Restaurant in Barcelona, Spain
Double Bib Gourmand value near La Boqueria.
Bacaro is a Venetian-style Italian bistro in Barcelona's Ciutat Vella, two minutes from La Boqueria, with back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmands in 2024 and 2025. At the €€ price tier, it delivers honest Italian cooking and a well-chosen Italian wine list in a relaxed two-floor room. Easy to book, and the strongest Italian value play in its immediate area.
Bacaro earns two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmands (2024 and 2025) at a price point that makes it one of the most credible value plays in Barcelona's Ciutat Vella. If you want honest Italian cooking — specifically Venetian — with a wine list to match, and you want to spend a fraction of what Barcelona's tasting-menu circuit costs, book this. It rewards solo diners, pairs, and small groups equally. Booking difficulty is low, which is rarer than it should be for a Bib Gourmand address near La Boqueria.
Seats fill at Bacaro not because of hype but because the food justifies return visits. The room across two floors keeps decor deliberately spare , the logic being that the plate is the focal point, not the setting. That restraint is worth noting on a special occasion: the bistro format means you get a relaxed, unhurried environment without the formality that tends to accompany a Barcelona tasting menu. For a celebration dinner where conversation matters as much as the cooking, the two-floor split also gives you options; the upper floor tends to feel more contained.
The kitchen under chef Joseph Bonacore stays close to Italian tradition with a Venetian accent. The Michelin notes call out sardines in saor, Venetian-style veal liver, and tiramisù as reference points , these are dishes that test whether a kitchen actually understands the idiom, not just the aesthetics. Sardines in saor is a sweet-sour preparation that demands balance; getting it right in Barcelona, away from the Adriatic supply chain, says something about sourcing discipline. Pasta is present throughout the menu, as you'd expect from this register of Italian cooking.
What separates Bacaro from the category of good-but-generic Italian in Barcelona is the wine list. The program draws from classic Italian labels, which is the correct approach for a Venetian-framed kitchen: you want Soave, Bardolino, and Prosecco DOC doing the work that local Spanish labels cannot. For a date or celebration dinner, this matters more than people account for in advance , a wine list that actually tracks the food's regional logic makes the meal cohere in a way that a generic European list doesn't. At the €€ price tier, a well-chosen Italian bottle stays affordable, and the pairing decisions are made easier by the fact that the cuisine and the cellar are pulling in the same direction. If wine pairing is a priority for your evening, Bacaro gives you more to work with than most restaurants at this price in the city.
The location on Carrer de Jerusalem, steps from La Boqueria, puts it in one of Barcelona's most foot-trafficked corridors. That proximity to the market is operationally useful for a kitchen committed to Italian tradition: the produce sourcing argument almost writes itself. It also means the surrounding streets are lively at dinner, which adds to the atmosphere without the room itself needing to manufacture energy. For a first-time visitor to Barcelona combining the Boqueria area with dinner, Bacaro is the strongest Italian option in that immediate radius by a significant margin.
For context on how Bacaro sits within Spain's broader dining map: the country's highest-end Italian cooking outside of Spain can be found at addresses like 8½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana in Hong Kong or cenci in Kyoto, where Italian technique is applied at a very different investment level. Bacaro is not competing in that tier , it is competing on value precision, and within Spain's dining circuit that also includes destinations like Quique Dacosta in Dénia, El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, and Arzak in San Sebastián, Bacaro holds a clearly defined niche: accessible, repeatable, ingredient-honest Italian at Bib Gourmand standard.
Two consecutive Bib Gourmands are a meaningful trust signal here. The Michelin Bib Gourmand designation specifically rewards good food at moderate prices , it is not a consolation award for restaurants that missed a star, but a separate criterion applied to a different value equation. Bacaro has met that standard two years running, which removes most of the uncertainty about whether the quality is consistent. A 4.5 Google rating across 1,567 reviews reinforces the pattern: this is not a place running on a single viral moment.
For the full picture of what Barcelona's dining scene offers across all price tiers and formats, see our full Barcelona restaurants guide. If you're building a trip around more than one meal, our full Barcelona hotels guide, our full Barcelona bars guide, and our full Barcelona experiences guide cover the rest of the logistics. For wine-focused visitors, our full Barcelona wineries guide is worth checking before you arrive.
Bacaro's position near La Boqueria means the surrounding streets peak in foot traffic during midday and early evening. For a relaxed dinner without the ambient noise of the tourist corridor at full volume, a weekday evening , Tuesday through Thursday , is the better call. The two-floor layout gives some separation from the street-level energy, but the neighbourhood is busier on weekends, and that does filter through. If the occasion calls for a quieter room, mid-week is the answer. For solo diners, a counter or small table early in service tends to give you more attention from the floor.
