First stop for food in Barcelona. At first I was slightly nervous about dining in the Arenas de…read moreBarcelona shopping center with no Yelpy guidance, but sometimes we have to be adventurous, right? My friend and I had arrived early in Barcelona (10:00 am) and boy, were we HUNGRY. We had explored the entire shopping center and this was one of the only restaurants open before 1:00 pm. The server was very friendly and did her best to help us despite only a slight proficiency in English. She was awesome though! What we couldn't understand of each other we communicated through hand signals. Since this restaurant happened to serve salad and I had visions of whopping portions of paella, seafood, and tapas (which are usually accompanied by bread), I decided I'd go healthy while I still could. And good thing, because this ended up being the only healthy meal I had in Spain. I got the **Ensalada Especial** which came with mushrooms, tomatoes, and sesame dressing and I added on some chicken for an extra euro. My friend got the **Spaghetti Bolognese** which was your basic pasta dish with meat sauce. We also decided to split a small plate of **Beef Carpaccio** since we knew Spain loves their thinly sliced meats. The food tasted great, especially being the first meal after almost a day of being on an airplane. Prices are reasonable at 10-12 euro for a combo including a drink. My water counted as a combo drink -- don't forget that they don't serve tap water in Spain, so you have to buy bottled water everywhere you go! As with most restaurants in Spain, they also serve coffee. IMPORTANT TIP: Food portions here are tiny, especially for two hungry Americans who JUST arrived in Spain. After a small plate and two dishes, we were still pretty hungry and almost ordered 2 more entrees! We didn't want to feel like pigs though, so we went somewhere else for snacks.

The food is always fresh, the quality is very important here! This is my third time and is…read moreamazingly good! Try the lasagna is amazing!

This restaurant was recommended by our hotel concierge and it did not disappoint. They do t take…read morereservations so be prepared to wait a little, it's worth it. Our server was excellent and helped us with our selections. They always have daily specials of a wide variety of tapas. We ordered patatas bravas, pernil ibérico, and an assortment of other tapas. Every dish had great presentation and the flavors were so good. I can't say which dish I liked best because everything was so good. This is a small restaurant and gives a very down home relaxed feeling. If you're in Barcelona, you definitely wanna check this place out.

An absolute must if you're in town. I loved this restaurant so much when I visited back in Oct…read more2024, that I went back again this past July (vs trying something new). La Flauta has so many menu options and something for everyone. The beef tenderloin montaditos, patatas bravas, goat cheese and ham salad, and spaghetti carbonara are my favorites here! Note I don't eat seafood so I'm not one to ask about it. The ambience is lovely and service was wonderful during both visits. They are also reasonably priced and you will get full without having to pay a lot! Good quality and big portions... Highly recommend!!

My friends and I were on a weekend trip to Barcelona and were looking for a nice place to celebrate…read morea birthday for one of us. My friend saw pictures of this restaurant while on Instagram, and though it looked like a classy, yummy place to spend the evening. We made a reservation for 8pm, which is relatively early for Spanish time, so the restaurant was mostly empty when we got there. We were welcomed by the friendly and attentive servers, who were extremely helpful in suggesting favorite dishes and how much we should order based on dish size. Our group of six shared a pitcher of the Cava sangria, which was delicious! The server even poured it for us so we each got a nice glass with a few slices of fruit. We shared an order of the burrata - AMAZING, and a few of the goat cheese salads - ALSO GREAT! For the main dish, we all chose our own things. They have entree plates, so several of my friends ordered the salmon, which came with bok choy and zucchini. Another friend ordered the cachopo. I was going to get a few of the tapas options instead of a main plate, but when I tried to order the huevos tapas and the truffle oil fries, the waiter told me that would be too much so I stuck with just the huevos. He was right! I don't remember the exact name of it, but it was potatoes, some sort of sausage, caramelized onions, and fried eggs. Very good and very filling, especially since it was only 1 tapa. I will say that the sizes of entrees did vary a good amount. My 1 tapa was relatively large, as was the cachopo, while the salmon dish was smaller. Overall, the restaurant had a great environment with beautiful decor and friendly staff that made us feel right at home. The food was delicious with stunning presentation and at what I thought was a very reasonable price (all together, it was about 20 USD per person, plus or minus a few based on what each person ordered). It was a great way to celebrate with our friend! Definitely check out if you're near Sants!

