What to do in Barcelona: Eat Tapas at El Rincón del Cava

Tapas aren’t originally from Barcelona, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find good ones in the city! Here’s a bit about one of my favorite tapas bars: El Rincón del Cava. 

The name translates to “The Cava Corner”, and they serve super cheap, nice cava. It’s about €4 for a whole bottle or €0.85 for a glass, depending on what kind you order. (Cava is the Catalan version of champagne, if you didn’t know).

They also serve amazing tapas to go with the cava, which are also super cheap. My favorite dish is the albondigas, which are meatballs in tomato sauce with peas. So yummy! They also do amazing patatas bravas (fried potatoes with spicy sauce), and have a huge range of seafood. And they just added new tapas!

Even better, it’s incredibly cheap. I went for dinner last Monday with a ton of people and the bill came out to €8.30 a person, which covered more food than I could eat and more cava than I could drink. Amazing, right?

Every time I go, it’s full of a mix of neighborhood locals of all ages, couples on dates, and big tables of international students (there are usually no tourists). And there’s always somebody with a giant table celebrating something. My parents loved it when they came to visit me! It’s a really relaxed, friendly atmosphere, and the walls are covered in photos of the regular clients – can you find me in the picture below?

The staff members are awesome too. It’s always the same people, and they’re really nice. They gave my parents a bag of F.C. Barcelona potato chips as a present when we ate there.

The bar is tucked away in a residential street in a not very touristy part of the city. Catch the green line 3 to the Poble Sec stop and it’s on C/Juan Blasco de Garay. Don’t go on Sundays though, because it’s closed.

Here’s their website so you can check it out. There are photos of the staff and guests, and of their menu.

If you’re looking for another place with cheap cava, the fabulous Can Paixano/La Xampanyeria is also a good bet. But it’s much more chaotic (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing), you can’t sit down, and the menu is mostly sandwiches.

If you’re in Barcelona, you should definitely go! You could do what my parents and I did and pair it with a night at the Magic Fountain, or a day out at Montjuïc because it’s right around there. And for more good eats, try the adorable Café Marti.

Bon profit!

-Jess

P.S. Sorry my photos suck of this place – I’m always too hungry to try to take nice ones here!