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My Barcelona Master List— After 12 month deep dive

Dennis Kittrell
11 min readOct 9, 2018

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Back Story: I’ve been saving places & notes on various platforms - slowly curating my list of favorite spots and recommendations in Barcelona. Where I’ve lived the last 12 months with my wife and our high-spirited toddler (which meant buying groceries/cooking at home was often much harder than just eating out). My intention was to make sure I properly recorded the best places, not just for myself, but for friends and family who would inevitably visit. Google maps was pretty much always the center of my record-keeping.

Last night, my sister asked me to gather a few suggestions to forward to her client who is planning a trip. So this small request turned into precisely the excuse/motivation I needed (combined with copious amounts of coffee this morning) to properly organize my master list. Like Barcelona itself, it ended up being much bigger than I anticipated!

First, some notes:

I grouped some barrios/neighborhoods together for simplicity:

As you might know it can take a while to get from one part of the city to another, so it’s best to group activities together.

The “Menú del dia” is the typical Spanish lunch “deal of the day”. It’s almost always a very good deal as you get 3 courses and a drink (often even beer or wine) included.

There are a few *Can’t miss* places like Bar Cañete and The Barcelona Edition rooftop that I have marked with asterisks.

Bonus: The best glazed donut of my life is at Lukumás. There is one in Gracia and another in El Raval. If you like glazed donuts, you will probably want to pay me for this advice after you have one. They don’t open until 9:00am and most of the “Clásico” (glazed) donuts will be sold out by 11:30 or 12, sometimes sooner.

Plaça de la Vila de Gràcia

Gracia:

Breakfast/Brunch:

  • Mama’s Cafe — busy and no reservations, so you’ll likely wait a bit for a table. Fantastic breakfast, mediocre coffee.
  • Bermont Coffee — amazing coffee and incredible avocado toast for 4 euro
  • Maai BCN — healthy and low cost with a quaint atmosphere. Quiet. Slightly above average coffee.
  • For traditional Catalan breakfast, try La Pubilla (lots of sausages)
  • For traditional Spanish breakfast of “Churros con chocolate” go to La Nena (cozy place on a small street)
  • Bar d’En Francesc — light breakfast (Jamón sandwiches are amazing, coffee is below average). I sometimes like to combine this with Syra coffee which is not too far away.

Lunch:

  • **El Tast de Joan Noi** inside the Libertat market — This is the best seafood I’ve had in BCN. Everything they serve was caught that day. Just look and order anything. Talk to others sitting/standing there and ask what’s good. OMG it’s incredible.
  • Les Tres a la Cuina — Fantastic home-cooked Spanish food. They are ONLY open for the Menú del dia 1:00pm — 4:00pm. Quaint, family owned place (vegan and veg options).
  • La Pubilla — A very good option for lunch, lots of great food, but a little higher priced Menú del dia than the others, but still a great value.

Bonus: For an “Aperitivo” (which is a light snack between lunch and dinner — usually between 5–7pm) try one of these bars: Puigmartí Bar Vermuteria or Bar Pietro (have a snack and try the vermouth — it’s more like a strong dark wine here, not a liqueur).

Dinner (after 9:00pm):

  • La Xula — modern take on tapas (everything we’ve ever ordered was fantastic) Reservation recommended
  • La Pepita — very good tapas Reservation required
  • *L’Arrosseria Xativa* — best paella in all BCN (good paella is hard to find in BCN) Try the “black rice” or “monk fish” paella and don’t forget to order a few croquettes. Delicious!! Reservation required
  • Pepa Tomate — quite good tapas and great location
  • Gasterea — amazing traditional Galician food

Sweets:

  • A Casa Portuguesa — Get the small portugese pastries (Pastel de nata/Pastéis de Belém)
  • Chök — for anything chocolate and good coffee (Get the chocolate salty balls. No, I’m not kidding. They’re awesome.)
  • Boldú — fantastic donuts and other pastries (grab a box of six glazed donut holes when you’re out and about)

Fun:

Bars:

  • *Viblioteca* — Catalan Wine & Cheese bar Reservation recommended
  • Bar Old Fashioned — Classic 20’s themed cocktail bar with well dressed and educated/skilled bartenders
  • Bobby Gin — lots of options and bartenders who’ve perfected their craft
  • Casa Gracia — great vibe/atmosphere with dancing downstairs on weekends

Coffee:

  • *Syra* — best coffee in my opinion (also if you’re lucky, they sometimes have lukumás donuts for sale!!)
  • SlowMov — very good quality coffee beans and prepared well (nice place to meet up with friends as there is lots of room inside)
  • Sabio Infante — they use SlowMov coffee and prepare it well (great WiFi and work areas if you need to GTD)
  • Onna Café — usually crowded and hard to find a spot to sit, but for take away (para llevar) it’s great (they also serve small sandwiches for a small breakfast)
  • Bermont — amazing coffee and the best avocado toast in the city for 4 euro (fun fact: they do not allow you to sweeten your coffee)
The Eixample (Meaning Expansion) district and its innovative and distinctive octagonal blocks

Eixample/Sagrada Familia:

Breakfast/Brunch:

Lunch:

Dinner (after 9:00pm):

  • El Nacional La Taperia —El Nacional is an old market beautifully renovated and converted to a fancy food court. There are several great bars/restaurants here, but for tapas, there is only this one. Go after 9:30pm for the true experience of ordering prepared food straight from the server’s hands(expect a wait)
  • Taktika Berri — incredible basque tapas Reservation required
  • Paco Meralgo — Try the Jamón Iberico de Bellota and the Croquetas Reservation required
  • *Ciudad Condal* — order literally anything Reservation required
  • Semproniana — cool and unique environment with great tapas Reservation required

Sweets:

