Where to eat cheap in Barcelona

When I was going to Barcelona, for some reason I was sure that the main expense item would be housing, and food would turn out to be something secondary. It's a very funny thought, especially considering that after walking around the city for a few hours, I start looking at food displays as if I hadn't eaten in the last three days. In Barcelona, this is especially dangerous: around tapas, jamon, pastries, seafood, pizza, sandwiches, markets, cafes with beautiful terraces – and all this seems to have been specially created so that my budget starts coughing nervously.

So pretty quickly I decided to figure out where in Barcelona you can eat properly and not give half of your daily budget for every meal. I must say right away that I did not completely abandon restaurants, because coming to Spain and eating exclusively bars from the supermarket is already some kind of gastronomic austerity. But if you choose places wisely, eating in Barcelona is really delicious, satisfying and without the feeling that the waiter has just sold you a piece of Catalonia along with real estate.

Breakfast: Coffee, pastries, and some common sense

I usually started with the simplest option – a small cafe, coffee and some baked goods. In Barcelona, it is not necessary to look for a restaurant with a huge menu to have a good breakfast, because a simple coffee with a croissant or other pastries often costs significantly less than a full breakfast in a tourist establishment.

Tomato toast with olive oil and coffee

One day I went into a small cafe literally because I couldn't go any further without coffee. I ordered a drink and pastries, sat by the window and watched the street for twenty minutes, pretending that this was how I planned to start the day. In the end, it turned out even better than in an expensive establishment with a beautiful interior, because I had a quiet breakfast, looked at Barcelona life and did not feel like a person who came on vacation solely to pay someone else's rent.

The menu of the day is my main gastronomic life hack

If you want to eat normally during the day, I would definitely look at menú del día, that is, a comprehensive daily menu. This is one of those options that allow a traveler not to choose between a normal lunch and the safety of a bank card.

Usually this menu includes several dishes, such as the first, second and a drink, and sometimes dessert or coffee, and the final price may be much more pleasant than if you order everything separately. The main thing is to look at the menu from the outside before sitting down, because after you have already settled at a table overlooking a beautiful street, it can be psychologically more difficult to refuse lunch for a sudden twenty–odd euros.

Tapas bars: you can try a lot and not order a mountain of food

Another option of mine is small tapas bars, especially if you travel alone. I like this format precisely because I don't have to order a huge portion of one dish and then sit over it with the expression on the face of a person who accidentally signed a mortgage.

You can take a few small snacks and try different flavors, and with a reasonable choice, it may well be more budget-friendly than a full-fledged dinner. I usually first look at how much each position costs, and only then I start to portray a connoisseur of Spanish cuisine, because a traveler is a traveler, and arithmetic is an international thing.

Markets are a great option for those who want to grab a bite on the go.

In Barcelona, I would definitely visit the market, especially if you want to try something local rather than have a formal lunch. There you can find fruits, pastries, ready-made snacks, sandwiches and other products, from which it is easy to assemble a decent lunch without going to a restaurant.

I generally like this format when traveling: I bought something delicious, went outside and continued walking. However, there is a small risk – at first you tell yourself that you will take only one small snack, and ten minutes later you are standing with a bag of food and trying to figure out how a person who wanted to save money managed to spend more than planned again.

Pizza, burgers and other simple options

Sometimes, after a whole day of walking, I didn't want to understand the local gastronomy at all. At such times, I chose a simple meal: pizza, burger, sandwich or something similar, and I tried to look not for the most popular tourist spots, but for small places where locals come.

Yes, this is not the same romantic dinner with a glass of wine on the terrace, but sometimes after twenty thousand steps you do not want romance, but food. And here, an inexpensive cafe next to the subway or an ordinary residential street suddenly becomes the best restaurant in Barcelona, especially if the portion is large, the table is free, and my body has already stopped negotiating.

Nobody canceled the supermarket either

If the trip turns out to be long, I calmly go to a regular supermarket and buy water, fruit, yogurt, pastries, cheese, ham or anything else that I can take with me. This is especially convenient for breakfast or a snack, when you absolutely do not want to sit down in a cafe every time.

One time I got so carried away with saving that I bought groceries with a reserve, and then realized that I didn't even have a proper knife in my room. I had to eat everything as civilly as possible, but with such an expression on my face, as if I was participating in some kind of gastronomic test. Since then, I've been trying to remember that saving money is great, but first it would be nice to find out exactly what you're going to open the package with.

Where I wouldn't save money

With all my desire to reduce costs, I would not try to make absolutely the entire trip as cheap as possible. Barcelona is a city where food is part of the journey itself, so at least a few times I would allow myself a normal dinner or good tapas, especially if I really liked the place.

My principle turned out to be quite simple: save where it doesn't spoil the experience at all, and don't save where for the sake of a few euros you will later regret that you didn't try the local cuisine at all. After all, I didn't come to take the Spanish survival exam, but to travel.

How much money is needed for food

If you choose simple cafes, daytime menus, markets, supermarkets, and inexpensive snacks, you can keep your food budget under control. Of course, the exact amount depends on the area, the format of the institution and how strongly at a certain point you start to convince yourself that "well, since I'm in Barcelona, I have to try."

I noticed a pattern behind me: the biggest expenses did not appear when I was really hungry, but when I was just passing by a beautiful place. So now I have a rule – first look at the menu and prices, then sit down. This simple action has saved my budget much more often than any complex financial strategy.

My conclusion

It's quite possible to eat cheap in Barcelona if you don't try to have dinner every time on the most touristy street with a beautiful view. I would alternate between small cafes, menú del día, tapas bars, markets and supermarket products, and leave money for those dishes and places that I really want to try.

And perhaps the most important thing is not to turn saving into a separate sport. When traveling, it's always more pleasant to save a little on an occasional coffee or snack, and then sit down somewhere in the evening, order a good meal, look at the lights of Barcelona and think: "Well, that's why I came here."