Barcelona Restaurants - Los Caracoles

If you live in Barcelona you've probably walked past "Los Caracoles" restaurant a hundred times but if someone asked you the name of the restaurant and where it was, you might reply that you don't know. "The Snails" is located in an extremely central position in the Gothic Quarter, and is on the corner of Nou de Sant Fransesc and Escudellers. You can usually smell it before you get there, as there are chickens roasting on a spit outside the restaurant (which is on a corner). Now that's the point where you all go, "Ohhhh.....THAT's "Los Caracoles" and for those of you who don't live here, it's on one of the main thoroughfares of the Gothic Quarter, and very likely somewhere you would walk past on a night out.



Los Caracoles is one of the oldest restaurants in Barcelona, and is great fun. It's hearty food, with lots of traditional dishes and some great desserts, too. I have no idea if this is correct, but it seems like the restaurant bought the flats that were sold above the restaurants and turned them into rooms. When you enter the restaurant, you can enter directly through the kitchen (I recommend it!), and then you may well be taken upstairs, then down some stairs then up some more stairs to another room, depending on how busy the restaurant is.


The great thing about the restaurant is that it has it's history right there on your table. Previous guests are photographed at their (your) table, and then sign the photo along with a menu, which is framed and put on the wall beside you. Last time I went there, I had a few black and white politicians and Lenny Kravitz! Other famous names include Robert de Niro, Giorgio Armani, and even O J Simpson!

Los Caracoles is located on Carrer Escudellers, 14 in the Gothic Quarter and is open 365 days a year from 13:15 until Midnight.

For more details on Barcelona, visit this great Barcelona Guide.