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Located since 2016 in the Sant Antoni neighbourhood, this cute little bodeguita pays homage to ‘all the women who turn their kitchens into a show’. For example, the owner's great-grandmother and also her namesake, the entertainer Bella Dorita, who close by, on Paral·lel avenue, seduced her audience with another, equally fiery, art. Casa Dorita seeks to make us remember of flavours, aromas and sensations that we may have forgotten, of authentic market cuisine, traditional dishes that respect the excellence of the raw material. They are committed to simplicity, but also like to surprise, and that is why the daily suggestions vary according to the season, working with the products at peak freshness. On the menu, spoon and fork tapas, which include everything from their own Iberian ham and cheeses found nowhere else, to an acclaimed grilled pork loin or pluma cut. To drink, vermouth, wine and cava.

This Michelin-starred restaurant integrates ingredients from foreign pantries into the Mediterranean recipe book. At the helm of this eclectic and well-travelled creation are the Barcelona chef Frank Beltri, who has lived in London and Indonesia, and Nico de la Vega, from Mexico. They met a fortnight before opening the restaurant and are now great friends. Passionate about powerful flavours, spicy dishes and well-balanced acidity, their approach is based on seafood and vegetables, two tasting menus with their corresponding pairings, and they make the experience dynamic with discipline, technique and a great deal of creativity. The open kitchen is overlooked by two bars, designed for couples, and the chef’s table, the most fun for group bookings, followed by a dining room. 

One name, two different concepts. The La Gastronómica restaurants offer a choice between carefully elegant tapas and dishes, and gourmet burgers paired with craft and speciality beers. The owner, after more than twenty years in the restaurant industry, decided to embark on a personal project in 2017. In 2020, he opened the second restaurant, but when the pandemic forced it to close temporarily, he introduced a menu of burgers to take away. In 2021, the first restaurant was turned into a burger bar. La Gastronómica on Calàbria street encourages guests to try dishes to share, such as octopus, or the iconic Duroc pork rib. The bar next to the open kitchen provides you with a front-row view of the cooking process. La Gastronómica on Vilamarí street offers burgers with matured beef, shredded ribs, chicken and homemade vegan one with pardina lentils.

‘Quedem a Els Ocellets!’ (Let’s meet at Els Ocellets!) children in the Sant Antoni neighbourhood would shout in the 1970s. The meeting point: the Los Pajaritos (‘the little birds’, or ‘els ocellets’ in Catalan) bar. While they waited for their friends, the kids pressed their noses up against the window and watched, fascinated, as the ‘eight-armed gentleman’ skilfully and swiftly operated all eight handles of the coffee machine by himself. One of those boys would open Els Ocellets in the same location, in 1984. Its welcoming style attracted artists, intellectuals and sportsmen who could be found seated at its tables, helping to create a unique atmosphere, which remained unchanged after the refurbishment of 2005, and which survives to this day, as the space continues to be a meeting point for locals and bohemians. Catalan-Mediterranean cuisine featuring a few tributes to dishes from Can Lluís, a restaurant founded by the boy’s grandfather in 1929. Unusual desserts.

A new culinary show is on at what used to be Albert Adrià’s Tickets. After being at the helm of Enigma and 41º Experience, chef Oliver Peña, with the help of the RiasKru Group, presents, in a unique setting, a surprising and fun experience in the form of small bites to eat with your hands, taking traditional tapas a step further. These modern and creative tapas, the result of the personal background and technical mastery of their creator, are a great choice whether you want to nibble on something extraordinary or treat yourself to a feast. The show can be à la carte or tailor-made, known as the Surprise Selection. And once all the acts are over (Fingerfood, Oysters, Cold, Hot, Epic Scenes and Sweet Epilogues), you can’t leave without discovering what’s going on behind the scenes at Backstage Cocktails & Snacks. 

If FC Barcelona is more than a club, Cal Soci is more than a bar. Inspired by the fishermen’s pubs of the Ciutadella in Menorca, where you can eat until late, two friends, who had worked in the haute cuisine sector as waiter and cook, decided to give wings to their own project: a place with the essence of the bars of yesteryear, not elitist, with an inclusive menu, attentive to different preferences and dietary needs, and with an interest in spreading the cuisine of Menorca, unrepresented in Barcelona at that time. Its menu includes everything from cheese boards and island cured meats to a vegan salad, mussels with butter and sage, a trinxat with cuixot (a kind of cold black sausage made by a family member) and meatball ‘pilotes’ with tomato sauce, to be accompanied by some good beers. But Cal Soci is, above all, a meeting place in the Sant Antoni neighbourhood, where you can feel at home.

