Gallito — Restaurant in Barcelona

Barcelona is renowned for being one of the world’s most prominent food cities; so one would assume that even a disappointing experience wouldn’t be as dissappointing as it would be elsewhere... alas, gallito is a true dissappointment by any standards. Seduced by the beach side scenery and generally good reviews we made a reservation online to dine outside — but when we arrived we were met with a puzzled look telling us we didn’t have a reservation. We showed our confirmation and were seated (thanks, I guess?) at a communal table (we weren’t asked if that is okay with us). The host handed us menus (“food, I guess?” He said). Anyways, we ordered the avocado, spinach and Parmesan salad, langoustines, olives, fried calamari and fish tacos. The salad arrived unmixed, just a layer of avocado, then spinach, followed by Parmesan all of it entirely overdressed with oily dressing; the langousgines came with claw crackers et all — not usually a shellfish that requires such effort to get to the meat; the calamari were oversalted to the point of being inedible. The olives and fish tacos were the only redeeming part of the meal, but how the hell does one ruin those anyways? The service was as half-assed as the food with the food coming sporadically, occasionally the wrong orders being carried our way and assumptions made as to what and how we’re going to order. Definitely steer clear of this beachfront...

OK this is an update from our recent visit this year. We still love this place, the food is creative and tasty. And we were so happy to once again have our favorite server, Shiwati! She recognized us, and as always is very attentive, friendly and sweet. Go!

(2022 review)We really like Gallito and have dined here several times in our travels to BCN. It's located right on the beach, is a fun scene, the servers are super nice and the food is very tasty. We always invite friends here. For our most recent lunch, we had the patatas bravas which are some of our FAVE ever, nice slivers of potato and the sauce is OTT! We also had the calamari and the ham & cheese croquettes which we all liked too. We ended with the steak tacos and the pork tacos, both were delicious, perfectly cooked and well seasoned dishes. OK, we just went again had a new fave dish, the thai curry with shrimp & vegetables. Delicious. And we almost never have dessert but we tried their lemon sorbet w/ vodka. Yummy...

I really liked this place and I returned there every time I was in Barcelona (3 times per year). So I was their regular client since 2020. If you stay on the terrace you can enjoy the sea view, sun and good cocktails. This time I was very disappointed with the service as we waited 1.5 hours for our dishes, 40 minutes for desserts and the manager's behavior surprised me as he was not friendly and not client oriented. He didn't apologize for the delay and was nervous. Star terrace was filled with clients, but there are not enough employees to guarantee a good service. Then I paid the bill and he even didn't say a simple “thank you”. This is the basis of good service. I can rate it as 1 star, but due to my previous and positive experience in this place, I have marked it as 2 stars. BTW, their neighbors (a nearby restaurant) are very nice and very welcoming. You may not enjoy the same sea view, but at least you will have good...