Food in Barcelona: Great places to eat delicious food in Barcelona – Updated 2024
Why did I come to open your food post in Barcelona?
Well, friend, the reason is simple, curiosity, perhaps the desire to eat something good in Barcelona.
So keep reading because you’ll see some cool things!
Our blog is about food and travel and this is where we dedicate our love and passion.
We focus on travelling and eating as much as we can in our daily life ,and discovering new cuisines makes us happy.
Living in Barcelona gave us a unique opportunity to deep dive in its gastronomic world and we can easily share our best tips on where to eat the best Barcelona food.
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Our friends know all about our food and travel love and they always ask us for references when they are looking for restaurant recommendations.
For them and for our readers, we decided to prepare this unique food guide on where and what to eat in Barcelona so you can taste some of the delicatessens of this world.
In this food guide, you will be able to find local Spanish restaurants, restaurants with the best tapas in Barcelona and even some recommendations for Michelin star restaurants.
Are you getting hungry?
Then let’s go to discover some of the hidden treasures in Barcelona which will blow your mind!
Grab our Travel tag and Let the adventure begin!
Restaurants in Barcelona
If you are coming to Barcelona or you are living here, you might think that finding a good restaurant or good food in Barcelona might be a simple task.
However, with almost 9000 establishments (Sept 2023), this task might be sometimes more complicated than it seems.
When we were living in a food city like Barcelona, we had days when we wanted to taste something new and other days we just wanted to go to our classic restaurant where we knew what we get.
It really depends on your feeling however we can never say NO to try a new restaurant which just opened in Barcelona.
And Barcelona is great for this!
There are so many new restaurants opening every week that we never had the feeling that we don’t know where to go.
Before we deep dive to our food guide in Barcelona, we recommend reading our post about Top 5 secret places in Barcelona. You can discover Barcelona from a different perspective and you should be able to avoid the tourist crowds.
Behind the Scenes of the Personal Barcelona Food Guide
To be honest, when we were thinking about writing food guide on where and what to eat in Barcelona, we would probably have to write nonstop for three days to cover all the restaurants we visited during 12 years in Barcelona and more trips there to see our second family (friends).
In our personal opinion, we should never forget that Barcelona is one of the world capitals when it comes to food.
However, as hospitality is still a huge business in this city, many restaurants owners prefer quantity over quality to focus on tourism. This creates many restaurants, but not necessarily with good food and good expierience in a city like Barcelona.
In this personal food guide, we will share the best restaurants in Barcelona based on our personal experience and taste. All these restaurants we visited more than once and we can really recommend them.
We have divided the gastronomic guide to food in Barcelona into various sections, to make your research easier, we hope you will enjoy it.
So are you excited, and you? Do you want to know where where is the best food in Barcelona in therms of resturants? Let’s go for it!
Where to eat in Barcelona
Traditional Restaurants – Food in Barcelona
We will start with so-called traditional restaurants. These for us are some of the most great places in Barcelona where you find the true atmosphere of the city and the flavours of the grandmother’s cuisine.
Barriteca, la Teca del Barri: This is undeniably one of the absolute best places to enjoy great Spanish food in Barcelona. If you’re in the Poble Nou neighborhood, it’s definitely worth a visit!
La Cova Fumada: If you want quality fish at a good price and the famous Bombas (mashed potato balls) of Barceloneta, this is the place for you.
- Bodega Gelida: Traditional winery with very affordable prices and really tasty food in Barcelona.
- La Bodega d’en Rafael: One of the classic wineries in El Barrio de Sant Antoni with a daily menu and delicious tapas.
- Can Vilaro: It is very famous for its classic offal dishes (tripes, kidneys etc.), which is an authentic point of reference in Barcelona for this type of food and ingredients.
These are some examples of typical Spanish taverns where it is proven that delicious Barcelona food does not always have to be expensive.