Located next to the Mercat de La Concepció, its distinguishing features include its environmentally conscious management of the water it consumes and the waste it generates. Founded in 1950 but with new owners and interior since 2020, it has become a can’t-miss spot in the Eixample neighbourhood, and in the city. An open secret that reached the ears of celebrity regulars such as film director Bigas Luna, comedian Pepe Rubianes, musician/actor Ovidi Montllor and actor José Luis López Vázquez. It was originally an eatery providing hearty, hot breakfasts for those working in the adjoining market square. It later became a restaurant celebrating, respecting and getting the most out of the fresh and seasonal produce that was so close at hand. That’s why today, on their digital menu, they indicate the stops at La Concepció and name the suppliers of certain ingredients. Their approach is rooted in tradition but with a taste for ‘transformation’. Grandma Pepi’s cannelloni, rice dishes, pig’s trotters, cod confit with tarragon mousseline, Mallorcan panalena (deconstruction of grilled aubergine with sobrassada, Iberian pork jowl and honey), homemade egg crème caramel with whipped cream... Quiet terrace on a pedestrian street. Open every day.

A pioneering restaurant in Barcelona in serving vegan sushi and with a 100% plant-based menu, it takes its inspiration from Asia, and provides a tasty, healthy and appealing experience for vegans and vegetarians, as well as for curious people interested in expanding their culinary horizons. The premise: the products the chef works with must have had a root. They believe that vegan food should be tastier than conventional food, and their menu, which changes every month, brings together creative, light and energising dishes. Cauliflower popcorn with shichimi togarashi and aioli; a sushi festival made with fruits, vegetables, spices, mushrooms, wakame, Heüra plant-based protein, cashew cheese and rice with black quinoa; miso ramen, pad Thai or a bao with marinated bamboo and pickled onion, and to finish, a dessert such as a deconstructed lemon tart. There are two tasting menus that also invite you to enjoy this philosophy, promoting an appetising and responsible change in diet, because at Roots & Rolls, culinary pleasure and sustainability go hand in hand. To drink, plant-based and classic cocktails. It has a private room, and dogs are allowed and welcomed with vegan snacks.

The oldest restaurant in Barcelona, which opened in 1786, is the best example of how good traditional cuisine can last over time.  It was founded by Joaquim Pujol and specialised in hot chocolate until it was bought by the Regàs family in 1890. Since then, it has served traditional dishes: cannelloni; spinach with ham, raisins and pine nuts; butifarra sausage with beans; marinated wild boar; Catalan crème brûlée and more. The good food and ‘shilling meals’ in the early 20th century made it famous. But it went through hard times after the Spanish Civil War, when the Regàs family transferred it to the guild of restaurateurs and cooks. Sisco Agut –who had worked for years with his uncle and teacher Agustí at Ca l’Agut– and Sussi Manubens took it over in 1958. It was a bit run down but they managed to earn a name once again from its hallmarks both then and now: good food at a good price. There are two secrets of Can Culleretes’ survival: its family feel and the efforts of three generations of the Agut-Manubens family. The sisters Montserrat and Alícia are currently the restaurant's co-owners, where Sisco’s five grandchildren and Alícia’s husband also work.

This gourmet temple opened in 1970 in the Raval as a restaurant purveying Catalan-Mediterranean market cuisine whose dishes featured seasonal products. This was so important to its founder, Isidre Gironès, that for more than 50 years, from Monday to Saturday at eight in the morning he headed to La Boqueria market in search of the best seasonal ingredients. The know-how of Isidre and his wife Montserrat Salvó turned Ca l’Isidre into a Barcelona landmark, while also earning their diners’ loyalty. A host of celebrities, such as Woody Allen, have sat at their tables to enjoy what is probably the best tripe in the city. However, the menu has other dishes that have become classics, such as lamb brains in black butter with capers and codfish cheeks a la llauna with Santa Pau beans. And their winelist encompasses around 200 labels. In 2017, their daughter Núria, who had combined a degree in Hotel Management with working at the family business, took over management, bringing a contemporary perspective while respecting its identity. Around the same time, the restaurant received the National Gastronomy Award from the Catalan Gastronomy and Nutrition Academy.