What are pinchos?
Pinchos or pintxos, are small disks of crusty bread topped with cheese, fish, meat or seafood and are usually found in the Basque Country. However, in recent years pincho bars have been popping up all over Barcelona and in one area in particular – Poble Sec – they are literally, everywhere.
Calle Blai in particular, is a lovely broad street, he main street of Poble Sec and is almost full of pinchos bars that attract a young and garrulous crowd every night of the week.
Related article: Carrer Blai: The Tapas Street of Barcelona
Pinchos are great because you can eat as little or as much as you want, they can be vegetarian or non-vegetarian, eaten for lunch or dinner or snacks, eaten sitting down or standing up and can be savoury or sweet.
Pinchos are held together by skewers and it is these skewers that indicate how many you have enjoyed and how many you pay for at the end of your pincho session. When you have finished, hand your plate over and the person serving will count your pincho skewers and charge you accordingly. In some pincho bars, all pinchos are 1 euro whereas in others the prices vary – as does the quality, although most pinchos are pretty good when it comes to quality. And pinchos go well with wine, beer or cava.
A night out on Blai is a great way to spend an evening in Barcelona. Meet some friends, parade up and down the street a couple of times, find a table, grab a plate and start “pinchoing” like a professional.
Related article: Barrios of Barcelona: Poble Sec
To get to Calle Blai, you can either walk or take a metro to either Paral·lel (L2 & L3) or Poble Sec (L3). Pincho bars are generally open from lunchtime but become extremely busy by about 9 or 10pm, so if you want to eat at a table, it is best to get there early.
It is also worth checking out the adjacent streets to Calle Blai, as not all the pincho bars are located on Blai. You might just find somewhere quieter away from the masses.
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