How to Eat Like a Local in Barcelona, as Vegetarian

Every day was a vegan/vegetarian tapas food tour of Barcelona for our family of foodies. It was winter break from school and we indulged in many food discussions followed by anticipation and satisfaction. Along the way, we learned about the authentic local Spanish foods, tapas, and the best vegan and vegetarian restaurants.

In this article, I describe the authentic and local Spanish foods, and where we found vegetarian and vegan food in Barcelona. Some of the restaurants and tapa bars we ate at were fully vegetarian or vegan while others were conventional restaurants that serve vegan or vegetarian options. I’ll also include the list of vegan-friendly restaurants in Barcelona that we meant to try but didn’t get to.

More importantly, I will share the backstories of the culture that gives color to the present day flavors of Barcelona.

Disclaimer: This article refers to a food tour that was provided by WithLocals. However, the idea to write this article and its contents are entirely my own.

To get a food culture immersion, we took a food tour with Natalia of WithLocals. Our guide shared much of the information and cultural anecdotes in this article. She brought perspective and context to the mindset, culture and the food scene of Barcelona. She brought the city’s heart to life for us. I hope to share my perspectives and some tips with you.

Local Foods of Barcelona

Let’s start with the foods of Barcelona and what they are. Local Catalonian food of Barcelona is predominately fish, ham, and cheese-based although it’s rare to see beef because of its high cost in Catalonia.

The good news is that times are changing. People are realizing the enormous health hazards, environmental impact, and violence involved in meat production. Like much of the world, Barcelona is surly embracing vegan and vegetarian food. It’ll be hard to change the habits of the older generation that’s set in their ways and beliefs. But, the younger generation is rapidly transitioning to a more plant-based diet or turning completely vegan.

Here are the most popular nibblers, tapas, main dishes, pintxos, and desserts from Catalonia and where we found vegetarian and vegan preparations in Barcelona.

Nibblers

Olives

Catalonians love their olives. You can see dozens of varieties in any food market. Our guide, Natalie, picked some green and black (dark maroon) olives for taste, both were absolutely delicious. She described the various types of olives, their source, significance, varieties, and so much more while we devoured the yummy nibblers.

Formatges – Selection of local Sheep or Goat cheeses

Sheep cheese is an absolute essential in any Catalonian meal. We sampled cheeses in the market visit during our food tour as we chatted about their various textures and flavors.

Earlier when we visited Montserrat, we met the villagers from around the mountains that bring their wares to sell by the monastery. They reminded me of the delicious and fresh food in the mountain villages of Sinhagad.

The villagers near Montserrat make the best goat and sheep cheese. Typically the cheese in Montserrat is are aged longer, giving a stronger flavor. As we learned, the longer aging process also enhances the spicy flavor of the cheese. They make for delicious vegetarian Spanish food.

If you’re visiting Montserrat, their local produce of roasted nuts, fig, apple pomegranate cakes with nuts is amazing. If you like vegetarian Spanish food, honey, pollen, cheese, cheesecake, nougat, etc are also the best in Montserrat. You can also taste samples of cheese before you buy.

Nuts

Nuts are an essential part of the snack pallet in regular and vegan Barcelona. They are typically roasted, coated and sold in small bags or bulk. They have sweet and savory nuts, a perfect snack for all pallets. We found them in all the food markets in Barcelona and in Montserrat.

Pintxo

The fun Pintxos is very pretty looking, bite-size appetizers, placed in tiered plates on high bars. They are an essential part of Barcelona’s culture.

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Learn the What, When and How of the best Pintxos in Barcelona

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Tapas

If you’re in Barcelona, you’ll see Tapas restaurants everywhere. Also, most restaurants have a tapas section on the menu. I feel tapas are more like small plates, typically a few pieces of appetizers to share, similar to what you’ll see around the world. However certain tapas dishes are more traditional and popular in Barcelona.

Empanada

Empanadas are a typical Barcelona street food that can be found in every market or empanada-only shops, anywhere you look.

We found some decent cheese empanadas in the Mercat de Boqueria. But we found amazing vegan and vegetarian empanada in a tiny empanada shop on the pedestrian path going from the Sant Pau hospital museum to Sagrada Familia. It was on the left not too far from the hospital.

Patates Braves – Potatoes with Sauces

Fried cubes or wedges of potatoes are a popular tapa and can be found in pretty much any restaurant or tapa joint. What really makes it special is the homemade aioli and the spicy sauce. Our guide took us to a local joint that we would have never spotted. They make the best Patates braves and more importantly, they make the best homemade sauces.

Tomato Bread – Barcelona’s take on Bruschetta

Other than the ingredients, there’s little resemblance between the delicious Barcelona tapas and its Italian sibling. The bread has a completely different texture. It’s topped with grated tomatoes and salt, then toasted. Although these are not so fancy looking, the tomato bread was our absolute favorite on the food tour.

