El Nacional Barcelona

had lunch at the seafood restaurant inside El Nacional last Sunday, and it was an absolutely delightful experience. From the moment I walked in, I was impressed by the elegant yet welcoming atmosphere. El Nacional is a unique concept with several dining spaces under one roof, and the seafood section is truly a gem for anyone who loves fresh and flavorful dishes. The food was outstanding. Every plate I tried was prepared with care and attention to detail. The freshness of the ingredients was evident in every bite, and the flavors were perfectly balanced. It’s clear that the kitchen takes pride in delivering high-quality dishes that showcase the best of Mediterranean seafood. The presentation was also beautiful, making the meal feel special. What really made the experience memorable was the service. The staff was courteous, professional, and very attentive without being intrusive. They were knowledgeable about the menu and offered helpful suggestions, which made me feel well taken care of throughout the meal. Dining alone can sometimes feel awkward, but here I felt completely comfortable and welcomed. If you are in Barcelona and want an exceptional seafood experience in a stylish setting, El Nacional is the place to go. Highly recommended!

I ordered the burger, and the least I expected was for it to be cooked properly. I asked for medium and got rare, which really ruined the dish. Since it was served without a bun or vegetables, I expected the patty itself to be top quality, but it really wasn’t. Same with the steak, asked for medium, got rare. The fries were okay but very oily and it was hard to ignore. The stuffed artichoke with meat was alright, nothing special. The dessert was disappointing too. The chocolate on top was bitter and tasted like coffee. If you’re looking for something sweet, this isn’t it. I’m sure the ice cream would be a much better option. The good parts were the nice atmosphere, the great location, and the friendly service. But overall, for the money, I expected way better food.

It’s just such a warm and fanatic place to spend time. The yellow light itself is already so inviting. The venue is filled with small details of clever and cozy decoration. Although the different restaurants have their individual styles the whole venue comes together nicely. The mixture of old parts rusty steel stairs and accurately arranged dinner tables - so charming. I’ve had no food or any drinks. So I can’t comment on food and drinks.

El Nacional Barcelona is an impressive and unique dining venue that stands out for its amazing architecture and stunning interior design. The decorations and lighting create a warm, elegant atmosphere that makes the visit worthwhile on its own. Inside, there are several restaurants and bars, each offering a different culinary experience, which adds to the charm and variety of the place. We chose to eat at the tapas restaurant, and while the presentation was nice, the food was only average and didn’t quite match the high-end setting. The prices were somewhat on the expensive side, especially considering the quality of the dishes. However, the ambiance and style of the venue make it a great spot to stop by for a few drinks or light bites. It’s an ideal place to enjoy the atmosphere and people-watch, even if you decide to dine elsewhere afterward. Overall, El Nacional is more about the experience and setting than the food itself, but it’s definitely worth a visit while in Barcelona.

Beautiful space!! Amazing environment created in what it use to be a big parking lot, theatre, textil factory.. First time? Enter and walk around.. enjoy every space, Its like a huge, fancy foodcourt. go to the bathrooms!

I went there at the end of August 2025. The place is pretty, and the staff is very kind and attentive, so the hospitality was impeccable from start to finish. I didn’t have to wait long to be served drinks at la Braseria restaurant. I felt that the main courses were a bit limited; I was expecting a bit more, but the choices are still quite varied. I had chicken and potatoes: the dish was good, but it was a little lacking in salt and seasoning. The chicken and potatoes were well cooked, but there were only four slices of potato. There was also good music playing in the background. Overall, it was a good experience.

This public eatery is the most gorgeous and well thought out place I’ve stepped in, and a gem to be at in Barcelona. It’s a must visit. Though touristy and pricier than other areas, the architecture and design was breathtaking. Our paella was 7/10 but didn’t have the crispy rice texture. We got cocktails at a different joint and they were perfectly balanced 8.5, would come back. Service was good, straightforward. But in a funny note, even the WC restrooms were so beautiful and unique. Check it out.

Located off a bustling street in a touristy part of town, it shouldn’t surprise you that the beautifully decorated El Nacional is packed with tourists. The food quality is decent and we enjoyed all the tapas we tried. This is a reliable tapas restaurant in a central location and we really enjoyed it.

