Vegetarian food guide for Barcelona

Are you planning a citytrip to Barcelona? It’s a great city with many amazing restaurants and food spots. More and more vegetarian friendly food spots are opening up in Barcelona. While it could be difficult to eat meat-free in Barcelona a few years ago, it has really changed the last couple of years.

On this page I’m sharing all my favorite vegetarian friendly food spots in Barcelona with you. All these restaurants have good vegetarian options. Most of them also have great vegan and/or gluten free dishes on their menu!

Teresa Carles

Teresa Carles is the best vegetarian restaurant in Barcelona if you ask me. From tartar from mango and avocado, vegan croquetas, spaghetti with burrata, vegan Pad Thai to a great Malaysian curry. And probably the best vegetarian / vegan paella in Barcelona! Make sure to leave some room for dessert (to share) as they’ve got some tasty ones on their menu. This is a restaurant where you can also take your carnivore friends and they’ll still be impressed.

Tropico

Let’s start with a restaurant that serves great vegetarian brunch dishes: Tropico. A perfect spot to start your day at with a good breakfast. They have many juices and smoothies on their menu and several egg dishes like Arepas con perico and Huevos Rancheros. They also have a tropical fruit bowl, yogurt with home-made granola, an acai bowl and the pancakes with berries and cream cheese frosting pictured above. All vegetarian and gluten free options are clearly marked on the menu.

Federal Café

Another great place to start your day with a vegetarian breakfast in Barcelona is Federal Café. They have a vegan chia pudding with cacao, coconut milk, quinoa and nuts and several vegetarian options. I went for the rye bread with avocado, tahini, black sesame gomashio and a poached egg (skip the egg for a vegan version). They also have a feta bruschetta with caramelized onion and rocket, fluffy pancakes with banana and French toast with a cornflake crust amongst their vegetarian options.
There are two locations in Barcelona, one in the Gothic Quarter and one in San Antoni. They also have restaurants in Valencia, Girona and Madrid.

Flax & Kale

Flax and Kale is one of the most popular restaurants amongst foodies visiting Barcelona. It’s easy to understand why as they cater to many needs. Pretty much all of their dishes are healthy and the majority is vegetarian. Vegan, gluten free and even paleo approved options are clearly marked on the menu. Chef in charge is Teresa Carles (I’ve told you about her above), she is passionate about feeding you better so therefore you can be happier and live longer with an optimal health. 80% Of the dishes on the menu of Flax and Kale are vegan and they don’t serve any meat. Pictured is ‘Teresa’s favorite kale salad’, a vegan and gluten free salad from organic kale with cherry tomatoes, avocado, mixed sprouts, nori seaweed and mango.

Teresa Carles

Teresa Carles, from Flax and Kale, also has another restaurant. The entire menu is completely vegetarian and also has many vegan dishes. Teresa shows you that you can have a culinary dinner with an extensive menu that is totally vegetarian. From a ‘Foie Gras’ salad to Pad Thai or Curry. And Teresa Carles is the best place for a vegetarian paella in Barcelona if you ask me!

Rasoterra

Rasoterra is a 100% vegetarian restaurant in Barcelona. The dishes are like tapas, you order several smaller dishes with your table (around 2-3 per person). Pretty much everything on the menu is also vegan and gluten free, making it a paradise for vegetarians, vegans and gluten intolerants. Pictured you see the Granada oranges, broccoli and ganxet beans in the foreground, the croquettas with spinach in the middle and typical Catalan tomato bread in the background. We also had cauliflower cream, an oriental salad, artichokes filled with almond and hazelnut, a Russian salad with beets and cabbage and roasted maitake mushroom with red cabbage pesto. It was all vegan and gluten free!

Brunch & Cake

Brunch & Cake is a very Instagrammable vegetarian friendly food spot in Barcelona. Almost everything on their menu is vegetarian and there are many vegan options. And your brunch (or lunch) comes with fun letters and many colorful ingredients! Look at my acai bowl for example, served with granola and all kinds of (tropical) fruits. But they also have breakfast burrito’s, avocado sandwiches, poke bowls and pancakes just to name a few of their dishes. There are three locations of Brunch & Cake in Barcelona (two in Eixample and one in Barceloneta) and and all three are very popular so it could be that you have to wait a little while for a table.

Click here for all my favorite brunch spots in Barcelona.

GABBY’S

GABBY’S is a brunch restaurant in the neighborhood Villa Olimpica, close to Poblenou. It serves all the best brunch dishes: pancakes, French toast, poached eggs, avocado toast… you name it and GABBY’S has got it! Pictured you see their avocado toast with a poached egg, pesto and feta cheese. But if you’re in the mood for a cheat meal you should definitely try their Choco-Ball Pancakes. The pancakes are served with seasonal red fruits, chocolate ganache and topped with their famous chocolate ball that’s filled with coffee ice cream.

