Comerç

This restaurant has been here since 1915 (although the plaque on the façade says that it opened in 1928), so it could speak volumes about how the neighbourhood has evolved. It is a real institution housed in an Art Nouveau building, Casa Vidal, whose underground storage room was used as an air-raid shelter during the Civil War. In another era, it was frequented by workers in the old Pegaso lorry factory, and since it opened it has aimed to please the locals. Today, it serves full breakfasts, tapas like unusual patatas bravas with spicy guacamole, tomato and chilli concassé, crispy onion and black olive sand; the Versalles sandwich (ham, cheese, egg and lettuce); a variety of flatbreads from Folgueroles; and the perennial stews. 

After having spent time in the kitchens of different restaurants, in 2012 Guillem and Maria thought it was time to materialise what they knew in their own project. So, with a great deal of excitement they opened this tapas bar of and for the neighbourhood, where they work with high-quality, local ingredients cooked with up-to-the-minute techniques, respecting tradition yet with nods to innovation. In addition to tapas with familiar names – El Xillu's olives stuffed with anchovies from L’Escala– and unusual tapas offerings like patatas reverdes and codfish with honey, they also have muffins, fried eggs and stews. Their blackboard announces daily off-menu dishes ranging from flammkuchen to grilled scallops and rice blood sausage with apple, and they offer successful desserts as well as a delicious lunchtime menu.

This take-out restaurant with just a few tables is Sant Andreu Comtal all the way. It achieves that with its name, its logo (the pot lid that resembles the one that inspired the dome of the neighbourhood church) and the choice of suppliers. If you want a hearty, delicious meal from Monday to Friday, they offer salads designed to be a meal in themselves, which you can even create yourself, along with fresh pasta, steamed vegetables, grilled fish and a selection of traditional recipes. And at weekends, the menu expands with dishes from all over: mountain-style octopus, a variety of cannelloni, rice from Pals with baby calamari and prawns, wild mushroom risotto, gyoza, Argentinian empanadas and more. They use compostable containers to minimise the amount of waste generated and sell socially responsible products. They also offer a home delivery service.

Their maxim: modest but honest cuisine. Their ingredients: passion and humility. And the menu of this family business includes classic tapas and small plates, 100% home-made and crafted with local, premium ingredients, most of them from shops run by neighbours-friends. They offer more than 15 varieties of delicious croquettes, including one with butifarra sausage from Burgos and caramelised pear, another with wild mushrooms and foie-gras, and yet another with prawns and hake, their Sant Andreu bomba , chicken Pepe with Japanese sauce and its version from Heüra, Charo’s omelettes served as an hors d’oeuvre, dishes to eat with a spoon like tripe or meatballs with baby squid… And also cheese and sausage boards to go with a glass of wine, mixed cans and vermouth packs. It’s a cosy restaurant with warm, professional service that makes you feel right at home. 

This is a classic bar-restaurant that two siblings –Juli in the kitchen and Susana in the dining room– have revived for the neighbourhood as an eatery. They prioritise respect for the product and the Catalan culinary arts, brought up-to-date, as well as Mediterranean cuisine, along with untouchable family recipes like codfish snout with fried tomato, raisins and pine nuts from one grandmother and tripe from the other. They offer stews as full breakfasts, after which you can use the bread that won the 2023 Best Catalan Peasant Bread contest to sop up the plate, along with rice dishes, including the one featuring prawns from Palamós with cuttlefish and saffron aioli, which they present with two slices of fried plantain, or croquettes made of txangurro with sriracha mayonnaise, Gruyère with old-style mustard, chicken-ham-wild mushrooms...

This neo-rustic tavern with a bar and barrels for tapas, and rooms decorated with agricultural tools, serves high-quality traditional Basque and market cuisine, featuring excellent products. Its motto: ‘The secret is in the origins’. A professional and methodical team, always looking for the best quality and the best service, ensures that diners leave the restaurant smiling from ear to ear. And with good reason, considering their speciality the  txuleton steak, the Donostia style grilled sea bass, the Idiazabal cheese and Alcorta cod croquettes, the katxopo stuffed with Idiazabal cheese and Iberian ham, and tapas and pintxos: Pamplona style patatas bravas (unique in Barcelona), Ibarra piparras fried in black salt, cazuelita de txoricitos in cider... And for dessert, charcoal grilled patxaran borracho with blueberries, goxua with cream and cinnamon... 

Located a few metres from Via Júlia, this restaurant attracts diners with its laid-back family atmosphere, and its ode to the rich Mediterranean culinary tradition. It offers a daily set menu from Monday to Friday and at weekends, a rice menu and suggestions of the day. Carefully prepared and presented dishes, such as the puff pastry bags filled with larded meat, and a low-temperature ribs with demi-glace sauce. A complimentary aperitif to start, and tempting homemade desserts to finish. The quality of the seasonal ingredients, the creative way in which they are prepared, and the attentive service, all come together to create memorable moments. A good choice for a quick and tasty lunch on a weekday or for a special occasion. 

In the bar-restaurant of the Cruïlla cooking school in Torre Baró, students themselves are in charge of the management, preparation, design of the menu a la carte and the daily set menu and waiting on guests, thus demonstrating the possibilities of future generations of chefs. Founded in 2018, the Escola Cruïlla is part of the Spanish network of Second Chance Schools, and promotes the training and employment of young people in vulnerable situations and at risk of social exclusion. Open to the public, the neighbourhood and the people who work in Ciutat Meridiana, from Monday to Friday you can have breakfast and lunch here, with options ranging from hot or cold sandwiches to dishes made with freshly purchased ingredients, such as Mallorcan-style chard with poached egg or Portuguese-style cod with potato confit. 

The success of this burger joint lies in its thirty-some different kinds of burgers, some inspired by films, the ‘seventh art’ which is also the inspiration for the décor. Most of the burgers, served on conventional, colourful or croissant buns, can be customised: you can choose from beef, matured beef, pork, chicken, or plant-based proteins..., and there are vegetarian options. The house special is served smoked in a dome. The very cinematic menu is completed with tapas (‘bravamelised’ potatoes, nachos with guacamole, tequeño cheese sticks, onion rings, Iberian ham croquettes, breaded and fried bombas, jalapeños stuffed with cheese, vegan snacks), salads, hot dogs, sandwiches, savoury pastries (cocas) and tacos. The restaurant also has a terrace that becomes a popular meeting point. 

A well-kept place with seven tables, some of them high, and a bar. It features global, mestizo (the definition of ‘chola’ in some Spanish-speaking countries) cuisine. Appealing traditional Mediterranean dishes, updated with Asian and Latin touches, which change with the seasons. For aperitif, eating with your hands, and sharing. Examples: torreznos de Ávila (pork strips) with the patatas revolconas potato dish, Icelandic cod saam with sweet chilli sauce, curried chickpea hummus, glazed aubergine with shiro-miso and cheese frosting, Oaxacan blue corn tacos, 24-hour marinated Asian-style fried pig’s ear and a carpaccio of matured picanha. A pleasant surprise in the area named after Virrei (Viceroy) Amat, whose mistress was La Cholita, the nickname of the famous actress and beautiful hedonist María Micaela Villegas y Hurtado de Mendoza, from Lima.