The best places for breakfast in Barcelona
- Time Out
- Apr 15
- 6 min read
Updated: May 19
Salty, sweet, knife and fork, Japanese, monumental sandwiches... Eat well in the morning!
It may not be the most important meal of the day, but a good breakfast is essential for living a good life. Here's a lovingly curated list of places where you can go for breakfast without having to submit to the mental colonization of brunch (which we do, and have also considered ) and where you're guaranteed to start the day off on the right foot.
DON'T MISS IT: Knife-and-fork breakfasts in Barcelona
Unlike the satanic bakeries that charge you seven euros for a horrible coffee and a bubble gum sandwich, Palmer is synonymous with good coffee (high-end Novell) and memorable sandwiches, XL in size and tiny in price: first-class bread from the Serra bakery, and terrestrial sausage and bull displayed in whole pieces in a metal refrigerator.
Warm inside and out, with a tall glass of coffee with milk, they're lunchtime heaven. The list of sandwiches displays proudly on an illuminated sign: boar's head, sobrasada, sausages with cheese, canned sardines... "It's an easy process, but it has to be done right. Everything's been invented," says Josep Carrasco. His grandparents opened the café in 1944, and he's been running it since 1999. Solid and simple: Monday to Saturday, 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., sandwiches and coffee. Half of Poble-sec has breakfast here, so to speak. A meeting point for cyclists who enjoy breakfasts like a muleteer.
A very small bar characterized by a loyal neighborhood clientele, exceptional service, and a carefully curated menu. Lunch is available at lunchtime (at the bar). Dole Café—or Bar Dole, as you prefer—is much more than a bar: it's a breakfast institution in Sant Gervasi! The facade is simple and cluttered: a vintage bar with two rows of stools, and a grill at the back dominates the scene. Its origins lie with Domingo (the father) and Leandro (the son), the couple who opened the establishment in June 1974 (today you'll only find Leandro and his daughter Míriam, who command the bar with the friendliness and good manners of someone who has been in the hospitality industry for half a century).
This longevity is self-explanatory: Dole is the bar for a good breakfast par excellence in Sarrià, and they're open from six in the morning! They base their tremendous charisma and direct gastronomic sex appeal on a selection of hot and cold sandwiches that will knock your socks off. Like their legendary piccolo of bacon and cheese, a delirium of crispiness and good fat, or especially their omelette section that can be ordered as a plate or sandwich: potato and onion, spring garlic, zucchini, artichoke... As if that weren't enough, all the pastries on display—except for the croissants, by Sacha—are homemade. Or do you think people like the Torres brothers can have breakfast anywhere?
Funky Bakers opened in 2018 as a bakery and pastry shop—they make an excellent sandwich or a pistachio croissant—and a café. It became a beloved spot in the Born neighborhood, as popular for its quality (everything made from scratch with top-quality local produce) as for its friendliness. So beloved and popular that owner Seyma Ozkaya opened Funky Eatery, its restaurant version, in 2022.
You'll find a blend of Turkish heritage with the Mediterranean here, and the same work ethic. This is a versatile place for all times of the day. But they stand out with their breakfast menu. On the one hand, you'll find an assortment of pastries and cakes made in-house that has positioned them as one of Barcelona's great artisan bakeries, with made-from-scratch delicacies that they've made a hit—like the chocolate and hazelnut babka, that delicious Jewish sweet bread, or banana bread with tahini glaze. On the hot side, sandwiches prepared with the house braided bread, served warm, are like a proper brunch sandwich: like the one with scrambled eggs, roasted seasonal vegetables, cheese, and tomato sauce. The coffee is impeccable, specialty, and well-roasted.
Camila occupies the wonderfully indeterminate space of a good neighborhood bar: where you can have a coffee, a sandwich, or a hot bite, and where you can rest assured that you'll be able to do it all with ease. In contrast to specialty coffee shops that try to trick you into buying a flat white for a pastry, the owners are experienced baristas who swear by café con leche. And the local produce is from the neighborhood: here you can enjoy juicy potato omelets and croissants and pastries from La Nena, sandwiches with bread and boiled meat, and cheese bought from local shops. The space is beautiful: a neighborhood bar redesigned with good taste and minimalism.
One of those traditional bars where you can enjoy a hearty breakfast, discreetly enjoy a coffee while sitting down with your newspaper, or recharge your batteries with a hearty menu. At Can Ros, it's always warm. For breakfast: you'll eat capipota, snails, croquettes, a meatball sandwich (yes, meatballs!), or a legendary artichoke omelet, ones you'll remember forever. And if you want, even for breakfast! The great thing is that you can go at any time, there's always something to eat, and you'll never be hungry when you walk out the door. Lunchtimes feature good home-style cooking with dishes like stewed lentils or breaded cod. And don't forget the carajillo!
Walk up Passeig de Sant Joan and take a break at Granja Petitbó. Step inside and you'll feel like you've taken refuge in a warm Norwegian bar while it's snowing outside. Granja Petitbó is a cozy place where you can have breakfast and afternoon tea with excellent pastries accompanied by a large cup of tea or a coffee that you never want to run out of. It's a picture to frame, or if you prefer, a photo to show off on Instagram. Eggs Benedict and vegetable sandwiches accompanied by fruit juices (we like the orange, apple, and carrot), as well as their renowned carrot cake and banana and chocolate pancakes... fill the tables on weekends during their renowned brunch. At lunchtime, they serve very healthy food.
One of the key places for breakfast in Gràcia: this immaculate café is a meeting point for the neighborhood's liberal, modern, and hipster professionals who enjoy a good breakfast. Greek Pétros Paschalidis bakes the Hellenic version of the Berliner every day, using only natural ingredients: the Lúkuma. They sell them with all kinds of flavors and fillings, some as surprising as mastic, glazed with resin essence. They often do experiments: lately I've seen square lukumas or those with an Oreo topping.
With Jaime in the kitchen and Tara in the dining room, Picnic offers brunch, a trend that looks set to become a tradition, with the permission of the posh crowd. Since I like modernity, I choose some diced quinoa croquettes from the brunch menu, beautifully fried and crispy. And since after Christmas and Boxing Day it's very difficult to go without a meat-based meal, I order the meat burger with salad, bacon, and homemade potatoes encased in a cone. The bread, and I appreciate it, is very good and crispy. No one has been able to answer the question of whether the chicken or the egg came first.
Richard Bies, a true American pastry chef—he was head pastry chef at Escribá, among many other places—is the baker and owner of La Donuteria, a café-workshop for artisanal doughnuts. Every day, he bakes about ten different flavors, which can be as surprising as mango chutney, coconut, and curry, or crème brûlée. He also has savory flavors, such as apple, bacon, and maple syrup. These are large, dense pieces, light years away from industrial products. This, in reality, is haute patisserie applied to everyday products.
A beautiful place where cynical attitudes don't work: Ugot is like the tearoom of the French aunt you never had. Israeli Adi Nachson has filled an old warehouse with soul, with crockery collected over the years, a beautifully restored floor, and a miscellany of antique furniture. She calls it a bruncherie: you can make hearty, good breakfasts (eggs in every possible form), unusual, high-quality daily specials, and homemade pastries made by Adi ('Ugot' is Hebrew for cake). And you'll also find some Israeli dishes, like shakshuka, powerfully spiced fried eggs. Breakfasts here are a pleasure.
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