Hi, A gem hidden in plain sight. Tapas and the finest aged steaks. Spanish grilled octopus, calamari, Iberico ham, potato fresh egg and chorizo and to top it all off, the best 60 day dry aged ribeye I ever ate. European beef may be a little tough, but the flavor was the most intense well prepared medium rare steak imaginable. Everything was top notch, including the wine recommendations. We started with rose and an Albariño and moved on to a recommended red. All, paired well with our food. Magnificent!

Gorgeous indoor dining hall with many food options. I did the tapas place and the fried shrimp were great but the rest of the food was too salty the cup of sangria was watered down. I also bought gelato twice from the stand they have some interesting flavors like Ferraro Rocher. Service is good. They have a large indoor bar area. It exudes sexiness.

Loved my visit to el nacional. The Christmas ambiance is gorgeous and the vibes were vibing. Food was fantastic , prices were a bit more than other spots but you are paying for the location and ambiance as well I guess. Service was not the most attentive since it was really busy and crowded around s the tapas bar but I was able to order and pay around the times I needed. Would recommend folks pop in during Christmas for a really beautifully decorated spot with good food

An upscale food hall with multiple restaurants and bars. Super high ceiling, simple but elegant decor in soft golden lighting present the place with a subtle sophisticated ambiance. We arrived at the typical Spanish dinner time of 9:30pm on a Sunday and the place was packed. However even when crowded , it had a nice orderly feel to the whole place. We chose a restaurant with a seafood focus called La Llotja. They didn't take reservations and there was a line to get in so we went on the wait list. The hostess said it would be about 45 minutes. She took down my phone # to call me when our table was ready. We went to the bar next door and had a couple glasses of cava. About 25 minutes later she called to say our table was ready. We were allowed to bring our wine glasses from the bar to the restaurant which was brilliant and very accommodating. The entrance to La Llotja was lined with a display of fresh whole seafoods on ice. Occasionally I would see a cook pluck a whole fish to bring into the kitchen. We started our meal with raw oysters. There were 4 varieties on the menu and we tried one of each. These were definitely some of the tastiest raw oysters I've had. They were the perfect temperature, not too cold or warm, plump, moist, with a mild briny flavor and no milky residue. The grilled red shrimp from Huelva with seaweed salt were absolutely addicting. A deep water shrimp with an intense deep red color similar to lobster is plucked from the Mediterranean Spanish town of Huelva. The meat is firm, sweet, moist with a hint of charred smokiness. Oh and the rich tomalley from the shrimp head left us speechless. Figure out how to bottle that and you will be filthy rich. Twice-cooked Galician octopus with potatoes and aioli was not such a successful dish . We made it a point to eat a lot of octopus on our 12 days in Spain and this was the first disappointment. The skin was a bit brittle and dry. The interior were on the verge of tough. But we saved the dish with a generous cascade of Spanish olive oil which gave the dish a nice velvety texture. The potatoes on the other hand was magnificent. Super tender and with the skin still on. Good service and the staff spoke English but I always made it a point to say "thank you" and "please" in Spanish. Happy Eating!$

This food and servers were amazing - 8 adults and 1 child. Our server was attentive and very nice. The atmosphere and details within the restaurant are so cute and cozy! The food was incredible too.

Must stop for your gastronomical experience. Gelato. Tapas. Drinks. Yes please!! What's not to love here. Yes lots of people but so many restaurants and choices and wow, serious food and drink overload but so good. Enjoyed a drink and some tapas on our first trip but so many more to come. Lots of different tapas and meals here. Many places to grab a drink and enjoy the vibe. And of course did I say gelato? Service was great. Very friendly and attentive even though busy. Came back and the ox burger was great. Along with some red vermouth. So good

Great food hall in Barcelona with a ton of different food and drink options! My friends and I tried both the cocktail bar as well as the steak restaurant. They also have a taperia, fish restaurant, gelateria and a charcuterie bar inside. The few drinks we had at the cocktail bar were delicious. We had a range of cocktails including a rum based, vodka based and tequila based one. Everything was on point! For the braseria, we ordered to our hearts content. From steak tartare to oysters to a giant 1.3kg steak that we shared, everything was delicious. The steak was a 60 day dry aged steak and was cooked to perfection. Service everywhere in here was phenomenal. I highly would recommend!

