Restaurant in Barcelona, Spain

Quimet et Quimet

Name: Quimet et Quimet
Address: Carrer del Poeta Cabanyes, 25, Sants-Montjuïc, 08004 Barcelona, Spain, Barcelona, ES
Telephone: +34 934 42 31 42

200Pearl Points

Standing room, tins, vermouth. Go early.

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Quimet et Quimet, Restaurant in Barcelona

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About Quimet et Quimet

Quimet et Quimet is the right call for anyone who wants serious Barcelona tapas without the fine-dining apparatus: a standing bar in Poble Sec serving conservas-based montaditos, ranked by Opinionated About Dining three years running and rated 4.6 across 5,000+ reviews. Walk-in only, weekdays only, and worth arriving at opening.

Who Should Book Quimet et Quimet

If you want the honest Barcelona tapas experience — standing room, tinned seafood, vermouth, and montaditos assembled at the counter in real time — Quimet et Quimet in Sants-Montjuïc is the right call. It is the venue to return to when you already know the city's tourist circuit and want to eat like someone who lives here. It rewards people who show up hungry before the lunch rush, are comfortable at a standing bar, and do not need a reservation system to validate the choice. For anyone who prefers a table and a printed menu, look elsewhere.

What Quimet et Quimet Is

Quimet et Quimet is a fourth-generation family tapas bar on Carrer del Poeta Cabanyes, a narrow street in Poble Sec. The format is simple: a small standing space lined floor-to-ceiling with tinned goods, conservas, and bottles, with a counter where montaditos are built to order. Chef Joaquim Perez runs the operation, which has been in the family for generations. The physical space is compact enough that it fills quickly, this is not a venue where you linger for hours, but one where you eat well and move on.

The Opinionated About Dining guide has ranked it consistently in its Casual Europe list: #102 in 2024 and #220 in 2025, with a prior ranking of #126 in 2023. That trajectory tells you something useful, OAD's casual list is crowded, and holding a position there across three consecutive years signals a floor of quality that doesn't slip. For a no-reservation standing bar, that volume of opinion with that score is a signal worth taking seriously.

The focus is tinned seafood, conservas, and cold assemblies. Spain's premium tinned goods culture is the backbone here: anchovies, mussels, octopus, and similar products sourced from quality producers, mounted on bread with thoughtful combinations. This is not cooking in the conventional sense, it is curation and assembly, and the skill is in the sourcing and the pairing. If you have eaten at El Xampanyet in El Born and enjoyed the conservas format, Quimet et Quimet operates in the same register but with a longer pedigree and a tighter, more local crowd.

Booking and Timing

Quimet et Quimet does not take reservations. You arrive and you wait if it is busy. The practical logic is: go at opening, 12 pm on weekdays, or just after the lunch peak, around 3:30 pm. Avoid arriving at 1:30 pm expecting a quick entry. The venue is closed on Saturdays and Sundays, which eliminates the weekend tourist window entirely and keeps the crowd predominantly local on weekdays. If your trip is a weekend-only visit, this is not your option.

Reservations: Walk-in only, no bookings taken. Hours: Monday through Friday, 12–4 pm and 6–10:30 pm; closed Saturday and Sunday. Dress: No code, casual is the norm and anything smarter will feel out of place. Budget: Price range data is not confirmed, but standing tapas bars in this tier in Barcelona typically run €15–30 per person including drinks. Getting there: The address is Carrer del Poeta Cabanyes, 25, Sants-Montjuïc, Poble Sec is the neighbourhood, well served by metro.

How It Compares to Barcelona's Wider Scene

Quimet et Quimet operates in a different category from Barcelona's fine dining circuit. If you are considering Disfrutar, Lasarte, or Cocina Hermanos Torres, those require advance booking and a significantly higher spend per head, and deliver a completely different format. Quimet et Quimet is not an alternative to those venues, it is a complement, the kind of lunch stop you build around a longer trip rather than a destination meal in isolation.

Within the casual tapas register, the closest comparisons in Barcelona are Bar Cañete (seated, more polished, easier for groups), Cerveceria Catalana (higher tourist volume, more accessible format), and La Cova Fumada (also walk-in only, similarly local in feel, different focus). For the standing bar conservas format specifically, Quimet et Quimet has the strongest OAD credentials of the group.

If you are travelling across Spain and want to benchmark this format against other cities, Antonio Bar and Bar Bergara in San Sebastián are the pintxos equivalent, different product focus, similar standing-bar energy, worth knowing as comparators.

