7 Portes

"You can’t talk rice in Barcelona without mentioning 7 Portes, a beautifully maintained institution where little has changed since it opened in 1836. The haughty waiters still wear pressed white jackets and the faded photographs on the walls show glimpses of what Barceloneta looked like in years past. Diners range from young couples to multi-generational families who are all here to feast on rice. Some have blackened lips from the squid ink in the arroz negro, while others suck on lobster heads and slurp sauce from the mussels in the rich arroz caldoso, or soupy rice. We always go for the Paella Manolete, a zingy homage to the Catalan love of surf and turf, with butifarra sausage and shrimp. If you can’t agree on what to get, 7 Portes is one of the few places in the city that serves individual portions. photo credit: 7 Portes photo credit: 7 Portes photo credit: 7 Portes" - Isabelle Kliger

"Such is the fame of this nearly 200-year-old establishment that it might be easy to write it off as a tourist trap. But locals come for the perfectly executed Catalan classics that the kitchen continues to turn out year after year, including fideuà." - Jeff Koehler