Great place for dinner! Food is unique and has a bit of twist from the usual tapas. Service was…read moregreat too

Has two inside seating areas and outdoor patio So Cheap…read more Lots of Variety! I will say this was one of my first experiences with real tapas. I love that there were so many options. I don't know if it's just me as an American or what, but the temperatures of the foods was my only "complaint" per se. Some of the tapas I thought would be hot were lukewarm at best. So, I'll have to try more places to just see what's normal for Spain.

For me, this is hands-down the best pintxo spot in Barcelona! La Tasqueta de Blai is top-shelf --…read morethe selection is incredible, everything is fresh, flavorful, and beautifully presented. Pair it all with a cold Estrella and you've got yourself a 5-star winner! I loved the fun learning curve here: grab a plate, pick whatever pintxos catch your eye, and keep the toothpicks (of all shapes and sizes!) so your total can be tallied at the end. Some toothpicks were just holding things together -- I had to laugh at that -- but it's all part of the charm and experience. La Tasqueta was so good that we came back a few days later for another round, only to find it temporarily closed due to a plumbing issue. Sadly, we couldn't wait since we'd already hiked all over Montjuïc earlier that day. We tried another pintxo place down the block -- it was okay, but honestly, not even close to the same level. This place is amazing -- friendly, fun, and absolutely delicious. Sit inside and be dazzled by the colorful pintxos lined up along the counter, or grab a spot outside under an umbrella and watch the world go by. Loved this place... 5 stars all the way!

Wow, this meal was so good I literally made another reservation after we left. This place might be…read moreadvertised as a tapas restaurant, but it's much more than that. The service was excellent, our server spoke English and knew so much about American pop culture. He even sang NSYNC songs to us while serving us dishes. As for the food let's get into it: - Lobster Croquettes (8/10) We've had a lot of croquettes this trip, but these were on another level, get one per person. - Paella (7.5/10) Different style of paella from other places we went. It was almost like a paella curry, which was still rich and delicious. - Squid Sandwich (10/10) This is hands down the best appetizer I've ever had. The squid was packed with flavor and the mayo sauce they used paired perfectly. Order one per person, and be prepared to order another to go. - Garlic Shrimp (8/10) Solid entree paired with sourdough bread. Dip that bread into the sauce and you'll be satisfied. - Aged Beef Steak w/ Foie Gras (9/10) This might be one of the best steak dishes I've had traveling abroad. It was cooked perfectly, and came with a potato crust on the bottom and Foie Gras on top. Definitely a must order. Overall a great experience, from the service and ambiance to the quality of the food, this is a must try when visiting Barcelona. Would I go again? Absolutely!

BLUF: not only one of the best meals I've had but also one of the best dining experiences I've ever…read morehad. If you're in Barcelona this MUST be at the top of your list. Cañete was booked out for 2 weeks straight, so we decided to risk it and see if we could get a spot as walk-ins; and were lucky enough to want less than 5 minutes before being sat at the "bar" in front of the open kitchen, which is honestly the best seat in the house IMHO. You get to see all the 'action' and interact with the friendly and often funny staff. Everything in the menu we tried was fantastic, but a few standouts for me were the squid sandwich (do yourself a favor and try it, even if you aren't a "squid person" the bread is fresh, and the butter garlic sauce they use should be sold in bottles at the supermarket), the lobster croquet was refreshing, and the aged beef steak with foie and truffle sauce was delicious and cooked to perfection.

If you're hungry after the Barcelona game, this is a place that opens late and has good tapas. Not…read morethe best tapas ever, but a lot better than the stale sandwiches they sell at the stadium.

It is a nice restaurant with a relaxing environment. The waiters are quite friendly but one of them…read morewas a little crippy. However, the food was great.

