Ahead of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2022, sponsored by Perrier, which will be held in Barcelona on 4th October, 50 Best has compiled a list of places to eat and drink in the Catalonian capital. Whether it’s tapas or fine dining, classic cocktails or complicated concoctions, explore the best food and drink the city has to offer with this handy guide
To watch The World's 50 Best Bars 2022 ceremony live from Barcelona on Tuesday 4 October, click here.
Two Schmucks
From pop-up bar to Barcelona cocktail institution, this watering hole serves incredible drinks from a dive bar-style setting, but with a seriously high level of quality throughout. Two Schmucks embodies the hustler spirit. Owned by Moe Aljaf and James Bligh, it is the bricks-and-mortar incarnation of Aljaf and his original partner AJ White's touring pop-up bar. Also built with sustainability in mind using recycled materials, its curated laid-back vibe belies the excellence of the customer-centric service and the menus. Want more? The Two Schmucks team also owns two other awesome bars on the same street: Lucky Schmuck and Fat Schmuck, the latter of which serves some of the best brunches in the city.
Carrer de Joaquín Costa 52, El Raval, Barcelona, 08001
Average price per cocktail $10
Paradiso
There aren’t many places you can find one of the world’s best bars behind the freezer door of a pastrami shop. After devouring an artisan pastrami and smoked cheese sandwich, guests pass through a curtain into a narrow, wood-panelled bar packed with smiling faces and a DJ on the decks. Drinks are best described as postmodern, served in fantastical glassware with a huge amount of research, carried out in the Paradiso Lab, behind each serve. The inner sanctum? A tiny speakeasy-within-a-speakeasy accessed via the bathroom mirror. Shhh.
Carrer de Rera Palau 4, El Born, Barcelona, 08003
Average price per cocktail $10
Cal Pep
Serving up some of Spain’s finest tapas since 1989, Cal Pep was once listed as high as No.31 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Drawing from a daily changing local larder, chef Josep ‘Pep’ Manubens Figueres serves Mediterranean cuisine from razor clams and cuttlefish to foie gras sausage. His oozing Spanish tortilla is regularly cited as the best in Barcelona and the tuna tartare is another firm favourite. The convivial atmosphere makes it a perfect place for celebrations for groups of up to 20, or just a mid-week meal à deux.
Plaça de les Olles, 8, El Born, Barcelona, 08003
Average price per person $60
Dr Stravinksy
This fermentation-fanatic bar leans into mad-science to craft specialist cocktails with all the décor to match. With a dedication to in-house ingredients, Dr Stravinsky’s care is evident from the drinks menu, which is divided by the technique used to produce a cocktail's components. This is a place to get geeky about fermentation and distillation, with drinks containing kombucha, kefir and more. The latter category includes the Soil Dry Martini, including Ketel One Vodka distilled with soil and extra dry vermouth. The bar itself looks the part, with infusing jars lining the walls and old-school lab equipment in abundance.
Carrer dels Mirallers, 5, La Ribera, Barcelona, 08003
Average price per cocktail $11
Dry Martini
There aren’t any prizes for guessing what this classic bar’s specialist cocktail is, but its mastery of this timeless drink has cemented it as one of Barcelona’s best. For four decades Dry Martini has paid homage to its eponymous cocktail in a space accented by wood, leather and brass. While there are various cocktails on offer, the star of the show is carefully constructed by white-coated bar staff using an equal-parts ratio of London dry gin to French vermouth, with a dash of orange bitters, a squeeze of lemon rind and a green olive, served on a tray. And don't miss the speakeasy, a secret restaurant offering food and cocktails to match.
Carrer d'Aribau, 162-166, Eixample, Barcelona, 08036
Average price per cocktail $15
Disfrutar
The result of three El Bulli alumni, this wonderfully creative kitchen is the peak of modernist gastronomy, and the continuation of Ferran Adriá’s renowned restaurant’s legacy. At Disfrutar, the only rule is there are no rules. The name translates as ‘enjoy’ and diners should leave all expectations at the door. Using all of their experience from time as part of the senior creative team at El Bulli, Oriol Castro, Mateu Casañas and Eduard Xatruch have continued to craft wildly inventive menus that challenge diners. A sandwich version of gazpacho. Crispy egg yolk. Liquid salad. While they may sound simple on paper, the genius of these dishes is something that can only be experienced first-hand. Debuting at No. 18 on The World’s 50 Best list in 2018, just a year after winning the One To Watch Award, it took home the Highest New Entry prize as a result, before climbing into the top ten in 2019, and top five in 2022.
