In Spain we love to celebrate! We thus find many reasons to have a national or local holiday, which subsequently means that many restaurants are closed.But there are always those few wonderful underdogs that stay open on Sundays, Mondays, Festes Majors (like this one in Gràcia) and even during religious holidays.
As a visitor to Barcelona, knowing some of those can be extremely useful, because unlike the locals, you likely won’t have the option to cook at home.
As much as we love our tiny family-owned restaurants, many of them are the ones that might close down on important holidays, simply because those often are their only days off. But there are always exceptions. Here are five options of different style restaurants which you can always count on in Barcelona.
What's Included
Cremat 11: Brunch your way through the day
Cremat 11 is one of those places where you can brunch almost all day and then go directly to dinner and cocktails, all in one place.
Can’t decide between the eggs or the pancakes? Just get both—their brunch menus encourage you to have dessert-sized pancakes after your favorite plate of poached eggs.
Yakumanka: That Peruvian place we can never get enough of
We know ceviche is very 2019, but to be honest, it also never dies. What is not to love about the perfectly fresh Peruvian fish dish? One Barcelona restaurant has mastered this classic, and it is not its only stellar plate. In spending an evening with Yakumanka, you will fly to Peru and back without even having to leave Barcelona.
Casa Lolea & Casa Rafols: Traditional Spanish tapas reinvented and paired with homemade sangria
Casa Lolea and her younger brother Casa Rafols offer reinvented tapas in a modern setting with Spanish flair. Their homemade Lolea Sangria is famous even outside of their restaurants and is the perfect partner to all of their dishes. Their absolute superdish that will blow your mind is a truffle pasta risotto.
Lasarte & Oria: Eat and sleep, or just eat!
Treat yourself with a fancy stay and an even fancier meal at the Monument Hotel. Go all in by picking the three-Michelin-starred Lasarte or have it a bit more down to earth at Restaurant Oria (“only” one star).
By the way, if you, like us, prefer to spend your money on food rather than on sleeping, you can choose to stay in a more affordable place and just come to eat at one of the hotel’s restaurants to let yourself be spoiled by the famous chef Martín Berasategui.
1881 per Sagardi: Surf & turf
1881 per Sagardi is part of the bigger restaurant family Sagardi, which has a couple of excellent Basque-inspired restaurants in Barcelona. But at 1881, not only is the food special, but they are also lucky to be in a very special location. Located on top of the Museum of History of Catalonia, the restaurant overlooks Barceloneta and the yacht harbor of Barcelona. Specialized in seafood (hence the location) and an amazing T-bone steak, this is a wonderful place if you have something to celebrate or just want to fill up on protein.
