Cancel

    Open app

    Search

    Maitea

    4.5 (141 reviews)
    ModerateSpanish, Tapas Bars
    Open 12:00 pm - 12:00 am (Next day)

    Maitea Photos

    MAITEA ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Good for groups
    Good for kids

    Recommended Reviews - Maitea

    Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
    Yelp app icon
    Browse more easily on the app
    Review Feed Illustration

    Reviews With Photos

    Menu
    David L.

    There's no shortage of strong reviews for Maitea, so this one will be brief. I went at 4:30 pm. The early bird special in the US, but an off-hour for Spain. One side of the restaurant is a tapas bar, the other has tables I sat at the bar and had a few pintxos and the fish soup, which was particularly good. The interior decor was very nicely done, and just a tad funky. I liked the swine over the door and the large Harpo Marx.

    Mel T.

    My boyfriend and I came in at around 12, but they said they weren't serving lunch (aka the pintxos we had been looking for) until 1. So we decided to walk around the neighborhood and come back at that time. We started with foie gras hash, which was a little to heavy for us. After that, we decided to just stick with the pintxos, which are little open-faced sandwiches, held together with a toothpick. They are €1.80 each and they have a selection of hot ones you can order off the menu, as well as some premade cold ones that you grab yourself. At the end of the meal, they count the number of toothpicks you have and that's how they calculate the bill. We had so many of them (probably too many) but there were just so many we wanted to try! Plus it was our last meal in Spain so we wanted to make the most of it. I don't remember everything we had, but I really liked the Bomba, codfish with mousseline, and the smoked salmon with anchovy (?) from the cold selection. We didn't get the chance to try any other pintxo places, but I read that there are a lot of them that offer pintxos for €1. That being said, while Maitea was good, it is a little on the pricier side. €1.80 per sandwich adds up quickly. I think next time, I'll check out some of the cheaper places and see how they stack up to Maitea.

    Tortilla de patata especial del mes con pimiento y chorizo de leon
    Guillermo M.

    Cena espectacular con una variedad inmensa de pintxos que ninguno decepciona. Lugar decorado para llevarte hacia el país Vasco y sentir su cultura. Pedimos alrededor de 8 pintxos acompañados de sangria y un agua con gas. Les que me parecieron excelentes fueron: tortilla de patata especial con chorizo de leon, croqueta de espinaca (especial del mes), sobrasada de Cal Rovira con dulce de manzana y nuez de castilla, bacalao y Foie . Otras que estuvieron también buenas: hamburguesita con Foie, jamón ibérico con flor de queso, y huevo de codorniz con chistorra. Para cerrar el postre que me pareció la mejor recomendación fue el pastel de queso, realmente especial y muy distinto a otros pasteles de queso.

    Chocolate cake
    Hyeon Ju S.

    Excellent food and service! I was a few minutes late to my reservation at the bar, but was seated quickly anyway. The bar was about 3/4 full at 8:30, but quickly got busy around 9:30. I had the pintxos and could not recommend the lagarto and chistorra enough! The chocolate cake was fantastic for dessert, and the sangria was delicious too. My waiter/server Albert was so kind and funny, and had great recommendations. Will definitely come back with family and friends. Nos vemos!

    Hot tapas and lemon beer
    Kyle W.

    First introduction to Barcelona tapas and I got a great first impression of them! You can get cold tapas at the bar and order hot tapas off the menu; you can also order salads, entrees, and more expensive small plates to complement with the tapas, which we did. Although we had a wide selection of food, none of the dishes were disappointing at all. The tapas are served on top of a piece of bread, which gives a relatively balanced meal of protein and carbs. One thing to note is beer is cheaper than water so definitely treat yourself! I forgot to get sangria here but you should definitely give that a try.

    Pincxtas
    Katie A.

    Cute, delicious Catalan tapas. Was completely full with reservations, so had to sit at the bar, which was great! Delicious pinxtas (especially liked the cod with garlic and the spinach and blue cheese croquetas). Go immediately!

    A selection of cold tapas from the case
    Lee P.