Ate at La Taperia inside El Nacional- el nacional is actually a large indoor establishment with a few different stores within, a braseria, a taperia, fresh fish restaurant, gelateria, and charcuterie bar. The food we had was terrible. Got the seafood paella, which had the worst fishy flavor- they didn't even provide lemon, which normally when I get a paella I thought always came with lemon-l wedges, so that was a first. Service was terrible. Toon forever to flag down someone who would actually bring me a lemon so that I could even stomach my food- by the time it came the food was already cold and still tasted like shit. The ambiance seems to be what attracts people here, and it seems to be a lot of tourists that end up here; but other than the ambiance, I wouldn't recommend eating or drinking anything inside this establishment.

*Lengthy but worth reading Super cool concept with multiple bars and restaurants and some of the food was decent. We thought the paella lacked flavor. The service (shouldn't even be called that), was some of the worst I've ever had. To start, we ordered bread and one small plate to share, and I made sure to tell the waiter we were just starting with those dishes and that we would want to order more, but our menus were taken and he said "later" and walked away. We never saw him at our table again, only socializing at the front with other wait staff with seemingly nothing to do. I had to flag down a random waitress after 30 minutes of no service to order the paella, which we were told would take 30 minutes, fine. It would have been nice to be able to order earlier. Eventually our original waiter did come by to clean off the table beside us, and never once acknowledged us or asked if we wanted drink refills, more dishes (like we initially stated we wanted), nothing. This place could be great but it's just not, sadly. We won't return.

Inside the big space, there Tapas at Barcelona, Spain We ordered Iberian ham croquettes. Shoestring potato fries with ham shavings and poached egg, steamed rock mussels, rockfish stew and a red wine sangria. The stew and mussels and fried potatoes came out cold, fried squid and croquettes were ok. Dishes were just average. The red sangria tasted great!

What a beautiful place with beautiful people. Tucked away behind the busy paseo. Don't blink your eyes you will miss it. High-end food and very classy service and quality food

A good spot to meet up with friends. Vibes are bright and clean with plenty of photo opportunities. The bathroom is also stunning! I liked being able to grate the tomato for the bread ourselves!

Absolutely gorgeous food hall with so many places to dine at. Tons of options for all palates. Drinks were delish and service top notch. We will definitely return to try other spots.

This place is such a nice area to eat! Ambiance is great for a night out! It has a couple different restaurants. We chose La Braseria. The wait was around 45 mins, so I def recommend making a reservation. We got the bread, cheese, ham, baked suckling lamb, duck magret, bread with chocolate, and honey roasted pineapple. The cheese and ham were solid, but nothing special. The lamb had a nice, gamey taste and was pretty tender. The duck magret had a good sauce, but was a little chewy. The bread with chocolate was a little weird, but interesting to try

Had a delicious meal. Marina was our server and she was so patient, spoke great English, and gave great recommendations. I got the duck confit and it was a terrific meet. The croquettes were the best I've had in Spain. I loved the interior lighting and light music. The place looks expensive but it wasn't too bad. It looks like a big market. The gelato was less than amazing. Forgettable. Coffee was really strong but good.

Came for a nice second dinner we got oysters which were amazing ! We also got a sea bass ceviche as well which was really good. And the dessert was beyond amazing ! bizcocho which is a sponge cake with crème brûlée , would love to come back service was great ! Ambiance was very nice

This place was recommended to me by a local. It was a great recommendation. It's sorta like an indoor high end cafeteria with multiple restaurants and bars. The decor is beautiful and bathrooms are free and very clean. You don't need to be a paying patron to use them. We went to a tapas place to share some calamari, shrimp and chicken strips. The food was good and reasonably priced. We then shared some gelato, which is located right at the entrance. The location is great and easy to find.

Great place to try a few different things while in Barcelona. A little difficult to find on the Main Street but a great atmosphere. Enjoy!

Great place with lots of variety of foods and drinks to choose from Tapas are great, wine selection is very good and few different restaurants to choose from, great whiskey bar

Awesome food hall with lots of goodies! Loved the giant cocktail bar in the middle. So many great drinks up for the taking!