Pebrots de Padrón

Pebrots de Padrón are small fried peppers sprinkled with salt crystals. The ingredients are simple but when done properly with the freshest and most flavorful peppers, they taste amazing. I alone probably ate half of this plate. They were soft, mild and full of flavor. They reminded me of soshito peppers that are more popular in California.

Truita (Omelette)

Tortilla de patata (potatoes and onions) truita are the most traditional tapas. Some restaurants make them with espinacs (spinach) or carbassó (courgette/zuchini).

Croquetes (Croquettes)

These are stuffed fried balls with a crunchy top. Traditionally they are stuffed with meat in Catalonia but we had a combination platter. The croquettes were filled with cheese, ceps (mushrooms) or espinacs (spinach).

At the New Years eve dinner, Teresa Carles served three different croquetes, two with cheese and one vegan.

Escalivada

Escalivada are grilled red peppers and aubergines/eggplants. They are oven-roasted until soft and served cold or hot in olive oil. Sometimes they include anchovies so be sure to let the server know when ordering.

Carxofes fregides

Another favorite tapa is the fried sliced artichokes. Something to try on our next trip.

Xampinyons al ajillo

One can never go wrong with mushrooms, especially those cooked in a lot of olive oil and garlic. They are served in a classic terracotta dish.

Creative New Tapas

In addition to the classics, Barcelona’s food scene is bursting with innovation. Some wonderful vegan restaurants cater to the gourmet foodie pallets, like this mango avocado tartare at Teresa Carles –

Here are polenta tapas stuffed with mushrooms, topped with a delicious sauce and garnished for presentation. We had these in BarCeloneta Sangria bar.

Vegan Paella

Paella is a traditional, coastal rice and seafood-based dish. The one we had was loaded with delicious vegetables and gourmet mushrooms. It was wholesome and flavorful. It was served with a vegan aioli and lemon wedges. It made for a very satisfying dinner.

We had the vegan paella at BarCeloneta Sangria bar near Barceloneta beach. It’s an all-vegan restaurant in a quiet street, with absolutely delicious vegan and raw-vegan dishes. While we ate, it filled up with customers. You see we eat dinner around 6-8 pm while dinner time for locals of Barcelona starts around 9. Naturally, there were only some tourists before 9 pm.

Desserts

I’m not much of a sweet tooth so I probably only noticed what spoke the loudest – Churros and gelatos were everywhere. Otherwise, restaurants had a usual western dessert menu. Some were more interesting based on the chef’s talents.

Churro

Churro seemed to be the most popular street food dessert or snack in Barcelona. There are churro places everywhere, in residential neighborhoods, old town, touristy places, and outside monuments. It’s Spain’s answer to the quintessential fried dough+sugar desserts found in every culture.

Most churros have eggs in them but many are made with coconut oil and no eggs. It’s easy to check and confirm.

Unlike Mexicans, the Catalonians dip their churros in chocolate sauce and sometimes in whipped cream. The pairing works very well. Most plates of churros come in 5-8, about 5” pieces. Some places also have stuffed churros with a huge variety of stuffings.

We had churros in three different neighborhoods in three different styles. We ranked them from #1 to #3 in taste.

• La Nena cafè is in Gracia neighborhood which used to be a separate village and still maintains the vibe after being merged into the city of Barcelona. This café had great ratings and packed with locals but our family voted it at #3 on churro. I loved my vegan sandwich and the family vibe of the café. They even had shelves full of board games on all the walls.

• Our WithLocals Food Tour in Gothic quarter took us to the most famous and authentic churros. The churros were in the ‘independent’ Catalonia ribbon shape. They were not as piping hot because the place that makes it was closed for siesta and we ate at a nearby café that stocks the churros when the churros makers go on siesta. The chocolate was the best of the three we tried and the churros came at #2.

• Xurreria San Romàn across from Sagrada Familia. This one didn’t have the best ratings on TripAdvisor and one couldn’t possibly expect good churros by the main monument of Barcelona. They had a large variety of plain and stuffed churros, right from their kitchen. In the end, I was quite surprised when it was voted at #1 of 3 by our family.

Gelato

We had gelato recommendations in our food list and we saw several more as we walked around. But it was too cold and we were too full to eat any more.

Bakery & Bread

People of Barcelona are very specific about where they buy simple staples like their daily bread. We saw a bakery in every square but people get very specific about the bakery they buy their bread from. It reminded me of bakeries from my Paris trip.

It turns out that Praktik bakery, which we had been visiting in our neighborhood is one of the best. No wonder their croissants, baguettes, olive bread, seed bread, baguette sandwiches, and pastries were amazing.

Coffee

Like in Portugal, people in Barcelona are very protective of their coffee. We did see some Starbucks but I’m not sure how it compares to the Portuguese regulations on coffee prices.

Catalonians love their local coffee ground right in Barcelona. Our guide’s favorite coffee shop has been roasting and grinding coffee of generations. The family still works in the coffee shop, while they’ve also opened a café in recent years.