Booking difficulty is rated easy, which is a genuine advantage for a double Bib Gourmand address. That said, the restaurant is small across two floors, and proximity to La Boqueria means walk-in competition is real, especially on weekend evenings. Book a few days ahead for a weekday table; give yourself a week's notice for a Friday or Saturday. Contact via the address directly if no online booking is available.
| Detail | Bacaro | Cinc Sentits | Enoteca Paco Pérez |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price tier | €€ | €€€€ | €€€€ |
| Cuisine | Italian (Venetian) | Modern Spanish | Modern Spanish |
| Michelin recognition | Bib Gourmand ×2 | 1 Star | 1 Star |
| Booking difficulty | Easy | Moderate | Moderate |
| Format | Bistro, à la carte | Tasting menu | Tasting menu |
| Leading for | Value, wine pairing, solo, date | Special occasion tasting | Wine-focused tasting |
Go in knowing the format is bistro, not tasting menu , you order à la carte from a Venetian-accented Italian menu. The Michelin Bib Gourmand means the quality-to-price ratio is independently verified, so you are not taking a risk at the €€ price tier. The sardines in saor and tiramisù are the dishes cited most often as reference points; treat them as tests of the kitchen's commitment to the style. The Italian wine list is worth using: it tracks the food sensibly and stays affordable. Address: Carrer de Jerusalem, 6, a short walk from La Boqueria.
Yes. The bistro format and two-floor layout mean a solo diner gets a table without the awkwardness that tasting-menu restaurants sometimes create for single covers. At €€, the spend is manageable without feeling like you need to justify a solo visit. Early in service on a weekday evening gives you the leading combination of attention from the floor and a quieter room. Barcelona's tasting-menu circuit , Disfrutar, Lasarte , is excellent for solo diners too, but costs significantly more and requires more advance planning.
A few days is enough for a weekday table. For Friday or Saturday, give yourself a week's notice. Booking difficulty is rated easy, which is genuinely unusual for a restaurant that has held the Michelin Bib Gourmand two years running and carries a 4.5 rating across 1,567 Google reviews. If you are planning around a trip and want certainty, book as soon as your dates are confirmed , there is no cost to booking early here.
Specific dietary accommodation information is not available in our verified data for Bacaro. Phone and website details are not currently listed. The leading approach is to contact the restaurant directly at the address (Carrer de Jerusalem, 6) or check for updated contact details closer to your visit. The menu is Italian with a Venetian focus, which means pasta, fish preparations, and meat dishes feature throughout , a kitchen working within a specific regional tradition may have less flexibility on some items than a more contemporary format would.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bacaro | This restaurant, steeped in the essence of Italy but which the team describes as a “Venetian taberna”, is located just a few steps from the emblematic Boquería market, and is one of those places you look forward to visiting given the caring and kindness in evidence as soon as you walk through the door. Bistro in style, and split between two floors, it boasts an eclectic yet simple decor, the idea being not to interfere too much with what is really important, namely the food! The latter is clearly rooted in Italian tradition, with a continual emphasis on flavour. You’ll find pasta here, of course, but don’t miss the typical sardines “in saor”, the Venetian-style veal liver, or the marvellous tiramisù. As you would expect, the wine list includes some classic Italian labels.; Michelin Bib Gourmand (2025); Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024) | €€ | — |
| Cocina Hermanos Torres | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Disfrutar | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Lasarte | Michelin 3 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Cinc Sentits | Michelin 2 Star | €€€€ | — |
| Enoteca Paco Pérez | Michelin 2 Star | €€€€ | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Bacaro and alternatives.
Lead with the pasta, but do not skip the sardines in saor or the Venetian-style veal liver — those dishes reflect the kitchen's identity more than anything else on the menu. The room splits across two floors and keeps decor deliberately minimal, so the draw is entirely the food and the warmth of service. Bacaro holds Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition for both 2024 and 2025, which at the €€ price point makes it one of the more credible value addresses in Barcelona. It sits on Carrer de Jerusalem, a few steps from La Boqueria, so arrive by early evening if you want a calmer experience.
Yes, and it is a better solo bet than most Bib Gourmand addresses in Barcelona. The bistro format and two-floor layout make single covers easy to seat, and the Italian-Venetian menu is structured around dishes that work well ordered one or two at a time. The service is noted for its warmth, which tends to make solo visits feel less transactional than at busier tourist-facing spots near La Boqueria.
Booking difficulty is rated easy, which is a genuine advantage for a double Bib Gourmand restaurant. A few days' notice is usually sufficient outside peak tourist season, though the small two-floor room can fill quickly on weekends. Given the proximity to La Boqueria, booking ahead for Friday and Saturday evenings is still worth doing to avoid a wait.
The menu is rooted in Italian-Venetian tradition — pasta, sardines, veal liver, tiramisù — so the kitchen's strengths are firmly in meat and fish cookery. Specific dietary accommodation details are not documented in available data, so check the venue's official channels before visiting if you have requirements. At €€ with a Bib Gourmand pedigree, the value case holds for most diners, but pescatarians will find more to work with than vegetarians given the menu's orientation.
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