    Fantastic little cafe with both hot & cold tapas. Cold tapas are self service from the case along the long counter. It's absolutely empty at 8 pm, but by 9:30 it's packed. There a lots of other cafes in the area, but they were all dead while this one was hopping and for good reason. You can have a simple meal as fast or slow as you wish. Great place to have drinks, beer or homemade sangria, custom mixed fresh each pitcher. Popular locals gathering spot. Food is fantastic and varied from simple/safe to the more challenging for the adventurous. The staff is very accommodating and happy to explain all the dishes. This has to be one of the least expensive meals in BCN, yet has incredible quality. Definitely a must-do when visiting Barcelona. Lots of families with kids go early.

    Cod omelet is phenomenal
    Jeff J.

    After a lack luster meal at Telerific, this place more than made up for it. According to Delicious Destination this place specializes in Pinchos/Pinxos so I figured if it's good enough for Zimmern it's good enough for me. Btw the 5 of us, we had 16 diff cold and hot pinchos as well as the seasonal specials: red peppers stuffed w spider crab, cod omelette, grilled calamari w Chantal's mushroom, and sea anemones w poached egg. Pretty much everything was good. Sea anemones tasted much like oysters and being the egg whore, I loved the omelette. The grilled calamari was perfectly balanced by the mushroom and pine nuts. Only down side is that I'm way to stuffed for dinner. Which is scheduled to take place on 4 hrs!

    Mike Z.

    Maitea was the first restaurant that we dined at upon arriving in Barcelona. It was very close to the hotel and had raving reviews on Yelp, no brainer! Being nervous as a non-Spanish speaker, Maitea's staff was able to accommodate and speak English! Whew. Being quite hungry at this point after a long commute and lugging around luggage for a mile, we were ready to order. I first placed an order on red sangria eager to taste the authentic version after only having the bastardized American one for so long. Authentic & tastier it is, I can sip on these all day. We ordered the following plates: Foie gras with fried egg and potato chips: I love foie gras, this one was cooked right and was delicious Fried chicken tenders: very tender, ordinary fried chicken, it comes with a light mustard sauce Squid cooked in squid ink: the dish look like a plate of black glob, but it tastes better than it looks. The squid also tastes slightly fishy/gamey. Pinchos: Cod fish: tasty and flakily yummy Red sausage: meh Hamburger: delicious, very tender and perfectly cooked, the problem with these mini burgers are you want more of it Beef empanada: meh

    Seasonal dessert lemon pie
    Nik N.

    We found one fellow working who was willing to practice his english on us which was helpful. The food was fresh and they had reasonable pricing. The good: Lemon Pie Goxua Dates with Bacon Goat cheese w port wine, onion, honey and nuts Brie cheese au gratin, tomato jam and olive The tempranillo by the glass The free pacharan shots The meh: Codfish stuffed red pepper - undisclosed breading and flavorless 56 Euros for 18 tapas, 3 drinks, 2 desserts, and 2 coffees The bad: The bar seats are horrendous The olive, pepper, and anchovy tapas that my coworker ordered without anchovy came with anchovy stuffed peppers. He said he had an allergy and they did not replace with unstuffed olives The friendly english speaking mexican looking guy who originally took our order for 5 different hot tapas was reprimanded by his coworkers and then told us we could not order 1 of anything and that we should select from the hot tapas plates offered. We thought we were back at square 1 then our order came out with the 5 different tapas. Mixed messages...

    Soleil S.

    Maitea is on several top Barcelona lists for tapas and pintxos. It's a bit further out from the touristy downtown areas but for those who dont mind the trek, it's one of the few places that are constantly open and serves food that is considered too early for Spainards! I guess North Americans hours of 5 pm and later is considered snack time and there are few restaurants opened between 5 pm and 7 pm. This casual place is really well known for their cold pintxos ... which is essentially a single small snack sized bite that is pierced by a toothpick. Maitea pintxos are quite generous in size which can probably easily get you 2 or 3 bites per pintxos and they're very reasonable at 1.5 Euros and up. You can easily make a meal of them... all with a large slize of crusty white country bread and topped with many different things like smoke salmon, sardines, tomatoes, chilled grilled vegetables, egg, ... tons of variety. If you are interested in the hot tapas and pintxos, you have to wait till after 8 pm for those to come out. If you want actual hot dishes, you can order them here ... but compared to the pintxos, they were definitely not as good. Good - Iberico pork ... generous portion of grilled pork with a side of soggy fries. The pork was well cooked with a bit of nice char and the flavour was wonderful. Any pintxos ... I happen to like the vegetarian ones here. I honestly believe if you come here to eat, get only the pintxos... best value, flavour and execution. Not so good - patatas bravas (soggy and oily), fried shrimp (more like sauteed, tough, and very expensive), squid with mushrooms (heavy smokey flavour that overpowers everything). There is very little seating here... its most likely a pintxos and standing up place to enjoy a glass wine with your plate of tapas. Service here is very laidback so don't expect to service to be very attentive. As long as here you're for a quite bite, great place but perhaps this isnt a great spot for a real meal.

