Casa Guinart — Restaurant in Barcelona

Casa Guinart: What a Gem!

Walking into La Boqueria from Las Ramblas, we barely noticed Casa Guinart tucked quietly on the left—it was nearly empty at the time. We continued into the bustling heart of the market, browsing vendor stalls for a while. As we were leaving, one of the kids got hungry, so we circled back to Casa Guinart to see if they had croquetas de jamón. They did, so we grabbed seats at the bar right in front of the open kitchen.

We struck up a conversation with the cooks, who were incredibly friendly and recommended we also try the croquetas de gambón (shrimp croquettes). Holy smokes—those were amazing! We had a few rounds of croquetas and beers before heading off to explore the Gothic Quarter.

Later that afternoon, after discovering another market near the Cathedral had closed, we made the 30-minute walk back to Casa Guinart just to have more croquetas de gambón. This time, we stayed for a full meal: arroz caldoso de bogavante (a soupy lobster rice dish, like a risotto-style paella), the solomillo, and a few other plates. Every bite was a hit.

What a find—Casa Guinart is now a must for our next trip...

Important! We went here to try the traditional Spanish paella. It was just me and my partner and we asked if we ordered a single one would be enough for both of us considering we saw it served on another table. They waiter told us it should be enough with just one and we went with it since we thought the price it was 21 euros for a mixed paella according to their menu. BUT!! When they brought us the check, turns out it was the “price per person” mentioned at the top of the column of that column which is very misleading since it’s not underneath the second title were the paellas were. We ended up paying 65 total for a paella and 2 drinks. The most expensive meal we had on our few days at Spain. It was alright but not something worth paying that price to be honest. We felt ripped off since we previously asked the waiter if with one would be enough for the two of us and finding out it was just a “price per person”. So just Watch out!! we didn’t know anything since we were tourists there. We kindly asked if they can update their menu to specify price is per person on the paellas as well, since menu is...

So the food was kind of ok, let's say good. But the service... awful. I mean yeah, they brought the food and drinks in time and all that stuff but they lied to us about pricing from the beginnig to the end. They don't provide a menu for drinks, so the waiter comes in and ask you what type of beverage would you like "because he knows the menu" (of course you have to ask him for the price of the specific drink), but that would be fine, not a big deal, you can sweep it under the carpet. The big problem was that we ordered a PAELLA WHICH ON THE MENU HAD A PRICE OF 21 € give or take 2 € for one person and after we ordered it, they came with the pan on our table and said "sorry we only make portions for at least two persons". Yeah, you guessed it wright, ON THE FINAL BILL THE PRICE FOR PAELLA WAS 42 €. I don't mind eating a 42 € paella, but I would like to know from the start that I'm eating a 42 € paella and to decide myself if I...