El Nacional – a unique gastronomic experience in Barcelona

If you are looking for a unique gastronomic experience, pay a visit to El Nacional.

The building that is home to El Nacional was originally a modernist café-theatre, in the year 1889. Many different businesses occupied the location over the years: a textile and dye factory, a car dealership, a food warehouse, and a car park. The space was recovered and reborn as El Nacional in October of 2014, a culinary project of 2.600 square meters dedicated to only the freshest products and the best cuisine Spain has to offer.

El Nacional works as an enormous restaurant and bar that offers a variety of spaces where visitors can sit and enjoy a delicious meal or cocktail.

Restaurants

El Nacional has four different restaurants, each one offering their own specialty.

La Paradeta is a fast deli restaurant that offers light meals, sandwiches, cocas, juices, milkshakes and artisanal ice cream.

La Taperia is a lively restaurant in which the dishes are served “Malaga-Style”, meaning that the waiters walk among the tables with enormous trays full of delicious tapas yelling out what they have to offer until one of the tables takes it.

La Llotja is a restaurant specialized in fish, offering also fried foods, salads, vegetables, shellfish and stews. At La Llotja, customers can also buy products by weight.

La Braseria is the section of El Nacional dedicated to meat. The restaurant serves a variety of meat dishes prepared on the charcoal grill, the wood-fired oven or the griddle. The restaurant also offers alternatives to meat, like fish and vegetables.

Related article: Hidden restaurants in Barcelona

Bars

El Nacional has four different bars, three for drinks, one for food.

Oyster Bar is an area specialized in shellfish, which is served with a good glass of cava.

Cocktail Bar is a great place for cheese and salty tapas and a variety of signature cocktails.

Beer and Preserves Bar serves a variety of excellent beers and a selection of cheese, smoked and salted tapas.

Last but not least, comes the Wine and Cured Meats Bar, whose name is self-explanatory. The bar is a good spot to try an array of high-quality reserve wines, accompanied by the classic cheese and ham tapas.

El Nacional is located at Passeig de Gràcia, 24 Bis. Its entryway can go unnoticed since there is only an open gate among other restaurants. Look for restaurants Divinus and Qu Qu. El Nacional is located between them.