Les Quatre Gats, Barcelona

2 more images

This is such a great place to eat and a must for those visiting Barcelona. This was Picasso's hang out when he was young and it is here that he would reveal his paintings and connect with other artists of his time. The sign is actually a replica of one of his paintings. The restaurant has great ambience- very "art nouveau." I think we might have been a bit underdressed for the dining area (there is a bar area in the front) so I recommend smart casual.

Favorite Dish: I had the codfish and my brother had the Sea Bass- we both loved our dishes and highly recommend them.

The place is interesting, but just look to the walls and decorum.
The plates are expensive, if you consider the quality.
I took a poulpo and a cabrit:
lack of taste and the cabrit was cooked and clod: that means it is coming from the freezer.
Have here a glass of wine or a beer: you will avoid frustration

More than the food what this place is famous for is being the hangout of many famous Catalan and Spanish artists including Picasso and Rusiñol.

It is said that Picasso even designed the menu cover! You can see some of these famous artists work on the walls as well

You can come here just to have a drink or sample some traditional Catalan food, though as many people just want to be here for the historical connections, it isn't that cheap.

There are also art exhibitions and live music nights too. It's a real cultural hot spot.

Open 8 am to 2pm

Menu del Dia from 13.00 to 16.00h, 11.97 € + 7VA. Includes Starter, main course, dessert and something to drink.

Favorite Dish: Crema Catalana a local dessert which is well worth trying and why not here!

1 more image

This restaurant is a must if you like to combine an excelent meal and local culture. This place has over 100 years and it was here where young Pablo Picasso (with 17 years old then) has showned for the first time his work in public. It was also a place where famous catalunyan politicians had their gatherings to "conspire" against country goverment.
The food is excelent and the environment is very cultural. I strongly recomend!
Ask to be served by Mario! A great portuguese guy that is very friendly and very professional!

We have just returned from dinner at Els Quatre Gats and were very dissapointed.
Service was poor, our starters arrived before our bead, wine, etc. and my wifes was lukewarm. I had to return my main dish (salt cod) because it was cold. We had to ask several times for an icebucket and ended up pouring our own wine. The food was OK but overpriced and the ambiance was far from that expressed by other reviewers. There are many fine restaurants in Barcelona. Skip this one!

A must in your stay in Barcelona.
Els Quatre Gats in catalan, or Los Cuatro Gatos in Spanish, means The Four Cats, and is a Spanish expression meaning “few people”.
It was a meeting place of artists in the beginning of the XX century frequented by the Andalusia painter Pablo Ruiz Picasso when he lived for a while in Barcelona, and even designed the menu and presented his first exhibition. In this restaurant Picasso got familiarized with the work and illustrations of Toulouse-Lautrec and Theóphile Steinlen. The decoration of the restaurant is very original, inside a modernist building of Puig y Cadafalch (who worked together with Antonio Gaudi). Els Quatre Gats was the first building that Puig constructed, in 1897.
Business lunches are cheap, at about 10 euros, including Spanish wine. Dinner is more expensive. You can also go there for a cup of coffee. It is besides the pedestrian street Puerta del Angel, close to Plaza de Cataluna.

Favorite Dish: Menu of the day

This restaurant has a early 1900 decor and it used to be the meeting place for artists (among them Picasso who designed the first menu). It is quite easy to reach and the ambience is quite nice, though a little too turisty. (the management tries its best to give an upmarket feel, but some tables are in a less cozy spot than others).
At lunch they have a fixed menu that is really good value for money: for 15 eur you can choose a starter (indicated by the nr 1), a main course (2), an excellent dessert (the waiter will list them), a bottle of water and a bottle of wine (0.75L).
Dinner should be somewhat pricier (a la carte consider minimum 15 eur for one dish) but I haven't tried.

Favorite Dish: I had nicoise salad, deep fried battered fish, strawberry mousse. Johanna had spaghetti carbonara, meat balls, creme brulee. The salad was a bit small, but all the rest was good. The desserts were excellent. The red wine was also surprisingly nice.
IMPORTANT: the menu is only in spanish, so make sure you have some spanish dictionary if you don't speak the language.

Big restaurant, consist of 2 sections: cafeteria and restaurant. Nicely decorated, with copyies of some Picasso paintings. Service is very good.

Favorite Dish: Baked Lamb shoulder. Very well prepared meat with wonderful sauce.

The restaurant was once really great. We believe something changed and that it is only in it for the money nowadays. We guess you could be lucky with the food, but when we were there we were not. And we had to pay a lot for it.

It is a nice place but when there are 150 guests it arrears to be an effective machine with little or no sign of soul.

The 4 Gats restaurant is located in a building where in the past Picasso and his friends were frequent guests. In the past several Picasso works were hanging on the wall, now replaced by replicas. The place stills breaths the bohemian atmosphere from Picasso's time.

Make reservations or be prepared to wait awhile. You can choose to sit either downstairs or upstairs with often live music.

The food is simply great, but this place is a bit pricy.

Favorite Dish: We had one of the best starters ever here. I don't remember exactly what it was, but it consisted of dark bread, aioli (garlic mayonaise), ansjovis and some other things.