Clubs in Barcelona

Restaurants in Barcelona

Bars in Barcelona

Schilling C/Ferran 23 (93 317 67 87) Metro Liceu/bus 14, 38, 59, N9, N12. Open 10am-2.30am Mon-Sat; noon-2.30am Sun. Proof of Barcelona's membership of European café society, Schilling could almost be a sleek modern heir to the sort of grand café that thrived in the days when the Habsburg empire was still intact (even though the place only opened up in 1997). Spacious, elegant, hip and popular - with a particularly large gay clientele - Schilling serves a variety of enjoyable bocadillos, desserts and teas, as well as other refreshments and alcohol. Els Quatre Gats C/Montsió 3-bis (93 302 41 40) Metro Catalunya/ bus all routes to Plaça Catalunya. Open 9am-2am Mon-Sat; 5pm-2am Sun. Closed three weeks Aug. Credit AmEx, DC, JCB, MC, V. Not so much an institution as a monument. In 1897 a figure-about-town called Pere Romeu opened this café in a Modernista building by Puig i Cadafalch, and for a few years it was the great meeting-point of bohemian Barcelona. Major artists of the day such as Rusiñol and Casas painted pictures especially for it, and the menu cover was Picasso's first paid commission. It closed in 1903, and was used for decades as a textile warehouse, until in the 1980s it was finally restored and reopened, with reproductions by contemporary artists of the original paintings. Under its current management it's much more smart than bohemian, but is an attractive place for a coffee, with good if pricey tapas. In the room at the back, where Pere Romeu once presented avant-garde performances, there is a restaurant, with a good set lunch menu. Boadas C/Tallers 1 (93 318 95 92) Metro Catalunya/bus all routes to Plaça Catalunya. Open noon-2am Mon-Thur; noon-3am Fri-Sat. One of Barcelona's institutions, a genuine 1933 art deco cocktail bar opened by Miquel Boadas after he learned his trade in the famed Floridita Bar in Havana. The barmen can mix a huge variety of cocktails, and the wood-lined walls are strung with mementos of its many famous patrons - including a sketch or two by Miró. Mas y Mas C/Marià Cubí 199 (93 209 45 02)FGC Muntaner/ bus 14, 58, 64, N8. Open 7.30pm-2.30am Mon-Thur, Sun; 7.30pm-3am Fri, Sat.Branch: C/Còrsega 300 (93 237 57 31). The Mas family have made a splash throughout the '90s with their music/club venues (La BoÓte, Jamboree, Moog). They began with this tapas bar-café on the Santaló route, an evergreen favourite with the young uptown set. Defying the upmarket image, the tapas are very good, and reasonably priced. In the Eixample, on C/Còrsega near the junction of Passeig de Gràcia and Diagonal, the Mases have a similarly stylish café-restaurant, with fine tapas and a good, fair-value lunch menu. L'Ascensor C/Bellafila 3 (93 318 53 47) Metro Jaume I/bus 17, 19, 40, 45, N8. Open 6.30pm-3am daily. An old wooden ascensor (lift) forms the entrance to this relaxed, comfortable bar near the Ajuntament. Inside there's always an up-for-it, friendly crowd. Margarita Blue C/Josep Anselm Clavé 6 (93 317 71 76) Metro Drassanes/bus 14, 18, 38, 59, N6, N9. Open 11am-2am Mon-Wed; 11am-3am Thur, Fri; 6pm-3am Sat; 6pm-2am Sun. Credit MC, V.Branches: El Taco de Margarita Plaça Duc de Medinaceli 1 (93 318 63 21); Rita Blue Plaça Sant Agustí 3 (93 412 34 38). A roomy, colourful bar/restaurant that serves very good Mexican food at all hours at moderate prices. On Thursday and Sunday evenings, short performances are held; on Friday and Saturday nights a varied crowd gathers for drinks, nachos and guacamole. As you sip your blue drink, observe the weird, winged lightbulbs that serve as lamps, and the tiled artwork of nude, flying women. If you're in need of a pick-me-up, try the Ibizan energy cocktail, the turbital. The latest branch of the Blue empire, Rita Blue, has a more varied menu, similarly hip décor, a big terrace and a subterranean party area. El Vaso de Oro C/Balboa 6 (93 319 30 98)Metro Barceloneta/bus 17, 39, 40, 45, 57, 59, 64, 157, N8. Open 8.30am-midnight daily. Closed Sept. A very narrow cervecería (beer-bar), one of few in Barcelona that makes their own (excellent) brew. Don't go expecting a table (there aren't any); there is, though, a long, often crowded bar that will test your dexterity as you try not to elbow your neighbour's patatas bravas. Tapas-lovers' heaven.