    Lucy M.

    This place is amazing and I can say probably one of the best value restaurants I've ever been to. The variety of tapas is great and they are less than 2 euros each. The waiters are also really friendly and the overall clientele is locals rather than tourists. I love this place.

    Dave D.

    Terrible food, I ordered Chicken skewers amongst other items, expecting grilled chicken on a stick, but got what seems to be chicken fries. ALOT OF BREAD. Be ready to eat a loaf. Server was lost when I mentioned a free shooter that I got when checking in on Yelp. Then proceeded to not honor it. Will never come back.

    See all

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 1
    Love this 1
    Oh no 1
    Photo of Roberta D.
    138
    214
    378

    2 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    6 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 1

    7 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    4 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    3 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Jeff J.
    155
    79
    1

    3 years ago

    Love this place love it. Unfortunately if you're not a local you can't sit in the dining room but you still can enjoy their fantastic tapas

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Katie A.
    75
    37
    28

    4 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 3
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Jeff J.
    32
    328
    199

    8 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 29
    Thanks 0
    Love this 27
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 3
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Dave D.
    2
    40
    92

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Justin M.
    221
    43
    55

    9 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    10 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    9 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Cat C.
    1797
    1846
    3658

    10 years ago

    Helpful 7
    Thanks 0
    Love this 5
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 31
    Thanks 0
    Love this 28
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 5
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0

    14 years ago

    Helpful 4
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    8 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    13 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    12 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0

    15 years ago

    Helpful 2
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Jay M.
    18
    65
    335

    8 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of YC L.
    69
    89
    47

    11 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 2
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Amy H.
    25
    11
    15

    14 years ago

    Helpful 1
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Dorela N.
    124
    12
    5

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Wendy L.
    0
    390
    950

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Mike D.
    5
    57
    89

    8 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 1
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Moe K.
    7
    7
    15

    7 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    11 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Kim R.
    0
    178
    32

    14 years ago

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0
    Photo of Lauren S.
    279
    26
    5

    6 years ago

    This review will be brief. Food was great but omg, get the chocolate hazelnut cake!!! I will have dreams about it forever it was so amazing.

    Helpful 0
    Thanks 0
    Love this 0
    Oh no 0

    Page 1 of 4

    Maitea Reviews in Other Languages

    Verify this business for free

    Get access to customer & competitor insights.

    Verify this business

    La Mestressa - Patatas Bravas

    La Mestressa

    4.4(25 reviews)
    2.0 kmSants
    €€

    La Mestressa is such a great vibe and one of the defining experiences from my trip to Barcelona!…read moreHere are a few highlights: 1. The neighborhood - I stayed at the AC Hotel Sants while visiting Barcelona. The Barcelona Sants train station was adjacent to the hotel, and the property was in a walkable neighborhood surrounded by restaurants, convenience stores, and other businesses. There was also a deceptively nondescript alley right next to the hotel that I didn't explore right away. Turns out, that alley leads to a vibrant, hidden plaza (Plaça d'Osca) with restaurants and shops, where locals in the Sants neighborhood hang out. This is also where La Mestressa is located. 2. The food and drinks - I got dinner with two friends at La Mestressa one evening. We ordered a pitcher of sangria, a bottle of wine, and a wide selection of tapas, croquettes, and a couple main dishes. My personal favorites from the meal were the sangria, patatas bravas (crispy potatoes with sauce), octopus, and the salmon salad (not pictured). Each of those dishes were well-seasoned, had great textural contrast, and provided either familiar comfort (patatas bravas and octopus) or a completely new flavor experience (salmon salad). The sangria was light and refreshing. 3. The service - Our server was bilingual and provided satisfactory service. She was warm. The service was well-paced, and she attended to all of our needs as a group. 4. The ambience - As I previously mentioned, both Plaça d'Osca and La Mestressa were a whole vibe. If the terms "off the beaten path," "honeycomb hideout," "in the cut," or "rural retreat" mean anything to you, this area similarly provides a nice place to "retreat" and immerse yourself in a local neighborhood right in the heart of Spain's second largest city. It's the perfect place to drink wine and sangria and while away your evening. :)