Carrer de Villarroel 163, Eixample, Barcelona, 08036
Tasting menu from $165
Marlowe Bar
Inspired by a fictional Gimlet-loving detective, this concept bar flexes its imagination to create fantastical concoctions along its beautiful, curved bar. A hostelry since 1979, a gentle revamp that kept the original curving bar has brought this traditional establishment into the modern era in 2019. While using Raymond Chandler’s fictional detective Phillip Marlowe for inspiration, its offerings extend far beyond the reach of one cocktail. It combines all the charm of the 1930s with all the modern drinksmith skills you’d expect of a destination bar thanks to Adrià Sánchez, Pedro Falces, Lorenzo Miglietta and Marc Pinotti behind the bar. Moody hues evoke a sense of the clandestine, while staff – suited-and-booted with dickie bows and braces – offer seriously personalised service. The focus is on La Mirada de Marlowe – an idea that sees you converse with the bartender before being graced with a creative cocktail to suit your mood; perhaps featuring a Catalan Pisco made from local moscatel grapes. Seasonal and foraged ingredients and less-familiar Spanish spirits.
Carrer del Rec, 24, El Born, Barcelona, 08003
Average price per cocktail $12
Cocina Hermanos Torres
With the kitchen situated dead centre of the dining room, diners are placed at the centre of a kitchen epic at this restaurant, offering an experience like no other in the city. With guests sat around its entire circumference, the industrial-sized open kitchen is the centrepiece for the expansive dining room. Ran by brothers Sergio and Javier Torres, diners get up close and personal with the cold room, meat and poultry section and seafood and fish areas as the chefs work alongside them. Dishes on the two tasting menus may include green peas or sea ox with seaweed paste. There’s even an education room where up to 20 visitors can watch live cooking shows.
Calle de Taquigraf Serra, 20, Les Corts, Barcelona, 08029
Tasting menu from $175
Boadas
As Barcelona's oldest cocktail bar, this venue has stood the test of time by slinging martinis, daiquiris and all of the classics since it first opened in the 1930s. It has just come under exciting new ownership by some of Barcelona’s finest talents, which will catapult it right into the present day, while maintaining its historic charm. Founder Miguel Boadas first learned his trade at Floridita in Havana, frequented by Ernest Hemingway, before opening his eponymous bar just off Las Ramblas – with the legendary author staying a loyal customer. Not much has changed in the intervening years. This isn't a place to get a slice of modern mixology, so pull up a stool, soak in the art-deco surroundings and let the bartenders stir you something timeless and seriously boozy.
Carrer dels Tallers, 1, El Raval, Barcelona, 08001
Average price per cocktail $14
Creps al Born
This lively bar is a step away from the smooth and slick operation of other cocktail establishments for a slice of fun, injected with the perfect amount of chaos. As the name may suggest, it also serves excellent crêpes. What's not to like? This anarchic Barcelona tiki bar is a spot where the drinks are strong and fruity, and the team are more like a family (look out for their themed group portraits on the walls). You'll see occasional flashes of fire because, well, tiki, but don't be alarmed. Just sit back, order a Zombie – but probably no more than one if you want to remember the rest of your evening – and relax.
Passeig del Born, 12, El Born, Barcelona, 8003
Average price per cocktail $11
Where to stay
Barcelona is replete with outstanding accommodation options. Two excellent hotels for city breaks are:
A new property in the Poblenou neighbourhood, The Hoxton has 240 rooms, a rooftop pool and a taqueria. For those travelling to Barcelona for The World’s 50 Best Bars, guests have a preferred rate. Quote 50BEST when calling to book.
Avinguda Diagonal, 205, Barcelona, 08018
Rooms from $240p/n
Focussed on art and sustainable design and set in the shadow of Plaça de Tetuan, Casa Bonay is a boutique escape in the heart of Barcelona’s city centre. Bedrooms are spacious, beautifully styled and the roof terrace bar is the place to unwind over a sundowner.
Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 700, Barcelona, 08010
Rooms from $310p/n
Use our city guides and consult the refreshed 50 Best Discovery gastronomic search engine for thousands more restaurant and bar recommendations across the world. Start planning your next adventure today…
