Barcelona's Restaurant & Bar

We are on a quest of eating pizza in the 5 oldest pizza restaurants in the state. This is our 4th location. We arrived at Barcelona’s Restaurant and Bar in Garfield, NJ. This place is family owned since 1933. A simple corner location in a residential blue collar neighborhood. Parking is free street parking. It can be challenging but not impossible. When you enter the restaurant you feel the nostalgic vibe. Although the restaurant opened in 1933 it was modernized. Now it’s been updated to the 1950-1960’s. That’s not bad. It’s history. The bar is simple long and stocked. Typically in its hey day it was a place for factory workers to come in and have a drink. Oh the restaurant has a phone booth. It doesn’t work and neither does the booth lights. Restaurant has booths and tables with a simple decor and wall paneling. Waitress was attentive. We order a coke and a draft beer. I asked if pasta was home made. It’s note. I asked if the clams are fresh in the clam sauce. It’s half and half. We started with their mussel appetizer and then a large cheese pie. The mussels were large but tender and plump. The were clean from sand and grit. The tomato sauce was good. It came with a large Italian bread. It was warm, crusty and tasty. The cheese pie was not as thin as the other places we visited. The round crust was crusty and burnt at some spot. It was good. While the bottom crust has a slight char and was coated with semolina. It affected the taste while some may like it we did not care for it. The slice had no structure and had a big flop. That was a disappointment for us. The pie was cheesy but chewy. It did have a large olive oil sheen and too much for us. It required napkin blotting. Menu has a large selection of its from soups, sandwiches, pasta entrees etc. Prices are very reasonable, better than most. We had an appetizer, large pizza, a soda and 2 beers. Total cost including tip $40. Now for our rated One Bite gave it a 7.5. We gave it a 7. Give this place a try.

Ordered Penne Vodka and there was no sauce and liquidity at the bottom. Horrible, the cook needs to do better. This was my first time trying this place, so it’s such a shame, don’t waste your time or money.

Amazing Pizza! Great place to hang out. Local bar/restaurant vibe. My favorite type of place.

Old school bar. Little hole in the wall. But I love places like it. The pizzas are great. Definitely top 5 in NJ. Ask for well done..

I got spaghetti and meatballs... Iknow, I know. What did you expect? Lol but hear me out, my tin had water on the bottom. Like the pasta kept cooking as I was eating it and getting mushy. The meatballs I'm not even convinced we're real. It was kind of like those TV dinner turkey balls that when you cut them it makes one solid mass. Maybe this was an unfair dish to try, they just seemed proud of the meatballs in their menu, I'll try again. My advice to the cook.get a spaghetti strainer!you could use it for so many things in a kitchen and it's going to make the difference between people knowing you got some cheap off brand sauce and the cheap off brand being some salt pepper and garlic away from being passable. The bar seemed cool there were plenty of tvs for watching sports but I went during the day so I can't say much else.

I am only giving this one star because the food was good. However, we will never be back due to the atrocious service. One member of our party of eight had suggested it because he had such fond memories of going there as a child. However, our meals were brought out individually. One of our party had a hamburger and was finished eating before more of the meals got delivered. Two of our party ordered a pizza which was never brought out. We were finished eating and finally told them to cancel the pizza. Then they had the nerve to ask if we wanted dessert, Are you kidding, I would never recommend this establishment to anyone.

Barcelona’s in Garfield is an old-school institution. Pizza is top notch - thin, great, tasty sauce with a perfect amount of cheese. We loved Maddie, our server; she’s been there over 30 years. Kind, fast and of course, does everything from answering the phone to make drinks, take orders and serves food. Today we had a pie with half meatball & half eggplant. The eggplant was perfect- thin-sliced, breaded and d crispy. My friends loved the meatball part if the pizza. Also got the rice balls, stiffed with cheese. Perfectly cooked & seasoned. So delicious with the marinara sauce! We get pizza from Barcelona’s when we have a hankering & will keep going back.

Absolutely fantastic. Great food and service at this old school restaurant.. And prices you gotta see to believe (LOW Prices).2 sandwiches, order of fries order of onion rings Large pizza with mushrooms and 2 large beers only 50 dollars 😳 Highly suggest this place. Believe me you won’t be disappointed 👌👏