    We were in the neighborhood on vacation, and were looking for someplace to eat. They had room so…read morewe stepped in. Honestly the rest of Barcelona has been ruined for us now. We ate other places, but none of them compare. Not the market, none of the other small tapas places we tried. It's as if the others aren't even trying. If you are near Plaça de Sants, you will not be disappointed.

    Photos
    La Mestressa - Exterior

    Exterior

    La Mestressa
    La Mestressa - Empty pitcher of sangria with cava. Delicious!

    See all

    Empty pitcher of sangria with cava. Delicious!

    Cerveseria Catalana - fried artichoke

    Cerveseria Catalana

    4.4(1.8k reviews)
    0.8 kmL'Eixample
    €€€

    It's been a decade since I came here for my first Tapas in BCN. This is where I realized there was…read morea lot of my peeps that works there and it's nice to feel at home, lol. This was recommended by friends awhile back, I remembered the modern ambiance, amazing Tapas, friendly service and the place was as busy then until now. For this big restaurant caliber, it's pretty crowded yet they do a good job with a fast turnaround. We did the early Dinner and by the time we got out there was already a long line for late Diners. The fact that even after a decade, it's rare that I go back to the same spot let alone they're still around after all these years. You already know that tells a lot and I feel bad for those who didn't have the same great experience, hope they give it another shot. See y'all soon! Salut, Vermouth!

    Walking down the street on Rambla and a "Huge Line" has gathered outside Cerveseria Catalana…read more Something special must be happening here to have this big of a crowd waiting. My son had been here last year and thought, it was a solid. We put our name in, went to a nearby park bench to wait and watch people for 50 minutes. The servers outside are grumpy as to many people are crowding the sidewalk and impeding his service. Finally, our name was called, were seated at the bar, and watched a chef make the magic dishes. The menu is huge and I can't help but watch the delicious dishes flying by us. So little time and yet so many great choices, this won't be easy. We began with the beef tenderloin montadito foie gras. It was presented as a open face sandwich on a bagette. We split it as it had a huge piece of foie gras. The tenderloin was tough and the tapas tasted like indivdual components, not a blended or refined profile. The grilled razor clams were nicely cooked, slightly gritty and needed to be washed more thoroughly. The Spanish omelet wedge was spiritual, dish of the night award. The onion made the dish! The sliced fried artichoke was finely shaved, and again lacked a enjoyable flavor that I would order again. The chips with fried eggs and Jabugo ham was different, tasty and a concept I would not of thought about. Delicious! Casveseria Catalanahe was packed and stacked for a reason. A high vibe and energy even in the face of a revolt at the check in desk from hungry dinners. I came say without hesitation, we will give them a second try. The staff was friendly, engaging, warm and a good sense of humor, nothing but smiles. I can't wait for our next trip to Cerveseria Catalana and let them tell me what to order. Good luck and see you sooner than later.

    Photos
    Cerveseria Catalana - Dining room

    Dining room

    Cerveseria Catalana - Lenguado con calamares

    Lenguado con calamares

    Cerveseria Catalana - Open till 1:30am?

    See all

    Open till 1:30am?

    Terra d'Escudella

    Terra d'Escudella

    4.2(21 reviews)
    1.9 kmSants

    My experience at Terra d'Escudella was a little confusing…read more But it was kind of my problem because I could not speak or understand Spanish... It was quite challenging. We were hungry and it was late. After trying to drop by a few places in the area and nothing really open for business, we decided to give Terra d'Escudella a try based on the 4 star rating on my Yelp App. Place was busy, which was a good sign! We quickly grabbed a table in front of the restaurant and thinking we can get some food and beers..and then we found out that all these people at the bar were waiting for a "restaurant" tables at the back! We ended up just have a quick beer and off we go to somewhere else for real food... PS they do have an English Menu