So the vibe is great. The atmosphere is very cool. The food... not so great. We went to the taperia and it was mediocre. If you are into very salty food, this is your place! We are not. The paella was too salty to eat and the ingredients were so tiny and sparse. Bad choice. Service was pretty good . This is basically the "Eataly" of Barcelona. ( if you've been to NYC). Touristy and poor quality food

We had dinner tonight at La Braseria and had to come on here to share our experience since it was so horrible. The food was great but unfortunately our server Mura/Musa tainted the whole experience. He was unpleasant from the time we sat down and clearly had a distaste for tourists. Worst service we've ever experienced. He made us feel so uncomfortable we had to go the hostess to get our bill. If you get bald man with the name Mura/ Mursa, RUN!

AMAZING! I love El Nacional. I highly recommend going! Tapas at the bar, or fresh seafood, or a group dinner, or east lunch for everyone. 100%!

Spanish food hall with a fish, meat, wine bar, dessert & tapas stations. We chose La Planca starting with a salad to share & a local flatbread. Reasonable prices, a beautiful setting & great service. Music played, this was perfect for people watching and hysterical to watch everyone taking photos of the setting & food.. The lamb lettuce, blue cheese, caramelized apple with grape seed vinaigrette was exceptional. The flatbread was equally wonderful the crust was like a light, crispy Asian noodle. The fresh mozzarella, salad, walnuts sweet sauce it was delicious; I never had anything like it!

Some of our best food and service in Barcelona was here. El Nacional is like a food hall, with I think maybe 6 different restaurants to choose from (tapas, seafood, Italian(ish) etc.) The interior is also really cool looking, it has a great vibe and good energy, everyone enjoying good food and good company. I'd say there's also a pretty good mix of locals and tourists.

First of all, this is a fancy food court with many restaurant inside. So, you might see good reviews left by others, and bad review here. You needed to be very careful. The Tapas restaurant here is just terrible. (The second restaurant on the right). The flatbread with tomato, fine as it is, but I want jus the flatbread but they couldn't give us. Ended up paying more to get the bread. The meatball is a bit dry and chewy. The cuttlefish has little flavor. The garlic shrimps is so simple and should be fresh and full of wonderful flavors with the sauce. But that is kk the case here. Thus, there was no need for the flatbread. The sangria we ordered is a ready made product that probably worth 5euro in supermarket but now at 20 euros. The paella is super salty and lack of seafood flavor. Worst of all, the Pavlova is only cream and strawberry jam without any of the cake content. It turned out to be a sour drink. The service just barely okay. The location and environment is nice, but is it worth it. If this is 40 euro, I can forgive this food quality, but this ended up at 80 euros. Even if I paid 10 - 15 euros for the nicer venue, this is still way overpriced. Wasted one dinner night here and wasted the money. Total disappointment.

This is a New restaurant concept!! Love it!! Great ambiance, all under one roof/ and they have a Tapas section, a bar section, a fish restaurant, a pasta section- and something else all sectioned out. We chose the Tapas section and you should too! You will not be disappointed whatever you choose, but for us: tapas was the way to try new foods in small portions and enjoy the ambiance. Everything was delicious! Be daring- we chose navajas and were not disappointed ! Enjoy!!

Amazing place , ambiance , food and drinks . Really cool esthetic , and it is like a collective of restaurants in one place so you can choose from . But the main bar is like the mother ship is really nice

This place is huge and what I wouid define as a 'food hall'. It's super loud and if that is your vibe than you may love it. I did not. Here is why. I felt it comes across as an upscale eatery; food halls are mall like to me and in the US I look down my nose at that. I like to enjoy my food in peace. This place has lots of people buying into some kind of hyped up commercialism when there is so much to being in Spain and enjoying better food. The concept is lost on me. So was the taste of the over priced food we had. Our server was also one of the worst and we had three bad ones in 14 days of traveling Spain. Pretty decent, if you ask me! She didn't know how to find the champagne I ordered; then the reserve cava. So she brought me a basic house cava, so what, was her attitude, ( no she wasn't Spanish ;-) ) -- she was from a part of the far east . We didn't get crisps like all the other tables. We ordered salads and my husband had questions about the oysters to which she could not answer. Music blaring to the point we could not talk and my name is not Karen. The idea here of El Nacional : 'HIGH priced' restaurants all under one roof - A Brasserie , ( meats / fishes/ salads / etc ; - A Grill - A Tapas place - a Gelato place - a wine bar - a beer bar .. some you need a reservation for and some you clearly don't .. lots of people- a total let down. My Celery Apple Blue Cheese Salad for $18 was just awful. My cava -- basic. I didn't finish it because it tasted like J Roget from NY, which is a $3 sparking wine and tastes like a sewer. We got our check & the waitress had the audacity to ask me to use my CC on a separate transaction to tip her. First off she didn't warrant a tip. Secondly I said I would leave a Euro so she rolled her eyes. Yeah. That's about how I feel too.