Met some friends at Telefèric while vacationing in Barcelona and the food was great. We ordered…read moreseveral tapas, including croquetas de jamón ibérico, a tabla de jamón ibérico, pan con tomate, patatas bravas, and bracitos de pollo crujiente. We also ordered arroz de butifarra, which was my first time trying it and it was absolutely delicious. My husband doesn't eat seafood, so he appreciated having a non-seafood rice dish that he could enjoy. The service was great and the restaurant ambiance was lovely as well.

The best paella I've had in years, not too long to wait for, and sized for one (which is a rarity…read morewhere I come from). Could not recommend more highly.

A very old restaurant named after track cycling, featuring high-quality tapas, bar food, and main…read moredishes all served by a staff more focused on efficiency than personality. On a recent visit to Barcelona, I visited Velódromo both for a solo dinner as well as breakfast the following day. I loved the food and found the Velódromo Pastrami sandwich, made in homage to Katz in NYC, both humorous in its weird interpretation of the original, and also completely delicious. They DO have an English menu available but do not expect all of the staff to understand you. Please be kind and have your google translate ready. It's worth it just so you can blend in, lay back, and enjoy this classic neighborhood gem.

This is a great restaurant for a quick bite or hearty meal. The day we went was full of large…read moreparties due to the holiday. But the staff there went out of there way to create a nice table for us. The service was very good and the food delicious.

Raise your hand if you made paella before?? Ok, I see a number of you…read more. Raise your hand if you made your paella in a paella pan made in Spain? Ok, fewer hands but I see you.. Now raise your hand if you made your paella with real saffron (from Iran or India)?? Ok, even fewer hands. Finally, raise your hand if you visited Spain and skipped having paella?? Gasp!! What the?? I know, that would be unthinkable, unconscionable, unacceptable, un-American (huh??), un, un, you get it.. That almost happened as I'm trying to eat less rice because it's not really a healthy carb and frankly, I've been spoon fed rice since I was in the nest, given it intravenously, served it in my dreams. Do I really need to have one more spoonful or rice?? Yes, of course, so we gave Arrosseria Las Arenas (paella house) a shot as it was just a 40 meter walk from the hotel. (Wow, that was a long wind up for the review part..) We opted for the traditional paella and had some fried squid bites with sour cream dip. The fried fish was really good as we ate it all. The seafood paella tasted fine but it only had like 7 pieces of seafood and a ton of rice (which is what I was trying to avoid)..and it was a bit salty.. This is really a 2.5 star review because although we were the only diners, dining inside the restaurant (it was hot outside), we felt ignored throughout the entire meal. In fact, a server on his day off or a friend of the servers came in and they all chatted for at least 30 minutes. And the visitor had a non-stop annoying hack and it didn't sound good and it spoilt (sounds of phlegm) my appetite. TMI but I wanted you to get a taste of what I had experienced.. But other than that, this could have easily been a 4 star review..

Moises gives superb service, very friendly. Tapas are quite tasty. Sitting outside in June is…read moreperfect.

This is our favorite restaurant in Barcelona!!! We live in Michigan and visit Barcelona about once…read morea year and this is the first restaurant we go to when we land and last restaurant we hit before we leave. The food/tapas are phenomenal and it lives rent free in our head. The cozyness and vibe is great but make sure you make a reservation well ahead of time because it is quite small and I've never been able to get a walk in reservation. The staff are nice too and they have an english menu but of course it helps if you know spanish!

We were really surprised how much Casa Lolea exceeded our initial expectations!…read more We each had a couple of their sangrias and these are an absolute must try when you are here! They prefect refreshing drink to end a day of soo much walking. Our table shared the truffle risotto, patatas bravas, mini beef burger and the carrot cake. The truffle risotto was excellent and worth every penny if you are a truffle fan. The potatoes here were some of my favorites in Barcelona! I would skip the burger and the carrot cake was perfection. Service is great, wait outside for a host to greet you. A wonderful spot for dinner and sangria!