Pearl Picks: More Barcelona

El Xampanyet, Standing tapas bar in El Born, strong conservas and house cava
Bar Cañete, Seated, more group-friendly tapas with serious kitchen output
La Cova Fumada, Walk-in only, local, credited as the birthplace of the bombas
Bar Mut, More upscale all-day bar, better for longer sits and wine
Cerveceria Catalana, High-volume tapas, useful for groups, easier to access

For the full picture: our full Barcelona restaurants guide, hotels, bars, wineries, and experiences.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a first-timer know about Quimet et Quimet?

Arrive at opening — 12 pm on weekdays — or expect to wait outside on a narrow Poble Sec street. There are no reservations, no tables to speak of, and no weekend service. Quimet et Quimet has held a place on the Opinionated About Dining Casual Europe list every year from 2023 to 2025, which tells you this is not a tourist trap that coasts on reputation — the format is simply standing room, tinned seafood, and montaditos assembled at the counter.

Is Quimet et Quimet good for a special occasion?

Only if your idea of a special occasion is an honest, no-fuss bar experience rather than a sit-down meal. There are no reservations, no tables, and the room is small and crowded at peak hours. For a celebratory dinner with a proper setting, Cinc Sentits or Lasarte are better fits. Quimet et Quimet works for a special lunch if the occasion is showing someone what Barcelona actually tastes like on a Tuesday afternoon.

What are alternatives to Quimet et Quimet in Barcelona?

For fine dining at the opposite end of the spectrum, Disfrutar and Lasarte are the obvious options — both require advance booking and carry serious credentials. Cinc Sentits sits in the middle ground: tasting menus, reservations accepted, more intimate than the big names. Cocina Hermanos Torres and Enoteca Paco Pérez round out the higher-end circuit. None of them replicate what Quimet et Quimet does; they are different propositions entirely.

Can I eat at the bar at Quimet et Quimet?

Yes — the bar counter is effectively the whole venue. Quimet et Quimet is a standing bar, so there is no table service to request or opt out of. You order at or near the counter, drinks included. Arriving at 12 pm when doors open on a weekday gives you the most space and the easiest access to the counter before the room fills.

Can Quimet et Quimet accommodate groups?

Small groups of two to four work reasonably well if you arrive early; larger groups will find the space genuinely difficult. The bar is compact, there are no reservations to hold space, and weekend service does not exist — Saturday and Sunday the venue is closed. If you are organising a group dinner in Barcelona, a restaurant that takes bookings is a more practical choice.

Location

Carrer del Poeta Cabanyes, 25, Sants-Montjuïc, 08004 Barcelona, Spain

Compare Quimet et Quimet

Price vs. Value: Quimet et Quimet

Venue	Price	Booking Difficulty
Quimet et Quimet		Easy
Cocina Hermanos Torres	€€€€	Unknown
Disfrutar	€€€€	Unknown
Lasarte	€€€€	Unknown
Cinc Sentits	€€€€	Unknown
Enoteca Paco Pérez	€€€€	Unknown

Key differences to consider before you reserve.

Also Consider

Cocina Hermanos Torres, Creative, €€€€
Disfrutar, Progressive, Creative, €€€€
Lasarte, Progressive Spanish, Creative, €€€€
Cinc Sentits, Modern Spanish, Creative, €€€€
Enoteca Paco Pérez, Modern Spanish, Modern Cuisine, €€€€

Quimet et Quimet and Barcelona's top fine dining venues are not competing for the same booking. Disfrutar, Lasarte, and Cocina Hermanos Torres each require weeks or months of advance planning, cost €€€€, and deliver long tasting-menu formats. If your trip is primarily a fine dining trip, Quimet et Quimet is a lunch addition, not an alternative. Of those three, Disfrutar carries the strongest international credentials and should be your first call for a tasting-menu dinner.

Cinc Sentits and Enoteca Paco Pérez sit at €€€€ and offer modern Spanish cooking with more intimacy than the larger fine-dining rooms. Both are better choices than Quimet et Quimet if you want a seated, occasion-ready dinner, but they operate in a completely different price tier and register.

Within casual Barcelona, Quimet et Quimet has the strongest OAD casual ranking of any standing tapas bar in the city. It is the right choice if the conservas and montaditos format is what you are after and you can manage the walk-in, standing-only format. For groups or anyone who needs a seat, Bar Cañete gives you comparable quality with a seated service and a more group-friendly structure.