Restaurant in Barcelona, Spain
Serious Catalan tasting menus at neighbourhood prices.
Cruix holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand and an Opinionated About Dining ranking while charging a fraction of what Barcelona's €€€€ tasting-menu scene commands. Chef Miquel Prado's Eixample restaurant runs two tasting menus — 11 or 13 courses — with rice dishes and a crispy socarrat as the signatures. Easy to book, casual in atmosphere, and strong on value.
Cruix is the answer to a question most visitors to Barcelona don't know to ask: where do you get tasting-menu cooking of genuine ambition without the four-figure bill? Chef Miquel Prado's Eixample address holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024) and a recommendation from Opinionated About Dining (ranked #676 in their Casual Europe list for 2025), which together confirm what the single-euro price tier already suggests — this is a serious kitchen operating well below its weight class on price. If your Barcelona dining budget is limited and you want one tasting-menu meal that will actually challenge your palate, Cruix is the booking to make.
The exposed brick walls and informal layout set a tone that is closer to a neighbourhood bistro than a destination restaurant. Noise levels stay conversational — this is not a hushed, starched-napkin room, and the service leans warmly casual rather than formal. That atmosphere matters for how you experience the food: this is a place that wants you to relax into the meal rather than perform your way through it. If you find the theatre of high-end tasting menus slightly exhausting, Cruix is a genuine alternative. The terrace is worth requesting when the weather allows , book it specifically when you reserve, because it fills quickly.
Two tasting menus anchor the offering. The Classic Cruix runs to eleven courses; the Grand Cruix extends to thirteen. The rice dishes are the clearest signature: paellas served with the crispy socarrat crust at the base of the pan, which is the marker of proper technique in this format. The cod churro , fried to a crispy golden texture , appears as a standout savoury course. On the dessert side, the dish listed as "sad day on the beach" is the one most mentioned in recognition from both Michelin and OAD, and worth ordering on that basis alone. The menus have evolved in scope since earlier OAD recognition in 2023 , the course count has grown, which suggests the kitchen's confidence in the format is increasing rather than plateauing.
Cruix sits on Carrer d'Entença, 57 in the Eixample district , the residential spine of central Barcelona, well served by metro. Dinner runs Tuesday through Friday from 7 to 10:30 pm, with Saturday adding a lunch service from 12:30 to 3:30 pm before the evening sitting. The restaurant is closed Sunday and Monday. Booking is rated easy , this is not a venue where you need to set calendar reminders three months out , but the terrace is the exception: secure that when you call or book online. Dress is casual; the room's own atmosphere makes that clear. The single-euro price tier means this is one of the most accessible tasting-menu experiences in a city where the upper end runs to €€€€ across most comparable kitchens. Google reviewers rate it 4.6 from 2,513 reviews, which at that volume is a meaningful signal rather than a statistical anomaly.
The Eixample is Barcelona's grid district , dense with residents, professionals, and the kind of local restaurant culture that doesn't need to market itself to tourists. Cruix fits that context: it draws a neighbourhood crowd alongside food-focused visitors, and the informality of the room reflects who actually eats there regularly. For the explorer visiting Barcelona with serious dining intentions but a rational budget, Cruix offers something the city's trophy-restaurant circuit can't match: Bib Gourmand-level cooking in a room that functions as a real local restaurant rather than a set piece. Compare it to the €€€€ end of the Barcelona scene , Disfrutar, Lasarte, Cocina Hermanos Torres, ABaC, Enigma , and the value gap is significant. Those restaurants justify their prices on different terms; Cruix justifies itself on different terms entirely.
If you're building a broader Spain itinerary around serious cooking, Cruix pairs well with longer day-trips or separate visits to El Celler de Can Roca in Girona or Quique Dacosta in Dénia. For the Basque Country, Arzak in San Sebastián, Azurmendi in Larrabetzu, and Martin Berasategui in Lasarte-Oria represent the other pole of the Spanish fine-dining spectrum. Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María is the southern anchor if your trip extends that far. For reference points outside Spain, the tasting-menu-at-accessible-price model has echoes at venues like Lazy Bear in San Francisco, though the format and price gap between those markets is substantial.
For everything else in the city, see our full Barcelona restaurants guide, our Barcelona hotels guide, our Barcelona bars guide, our Barcelona wineries guide, and our Barcelona experiences guide.
Cruix is the tasting-menu booking that makes sense when you want real culinary ambition in Barcelona without committing to a €€€€ evening. The Bib Gourmand, the OAD ranking, and the 4.6 Google rating across 2,513 reviews all point in the same direction. Book the terrace when the weather is good, go for the Grand Cruix if you want the full range of what the kitchen can do, and don't skip the socarrat rice.
Casual. The exposed brick room and informal service style make that clear before you arrive. This is not a venue with a dress code, and arriving overdressed would feel out of place. Smart casual is fine; there is no upside to dressing formally here.