Paella in Barcelona – Food in Barcelona
Of course, you are in Barcelona and for sure you want to eat good Paella because is Spanish food.
Firstly, you should know that paella is a traditional dish from the Valencian community so if you want to eat the most traditional Paella, you will have to go to Valencia:)
However, there are few places in Barcelona where you can also eat good quality paella.
- Xiringuito Escribá: They offer delicious paellas at the Marbella beach, a variety of tapas and fried squid which is just amazing (We recommend to make a reservation as it is almost always full.
- Cherrif: Quality seafood in Barcelona and amazing paella, it’s no mistake to come here every time
La Mar Salada: They offer a good quality product with seafood cuisine and clearly a paella that borders on perfection.
Our Recommendation:
In most places where you will eat paella, the waiter will explain that you have to wait at least 25 minutes to ensure that the rice is cooked properly.
If they don’t inform you, and bring the paella in a few minutes, it is either pre-cooked paella or it is a paella product which you can find in any supermarket. So be patient and wait for a good quality paella.
Our Tip: Wise is a great card if you want to visit Barcelona and not spend a fortune on bank fees and currency exchanges! We use this online bank during our travels and have never had any problems.
Best Tapas Restaurants – Food in Barcelona
Believe it or not, there are probably too many Tapas restaurants in the city.
We are going to name only a few because we could just write the whole post about the best tapas restaurants in Barcelona.
- Quimet & Quimet: It is a small place with great tapas and small delicious bites and delicatessen.
- O’Retorno: Galician tapas with good quality and price (they have several restaurants in the Eixample area in Barcelona).
- Last Monkey: If you want to taste something different, we recommend this interesting Asian tapas restaurant with an optimal quality, price.
- Bar Cañete: A quality tapas bar in the Raval neighbourhood with one of the best quality food in Barcelona.
- Teatro: Where the old ticket of the famous Chef Albert Adria was located. After the pandemic, many things have shifted in Barcelona, but even if the name and the chef vary, the quality and ability to offer surprising tapas have remained consistent.
Keep in mind that the price here is a bit higher than other places that offer tapas, but the experience is worth every penny.
Fish and Seafood Restaurants in Barcelona – Food in Barcelona
In Barcelona, a city with a sea, you can obviously think that eating fish or seafood will not be difficult. Of course, if you are looking for good-quality fresh fish (as we always do) be prepared that the prices are a bit higher than other dishes.
However, we can assure you that if you visit any of these restaurants, you won’t be disappointed.
Fishology: The sea to the nth power. These two Italian guys have brought a unique and incredible philosophy to the Catalan capital.
RiasKru: The classic, which mixes innovation and trends, is Rias Kru. One of the best fish and seafood restaurants in all of Barcelona, where food is serious business.
Estimar: Here and where Rafa Zafra began his personal project of offering the authentic and delicate flavor of the sea in Barcelona. Undoubtedly, one of the best places to eat in Barcelona without a doubt.
Pur: This project by Nandu Jubany, supported by Ramon Blanch, who heads the kitchen, gives the sea the importance it deserves, and let’s say not just the sea.
Botafumeiro: A timeless classic in the Gracia neighborhood. If we talk about food in Barcelona, specifically about fish and seafood, his name always comes up!
If you want to spend less or are on a budget, we can recommend the following restaurant.
La Paradeta: They have several restaurants in the whole city. It is like at the fish market, you buy the fish or seafood and they will cook it for you at the moment. They do not provide any table service, and you just pick up the food when it is ready.
We recommend this restaurant if you want to eat seafood without spending a fortune.
Best Meat restaurants in Barcelona
Let’s focus on Meat, as we are definitely Meat Lovers!
In Barcelona, you will find the meat of the highest quality and suitable prices for any pocket.
- Lomo Alto: They are specialized on matured meats which are places in chambers controlled for humidity and temperature (Dry Age), the meat is just amazing. The ground floor of this restaurant is called Lomo Bajo, and they are dedicated to serving sandwiches, snacks, and hamburgers with quality meat with more affordable prices.
