Time Out Market Barcelona Food Tour

Stop 1: A Bookshop with a secret bar 

Your first stop looks like a bookshop because it is one. Llibreria Sant Jordi has been part of the Gothic Quarter for more than 40 years, and when it faced closure, the neighborhood rallied to keep it alive. 

Today, its literary soul remains intact, but there’s something unexpected hiding among the shelves: La Rebotiga, a tiny bar serving Catalan wines and seasonal bites. 

Start with a glass of cava, secallona del pastor, and brioche topped with smoked sardine and creamy cheese. It’s your first taste of the Barcelona you’ll discover tonight—old traditions still thriving, sometimes behind the doors you’d least expect. 

Stop 2: The Bodega Dalí drank in 

Next comes Bodega La Palma, a Gothic Quarter institution since 1935. It began as a grocery store before becoming a wine cellar and eventually the kind of neighborhood gathering place where artists, poets, bohemians, and regulars could lose an afternoon. Dalí himself is said to have been among them. 

Taste patatas bravas and Manchego cheese alongside a glass of vermouth as your guide introduces you to la hora del vermut—the ritual that turns a simple pre-meal drink into one of Catalonia’s most enduring social traditions. 

Stop 3: The menu that never changed 

La Plata has had more than 80 years to expand its menu. It never bothered. 

Since 1945, this tiny tapas bar has stayed loyal to the same handful of dishes, served alongside wine poured straight from the barrel. Taste Catalan botifarra sausage and crisp little fried fish with a glass of house wine. 

Then there’s the porrón: the traditional long-spouted glass pitcher made for drinking wine without touching your lips to the rim. Trying it is optional. Watching someone else try it is part of the fun. 

Stop 4: All roads lead to Time Out market 

After three intimate stops in the Gothic Quarter, Barcelona suddenly opens up around you. Cross the waterfront toward Maremagnum, taking in views of the port, Columbus Monument, and Montjuïc before heading upstairs to Time Out Market Barcelona. 

The market is the modern counterpart to everything you’ve experienced so far. Every kitchen and counter has been hand-picked by the same local Time Out editorial team behind the evening’s first three stops. 

Your guide will show you around before settling in for the final feast: seafood paella, your choice of a hefty, golden-fried croqueta, a beer or wine, and the famous Basque-style cheesecake to share. 

Your Time Out Market Barcelona food tour ends here, but your night doesn’t have to. Stay for another drink, circle back to a stall that caught your eye, or simply keep your seat and enjoy the harbor view a little longer. 

A note on the menu 

Stops may vary by season, day, and group size, but every route leads somewhere delicious. Our promise to you: you'll eat well. Really well. That part's guaranteed.