Barcelona Restaurants

There are many cafes in the centre of Barcelona: touristy places, dodgy places, and simply gorgeous places. Yet outdoor terraces without tourists are hard to come by, so we did some research and found some great little spots around the centre of town where you can sit outside without having to suffer the buskers on La Rambla or the demonstrations in front of the Cathedral.

If you are ever near Pl. Catalunya or Pl. Universidad, drop by Plaça Vicenç Martorell. A great little square with playground, trees, grass and a lot of sunshine. If you intend to have a drink or a bite to eat, take a seat at Kasparo, a well known café with cheap prices. It also tends to catch the sunlight a bit longer.

While touring the gothic quarter you can always pop into the Museum Frederic Mares (MFM) on Placa de Sant Iu, 5 y 6. Tucked away on one of the streets circling the Cathedral you'll find the entrance to the museum in a quiet courtyard accompanied by an outdoor café, orange trees, a fountain and regular buskers adding to the romantic atmosphere playing their saxophones or cellos.

When down in the Borne area, which is simply crowded with restaurants, cafes and bars, take one of the small side streets that goes past the Picasso museum and look out for the Textil Museum on Calle Montcada. The entrance to the museum is in a small courtyard with a café serving five to six tables on their terrace. Here you can enjoy a coffee at reasonable prices without the hustle of the tourists browsing the Borne streets..

Barcelona has a huge variety of restaurants offering all types of food. Spanish people have always loved going out for meals, and you will find some of the restaurants crowded. Lunch is served from 14.00h until 15.30h, although the typical lunch break for office workers is from 14.00h until 16.00h. For lunch most restaurants offer a fixed price menu with a starter and main course, as well as the standard menu. The average price for a fixed menu (lunch) is anything between 7.50-15 euros. depending on the restaurant. Otherwise an average restaurant bill including wine should be 20 - 30 euros per person. 

If you are looking for Asian food, go up to Gracia where you can find lots of Indian, Chinese, Lebonese and different ethnic restaurants on Calle Verdi and in Placa del Sol. The Born area is very good for eating out alhtough the prices are slightly higher. Make sure you try dining the Basque way, which is in a basque bars and entails picking tapas dishes, each with a coctail stick, from the bar top. Beware - you pay for the number of cocktail sticks you have accumulated on your plate. Of course, how could your  Barcelona experience be complete without sampling traditional Catalan cuisine? There are some excellent although expensive restaurants along Diagonal and on Ramblas de Catalunya. A cheaper selection can be found in the side streets off the Rambla, in the Gothic area.

Tipping is expected but normally the 7% IVA charge is included in the bill, so tips are usually no more than a euro or two at most.

In Barcelona there are 3 types of restaurants. A budget restaurant is usually a family run business where you can find a set price menu for 5-8 euros that includes bread, one drink, starters and main course, and sometimes dessert too, or just cheaply priced meals.

Although not always of the best quality, some of them are really good, and offer the best place to eat for budget travellers and budget foreigners living here, as eating out can get expensive by the end of the month.

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Tapas is a very special part of Spanish life. Tapas means a portion of food, a nibble usually savoury, it can be anything from olives to meat balls. In England tapas used to be the pickled eggs and roast potatoes some pubs served on Sundays. Until 20 years ago it was very common for a bar to give one tapa for every drink you bought, and in some parts of Spain they still do that. In Barcelona, however they realized they could cash in, on it, much like kp peanuts in your local English pub. You can find lots of tapas places in Barcelona but you will find they can get very expensive if you want to try a lot of them. People have recommended the la Bombete in Calle Maquinista in Barceloneta for tapas (I have never been there).

A typical Spanish street usually has a tapas bar, then a bank, then a tapas bar, then a bank. If the bank is closed then a tapas bar is open and viceversa. Nowadays the banks are actually closing many local branches, so there are more tapas bars than ever and you should never have to walk more than 100m to find one! You can always tell when you are in a tapas bar because the decor usually displays a selection of well aged hams hanging from the ceiling.

Many offer a fixed 3-course meal (one price for a starter, main course, and dessert). They also serve tapas of varied quality and bocadillos, which are the typical spanish sandwiches.

Don't expect to get much service in these bars. That is not usually part of the concept. These bars are also a great place to watch football games by the way.

If you have a favourite tapas bar then please email us on
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Many of us are lucky enough to have food in the fridge to raid when we return in the early hours of the night. Some even have a partner who left some food ready for us.... But for people like me and you, where can we get food, late at night?.

Normal restaurants close the kitchen between 11pm and 12am weekdays and normally at 12am on the weekend. The tapas bars/restaurants on Passeo de Gracia close at 1am, but then again, we can´t afford the tourist places anyway.

There are a number of cafes and falafel and kebab places around that are open in some cases, until 5am.