Just inside the entrance, on the right-hand side, of the Boqueria, is this essential market bar, run by Juanito, one of the city's best-loved figures. In the early morning the...

A smoky but likeable old family bodega with a faded, peeling charm, barrels on the wall and rows of dusty bottles. Manolo specialises not only in reasonably priced wine, but in...

The enormous popularity of this long, narrow cruise ship style bar tells you everything you need to know about the tapas, but it also means that he who hesitates is lost when...

Also open in the mornings for breakfast, and late night for drinking at the bar, Elisabets maintains a sociable local feel, despite the recent gentrification of its street....

Think of it not as a trek, but as a quest; queues outside are testament to the great value of the tapas. On especially busy nights you'll be asked to take a number,...

This delightful old bodega, with a pretty tiled floor, is unreconstructed, dusty and welcoming, supplying students, businessmen and pretty much everyone in between with...

An authentic family-run bodega, hugely popular with local workers, where you'll need to arrive early for a cramped and possibly shared table. Said to be the birthplace of the...

Superb seafood, served refectory-style. Choose from glistening mounds of clams, mussels, squid, spider crabs and other fresh treats, decide how you'd like it cooked (grilled,...

A charming converted 19th-century coaching inn with a shady vine-covered terrace. The open wood grill sizzles with various parts of goat, pig, rabbit and cow, as well as a few...

An unassuming but jolly neighbourhood joint, with a sunny terrace on the Plaça del Sortidor. There's barely a continent that isn't represented on the menu, which holds houmous,...

A cosy lunch restaurant in the heart of the Barri Gòtic. Aimed at office workers, it only serves a menú del día, which changes daily but might include a pumpkin soup or...

Since 1925, this venerable family establishment has been dishing up no-frills platters of seafood, cheeses and the odd slice of cured meat. Colourful tiles add charm to the...

Sadly, Juanito the house parrot has gone to the great perch in the sky (though his image remains on the menu), but the same regulars have been coming to Quimet for decades, to...

Packed to the rafters with dusty bottles of wine, this classic but minuscule bar makes up for in tapas what it lacks in space. The specialities are conservas (shellfish...