Barcelona Tapas Restaurants

We recently hopped over to barcelona for a little early February city break. It was my (Laura) first time there and I already have a list longer than when I arrived of things I need to go back and tick off my list! Absolutely loved it. We went for a gig (President at La Nau – but we can talk about that in another post!) so we just did Sunday-Wednesday, which was the perfect amount of time to see the gig and get chance to explore a little, without breaking the bank.

I will definitely do some full posts on the restaurants we did go to, including reviews and must-try dishes. However i thought it would just be nice to have a list compiled of everywhere I collated and wrote in my notes. There’s a mix of casual tapas, street food, desserts and more upscale restaurants, so I’ll pop them into categorised posts for ease!

Obviously had to start with tapas. In all honesty, we pretty much spent the entire trip eating tapas. It’s just SO good there. Super affordable, great quality ingredients, and the perfect way to try a whole bunch of different foods from the country.

Cafe Pages

Between 12-2 and 7-9 Mon-Fri they do €2 tapas. This one was all over socials which is how it made its way onto my list. I believe some of the dishes are pretty small, but overall its a great cheap-eatery, has good drinks too, and is an ideal way to try lots of plates! Potentially less traditional and not as high quality than some of the others on the list, but i guess that’s expected for €2!

Centric Raval

This was the first place we stopped at and I would definitely recommend adding to your list. This spot has been here since 1940 and has a great traditional feel. The food and drinks are excellent and it was full of locals which is always a good sign. It’s not huge so gets busy though. We arrived for lunch time and got there just before the rush (and stayed eating and drinking until after it!) so would recommend trying to get there a little before or after peak times.

Perikete

This is another insta find that we didn’t get round to visiting but is very much still on the list for next time. This is really central so probably a good one for a lunch or dinner in the city if you’re doing any touristy bits or just staying pretty central. This place does get busy and is very small inside, but apparently is well worth the wait. There is a huuuuge menu and you basically order by writing on the menu which I personally think is a cool little touch. I have read a couple of bad reviews about the staff on tripadvisor, but the rest of them are all really great, so I’d definitely wanna go and try it out for myself.

Canete

Lets talk about Canete. This was one of my favourites of the trip and is in the Michelin guide for very good reason. One of the only places we visited that we could book, and if you definitely want to go here then book in advance because it gets booked up pretty far in advance. They do take walk ups but you’ll likely need to queue. This feels a little more modern, but still very traditional at the same time. More restauranty than the other little standing spots. The attention to detail in here really makes the experience special. The staff are all dressed immaculately and were super helpful with the menu; our waiter was brilliant!

We asked to sit at the bar as we love the atmosphere of that in any place, and this was exceptional! It was great to see the food being made, and every dish was amazing. Definitely get the squid sandwich! The ingredients are super fresh and you can see the care and attention in everything. I would so recommend this place and would 100% return.

Quimet & Quimet

This is another small spot that gets busy, but so many of the best places in Barcelona are. Plus there is an abundance of them so I’d definitely try one or two of them at least. Quimet & Quimet has been owned by the same family for 4 generations, and is a spot loved by visitors and locals alike. It’s standing space only in here but I personally love that for this kinda meal. Great tapas and plenty of great wine to accompany. What more could you want?

Bodega Biarritz 1881

Another traditional spot.. if you hadn’t guessed by the name! We didn’t get chance to try this one so I can’t give too much of my own opinion, but based on my research I’d say this is super traditional, very hearty dishes. Nothing fancy but just super cosy, traditional and well made food. Let me know if you’ve tried it here! I’m definitely keeping on my list for next time.

Bodega Ibèria

So I first saw this on Only Scrans insta video. He said it was called Iberico but I can only find Bodega Iberia in this location so I’m hoping its the same one! We didn’t try this but we also didn’t visit the beach area – definitely one for when we go back in summer as it is by the beach (it was end of Jan/early Feb when we went so not quite beach weather!) The location is potentially the main selling point of this one, as the food doesn’t look quite as good as the rest of the list. That said, a good, classic and affordable spot for nice tapas by the beach. And honestly I’d be happy with that over the Manchester rain any day!

El Xampanyet

I have very much saved the best ’til last today. El Xampanyet came up a few times in my research and was also recommended to us by some friends. When I searched it was one of the most popular spots for tapas in Barcelona, so we had high hopes. This is another no-booking situation and there is a queue here daily but it is 10000% worth the wait. We went for dinner and there was a long queue, but they are pretty efficient with seating people and squeeze smaller groups in. (Definitely easy to get in if you’re a solo traveller!) So we waited maybe 30 mins maximum. We also asked to stand at the bar for the great atmosphere again and it was so fun. The staff are super helpful and were very honest when they thought we were getting over-excited and ordering too much. We of course accepted their advice.. But then proved them wrong! We still ended up ordering everything we planned, just in waves (it was so hard not to try everything since it felt like we needed to make the most of the experience!) Honestly you cannot go wrong with any dish here. I’d recommend the pork and peppers as it was the best pork I’ve ever eaten.

The restaurant is named after its signature house-made sparkling wine, the “xampanyet” (Catalan for “little champagne”). The bar is famous for serving this specific, lightly sparkling white wine which is super cheap and delicious! Easily our favourite experience of the whole trip

La Principal

Okay so I know I said that was my last one BUT I have a list minute addition, that was a last minute decision for us. On the last night we just decided to wander and find somewhere without googling. We had actually popped to this bar for a drink another evening as we just walked by and thought it looked cool, but ended up staying for a couple and really enjoyed it. We spotted they did food so decided to return to try the menu on the last night.

Its definitely more of a bar vibe. They were showing the football when we visited, so there were plenty of locals in. It was a really fun vibe if you’re into that sort of thing! When we popped in for drinks, we saw some food go by that looked like delicious loaded nachos, but realised upon our return that they were actually loaded fries. We obviously had to order them and they were SO good. If you hadn’t guessed by the pic, we chose jambon and egg, which for an English person I guess is basically like ham, egg and chips, but in the best way! We also had padron peppers and croquettes, all really tasty. Plus a jug of sangria to share. If you’re looking for a casual bar with food or a spot to hang with friends then this is the one!

Barcelona Tapas Round Up

I’ve noticed during this list that a lot of my favourites are super old, traditional, family-run spots. I feel like this is something that Barcelona does really well, and there is an abundance of them! So if you miss out on some of these, I’m positive there will be plenty more you will stumble across! These are just the main ones that came up a few times during my research, and ones I would recommend to others.

Let me know if you have any other recommendations in the comments!

LL & RC

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You can find other travel and restaurant reviews here and here.