There are lots of food tours in Barcelona to choose from, but what do you do if you want something a little different from the usual tapas tours? A food tour in Gràcia gives you the chance to get to know one of my favourite neighbourhoods in Barcelona with a fabulous mix of local bars, restaurants, cafes and bakeries. I was delighted when Devour invited me to join one of their Devour Barcelona food tours – Taste Barcelona Like a Local: Gracia Neighborhood Food Tour. I always love to eat and to try new places as well as old favourites so I was excited to see what was in store. Join me for a full review of my Gracia food tour in Barcelona with Devour!
I received a complimentary Devour tour in Barcelona in exchange for my honest review.
My Devour Barcelona Tour in Gràcia
I was chatting to the team at Devour about joining one of their food tours in Barcelona and decided to choose this Gracia food tour, as well as their Tastes and Traditions of Barcelona Food Tour (review of that coming soon!). I chose the tour of Gràcia to try something a bit different and to show you that there is far more to Barcelona that what you might first expect!
I know Barcelona pretty well, but Gracia is one of those neighbourhoods I’ve never explored fully, despite working there for nearly three years. I had my favourite tapas bars in Gracia that I’d go to every time, and still do, but it’s not often I venture to other places here so that was my mission on this tour!
Devour’s Gracia Neighbourhood Food Tour is a great way to explore Gracia and discover a less-touristy side of Barcelona’s food scene, so read on to see how I enjoyed my tour.
The tour started at a leisurely 11.30am, and we were asked to arrive 15 minutes before to make sure we weren’t late. Me and the other two guests on the tour were bang on time and were met by our guide Ariana in a square in Gracia.
I liked Ariana right away, she was friendly and welcoming and got us ready for our tasty adventure.
She checked if we had any allergies or dietary requirements before we started – the tour can be adapted for a range of different diets including vegetarian, dairy-free and gluten-free (not celiac) and there was one person who didn’t eat seafood so Ariana assured her that would be taken into account at the stops ahead.
Why Choose a Gracia Food Tour?
Before we set off to the first stop, Ariana gave us a brief introduction to the history of Gracia, which was a town in its own right before Barcelona expanded in the second half of the 19th century. With the expansion, the Eixample district was created to allow the city to grow beyond the old city walls and Gracia became a neighbourhood within Barcelona.
Because of its history, Gracia is a unique place in Barcelona and maintains its small-town personality and culture. It is also less touristy than other areas of the city, with few major attractions but with lots of local shops, restaurants and bars to explore among the narrow streets and leafy plazas.
If you want to get beyond the typical tourist sites in Barcelona then Gracia is the best place to get a feel for Catalan culture among the local people. That said, Gracia is not just traditional, there are modern and multicultural aspects to the neighbourhood too, as we would discover on our tour.
BOOK YOUR TOUR
Our Devour Food Tour Stops
A Traditional Bodega
Our first stop was close by, a bodega that has been open since 1939 and doesn’t appear to have changed since! The walls were covered with photographs, drawings and memorabilia from throughout the bodega’s history.
We were warmly welcomed by the owner, Griselda, who showed us to a table in the back. We walked past barrels acting as tables, shelves filled with liquor bottles and glassware, and a couple of old men who were having a coffee together.
Our table was already set with a selection of cheeses, a dish of meat stew, potato crisps (chips to my American friends) and a plate at each seat with a gilda – a cocktail stick speared through a large olive, pickled pepper, sundried tomato and an anchovy for good measure. These are all salty dishes and snacks to enjoy with a vermut (vermouth) – a fortified wine that is adored in Barcelona, and Ariana poured us each a glass.
I love a vermut, and it was a great way to start the tour. Every time I have vermouth in Barcelona it tastes slightly different as every bar and bodega usually makes their own to a recipe that they’ve perfected themselves.
It all begins with a base of white wine, which is then blended with a mix of herbs and botanicals and a slug of alcohol such as brandy to make a fortified wine that is served over ice with a slice of orange, or straight up. You can add soda to it is it’s a bit strong, but we enjoyed ours as was.
The meat stew turned out to be tripe which we all tried but I am not a fan of tripe so only had a nibble! Everything else was delicious, including the spicy salsa espinaler we drizzled on the crisps.
Another highlight of this stop was Ariana showing us how to use a porró, a traditional Catalan wine pitcher which was designed to allow everyone to drink from the pitcher without it touching your lips.
It is quite a challenge I assure you, but under the observation of Ariana I managed it (more or less)!
Bonus Stop: Plaça de la Virreina & Parròquia de Sant Joan de Gràcia
Usually on the tours, Ariana explained she usually paused here in the square to talk about the church, but recently the doors to the church have been open more often and she took the opportunity for us to have a quick look inside.
The church is quite lovely in its own right, and has a small replica of the Black Madonna of Montserrat, but what makes it stand out is the Santísimo chapel which was designed by Francesc Berenguer, an architect who worked under Antoni Gaudí.
