Barcelona dining

Los Caracoles restaurant, Barcelona
The bar at Los Caracoles restaurant. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant)

The restaurants, tapas bars, and cuisine of Barcelona

Top Barcelona Restaurants

★★★ Els Quatre Gats [€€]
★★★ Beltxenea [€€€€–€€€€€]
★★ Los Caracoles [€€–€€€]
★★ Casa Leopoldo [€€€€]
★★ Agua [€€€]
★★ La Rita [€€]
★★ Pitarra [€€]
Can Ros [€–€€€]
La Garduña [€–€€€]
Pollo Rico [€–€€]
Conesa Entrepans [€]
» Tapas bars

As the capital of Catalonia, Barcelona has plenty of traditional local restaurants that make the excellent casseroles that made this region famous.

As a port city, Barcelona has incredible seafood.

Make sure you try some of the interesting surf-n-turf combinations, such as the traditional llagosta i pollastre (chicken and lobster in a tomato-hazelnut sauce).

Suquet is made of shellfish stewed with tomatoes, potatoes, saffron, and wine.

Unattractive but tasty is butifarra negra amb mongetes, a fat, black sausage (pork bellies, blood, and spices) in a plate of white beans.

Spend at least one evening doing a tapeo, or tapas bar crawl.

Other regional cuisines

Nearby Valencia contributes to Barcelona’s tables the mighty paella, saffron-tinged rice simmered with a medley of seafood, chicken, tomatoes, peppers, beans, pork, hare, and so on.

Don’t leave Spain without sampling some Basque cuisine—although Catalonians are no slouches in the kitchen, supremacy for invention and refinement goes to the Basque. (My recommendation: Splurge at Beltxenea.)

Cava

Be sure to sample cava, the Catalonian champagne, a dry sparkling white wine with fruity overtones and a crisp finish.

The two biggies are Cordorníu and Freixenet (for what it's worth, I prefer the latter), but when in Barcelona you can sample cava from smaller producers that don't export internationally.

Tips & Links

Useful Catalan dining phrases
table for two Una taula per dos (oo-nah TOWEL-ah pair dohs)
I would like Voldria (vohl-DREE-ya)
...some (of) una mica (de) (OO-na MEE-ka (day))
...of this / of that d'això (dye-SHO) / d'aquest (dah-QWEST)
and i (ee)
...a glass of... un vaso de (oon BAH-soh day)
...a bottle of... una botella de (oon boh-TAY-yah day)
...fizzy water aigua amb gas (AY-gwah ahm gahs)
...still water aigua sense gas (AY-gwah SEN-say gahs)
...tap water aigua de l'aixeta (AY-gwah day lie-SHET-tah)
...red wine vi negre (bee NAY-gray)
...white wine vi blanc (bee blahnk)
...beer una cerveza (OO-nah sair-B'VAY-sah)
Check, please el compte si us plau? (el KOHMP-tay see yous PLOW)
Is service included? S'inclou el servei? (seen-CLEW el sair-BAY)
   
Thank you Gràcies (GRAH-see-yuhs)
Please Sisplau (sees-PLOW)
Yes (see)
No No (no)
One Un/una (oon / OO-bah)
Two dos/dues (dohs / DOO-ways)
Do you speak English? Parles anglès? (PAR-lus un-GLAYS)
I don't understand No l'entenc (noh LEN-tenk)
Excuse me (get attention) Excuseu-me (ex-COO-zoo-mee) [or] Disculpi (dee-SKOOL-pee)

 

» more

Barcelona food tours
Useful links & resources

SIGHTS

Barcelona tourist info: Barcelonaturisme.com (info office), Guiadelocio.com (events mag); Catalunya.com (regional info), Spain.info

Sightseeing passes: Barcelona Card (20+ sights; transport; discounts), Museum Pass (6 sights)

Tours & activities: Viator.com, ContextTravel.com, UrbanAdventures.com, City-Discovery.com, Intrepidtravel.com, Gadventures.com

LODGING

Hotels: Booking.com, Venere.com, Priceline.comPartner, Hotels.com

B&Bs: Booking.com, Bedandbreakfast.com, Airbnb.com, Venere.com

Apartments: Rentalo.com, Vrbo.com, Booking.com, Airbnb.com, Interhomeusa.com, Homeaway.comhomeaway

Hostels & campgrounds: Hostelbookers.com, Hostelworld.com, Hostelz.com, Booking.com

TRANSPORT

Airfares:



Airports: Aena.es

Trains: Raileurope.com (throughout Europe), Renfe.com (within Spain), Bahn.de (throughout Europe), Seat61.com

Public transport: Barcelona Card (free transport; sightseeing); Search all public transit: mou-te.gencat.cat; Metro/Bus: Tmb.cat; Tram: Trambcn.com; Light rail: Fgc.cat; Taxi: Taxibarcelona.cat

Car rentals: Autoeurope.com, RentalCars.com, Momondo.com, Orbitz.com, Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, Kayak.com

Tours Under $995 G Adventures


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This article was by Reid Bramblett and last updated in September 2013.
All information was accurate at the time.


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Copyright © 1998–2013 by Reid Bramblett. Author: Reid Bramblett.