Updated Apr 21 2020
Whatever type of food you like to eat, you won’t have a problem finding it in Barcelona. Because it’s such a cosmopolitan city, you’ll find an infinite amount of restaurants specializing in food from all over the world. However, it goes without saying that we’d recommend you try the local cuisine in restaurants that offer Spanish and Catalan specialities.
Restaurants specializing in Catalan and Spanish cuisine
There are many restaurants offering traditional Spanish and Catalan cuisine, and there’s plenty to choose from depending on your budget. Depending on Spanish restaurant that you go to, you will be able to try different dishes, as some restaurants specialize in food from a certain geographical area, so it’s often the case that restaurants will offer dishes from other regions throughout Spain.
Eating in Barcelona, as in the rest of Spain, tends to be quite a lot later than in other European countries, whether it’s lunch or dinner. The Spanish usually eat lunch at about 14:00 and dinner at 21:00 or even later, but you’ll have no problem finding restaurants that cater for international visitors earlier in the day. In tapas bars where tapas and sandwiches are served, the schedule is much more relaxed.
There are of course many restaurants near to all of the tourist sights, but we recommend that you are wary of these, because the prices are often high, and even worse, the quality of the food is often way below average. A clear example of this is on La Rambla, where in spite of a couple of exceptions the vast majority of the restaurants, and especially those with outdoor terraces towards the end of La Rambla, are not recommended at all. We therefore recommend distancing yourself from the hustle and bustle of the tourists and looking along the nearby narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter or the Raval, which will allow you to find restaurants and bars that offer a much better quality at reasonable prices.
List of traditional Catalan restaurants
List of traditional Spanish restaurants
Best tapas restaurants
Many of the restaurants that offer typical local dishes will have on their menu the delicious paellas, as well as a wonderful variety of rice dishes, fish and seafood. To try a very good Spanish paella we recommend that you go to La Barceloneta, which is Barcelona’s traditional fishing district, where you’re sure to sample some of the best paellas that the city has to offer.
Restaurants offering international cuisine
As well as trying the traditional Catalan and Spanish restaurants in Barcelona, you might also like to sample the international cuisine that the city has to offer. There’s all sorts on offer, from British, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Middle-Eastern and of course Italian, to French, Finnish and Swiss restaurants.