Honest Greens

It’s not as vegetarian as it sounds, but Honest Greens does have several good vegetarian options. Pictured you see their housemade falafel, made from a mixture of chickpeas, leeks, pepper, cumin, herbs and served with Tahini sauce and a green salad. They’ve also got a marinate miso tofu dish that’s very tasty. And if you want to eat a healthy bowl, you can go for the avocado salad. The entire menu (except for the artisan bread) is gluten-free. Honest Greens has got 3 locations in Barcelona.

A tu Bola

You can find A tu Bola in Raval, in a side street of La Rambla. Here you can eat some very tasty falafel. You can choose between a dish (3 or 4 balls on a plate) or in a pita bread. Besides the falafel, they’ve got 3 other vegetarian balls to choose from: with corn and sundried tomatoes, with lentils, and with sweet potato and leek. The last two can also be ordered vegan.

Click here for the best vegan restaurants in Barcelona.

Cremat Lounge

Cremat Lounge is a very Instagrammable restaurant in Barcelona. Not only the interior is very picturesque with velvet chairs and a neon ‘Oops! I did it Again’ sign, the dishes on the menu are also great for your Instagram account. They’ve got many vegetarian and vegan dishes on their menu. Pictured you see their vegan Lemon Blueberry Pancakes.
Cremat Lounge is the big brother of Cremat 11, that you can find in the El Born area.

Albe Barcelona

Albe Barcelona is a restaurant in Eixample that serves Lebanese food. The Lebanese kitchen has many vegetarian dishes, and the ones at Alba will make your mouth water! My favorite was this charred cauliflower with browned and smoked butter. We actually ordered it twice in one meal because we loved it so much. But the labneh and crispy celeriac bites are also recommendations at Albe.

Green.co

Green.co is a restaurant focussing on healthy food. They’ve got a few meat and fish dishes on the menu but the majority of their dishes are vegetarian (or vegan). I had difficulties choosing between all those good vegetarian main dishes for dinner. I went for this lasagna from aubergine with tomatoes, mozzarella and pesto. The location of Green.co is superb. They’re located right on the beautiful central square Plaza Reial in the Gothic quarter. It’s a great spot if you’re looking for vegetarian or vegan food in the center of Barcelona.

DeLaCrem

DeLaCrem is one of my favorite vegetarian-friendly spots for breakfast in Barcelona. Well, I don’t know if I could call it breakfast, as it’s mostly coffee and cake, but it is my first meal of the day. It’s a great place to wake up with some caffein and sugar! They’ve got several good cakes, the offer varies regularly but this almond cake is often available as well as their brownies.
Besides coffee, tea and cake they also have delicious ice cream at DeLaCrem. You can find DeLaCrem in the Eixample neighborhood, about a 10 minute walk from Place de la Catalunya.

Vegetarian tapas in Barcelona

In all restaurants where they serve tapas you’ll be able to find some vegetarian tapas. Pretty much all the restaurants have the Catalan tomato bread and Patatas Bravas on the menu. Other good vegetarian tapas that are very common are garlic mushrooms and Manchego cheese. I had the fried green peppers (not spicy) you see at the top of this page at Restaurant Momo in the Gothic Quarter are also on many tapas menus. Some restaurants have other vegetarian tapas such as bread with aioli or tzatziki with pita bread we had at beachside restaurant Jefferson.
Vegetarian paella is also very common, although it might be cooked in a meat or fish broth and don’t be surprised if you still find fish in your ‘vegetarian’ paella as the Spanish don’t always understand the difference.

Mercat de la Boqueria

Mercat de la Boceria is a big market right next to La Rambla. It is covered, so also great to visit when it rains! There are all kinds of food stands at la Boceria. Some are like small restaurants where you can order some small snacks and some are more like shops where you can buy groceries. There are several vegetarian and vegan options in the Boceria market, but there are also many meat and fish stands, so if you’re sensitive for it it might not be so pleasant to walk around there. Luckily the fruit and vegetable stands are right near the entrance and the vegan falafel stand is on the side of Placa Sant Caldric, so you don’t need to walk through the entire market for vegetarian and vegan options.

Rocambolesc Gelateria

It’s a bit of a no-brainer to list an ice cream shop on a blog with vegetarian food spots. But as there are many ice cream shops in Barcelona, especially on and around La Rambla, I thought it might be good to mention my favorite ice cream shop. If you ask me, Rocambolesc is the best ice-cream shop on La Rambla and probably in Barcelona in general. They’ve got several nice soft-serve flavors, including frozen yogurt. And many toppings to choose from.

Click here for the best ice cream spots in Barcelona.

Chök

As with ice cream shops, vegetarian options at a bakery are also aplenty of course. But Chök, the chocolate kitchen,  even has some vegan options! Pictured are their vegan Berlina’s (mini cakes) but they often have several vegan options. I’ve seen vegan donuts and vegan chocolate cake in their shops for example. They have no less than 6 locations in Barcelona, so there’s a big chance you’ll be close to one of them!

Click here for my favorite food spots in the popular Eixample neighborhood in Barcelona.