The menu is focused around two tasting formats , Classic Cruix (11 courses) and Grand Cruix (13 courses) , which means the kitchen is working within a set sequence rather than building plates to order. Contact the restaurant directly before booking to discuss specific dietary requirements; tasting-menu kitchens that operate at this level of recognition generally accommodate restrictions with advance notice, but the specific terms are not confirmed in publicly available data for Cruix. No phone number or website is listed in the current record, so booking via their reservation platform with a notes field is the most practical route.
Booking difficulty is rated easy, so you don't need to plan weeks in advance for a standard table. The exception is the terrace: request it specifically at the time of booking because it fills faster than the interior. Saturday lunch is the most compressed sitting given the limited weekend availability , Tuesday through Friday dinner offers more flexibility.
For value-focused tasting menus, Cinc Sentits is the closest comparable at the €€€€ tier with a modern Spanish approach , the step up in price is real, but so is the step up in production. If budget is less of a constraint, Disfrutar is the technically strongest kitchen in Barcelona's current scene. Cocina Hermanos Torres offers the most theatrical room among the city's creative restaurants. Lasarte and Enoteca Paco Pérez are the right choices if you want a more classical fine-dining register. None of them match Cruix on price-to-recognition ratio.
Yes, particularly at the single-euro price tier. A Michelin Bib Gourmand means the Michelin inspectors specifically flagged this as a venue offering good cooking at a moderate price , that designation is harder to earn than a star in some respects, because it requires the price discipline alongside the kitchen quality. The OAD ranking adds a second independent confirmation. For a tasting-menu format in a city where the serious competition charges €€€€, Cruix delivers a strong return. The Grand Cruix at 13 courses is the better choice if you want to see the full range of what Miquel Prado's kitchen produces.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cruix | Catalan, Contemporary | This restaurant with an informal feel and exposed brick walls is the perfect setting in which to feel very much at home thanks to service that could not be any more friendly. Here, the cuisine is focused around two tasting menus: Classic Cruix (11 courses) and Grand Cruix (13 courses), on which the superb rice dishes are worthy of special mention (the paellas are all served with their special crispy “socarrat” texture at the bottom of the pan!). One particularly interesting savoury dish is the cod churro which is fried to a crispy golden texture. For dessert, we recommend the unusually named “sad day on the beach”! In fine weather, try to book a table on the terrace.; Opinionated About Dining Casual in Europe Ranked #676 (2025); This restaurant with an informal feel and exposed brick walls is the perfect setting in which to feel very much at home thanks to service that could not be any more friendly. Here, the cuisine is focused around two tasting menus: Classic Cruix (7 courses) and Grand Cruix (11 courses), on which the superb rice dishes are worthy of special mention (the paellas are all served with their special crispy “socarrat” texture at the bottom of the pan!). One of its signature dishes is also served for dessert: the bizarrely named “sad day on the beach”! In fine weather, try to book a table on the terrace.; Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024); Opinionated About Dining Casual in Europe Recommended (2023) | Easy | — |
| Cocina Hermanos Torres | Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Disfrutar | Progressive, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Lasarte | Progressive Spanish, Creative | Michelin 3 Star | Unknown | — |
| Cinc Sentits | Modern Spanish, Creative | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
| Enoteca Paco Pérez | Modern Spanish, Modern Cuisine | Michelin 2 Star | Unknown | — |
A quick look at how Cruix measures up.
Casual is fine. The Michelin Bib Gourmand and Opinionated About Dining recognition reflect serious cooking, but the exposed brick walls and informal room set a relaxed tone — the kind of neighbourhood spot where a jacket would look out of place. Clean, neat casual is the right call.
The menu format — eleven or thirteen courses in the Classic and Grand Cruix respectively — is structured enough that dietary requirements need to be flagged at the time of booking, not on arrival. check the venue's official channels in advance; tasting-menu kitchens at this level generally accommodate with notice, but the specifics are between you and the team.
Book at least two to three weeks out for a weekend dinner slot; Saturday lunch (the only midday service) fills quickly and is worth planning for separately. Cruix is closed Monday and Sunday, so your window is Tuesday through Saturday evenings plus Saturday lunch — plan around that grid before you check availability.
If budget is not a constraint, Disfrutar and Lasarte operate at the top of Barcelona's fine-dining tier — completely different price point and formality. Cinc Sentits is the closer comparison: Catalan tasting menus with more ceremony and a higher price tag. Enoteca Paco Pérez leans into the luxury-hotel register. Cruix is the move when you want genuine tasting-menu ambition at the € price range — none of the alternatives match that combination.
Yes, clearly. A Michelin Bib Gourmand signals food quality that overdelivers relative to price, and the OAD Casual Europe ranking reinforces that this is not a novelty. The rice dishes with socarrat and dishes like the cod churro are flagged specifically by Michelin's own inspectors as worth ordering. At the € price range, the Classic Cruix (eleven courses) is the starting point — the Grand Cruix (thirteen courses) makes sense if you have the appetite and the time.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