This place called my eye almost immediately. I stayed at a hotel nearby and thought this place looks so cool. There's a beautiful walkway down to it where there are tons of trees and string lights so it's promoting itself as a cool place with a cool vibe. I didn't realize it was a food hall until I walked in. So there are tons of options and I was a little overwhelmed. I sat in the tapas restaurant and they had just open for dinner, so there was already a line preemptively waiting. They seated us really quickly and the line moves really fast. We ordered pretty traditional: Spanish omelette, which was definitely good. It had a big chunks of potato in it. We got the sausages which I had not seen in the tapas scene until this night and those were really tasty. We also got a seafood stew, which I hadn't really seen around either. So I enjoyed it. Definitely a cool interior and you have optionality, which is really great because they have a raw bar and an ice cream stand for post-dinner. Would I say this is the best tapas from a food perspective in Barcelona? No. But it's a cool experience nonetheless.

We had a great time at El National. Our circumstances were specialized by our company. We were in a private room. Service and food were superb. Colleagues enjoyed the wine. I am not sure how I'd navigate El National on my own. Vibrant atmosphere in the main restaurant.

What an experience visiting Barcelona for the first time! This place comes to life in the evening and rightfully so. Absolutely packed restaurants that are all lively and fun. We went to La Llotja and had some fantastic seafood. The oysters were fresh and a little saltier than what I'm used to likely do to them being Mediterranean. Delicious. The jamon. I can see why it's so famous here in Spain. Each slice was cut very thin and packed a punch of flavor. Eaten with a piece of bread and it's game over! The tuna steak was a little dry and lacked a unique flavor but let me tell you, the sea bass was amazing. Our server was extremely generous and made the recommendation to have it baked in salt which I've only seen on tv. It was incredible! So tender, so flavorful, and not overly salty. We had some gelato afterwards too. Would definitely come back!

Ended up heading here after a recommendation from a local and I'm glad I checked it out. El nacional is basically this bougie food hall with plenty of dope food options. I ended up going with some tapas at the bar, a beer, and finished with some gelato. Everything tasted amazing and the service was really attentive and ready to help with any of your needs. Definitely worth a visit to kick back and grab a meal, dessert, and/or drinks.

Amazing atmosphere and food. The herb bread is a must. Had the one of the best bottle of red wine ever.

Beautiful lively venue. We did not need a reservation at 8:30p on a Monday. But recommend one. Service was stellar. The food meh to mediocre. Although the croquettes were some of the best. Paella portion was huge for two people - very salty and bland - and not good. Fish in salt crust was ok but a bit pedestrian and very pricy for what it was. Ahi tuna appetizer a bit bland and plain. Bread con tomate and herb was excellent. The bright spot was the excellent service. Can't say enough about that.

Unique dining experience and ambiance! Cool bar, decor and atmosphere for sure! We ate at the brasserie and it was quite good! Quick service and attentive staff!

This a great idea mixing multiple food venues into one spot. Between a gelato stand, 4 restaurants, and two bars, this is a fun place to drop in. During our time in Barcelona, we tried three of the restaurants, and the gelato and enjoyed them all, although my favorite was the first restaurant on the right as you enter the building! Service was consistently good and the food even better. Definitely worth going back a few times to try each place, and given the proximity to the hotel we stayed at (El Almanac) that was easy enough to to!

Fun and festive ambiance! Great service! Delicious food! Best Old Fashioned I've ever had.. what else can I ask for!

More of a tourist restaurant. The interior and ambiance is very beautiful however the staff are pretty unhelpful. If you want to try some of everything and don't care about the quality of the food, then eat here. The ham and cheese plate and drinks were good, but the paella was practically inedible.

