Barcelona Wine Bar — Restaurant in Charlotte

My first time at a tapas style restaurant! Awesome food, amazing drinks, great service. Highly recommend coming with a small group that hopefully isn't too picky so everyone can try a little bit of everything! I started off with the Bourbon Spice Rack. When I tell ya I couldn't stop raving about it to anyone I talked about, that's how good it was! The cardamom was sooo nice and just made for such a refreshing and warm at the same time drink. I tried a lil of the red sangria and it was also very tasty, would like to try the white next time to see the difference. I ordered a bunch of tapas, no entree. Pork belly was crisp and tender, that sauce that came with it was spicy and flavorful! Calamari was tender, very important! Came with a yummy dipping sauce that I kept around for other items as I ate. The Albondigas were so flavorful, saucy, soft. I wish I had eaten more of them! Salmon crudo was good, just a lil heavy on the flaky salt. Wish I had some citrus for it! The only tapa we didn't like was the eggplant caponata. Was a chilled dish and the eggplant wasn't very tender, a lil hard even. I wanted to like it cause it seemed like it would be delish with some pasta or something. Ooooh the patatas bravas, soooo good. Not spicy at all, but maybe that was cause we had mentioned about a heat sensitivity at the table. They were crisp and soft and just everything I want from a potato! That said, that white sauce is a little heavy after a while. It is used in other dishes too, like the croquettes, so it got overwhelming after a few bites of it. Luckily it scrapes off easily! No pics of the croquettes cause I ate them too fast but they were great! Perfectly fried and cheese-y. We tried the paella and I thought it was very flavorful. The prawn on top was yummy, even though I'm not used to seeing the head on! I was told the calamari was tender in there too, which is great news. It was all eaten up! I had to try the Bees and Bays, non alcoholic cocktail! Super tasty, big recommend to try it out! We also got the olive oil cake, where I was expecting a small slice and got that giant monster of a piece! One is enough for two people, easy! Very good though, moist, a lil salt on top, mmmhhmm. As a closing note, a little pricey depending on what you get but for the experience I would gladly pay it again! I can't wait to go back and try the tapas I missed...

Our server was Sky and she was absolutely fabulous, very patient, personable, really exceeded our expectations, & was such a lovely young lady.

Our Tapas (small plates) are pictured below:

•The Jamon (ham) nchego Croquettes• They had a smokey gooey center with a thing crisp exterior. Really delicious and hats off to the chef & his team for this beauty! They were ahmazing!

•The Mussels• These were super fresh, tender, & cooked perfectly in a seafood stock with lots garlic, sautéed onion, and tarragon. They came with a piece of the housemaid bread toasted. Super lovely texture to dip into the sauce!

Charcuterie: •The Jamon (ham) Serrano• Spanish ham which was slightly dryer thicker slices of regular Italian prosciutto.. Really lovely nutty flavor. We also added in the + •San Simon Cheese• which is a cows milk cheese and gave a lovely smooth & Smokey flavor.

• Calamari • This was perfectly bartered and fried. It was not super thin but also hot thick- just the right proportion of batter to meat. It came with a lovely almost Cajun dipping sauce.

•Lastly the Squid Ink Sofrito• I was under the impression this was octopus but perhaps it was squid indeed. It was a lovely texture, very meaty and the chimichuri sauce in the actual quiz was lovely. I was (personally) not a big fan of the squid ink itself at the base of the meat which turned goopy and gelatinous when cooled off. The ink is composed primarily of melanin, which is the same pigment that darkens the skin of humans and many other animals. Beautiful presentation and greet flavor.

For dessert we had the •Flan Catalan• which was super delicious thought I'm not sure what makes it Catalonian. The caramel was just a tad too dark for my taste- very nutty caramel flavor- but it was cooked very well & my partner and me were fighting over the last price.

All in all 5/5 stars! This place was great. You won't regret coming. Don't forget to tip your servers and be considerate considering we in NC are beginning a new mask mandate tomorrow Wednesday August 18th: WEAR A MASK until you sit down. Relax & don't be a douche to the lovely hostess' or the servers for doing their jobs by endorcing. They didn't...

After over a year, I decided to go back to Barcelona Wine bar. I went with a friend because my boyfriend wouldn’t even go back. I really wanted to prove him wrong and my experience was just as underwhelming as the last time. We ordered a bottle of wine and it ended up taking almost 30 minutes to cool. After about 20 minutes, our very lovely server Hannah, who was very kind and a very good server in general asked if we wanted something while we waited. She never once offered to give us a free drink or anything and we found that crazy. Finally, after another 10 minutes, she offered us each a free glass of wine. I feel like that should’ve been offered after they said our wine would take 20 minutes to cool. Our food came in 2 minutes ( I’m not exaggerating) and our wine took 30). The only three things that were good were the patatas bravas, the eggplant and the bread. The empanadas were oversalted, the pork belly was ice cold and had way too much garlic. The queso Plancha was basically a round piece of cold cheese. The Truffles, bikini was like a grilled cheese and that was also cold. I really was disappointed because I want to like this place so bad but there’s no way I’m going back again.

I’m surprised Barcelona Wine bar in Charlotte has such high reviews. I take that back, the staff and ambience were super cool but I thought the food was mediocre. The best things we had were the calamari, burrata and the patatas bravas. Everything else was super salty. My least favorite was the duck Plancha. I know duck should be a little fatty, but it was way too salty and not a good consistency. The paella wasn’t too good either. It was mushy at the bottom, not crunchy.What’s crazy was that the place was absolutely packed on a Monday night but I guess it’s because it’s one of the only restaurants open on Mondays. I thought it was super expensive for what we got too. They did have a good wine list as well. Don’t think I’ll go...