10 Best Restaurants in Barri Gotic, Barcelona

This restaurant takes contemporary decor and fine-dining style and adds the pizzazz of open-kitchen cooking. It's known for its decadent tasting menus, and the star dish is a rich mar i muntanya macaroni with lobster, foie gras, and artichoke. The contemporary decor combines gleaming traditional copper with retro-cool mid-century modern furniture. Wine selections can be added at a surcharge per person. 

Once you find this spot, tucked inside the boutique Wittmore Hotel at the end of a tiny alley, you’ll be rewarded with a wonderfully creative menu of small plates and hearty baked pastas. Dishes are served in the lounge-like dining room or out on the courtyard patio with its twinkling lights and impressive vertical garden.

Offering an extensive menu of “tapas & platillos,” Gourmet Sensi has been a local favorite since its opening in 2015. The bright, modern space features floor-to-ceiling windows giving you a front row seat to foot traffic along Carrer de Milans. Expect Catalan staples like padron peppers and jamón ibérico along with some creative dishes like their vegan “roasted chicken” croquettes with vegan curry mayo.

One of Barcelona's most beloved bars, La Alcoba Azul offers a wide selection of tapas with a full-on immersive atmosphere. The decor reflects the Moorish influence of Andalucía mixed with the quirkiness of the original owners, so you'll get illuminated lanterns and broken birdcages hanging from the ceiling, while a years-old candle burns in a corner. In case you can't get a table here, try one of their sister restaurants a couple doors down, La Alcobita. 

A neo bistro serving creative Mediterranean dishes inspired by classic Middle Eastern recipes. Try their famous lamb shawarma, made with toasted spices, ginger, cardamom, tzatiki, and pita bread, or order a glass of wine from their rotating list of organic wines. 

"The Four Cats" was founded in 1897 by a quartet of Moderniste artists—the bohemians of their day—whose work still graces the walls, and the building, Casa Martí (1896), by Moderniste master Josep Puig i Cadafalch with sculptural detail by Eusebi Arnau, is a treat in itself. The restaurant in back offers a range of traditional Catalan dishes, but the cooking is uninspired and overpriced so stick to the front room café, where you can linger over a drink, order some of the simpler offerings like pa de coca (thin country flatbreads with tomato and olive oil), cheese, cured ham, or pebrots de Padrón (fried green peppers), and enjoy a bit of local cultural history.

Gallo Nero is owned by a true Tuscan who knows his stuff. The first of two locations—the other one is on La Rambla—the menu skips the typical pasta and pizza you’re used to seeing and instead, focuses on charcuterie boards and Tuscan sandwiches (called a "schiacciata").

There's only one drawback to this lively Basque bar between Plaça del Pi and La Rambla: it's harder to squeeze into than the metro at rush hour. Skip the pintxos (small plates) on the bar and opt instead for the small bites brought out piping-hot from the kitchen. Pair them with a cold and refreshing Txakolí, the young, sparkling Basque white wine.

Tucked away in the far corner of Placeta de Manuel Ribé, Barcelona’s award-winning coffee roaster has opened its very own cafe. Floor-to-ceiling windows create an open, airy atmosphere that draws coffee-lovers through its doors. Roasts rotate monthly. 

Since opening in 2012, Barcelona’s original specialty coffee bar has been serving high-quality roasts and small bites. Floor-to-ceiling windows create an indoor-outdoor feel, regardless of where you sit.