Restaurant in Vilamarí, Spain
Regional depth, honest price, easy booking.
Can Boix holds Michelin Bib Gourmand status in both 2024 and 2025, making it one of the Empordà region's clearest value-for-money endorsements at €€. With a 4.6 Google rating across 1,225 reviews and regional Catalan cooking as its brief, it is the meal to book when you want genuine quality without a fine-dining budget. Lunch is the strongest use of it.
Can Boix is not a destination restaurant in the way that Girona's more celebrated kitchens are. That is exactly the point, and exactly why you should book it. This is a Michelin Bib Gourmand-recognised regional restaurant in the Catalan countryside, held to a specific standard by the Guide — exceptional value for money — and it earns that recognition year after year, with Bib Gourmand status confirmed in both 2024 and 2025. If you are arriving with €€€€ expectations and a tasting menu mindset, adjust now. If you are arriving hungry and looking for honest Catalan cooking at a price that will not require a separate budget line, this is a well-supported yes.
The most common mistake visitors make with Can Boix is treating it as a waypoint rather than a destination. It sits on the Banyoles-l'Escala road in the Empordà, a stretch of Girona province that is more famous for lakes, wetlands, and the ghost of Salvador Dalí than for its restaurant density. Most people passing through are heading somewhere else. The ones who stop and eat here tend to become the people who tell other people to stop and eat here , which is partly why Can Boix holds a 4.6 rating across 1,225 Google reviews, a number that carries real weight at any price point.
Empordà regional cooking is the frame here. The cuisine of this corner of Catalonia draws from a larder that runs between the Pyrenean foothills and the Costa Brava coast: salt cod prepared in multiple registers, slow-cooked meats, rice dishes that take influence from both mountain and sea, and vegetables grown in a territory that has supplied kitchens from Barcelona to El Bulli. A €€ price range at a venue cooking within this tradition is a meaningful signal. You are not getting stripped-back bistro food , you are getting a kitchen that knows its regional brief and has the Michelin organisation's endorsement for delivering it at a price that does not demand celebration-dinner framing.
This is where the practical decision forks. For food and travel enthusiasts doing the Girona region seriously, the lunch argument is strong. Midday at a Bib Gourmand-level Catalan restaurant in the countryside , with daylight, likely a set menu at a price that reflects the format, and the ability to carry on to Banyoles, the Gulf of Roses, or the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres , is a textbook use of this type of venue. Lunch is when regional restaurants in this tier typically offer their tightest value, and when the kitchen is often working at its most focused. The Empordà countryside at midday also offers a context that an evening visit simply cannot replicate.
Dinner at Can Boix shifts the calculus. The drive on the Banyoles-l'Escala road after dark requires more planning, especially if you are not staying locally, and the evening experience at a rural Catalan restaurant of this scale tends to be less structured around a set menu value proposition. That does not make it a wrong choice , dinner here would suit anyone staying in the area and looking for somewhere to eat that is better than it needs to be , but if you are travelling specifically to eat here, come for lunch. The value-to-effort ratio is clearer, and you get the Empordà light as context.
Booking at Can Boix sits in the easy range. This is not a 12-seat counter with a three-month waitlist. The 4.6 Google score across over a thousand reviews suggests consistent throughput and a kitchen that operates at scale without sacrificing quality. That said, the Girona region draws serious food tourism, particularly in the warmer months when the Costa Brava fills and visitors to [El Celler de Can Roca in Girona](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/el-celler-de-can-roca-girona-restaurant) often extend their trips into the wider province. Book a week or two ahead for weekday lunch; give yourself more runway for weekend visits in summer. Spontaneous visits may work in the off-season, but confirming ahead removes the risk.
Vilamarí itself is a small municipality, and Can Boix is road-positioned rather than village-centred. A car is the practical way to get here. If you are building a Girona food itinerary that includes heavier-hitting addresses like [Martin Berasategui in Lasarte-Oria](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/martin-berasategui-lasarte-oria-restaurant) or [Mugaritz in Errenteria](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/mugaritz-errenteria-restaurant) at the other end of the budget, Can Boix fits naturally as the counterweight: the meal where the region speaks for itself without the theatre of a full fine-dining production. For context on what else the area offers, see [our full Vilamarí restaurants guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/vilamari), [our full Vilamarí hotels guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/hotels/vilamari), and [our full Vilamarí bars guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/bars/vilamari).
Food and travel enthusiasts who want regional depth over technical spectacle will find Can Boix well-suited to their brief. This is the kind of restaurant that rewards people who read the menu with the same attention they give to a wine list , where the interest is in how the kitchen interprets a specific territory, not in how many courses arrive before dessert. Solo diners, couples, and small groups travelling through the Empordà all fit naturally here. It is also a credible option for anyone who has already spent heavily elsewhere on a trip , doing [Azurmendi in Larrabetzu](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/azurmendi-larrabetzu-restaurant) or [Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/cocina-hermanos-torres-barcelona-restaurant) and wanting a meal that is genuinely good without adding a significant line to the budget.
For further planning in the region, see [our full Vilamarí wineries guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/wineries/vilamari) and [our full Vilamarí experiences guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/experiences/vilamari).
Quick reference: Michelin Bib Gourmand 2024 & 2025 | €€ price range | 4.6 / 5 (1,225 Google reviews) | Regional Catalan cuisine | Easy booking | Car recommended | Lunch offers the strongest value proposition.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can Boix | Michelin Bib Gourmand (2025); Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024) | €€ | — |
| Aponiente | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Arzak | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Azurmendi | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| Cocina Hermanos Torres | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
| DiverXO | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | €€€€ | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
The kitchen earned back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmands in 2024 and 2025 for regional Catalan cooking, so lean into whatever reflects the local larder that day. At €€ pricing, set menus or daily specials are usually where the value concentrates. Avoid over-ordering; the format rewards focus over volume.
Can Boix is a Bib Gourmand-rated regional restaurant on a rural road between Banyoles and l'Escala, not a fine-dining room with a dress code. Neat, comfortable clothes fit the setting. Leave the jacket at the hotel.
Yes, and arguably better solo than in a large group. The regional Catalan format means you can eat well and deliberately at €€ without the coordination overhead of a shared tasting menu. Booking is easy by regional standards, so last-minute solo visits are realistic.
It depends on what the occasion calls for. Two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmands confirm the kitchen is consistent and serious, which makes it a credible choice for a low-key celebration where quality matters more than ceremony. If you want a formal, multi-hour tasting menu experience, the higher-end Girona options are a better fit for that brief.
Vilamarí itself is a small village, so the realistic frame is the wider Girona province. For more technical cooking with a higher price point, Els Tinars (Bib Gourmand, nearby Llagostera) is a comparable regional benchmark. For city-based alternatives, Girona's starred rooms raise both the ambition and the spend considerably.
At €€, with two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmands confirming value-to-quality ratio, yes. The Bib Gourmand is specifically awarded for good cooking at a moderate price, so the institution has already answered this question. The stronger ask is whether a detour to Vilamarí fits your itinerary, not whether the meal will justify its cost.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
