Little Bacoa (CLOSED)

Winner of Best Sandwich for 2010 awarded by Time Out Barcelona. Chef Brad Ainsworth won the prize thanks to his burgers made from the finest beef, his imaginative recipes, and his stone grill that gives the meat that inimitable smoky flavour.

Little Bacoa was the first establishment opened by the Bacoa group in Barcelona (before it was a group, of course). It's a small burger joint with a lot of charm located in the Born, right by the Santa Caterina market. There are just 15 seats and one grill, and in 2010 it was one of the pioneers of gourmet hamburger restaurants in the city. When you stop here for a meal, know that you're at ground zero for top burgers in Barcelona.

Like its founders, this burger house is half Spanish and half Australian. they combine the atmosphere of an Australian barbecue with the quality and patience of Mediterranean ingredients. On the menu you'll find burgers made with organic Pyrenean veal, Galician beef and lamb from Burgos. They're made into scrumptious combinations such as the house burger made with bacon, manchego, cheddar, pickles and artisan mustard, or the Asturiana, with Cabrales blue cheese and carmelised onion cooked over a low flame for five hours. They also have a meat-free options that won't disappoint vegetarians and vegans.

There's an invariable factor across all the Bacoa establisments: everything is home-made from scratch. The sauces are good (excellent chutney, and don't forget the hot sauce), artisan bread, and chips made from potatoes that are cut by hand daily and never frozen. The result is something that's always delicious and well-crafted, because as they themselves say, real food just tastes better.