Vegetarian and Vegan Culture on the Rise

As we started planning for our trip to Barcelona, we were thrilled to hear that Barcelona has a thriving vegan food scene. In addition to the traditional dishes of Catalonia, there is plenty of international and innovative food in Barcelona.

Like the surprise pizza place in Windhoek, Namibia, restaurants in Barcelona had innovative pizzas with interesting toppings and gourmet of bases made with ancient grains and spelt flour. They all have vegan and gluten-free options.

The vegan Lasagna in Teresa Carles was nothing like a regular lasagna. The noodle was made from ancient grains. The layers had scrumptious sauces and vegetables.

Some vegan restaurants serve raw vegan desserts like the delicious Tiramisu we had in BarCelonate.

As we travel across the world such as Italy, Portugal. Malta, Colorado, Sedona, Southern Africa, Canada, Turkey, etc. we see increasing selections of vegan and vegetarian foods that are scrumptious, adventurous, local and authentic. To my delight, the vegan revolution is making travel so much more fun as a vegetarian. It’s exciting to see how easy it’s becoming to travel as a vegetarian or vegan.

Lists of Places to Eat Vegan/Vegetarian

We started our list of restaurants well in advance and added all recommendations as we got them. Here’s a list for you

Vegan Friendly Restaurants we tried in Barcelona

• Tapas and in the El Born neighborhood. Few bars in El Born have vegetarian options and fewer have any vegan options here but the vibe is authentic and happening among the locals. It’s very popular with tourists too. We had Pintxos at these bars –
  • Golfo de Bizkaia
  • Euskal Etxea
• Teresa Carles is a vegetarian restaurant but can make nearly anything vegan too. We ate here twice. One time we came here for a quick bite and loved it. Later we returned for their special New Year’s Eve set dinner. The same owner has a fully vegan restaurant (Flex & Kale) too.
• Don Kilo is a very popular pizza place in L’Eixample neighborhood and it didn’t disappoint.
• Cafes serving churros and other foods
  • La Nena cafè in Gracia neighborhood
  • Xurreria San Romàn across from Sagrada Familia
  • Petritxol in Gothic quarters
• Cafes and Bakery
  • Praktik Bakery in l’Exemplaire neighborhood.
  • El Magnifico Coffee Shop is the oldest and best coffee in Barcelona
• Montserrat village and Fresh Food Markets were a great source of ingredients to prepare meals in our 2 bedroom Airbnb with a full kitchen.
• Mood Sensorial restaurant is not in Spain but we loved the food on our day trip to Andorra.

For the last few seconds leading up to the stroke of midnight, people of Barcelona, eat a grape for every second. The restaurant gave a little bag for each of us to eat with the countdown to 2020.

More Vegan Restaurants on our Barcelona List

We curated a list of restaurants from TripAdvisor recommendations, our guide, and my trusted friend Wendy of Nomadic Vegan

• Flax and Kale multiple locations in Barcelona. It is by the same owner as Teresa Carles but Flex & Kale is an all-vegan restaurant.
• Brunch and Cake is a vegan restaurant recommended by our guide. She loves their vegan quinoa burgers.
• BioCenter
• Aguaribay
• Veg World India
• Maoz Barcelona
• Odacova (breakfast)
• The Green Spot

Popular Food Markets in Barcelona

I learned that people of Barcelona are generally food snobs (I mean it in a very admiring way). They eat fresh food brought from the many markets that procure produce directly from farmers, where feasible. Every neighborhood has a fresh food market. I heard that are some 40 markets in Barcelona city. You must visit a few on any trip. Here is a list of some popular food markets –

• La Boqueria Market
• Santa Caterina Market
• Sant Antoni Market
• L’Abaceria Central Market
• Sants Market
• Sant Galvany Market
• El Ninot Market
• La Barceloneta Market
• Barcelona Hip Food Market
• La Concepció market

During the holidays, the markets of Barcelona were all decked up. Everyone heads to the markets for the feast on January 6th, which is when the children get gifts and families feast, as we do on Christmas in the US.

The narrow streets of Barcelona were decked up too. They change the decorations for different festivals, seasons and friendly neighborhood competitions throughout the year.

We loved Barcelona for its architecture, culture, and food. You will too. If you visit, please do share your findings and together let’s help promote healthy eating that’s also good for the planet.

Awesome Food Ideas for Vegans

• Traveling as a Vegan or Vegetarian
• Barcelona’s vegan and vegetarian foods
• Barcelona’s Vegetarian pintxos in Barcelona
• Italian vegetarian dishes and our 9-day trip
• Portugal’s vegetarian foods
• Lisbon’s Pastel de Nata
• Malta’s vegetarian foods on our 5-day trip
• Taiwan’s vegan foods
• Marathi village food on Sinhagad fort
• South Florida’s Vegetarian food choices
• London’s Borough Food Market on our 6-day trip