- Bardeni el Meatbar: Restaurant of Chef Dani Lechuga, great quality of meat, the restaurant don’t accept reservations but you can have Chef’s table for a group of people.
- MR PORTER Barcelona: Younger brother of the restaurant of the same name in Amsterdam. Excellent quality and food in the center of Barcelona.
If you are on a budget, we advise this restaurant to eat meat.
La Malandrina: Open several years in the Barceloneta beach with good meat and reasonable prices.
Great places to eat in Barcelona
If you want to go somewhere special and quite romantic, we created our special edition of romantic/gastronomic restaurants in Barcelona. The best of the best when it comes to good food in Barcelona, your dinner at these places will be a success!
We visited them on various occasions and we considered them as perfect places if you want to celebrate a special moment or anniversaries.
- Gresca: Amazing restaurant with a very balanced and tasty degustation menu, super recommended.
- Suculent: Restaurant with interesting proposals where Chef Toni Romero serves fusion dishes and Spanish classics with a modern touch.
- Enigma: Albert Adria’s most personal gastronomic expression, unmissable.
- Caelis: Restaurant run by Michelin star Chef Romain Fornell, they serve delicious degustation Menu.
- Lasarte: Since 2017, this restaurant holds 3 Michelin stars run by famous Chef Martín Berasategui and Paolo Casagrande.
- Mont Bar: One of the best gastronomic food venues in Barcelona. For many years it has been one of our favorites for its quality and creativity.
They also received the well-deserved Michelin star. If you can’t find a place you can try the Media Manga restaurant next door which is owned by the same company.
Map with all the locations of the restaurants
Last tip: If you’ve made it this far, you’ll already have your backpack packed, but you’re missing one thing: travel insurance. Our personal recommendation is Truetraveller as they have great support and healthcare coverage around the world. And don’t worry if you forget, you can purchase insurance during your trip!
Conclusions
As already said at the beginning, we could spend hours and hours writing on this topic. However, if you have something to add or want to recommend a new restaurant, we are always available and ready to try new delights, write to us in messages or by email!
We really hope that you will have a chance to visit any of these amazing restaurants in Barcelona.
Are you still looking for other restaurants where to eat in Barcelona?
Then continue to the 2nd part of our Special Edition of Best Restaurants in Barcelona, this time more international!
Thanks for reaching the end of this article, if you are interested in more travel and food tips around the world, every month (more or less) we come out with a new post in Spanish and one in English.
A hug for you, friends, travelers and foodies of Fun Food Travelling.
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We love visiting Barcelona – we’ve visited the city so many times over the years… we’ve lost count. When is comes to food you’re absolutely spoilt – it’s home to some incredible tapas spots! Our all-time favourite tapas spot is Paco Meralgo in Eixample. Grab a spot at the bar if you can, it’s where the buzz of the restaurant is and will make your evening that extra special.
We completely forgot about this place, thanks for remembering us.
We have lived there for 12 years, and last week we returned to our “second home” to say hello to our friends and eat tons of food. After 12 years, we know infinite places, but it is impossible to remember and go to all these fantastic places in a couple of days. Try some of these restaurants we wrote about in this post and then tell us know what do you think!
Happy continuation Boyz 😉
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Wow! Thanks for sharing! Will definitely check out some of the places you recommended on our next visit!
Thanks a lot!! I hope you like the restaurants we recommend?
This is a blog years in the making. Very impressive. I got caught by some of the tourist restaurants in Barcelona and left slightly disappointed. I’m overdue a return though and I’ll be armed with this. Fantastic work
It’s easy to get caught by some tourist restaurants as there are so many in Barcelona and sometimes it’s hard to recognise them. We are preparing the second post about another 35 restaurants more international style in Barcelona so for sure you will have places to try?thanks a lot for your nice comment!!
Very welcome. Looking forward to part two