    My fiancé and I came for dinner on the recommendation of our guide from Culinary Backstreets and…read morewere pleasantly surprised at the hyper-local feel of Terra d'Escudella. We'd thus far seen a lot of touristy areas of Barcelona, so getting to feel a bit like an insider was such a treat here! My Spanish is conversational, so I could mostly get through the menu (after asking for the Spanish one, rather than Catalan where I definitely struggle), but I would recommend coming here with a dictionary or translation app if you're English-only. I thought the service was excellent, our waitress was very understanding and patient with my language mistakes and chatted easily with us about different menu options. We ended up getting a sandwich, the meatballs, and a couple of other things to share, as well as a bottle of wine. We spent the better part of an evening snacking and chatting away, surrounded by boisterous laughter and conversation of locals who clearly adore this spot.

    Photos
    Terra d'Escudella
    Terra d'Escudella
    Terra d'Escudella

    See all

    Portonovo Silvestre - Lunch

    Portonovo Silvestre

    4.1(98 reviews)
    1.8 kmSants
    €€

    Very nice spot for lunch. Has four tables on the side walk or dine inside. Really enjoyed a couple…read moredifferent tapas plates. They don't speak english so be ready to help translate or work through it, service was good though. Also seem to remember they were cash only.

    Very charming cafe with huge portions of fantastically delicious food and amazing staff! Came here…read moreon the recommendation of fellow travelers. They said the food was delicious and it was very close to our hotel near the Place d'Espanya, so we gave it a try. Absolutely awesome! My friend and I ordered the mixed paella for two (18 Euros per person) and it probably could've fed four! It was chock full of different types of seafood and chicken chunks. The whole dish was flavorful and satisfied like a warm blanket on a freezing night! The young lady waitperson was so friendly and we laughed as we tried to communicate with each other (she with no English and me with no Spanish). After we were stuffed to the gills, she brought us a complimentary plate of 4 pieces of olive oil cake and two glasses of a very tart brightly colored yellow liqueur that my friend said had a definite kick. When I told our waitperson that I don't drink alcohol, she brought me a glass of the same fruity base liquid sans the alcohol, which I found to be very tart and very pleasing on the palate! When I finished it, the young lady offered me more, but there was no way for me to fit anything else into my completely full satisfied belly! This place might look touristy with the menu posted at the door and its plastic covered menu inside, but the food and staff are wonderful. Don't let your prejudices keep you from enoying the amazing place. Might be a bit pricier, too, since it's close to the plaza and hotels, but it's worth it! The charm of this restaurant was a highlight of our day; made for a wonderful end of a very active day of sightseeing in Barcelona!

    Photos
    Portonovo Silvestre
    Portonovo Silvestre - Nice restaurant!

    Nice restaurant!

    Portonovo Silvestre - Entrance

    See all

    Entrance

    Casa Varela - Razor clams with kimchi aioli ... I think. The translation may be imperfect, though the flavors were not

    Casa Varela

    4.8(58 reviews)
    3.9 km
    €€

    Food. Service. Ambiance. Yes. Yes. Yes…read more The first night we went without a reservation but they managed to accommodate us in a lovely private room. That was a great start to a delicious meal that everyone enjoyed. I wish I could have tried all the appetizers. In hindsight, this might be the way to go! The food and service were so on point that our group went back a second time (with a reservation) in our four days in Barcelona. This time we ordered the epic Chocolate Bonsai dessert to cap the meal. It had a satisfying amount of chocolate with textures and tastes that leave you wanting more. I shared this dessert... and wish I didn't The noise level was high but otherwise this one scores high on every aspect of the dining experience!

    My last visit was in 2022, but as of 2024, they've still got it!…read more Excellent food and service with classic dishes as well as many more adventurous options. Everything is beautifully presented and they handled our large group with ease. Definitely make a reservation, especially if you've got a large group. They may not have a Michelin star, but they're as good as or better than any place I've been that has one. If you're in the main part of Barcelona, it can be a trek out here (it is SO worth it), but if you're staying by the convention center and its nearby shopping mall, it is an easy walk and I haven't found anything else in the area that comes close.

    Photos
    Casa Varela - Remy

    Remy

    Casa Varela
    Casa Varela - Croquetas Rabo Toro

    See all

    Croquetas Rabo Toro

    Maitea - spanish - Updated May 2026

    Loading...
    Loading...
    Loading...