  • Best ice cream in BCN at De La Crem
  • Boldú — fantastic donuts and other pastries (grab a box of six glazed donut holes when you’re out and about)

Fun:

Bars:

Coffee:

  • *Auto Rosellon* — Arguably the best in the city
  • Nappuccino — a “siesta” coffee shop with decent coffee, very good WiFi and a quiet atmosphere (you can even rent small pods to get even more privacy to work, or even sleep!)
13th Century Cathedral in Barcelona’s Gothic District (Barrio Gótico or Barri Gòtic)

El Born/Raval/Barri Gòtic:

Breakfast/Brunch:

  • Picnic — excellent drinks, ok food
  • *Milk Bar* — best brunch in BCN (get there around opening time and you won’t have to wait)
  • Marmelade — rarely a wait with a very similar menu to Milk Bar (same owners) but somehow not as good

Lunch (Menú del dia):

  • El Jardi — beautiful garden restaurant in the middle of the monastery (it’s easy to wind up staying long after lunch is over)
  • El Xampanyet — cool tapas bar with great atmosphere, price and service
  • Mercat de la Boqueria — the oldest and largest market in BCN. Find a bar and belly up. Keep in mind this option can be tiring, but worth it. Don’t do it if you’re already tired or have lots of plans left for the day.

Dinner (after 9:00pm):

Sweets: Topping Circus ice cream shop

Fun:

Bars:

  • ***The Barcelona Edition by Marriott*** — a MUST see rooftop bar, day or night, or both! (Incredible draft beer)
  • Paradiso Speakeasy — one of the most beautiful bars in the city. Go around 7 or 8 otherwise you’ll be waiting for 30–45 min to get in. It’s disguised as a pastrami shop. Oh, and there’s a super secret room you can reserve if you call a week or so in advance. I believe you need a party of 6 or more.
  • Creps al Born — very crowded, very cool bar with excellent cocktails
  • Las Cuevas de Los Rajahs — beautiful cave bar with a nice pool table and live music on Sunday nights. The Argentinian owner is almost always there and loves to get to know his customers (speaks very good english). If you’re lucky and there on Sunday, he might also sing a song or two.
  • Bar Marsella — Oldest bar in Barcelona, patronized by Gaudí, Picasso, Dali, and Earnest Hemmingway. Famous for their house-made Absinth (sketchy area, but lots of tourists)
  • 23 Robadors — a super dive bar with a raw flamenco show for 4 euro (pretty sketchy area, but always safe — aside from pick-pockets)
  • El Bosc de Les Fades — very cool bar of the fairies (looks like a forest indoors) always very crowded

Coffee: Satan’s Coffee — not kid friendly, but fantastic coffee

Sants-Montjuic/Poble Sec:

Breakfast/Brunch: Not many good options. It’s best to eat before you go to this area

Lunch:

  • Tapas on Carrer de Blai — Famous tapas street
  • Any place in Poble Espanyol — small artificial village that gives you a taste of all the various regions of Spain

Dinner (after 9:00pm):

Fun:

Bars:

Coffee: not sure

Other stuff to do:

Tibidabo amusement park and Basilica (by car directly or a dedicated bus to teleferic from plaza catalunya)

Montserrat mountain and monastery (by train, bus or car) — Beautiful views and peaceful surroundings

Tossa de mar (by bus or car) — great ancient fortified village on the sea. Inspirational scenery, hiking trails on the coast, awesome glass bottom boat tours, 2 great beaches, great food/bars, nice shopping and meandering.

Sitges (by train, bus or car) — very cute village with beautiful narrow passageways, but usually too many tourist for my liking

When you’re tired of Spanish food, try any of these:

Mexican:

Burgers:

  • *Foc i Oli* — best Burger in BCN and there’s almost always a wait (small dining room with bar seating only)
  • Big Al’s American Kitchen — fantastic burgers and craft beer
  • Timesburg — good burger and fries (5 or so other locations)
  • Bacoa Burger — good burger and lots of options (5 or so other locations)
  • Five Guys — yes, they have one in the city near Sagrada Familia and it tastes exactly the same as back home. (fun fact: the very first five guys in Spain opened this year, on the outskirts of BCN in a shopping center)
  • The Good Burger (TGB) — this is Barcelona’s take on Shake Shack. It’s reasonably good. If you’re craving a burger on a Thursday and on a budget, this is your spot. BOGO burgers on Thursdays. Several locations

Ramen:

  • Ramen Ya Hiro — Easily the best BY FAR but long lines and no reservations
  • Koku Kitchen — Second best, short waits
  • Ramen Shop — decent quality
  • Avoid almost every other Ramen bar!

Peruvian:

  • Yakumanka — Incredible ceviche good enough to serve in Lima. Not anywhere near Peruvian prices though :(

Pizza/Pasta:

  • Solo Pizza/Non-Solo Pizza — Sister restaurants next door to each other. One for pizza only (hence the name), one for everything else. Best cracker-thin-crust pizza I found in the city.
  • *Macchina Pasta* — Build your own pasta bar. One of my absolute favorite places for a quick, affordable bite in the city (especially with kids). It’s basically always open and always good. There are 4 locations: Gracia, El Gótico, Poble Sec and Universitat
  • Gusto Restaurant — Incredible pizza, not thin crust
  • Bo Di Napoli — Also very good pizza, not thin crust

Steakhouses:

Asian:

African:

  • *Spice BCN*—This one deserves an honorable mention. Amazing African chicken joint with very spicy sauce. Try their arroz con pollo dish. Incredible!
Travel
Barcelona
Spain
Food
Tourism

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Dennis Kittrell

Written by Dennis Kittrell

6 Followers

American bred geek living happily in Spain. A futurist and lover of technology that can change the world.

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