Some say that the chapel was designed by Gaudí himself, although there is no official proof of that, and whoever designed it did a great job so if you’re lucky enough to take a peak inside then you absolutely should!
A Syrian Bakery
Back to the food! Our next stop was a fabulous bakery owned by Mustafa, who visited here on holiday from Syria in the 80s and never left! He opened the bakery in 1985 and is as much a part of Gracia as anyone.
He greeted us with a warm smile and stood behind the counter, graciously waiting for us to choose something from the array of delicious pastries including a range of baklava with different shapes and fillings.
It was a tough call but I plumped for a hazelnut and chocolate nest which was amazing. As we attempted to eat our pastries delicately, we chatted with Mustafa about the bakery and his decision to move here. I could have happily spent much longer chatting and eating more baklava, but it was time to move on.
A Female Owned Family Restaurant
I love supporting female-owned businesses, and the next was our second on the tour! This homely restaurant was originally opened by a couple in 1961, but when her husband passed away, Conchita Tosca decided to continue without him, taking over and running the place by herself.
This wasn’t very common back then, and many patrons left, assuming that a woman couldn’t run a business like this, but she persevered and managed to make a success of the restaurant.
Now run by her daughters Rosa and Imma, I loved this place. Instead of an old man bar, there were several elderly ladies eating an early lunch here, something I haven’t seen very often even in my years of living in Barcelona.
The walls were decorated in black and white photographs of the family and Gracia throughout the years, including some lovely photos of Conchita who looked like a movie star and a total powerhouse woman – I was in awe!
We tucked into an open bocadillo sandwich with a different topping on each side – one was a peppery botifarra sausage, and the other a garlic omelette, both of which were insanely good. And what should you drink with your second (third?) breakfast? Cava of course!
The Catalan version of champagne is, in my humble opinion, better than champagne and went very well with the sausage and garlicky omelette. YUM!
Strolling through Gracia
We wandered through the streets of Gracia, pausing in Plaça de la Vila de Gràcia to admire the old clock tower and to talk more about the history of Spain and Catalonia, which led us to our next stop for Valencian Fideuà.
A Valencian Co-Operative
I do love how Devour tours always try to find the unusual amid all of the worthy restaurants in Gracia to choose from. Our next stop is a co-operative, started by twin brothers from the Diània area of Valencia.
The co-operative means that ownership and decision-making are typically shared among everyone who works there so they all have a say in how the restaurant is run and share in any profits.
Valencia is the home of traditional paella, made with chicken and rabbit. Catalonia and Barcelona embraced paella but preferred to use the abundant seafood in their paella, creating the paella de mariscos so loved today. Fideuà is a similar dish, but made with pasta noodles instead of rice.
I always thought that fideuà was a Catalan dish, but perhaps when it was created the borders between Valencia and Catalonia weren’t that fixed… Either way, our fideuà here was delicious, and served up by friendly and efficient waiters.
Before that though we had a starter of sauteed vegetables on a tortilla, but I am ashamed to say I forgot to write down the name of the dish – perhaps it was due to the large glass of wine we were also served! Whatever it was it was tasty, but I was too excited about the fideuà!
I’ve tried fideuà a few times in Barcelona but I usually prefer paella. The ones I’ve had before were made using thin spaghetti-like noodles, but this one used small macaroni shapes which gave it a different texture.
It also seemed to have absorbed more of the delicious seafood flavour from the cuttlefish. Two of us shared the fideuà and so we each had a tasty prawn too. The other guest on the tour had a vegetable fideuà thanks to a seafood allergy, which was also very good, but for me not as flavourful as the seafood version.
We chatted over the meal, by now more like friends than a tour guide and tourists. Determined not to leave any food behind I finished off the rest of the vegetable fideuà and we were on our way for dessert.
Chocolate and Churros
This is one of my favourite sweet treats in Barcelona so I am always excited to try it from a different spot. This time we emerged from the quiet streets to where Gracia meets the Eixample and were immediately struck by the noise and the busy roads.
Gràcia has narrow streets which are pedestrianised or one lane in most cases, so to be confronted with roads filled with cars was a shock, although Ariana has warned us!
We stopped off at a Xurreria, an open-front store specialising in churros (or xurros in Catalan) and other deep-fried pastry delights. Ariana bought a bag of churros and two cups of chocolate (one for me and one for the other couple) and we sat down on a nearby bench to enjoy them.
There is nothing more satisfying than dipping a long xurro doughnut into a cup of thick chocolate sauce, I assure you!
We sat for a while savouring this while Ariana shared some of her top tips for other places to eat and drink in Barcelona. This was where Ariana left us, wallowing in chocolate and more than satisfied with our feast – and future foodie plans for the city!
