Masa Vins Barcelona — Restaurant in Barcelona

I really wanted to love this place. Truly. The food? Excellent. The wine? Lovely. But everything else? A masterclass in chaos and customer neglect.

First, let’s talk about the wait: 2.5 hours to be seated. No reservations, no buzzer, no sense of whether you’ll ever actually sit down—or just grow old and die on the sidewalk. It’s basically a social experiment in patience, or maybe punishment. Honestly, if you’re smart, you’ll take one look at the crowd and go eat literally anywhere else before your hunger turns into existential despair.

Apparently, they’re big believers in the art of “sobremesa”—aka, lingering forever at your table while others hover outside like desperate pigeons. It’s a genius business model, really: fewer customers, more mystique.

Once we were finally seated (miracle!), things got weirder. The staff took our order and—charmingly—asked us what we wanted for dessert right then. We hadn’t even sipped water yet, but hey, no pressure. Then, an hour later, the bill arrived along with a polite “please leave.” So much for sobremesa—I guess that rule only applies to the previous table.

And just to keep things entertaining, there was a dog enthusiastically chasing a cockroach across the floor during dinner.

Again, I can’t fault the food—it really was delicious. But if you enjoy long, uncertain waits, rushed service, and a sprinkle of existential dread with your dinner, this...

Very depending what you expect but do not expect any thing and you will be surprised. If you like some nativ natural stuff you might love it we had a natural handcrafted wine in very limited availability and we did drink no44/1135 bottles. Never had such a wine before and it was hard to judge about… how ever it was light soft and I became the mood to drink a few of this bottles (11%). Then we ordered some olives and spicy nuts, very special, once more different and softly tasty, just nice, hand in hand with the special wine. We ordered the Cesar salad and the zucchini salad, both excellent balanced, tasty but not too much, nice dressing not too strong, just excellent or better try by yourself. We are convinced that the rest of the food is even the same unspectacular spectacular nice! The service by Veronica was very carefull and in an advisory way, thank you. The location became a very warm atmosphere’s as more we did drink and as more we had chats with people and locals. The music “records” is coming from vinyl! Great place to be and will be there again to try the rest of the meals ;-) absolute recommendation and with some patience you will finde your space as well! Oh by the way the location has to be known otherwise you never would stop at this place it is inconspicuous. And this might be the secrete 😜 I...

Ero davvero molto entusiasta di provare Masa Vins, seguendo da anni il lavoro della sua proprietaria. Dopo due anni sono finalmente tornata a Barcellona. Con mia moglie, mia zia e mia nonna arriviamo davanti al locale alle ore 18:23, esattamente 23 minuti dall’apertura. Sapendo essere una piccola enoteca, decidiamo di non arrivare troppo tardi per evitare di non trovare posto a sedere. Arrivate notiamo che all’interno ci sono seduti un gruppo di quattro ragazzi, due ragazze e un’altra coppia. Rimaneva un tavolino da due accanto alle ragazze che si erano appena sedute, e un altro tavolino da due nel corridoio. Mia zia entra a chiedere se c’è posto per quattro persone e le viene detto di no. Mia zia si guarda attorno come per dire “ci sono tavolini vuoti, magari si può trovare il modo”, e solo con questo sguardo, la cameriera le risponde “Non posso spostare niente e nessuno. Se vuoi vi metto in lista d’attesa, ma ti avverto che si sono tutti seduti ora, quindi ci sarà da aspettare almeno un’ora.”. Ne parliamo fra noi e io continuo a ripetere se può gentilmente spostare le due ragazze (che neanche avevano fatto in tempo ad ordinare) al tavolino per due nel corridoio, così da unire gli altri due tavoli e fare posto per quattro persone. Ma niente, la cameriera non ha fatto nessun gesto, non ha avuto nessuna reazione, è rimasta lì come un’ameba. Si vede che è un locale radical chic creato per riunirsi con i propri amici e per niente inclusivo. Sono rimasta davvero delusa. Tutto Instagram e niente sostanza. Camerieri che non sanno fare il proprio lavoro, presuntuosi e arroganti. Alla fine forse è stato meglio così.

—

I was really excited to try Masa Vins, having followed the work of its owner for years. After two years, I finally returned to Barcelona. At 6:23 PM, my wife, my aunt, my grandmother, and I arrived at the venue—exactly 23 minutes after opening. Knowing it’s a small wine bar, we decided to arrive early to avoid not finding a seat.

When we got there, we noticed a group of four guys, two girls, and another couple already seated inside. There was a small table for two next to the girls who had just sat down, and another table for two in the hallway. My aunt went in to ask if there was space for four, and she was told no. She looked around, as if to say, “There are empty tables—maybe something can be arranged,” and just for that look, the waitress snapped, “I can’t move anything or anyone. If you want, I can put you on the waiting list, but I’m warning you, everyone just sat down, so you’ll have to wait at least an hour.”

We talked it over among ourselves, and I kept politely asking if she could move the two girls (who hadn’t even had time to order yet) to the hallway table, so we could join the other two tables and make space for four. But nothing—the waitress didn’t make a move, didn’t react at all, just stood there like an amoeba.

It’s clear that this is a radical chic place made to gather with your own crowd, not at all inclusive. I was truly disappointed. All Instagram and no substance. Waitstaff who don’t know how to do their job—pretentious and arrogant.

In the end, maybe it was...