Barcelona Wine Bar — Restaurant in Atlanta

I’ve been a fan of Barcelona Wine Bar in the past, but after this experience, I’m not sure I’d return with a large group again. My friends and I were excited to celebrate a birthday dinner, and we decided to go with the $55/person party package after being told it was the best option for the amount of food we’d get and that we could choose our selections. However, things didn’t go as smoothly as we expected.

We were told the waiter, Seamus, would work with the chef to select food for the group, which seemed fine until we realized we didn’t have as much control over the menu as we thought. We started with a charcuterie board that was good, and the tapas selections were solid as well. However, things started to go downhill when our group expanded by two additional people, which we had informed the staff about in advance. Seamus assured us this wouldn’t be a problem, as he had two large paellas coming out to accommodate everyone.

The first paella (Paella Verduras) came out, as did the Parrillada Barcelona, but instead of the second paella we were expecting, we only received the Parrillada Barcelona, which was our second large plate. This was never communicated to us, and there was no mention that the second paella had been swapped for a different dish. After inquiring about the second paella, Seamus told us it would take 45 minutes. Then, he mentioned that ordering another large plate to accommodate the extra people would be outside the budget of the $55 per person package. We were left confused, as this had never been explained to us up front. The second paella never arrived, and by the time the meal continued, our two newest guests had received only a few tapas dishes—definitely not worth the $55 per person.

We spoke with the manager, Courtney, and the GM, Steve, who were very accommodating and brought out a few more tapas to make up for the situation, which we appreciated. However, the waiter continued to bring out food we didn’t order, including mussels (which no one at the table eats), and even though we let him know, they were still sent out and went to waste. He also promised dessert would come, but that never materialized.

To top things off, Seamus started handing out to-go boxes, almost signaling that we needed to leave, and then surprised us by mentioning he could not split the bill—something that should have been communicated to us upfront so we could prepare accordingly. After some frustration, he managed to split the bill after we complained about the poor communication.

Overall, while I enjoy the food at Barcelona Wine Bar, I won’t be bringing large parties here again. I think the service staff needs to be more transparent about the details of the large party packages and clearly communicate all aspects of the meal ahead of time. I’d recommend the establishment consider creating printed specific menus for large groups to avoid confusion...

Dear Barcelona West Midtown Atlanta Management,

I am writing to bring to your attention a deeply troubling experience at your establishment on July 1st, 2024, around closing time. As a Black woman, I felt compelled to share this incident with you in hopes that it will lead to meaningful changes in your staff's behavior and your overall customer service. I requested her name from management her name is Daneca Farrin. Her lack of care and unpleasantries made me feel uncomfortable and deeply disrespected me.

During my visit, I encountered a bartender by the name of Daneca Farrin, who displayed racist behaviors, passive aggression, and microaggressions toward my family and me. From the moment I approached the bar, I felt unwelcome and disrespected. Specific incidents included:

Rude Comments and Dismissive Behavior: The bartender made me wait 10 minutes to order and was very dismissive. She plopped the menu in my space and made me feel as if I was not wanted in that space. I had never felt this before until I encountered the new hire. For example, when I tried to order she acted as if she could not hear me and I also told her my diet restraints which I am vegan, and received Calamari. She made the absurd comment that was egregious and said, "I do not know if they can even pay for the order." How unacceptable that you all hired a woman who does not have the warm and loving environment that I am used to receiving.

Microaggressions: Throughout my time at the bar, the bartender's tone and body language were consistently condescending and dismissive. She rolled her eyes when I placed my order and served me with noticeable reluctance, which was in stark contrast to how she interacted with other WHITE or White presenting patrons.

Uncomfortable Environment: The overall atmosphere created by the bartender's actions made me feel deeply uncomfortable and unsafe. Instead of enjoying my evening, I was constantly on the edge, worried about further discrimination.

As a paying customer, I believe that everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity, regardless of their race, how they present, or background. Unfortunately, my experience at your establishment did not reflect this principle. I urge you to address this issue with the utmost seriousness, as such behavior is unacceptable and damaging to your business's reputation.

I hope that you will take appropriate steps to ensure that this does not happen to any other customer in the future. Training your staff on diversity, equity, and inclusion is essential to creating a welcoming environment for all, especially in ATLANTA, Georgia.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to hearing how you plan to address this issue.

Sincerely, A...

Edited: My original review below is still valid but the manager did reach out to me about the allergen issue and has handled it in a very impressive and classy way. I am grateful for the attention he has paid to that issue specifically. At least I can say that if you were to have an experience that was not to your expectation, Barcelona will try to make it right.

Original review:I would have actually given less stars if the food wasn't so darn good. The quality of the food is delicious.

The service was so far past abysmal.

It was Saturday night, it was hopping but we had a reservation for a group of 9, supposedly in a separate room but we were just in the second room which was super full of people and loud and crazy.

It took an hour for us to get our cocktails, in fact food came before cocktails. What was most appalling was that we also ordered a bottle of Rose and that came after the cocktails. All you have to do there is open it. Apparently the issue was there weren't enough clean glasses. I'm completely baffled by this explanation.

Because we were a group and there for a celebration we did the prix fix. To be honest, it was so loud and I was on the end of my table, I didn't even really realize we decided on this until our server was notified. But she asked if there were any allergies and I shared mine with her. We had zero input on what we wanted but that's fine, it was loud and busy, so whatever.

The food came out with no rhyme or reason, in fact the meat and cheese boards came out halfway through. Near the end our server announced that we had just three more tapas plates coming because they were so good she had to share them with us. Great. They arrive and after eating a few bites of one of them one of my friends realizes that in the gravy is my food allergen. So it's not whole and on the plate for my eyes to see, it's mixed in. Too late, I've already consumed it at this point.

I had every intention of talking to our server about it but we didn't see her again for 40 minutes. We sat with nothing but water in front of us waiting for our checks. By the time she came back to ask us if we wanted anything else (REALLY?) I wasn't about to ruin my friends' celebration by making a fuss so we just asked for checks.

I was in this establishment for over two and a half hours. Had only one cocktail the whole time and an awkwardly presented bottle of bubbly mid-crowded tapas table during a flight of food with no rhyme or reason, was poisoned, and our table paid $700 for that experience.

No matter how good the food is--that just...