What I Loved about this Devour Food Tour in Gracia
I’ve spent several years living and eating my way around Barcelona and I had never been to any of the restaurants we visited on this food tour of Gracia! I love exploring new places and this was a revelation.
Gràcia has long been one of my favourite neighbourhoods in Barcelona, but now it has moved up the list, and I have a whole range of places I want to show all my friends! Out of respect for Devour and their carefully curated itinerary, I deliberately haven’t mentioned the names of anywhere we visited, so you’ll have to book the tour to enjoy all of them yourself!
Devour never seem to go for the easy option and manage to find those hidden gems and truly special places that are beloved by locals. Then to introduce intrepid visitors to these restaurants without intruding on everyone else’s experience requires a delicate touch.
I read an article from a few years ago which highlighted how Devour helped some of these businesses survive the pandemic, and they are champions for these establishments.
One is sadly under threat after a noise complaint may mean it has to close, or change beyond recognition, losing its historical decor (and arguably the essence of the place) and Ariana said that she and all of her co-workers signed a petition to try to save it. The future of the bodega hangs in the balance but I hope it remains open for many more years to come.
I never expected to visit a Syrian bakery or to visit two female-run businesses so this was an extra bonus to the tour, as well as being delicious and worthy of inclusion in their own right, I really enjoyed going into places I would probably never have found myself.
Bear in mind that the tour stops can vary depending on the day of the week, time of year and other operational factors but this is a good representation of what you can expect on your Gracia food tour. At the very least you will be well-fed and have learned a lot more about the neighbourhood after the tour!
I also want to mention Ariana again as she was a fabulous guide. I have to say I sometimes feel my attention drifting when listening to tour guides for too long, but hearing Ariana explain some of the history of Spain in a simple way, and describe the reasons behind the creation of different dishes was a revelation.
Some guides can drone on about one thing for too long, but she skillfully found the perfect balance and was informative and knowledgeable without ever straying into boring! I also loved her personal style, and her skill with the porro was beyond impressive!
Anything I Didn’t Like?
Honestly? No!
While I enjoy food tours that include the typical dishes of a city and the must-eat foods in Barcelona, this one goes beyond the predictable. If you’re looking for a standard food tour in Barcelona to try your basic tapas dishes, this isn’t it.
The whole point of this tour is to show you a different side of Barcelona, and a different side of the cuisine of this amazing city.
If you want a deliciously different experience that most tourists will never have, then this is the tour for you!
How to Book Your Gracia Food Tour with Devour
This Gracia food tour isn’t available every day, so check the availability on the Devour website to find a suitable date, you can always reach out to them if the date you want isn’t available and they may be able to sort something out for you.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my culinary adventure in Gracia, and that it has inspired you to book a tour to learn more about the Gracia neighbourhood and the fantastic places to eat in this area. If you’ve booked a Gracia food tour then let me know how you got on!
Other Devour Food Tours in Barcelona
Devour have some fantastic food tours to choose from, each one focussing on a different style of food and drink in Barcelona, and with a different neighbourhood to explore. The Gracia food tour and Tastes and Traditions are my personal favourites as they have a wider variety of food options to try, but you can browse all of their food tours here.
Tastes and Traditions of Barcelona Food Tour
This varied Barcelona food tour combines a market visit with tapas tastings in El Born neighbourhood and ends with a traditional paella in Barceloneta, so you get to try a wide range of foods. It’s quite rare to have paella included on a food tour so I love how this one combines tapas and paella in one food-filled adventure! ➡️Check prices and availability here.
Barcelona at Sunset: Tapas & Wine Tour
This evening Barcelona tapas tour will dive into the Gothic Quarter and Born neighbourhoods to explore the best local wine and tapas bars that visitors usually walk right past. You’ll get to learn the secrets of the oldest parts of the city as you sip on Catalan wines and taste contemporary tapas in three family-run eateries. ➡️Check prices and availability here.
Barcelona Tapas, Taverns & History Tour
This delicious tapas tour in Barcelona takes you deep into the Gothic Quarter for either a lunchtime or evening tour. Your guide will share how the history of Barcelona has impacted the food culture here and you’ll have a historical walking tour through the Gothic Quarter as well as eating at some of the most authentic tapas bars in the neighbourhood. ➡️Check prices and availability here.
Montserrat & Cava Winery Tour: Day Trip from Barcelona with Lunch
If you want to take a day trip from Barcelona to explore more of Catalonia, this Montserrat and Cava Winery tour is a great choice. It’s an early start leaving the city in a private minibus so you can get to Montserrat before crowds arrive, and take a guided tour to see the Black Madonna (La Moreneta) of Montserrat. Once you’ve explored you’ll leave Montserrat and visit a family-owned vineyard in the Penedes wine region to discover the secrets of cava and enjoy a farm-to-table lunch with the bodega’s best wines. ➡️Check prices and availability here.
You might also like these foodie articles about what to eat in Barcelona and some of my favourite Barcelona restaurants:
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