Unlike the rest of Spain, Barcelona is a very vegetarian-friendly city. More vegetarian and vegan restaurants are opening up all the time, and even the average tapas bar has a number of tasty options.

Vegetarian Tapas in Barcelona

We ate almost entirely in vegetarian restaurants as there are so many options, but when we did eat in tapas bars we found there were quite a few meat-free options. Here are some tapas to look out for (in Catalan):

• Patates braves – Fried potatoes with a spicy tomato sauce.
• Pebrots de Padrón – Small fried green peppers sprinkled with rock salt. Supposedly every one in ten is spicy, but we’ve never eaten a hot one.
• Pa amb tomàquet – Toasted bread smeared with fresh tomato and drizzled with olive oil. Good for breakfast or any time of day.
• Truita de patates – A thick potato and onion omelette.
• Croquetes – Small fried and breadcrumbed rolls stuffed with various fillings. Meat is the most common, but you can find mushrooms, cheese, spinach and other veggie options.
• Escalivada – Slow roasted peppers and aubergine.

Although we found that people in Barcelona understood the concept of vegetarianism better than elsewhere in Spain, it’s always worth checking that a dish doesn’t include any meat, especially jamon (ham) and anchoas (anchovies).

Vegetarian Restaurants in Barcelona

There are many vegetarian restaurants in Barcelona and we couldn’t try them all in a week, but these are ones that we enjoyed. The biggest problem we had was finding places that did meat-free versions of Spanish dishes, rather than just international food, as most of them do.

1) Sesamo

Sesamo was our favourite vegetarian restaurant in Barcelona. They serve a mix of Spanish tapas and international dishes. We had the seven tapas tasting menu (€25 per person including two drinks, water, and a shared dessert), which was a great way to try a range of dishes without making any decisions. Highlights were the mushroom croquettes, baked potatoes with a delicious artichoke dip, a gooey dish of provolone cheese with green tomatoes, and melt-in-the-mouth gnocchi with a beetroot and hazelnut sauce.

Vegan and gluten-free options are marked on the menu and the tasting menu can be made vegan. Reservations are recommended—I sent them a message through their Facebook page.

Sesamo: Carrer de Sant Antoni Abat 52, El Raval. Tuesday to Sunday from 7.30pm-12am.

2) Bar Celoneta

A vegan sangria bar! Bar Celoneta is ideal for combining with a trip to Barceloneta beach. The menu includes traditional Spanish tapas made vegan, burgers, and raw dishes and desserts. The patates braves were delicious and we also enjoyed the pepper gratin and a selection of dips with bread sticks. The tempeh skewers weren’t our favourite, but we’re pretty fussy about tempeh having spent five months in its home country, Indonesia.

The sangria is amazing with a large selection of interesting flavours. The Salome with rose wine, limoncello and basil was so flavourful, but the glasses are huge, so be careful if you’re a lightweight like me!

Bar Celoneta: Carrer de Sevilla 70, Barceloneta. Every day from 1pm -11pm (10pm on Sundays).

3) Rasoterra

Rasoterra is a creative vegetarian restaurant that uses organic, local and seasonal ingredients, much of it from their own nearby garden. They have a small tapas menu featuring olives, cheese, croquettes, pa amb tomàquet, and an excellent version of patates braves with whole roasted new potatoes. Their lunch and dinner menus are more international. Vegan, gluten-free, and km0 options are marked on the menu.

We went for the cheaper weekday lunch menu (€10 for two courses, €11.50 for three), which has 3-5 choices per course. We had a grilled endive salad with cashew cream, provolone ravioli, and a wonderful chocolate mousse.

Rasoterra: Carrer de Palau 5, Barri Gotic. Tuesday to Sunday from 1pm – 4pm and 7pm – 11pm.

4) Teresa Carles

Teresa Carles is a popular vegetarian restaurant right in the centre of the city. The food isn’t Spanish, except for the excellent croquettes, but the pasta, salads, and international dishes are well done.

Vegan, raw, and gluten-free options are marked on the menu. It’s a good option if you haven’t adjusted to Spanish meal times as (unusually) food is served all day.

Teresa Carles: Carrer de Jovellanos 2, El Raval. Every day from 9am – 11.30pm.

5) Quinoa Bar

Quinoa Bar is a cute and friendly vegetarian cafe with just three tables in our favourite neighbourhood, Gracia. They serve a range of interesting, good-value salads, sandwiches, and burgers. I loved the flavourful Italian salad with raw zucchini spaghetti, pesto, sundried tomatoes and spinach.

They have a number of vegan dishes including desserts. Quinoa Bar is another good option if you want to eat outside the typical Spanish meal times.

Quinoa Bar: Travessera de Gràcia 203, Gracia. Every day from 10am-11pm.

6) Vegetart

This vegan takeaway is perfect if you want a cheap and easy picnic. I really enjoyed the egg-free tortilla de patatas but found the bulgur salad bland. Don’t expect anything fancy, but at around €2 a dish, it’s good value.

Vegetart: Carrer del Torrent de l’Olla 138, Gracia. Monday to Saturday from 12pm – 8pm.

Other Foodie Places We Enjoyed

• Les Tres a La Cuina – This Gracia cafe/deli uses seasonal ingredients and always has veggie options on their lunch menu (€10 for three courses).
• La Besneta Vegan Bakery – Vegan cakes and cookies. Sadly the red velvet cake we had was very dry, but the cookie and orange cake were good.
• Hotel Praktik Bakery – Excellent croissants and bread.
• Granja La Pallaresa – Old school place for churros and hot chocolate.

Vegetarian Restaurants Barcelona Map

There are many other vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Barcelona. Get more ideas on Happy Cow (or use their app to find places close by) and Charlie on Travel.

If you are a vegetarian or vegan travelling in Spain, it’s definitely worth stopping in Barcelona as it’s the easiest place to avoid meat in the country.

If you enjoyed this post, pin it!