
The Verdict: ★★★★★
This place makes some seriously delicious food. We polished off every single dish put in front of us. If I find myself in Barcelona again, I will most certainly be returning to El Xampanyet.
Check out El Xampanyet’s website here.
Tapas at Quimet & Quimet
This restaurant was highly recommended by our new friends, so I made a point of fitting it into our schedule. It’s in the Poble Sec neighborhood at the bottom of Montjuïc hill, which made it a convenient stop after the 8:00pm Magic Fountain show.
Quimet & Quimet is tiny — we’re talking smaller than my first studio apartment in New York — so there was quite a bit of overflow onto the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. Those of us waiting outside formed a sort of informal waiting list, so when a spot opened up inside the bartender would waive the next group in.
Turnover was high, so before long we had ourselves a nice (standing) spot at the bar. Since we had such great luck the night before, we decided to leave the decision-making up to our bartender.
The unique thing about this place is that it’s family run (father, mother, and son were all working side-by-side). It’s also unique in that the team taking your order is the same team piecing together the tapas and montaditos. So a seat at the bar was especially entertaining here as we got to see everything being made right in front of us.
The Verdict: ★★★★★
It’s impossible to pick a winner between Quimet & Quimet and El Xampanyet. The service and food were both fantastic here. The space had a lot of character as well, and since it’s in a slightly less touristy part of town, the whole experience felt really authentic. I will remember our visit to Quimet & Quimet for years to come and hope to return again on my next visit to Barcelona!
Check out Quimet & Quimet’s website here.
Tapas at Cerveseria Catalana
Cerveseria Catalana was highly recommended to us by two different people, so we had to find a way to squeeze it in. Unfortunately, the only opportunity we had was on our last day between our tours of La Pedrera and Sagrada Familia.
We arrived to the restaurant during their peak lunchtime rush when there was an hour wait for a table. Our only option was to hover near the bar with the hope of snagging a first-come-first-served seat there. After some waiting, this strategy panned out and before long we were placing our order.
Not pictured: fried artichokes
The Verdict: ★★★★☆
Everything we had at Cerveseria Catalana was delicious, but the atmosphere felt somehow less authentic than at El Xampanyet and Quimet & Quimet (grated these places set the bar really high). It’s a much bigger restaurant than the previous two, and as a result the atmosphere felt a bit more commercial and our interactions with the staff were less personal. I would definitely return again if I had more time to wait for a proper table, as I think the food likely makes this a 5/5 restaurant.
Cerveseria Catalana doesn’t have an official website, but you can check hours here.
Paella at Xiringuito Escribà
Since we were visiting Barcelona in early March, we initially had no plans to venture out to eh beach. But another recommendation led us there anyway. Just as the sun set on our last night, we arrived to Platja del Bogatell, a stretch of sand just a short distance from the city center that’s home to a number of seafood restaurants.
We had a dinner reservation at Xiringuito Escribà, an indoor/outdoor restaurant facing the ocean that’s well known as making the best paella in Barcelona. The menu is fairly extensive, but the restaurant’s reputation made it easy to narrow down the options. Following a recommendation from our waitress, we ordered the Escribà Special Fish Paella, the house special and most-ordered item on the menu.
The paella takes some time to make, so they gave us a small hourglass filled with blue sand that would count down the minutes until our food would arrive. The paella was right on schedule — soon our table was occupied by a giant steaming-hot pan of rice, prawns, and mussels.
The Verdict: ★★★☆☆
I have to say, we were both a bit underwhelmed by the paella. Granted, we were visiting during what was clearly an off-peak time, since that was the only option for reserving a table online. But the service was still a little lackluster and the food, while good, didn’t have a ton of flavor. The restaurant was literally on the beach, so I’m sure if you were to visit during the day you would have a much better experience. I would certainly go back again and perhaps try ordering one of their other paellas.
Check out Xiringuito Escribà’s website here.
Brunch at Brunch & Cake
For a little variety, we decided to tack on a visit to a more familiar brunch place. Brunch & Cake is often rated as the #1 brunch in Barcelona, but it was a personal recommendation that ultimately added it to the itinerary.
Our self-guided walking tour of the Gothic Quarter put us just a few blocks from the restaurant, so after the last stop we headed that way and were greeted with a first-come-first-served-style line at the entrance. We had about a half hour to decide on what to order while waiting in line, so as soon as we were seated inside we placed our brunch order.
The Verdict: ★★★☆☆
The food is really colorful and photogenic, but I’d say it probably looks better than it tastes. Plus, the service left something to be desired as well. This would explain the restaurant’s clientele: Instagram-loving 20-somethings posing for selfies in front of the restaurant. I will say that the oatmeal pancake was pretty tasty though and Dan gave his breakfast burrito a thumbs up, too.
Check out Brunch & Cake’s website here.
Eating with the Locals (or not…)
Something important to note about eating in Spain is the schedule, which typically looks something like this:
Morning – Light breakfast
11:00am – Second-breakfast or a pre-lunch sandwich
2:00pm – Lunch (typically the biggest meal of the day)
6:00pm – Afternoon coffee & snacks/tapas!
10:00pm – Dinner
For most people, this schedule is shifted later by a couple of hours in comparison to what they’re used to.
If you’re not keen on eating late, you can actually use this to your advantage. You’re likely to avoid the crowds by eating meal earlier than the locals — around noon for lunch and 8:00pm for dinner. The downside of this is, of course, that you won’t be eating with the locals and instead are likely to find yourself surrounded by tourists.
It is, however, worth noting the opening hours of restaurants, as these can differ from place to place. And not all restaurants will cater to early diners, so if you’re wanting to eat around 6 or 7pm, you’re better off making a meal from tapas, which as I’ve hopefully illustrated with this post, is certainly not a bad idea!
Tips for How to Order
If you aren’t sure what to order, my advice is to let the waiter/bartender decide for you.
The menus at the tapas places were long and, well, all in Spanish (or the local language Catalan). So instead of translating the list item by item, you might want to consider handing over the reigns to your trusty bartender. We liked the personal interaction this gave us with the bartender and ended up eating several delicious things we never would have thought to order.
Initially we were worried that we might be hit with a massive bill at the end, but the most we ever paid was around 60 euro, which even included a few rounds of drinks.
Traveler Tip: We saw lots of tourists attempting to communicate with the restaurant staff by showing them pictures on their phone of what they wanted to order. In every case, the waiters were really annoyed with this — and understandably so, given how fast-paced and chaotic the environment is in most tapas bars.
You should either come to the bar knowing the name of what you want to order (with decent pronunciation) or leave it up to the bartender to decide for you. Keeping your order short and sweet is sure to make everyone happier in the end.
I hope you enjoyed this post! Did I miss you favorite restaurant in Barcelona? If so, let me know below in the comments. I’m always looking for new recommendations!