Ambiance: we showed up at 12:30PM, which was too early for anything to be open (that's on us) so we waited until 1 for one restaurant to open. But the plus side was we had the whole place to ourselves and immediately got seated the moment it turned 1. The staff was also a bit rude. My friend brought her matcha into the restaurant and the waiter told her no outside food was allowed (understandable) and took her drink away. We thought they were just going to keep it until we left and give it back but then they fully dumped it down the sink. Food: ordered some pretty standard tapas but the star of the show was the tinto de verano. The tapas weren't really outstanding, mostly it was the decor that added to the atmosphere. Overall pretty pricey and I would recommend just getting tapas at a regular restaurant.

service wasn't particularly speedy but the tapas options were fun and the place had a cool interior. also pretty fairly priced

This place was awesome! We had just arrived in Barcelona (myself, wife and kids ages 18 and 13), and we needed to kill time before our room was ready, and we needed lunch. Our hotel recommended this place, so we went! When you walk in the place is huge, and magnificent. Looks fancy, but you do not need to be dressed up and kids are welcome. The bar areas open at 12 and the food areas at 12:30. We sat at the bar and had drinks until 12:30, and at around 12:20 we got in line for a table on the tapas area. There were also a fish area and 3-4 other eating areas, but I am not sure what they served. The bar also serves food. Once seated our server took our order and it was tapas all the way. The Iberian Ham Croquettes were so so good, and the bread smeared with tomatoes also yummy. The potatoes in Aioli was just ok, and the chicken tenders with tartar and home made cannelloni was good. All in all a great experience with yummy food. Very busy place so get there early. Go. Here. Now.

We waited in line (maybe 20 minutes) on Friday evening around 7 p.m. for La Taperia (this section of the building does not take reservations, although the Grill and the Fish place do). Thought the line would be worse but with our group of six this allowed us to take turns and use the bathroom, look around the entire building, which was decorated for Christmas, and decide what we wanted to order. We ordered the calamari, patatas bravas, gambas al ajillo, albondigas, grilled vegetables, tortilla de patata, mussels, and the flan. I also got the sangria. We also got a second order which included more calamari and patatas bravas, and the bread with tomato, olive oil, and salt. You rub the tomato on the bread and add olive oil and salt. Everything was delicious, except the albondigas was a tad too salty, and the grilled vegetables were extremely overcooked. The bread was also stale. But would go again for the lovely ambience and the fast service.

El Nacional is a fancy food market with different restaurants inside. We ate at the first restaurant on the right hand side, the Italian restaurant and we were very disappointed in the food. No one enjoyed their meals. We had a cheese board, meats board, pasta with pesto, flatbread and raviolis. The gelato here was good but my recommendation is to just come here for drinks.

This place is all hype. It looks super cool inside but the food is mediocre at best and it's outrageously overpriced. The seafood paella tasted like rotten fish - it was barely edible and we saw others with it barely touched on their table too. The service was slow...average. Some of the starters were okay but again, overpriced. You have to make your own pan con tomate which tasted good but was odd - they bring you bread and raw uncut tomatoes that you have to prepare yourself. We paid over 80€ for two people and left unsatisfied, and honestly feeling a little yucky.

Im on the fence here. The setting is exciting and visually stunning, but the food is underwhelming IMO. I came here once for a drink and snack, and a second time for dinner. It was so hot inside the second time that I had to pay my tab and leave, looking for dinner somewhere else. Go and have some tapas and a cava, but save dinner for someplace better.

Absolutely delicious tapas. All around every dish was very good and the seafood in particular was exquisite. The ambience is amazing. It's super classic and refined, complete with low ambient lighting and compartmentalized restaurants/ bars all together.

For my First time " Tapas" try here in Barcelona, Spain , it was a true remarkable experience, the many form of Tapas offered is amazing, all so very different and scrumptious, when we arrived there was a small line and it went by slow some, just be patient. We were a group of eight celebrating the ending of our Mediterranean cruise that finished here . The sights are spectacular and the inside of this gorgeous restaurant is that , busy and beautiful, when in Barcelona , stop by.

This place was highly recommended and did not disappoint. We chose the Tapas restaurant. Everything was delicious. We really liked the chistorra and the gambas al ajillo. Try to get there early, between 12:30 and 1:30 to avoid lines.