La Mestressa

We find this place to be one of those places that instantly wins you over. Tucked away from the crowds, it offers a warm, intimate atmosphere that feels both relaxed and thoughtfully curated! It is perfect for a nice meal. The food is outstanding!!! Every dish we tried was beautifully prepared and balanced, showing real care and skill in the kitchen. Service was friendly, attentive, and unpretentious, making the whole experience feel effortless and welcoming.

Tradition combines well with diversity!!! Excellence is not sacrificed to achieve an amazing food experience. It may not look as good as it really is, although the terrace and the interior present a traditional look of a family restaurant. The menu is diverse, not only in terms of number of dishes, but specially in a fusion of Catalonian and Mediterranean recipes. Great starters, main and desserts, but also tapas and nice sides. Good wines with red and whites, although its sangria (wine based and another cava based) is just exceptional. The service is very close, the price versus quality is good. So it does not matter for day to day or a celebration, one truth remain you will enjoy it!!!!

I visited this restaurant at the end of June 2025 with a friend, in the beautiful Plaza Óscar, which has been around for nearly three centuries. Out of all the restaurants in the area, this one truly stood out and became a very special memory for us. What made it so memorable—aside from the great food—was the warmth and hospitality of our waiter. He greeted us with a genuine smile, and the moment he realized we were a group of Japanese guests, he said “Sugoi!” in Japanese. Curious, I asked in Spanish if he liked Japanese anime. In response, he proudly showed us the tattoos on his arms—One Piece and Tokyo Ghoul characters—proof of his deep love for Japanese culture. The patatas bravas were also handled with care; instead of automatically pouring the sauce on top, he kindly asked if we preferred it on the side. That small gesture showed just how thoughtful and hospitable he was. In places like restaurants and bars, giving guests a choice like that really matters. It reflects true hospitality, and this place had it in abundance. From start to finish, we were made to feel welcome and cared for. The food was genuinely delicious, but for me, a great restaurant shines brightest when its hospitality matches the quality of its dishes. If you ever have the chance to visit, don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy both the food and the exceptional service.

A small place located in a quiet square. Cozy atmosphere, friendly waiters, amazing vermouth, tasty food and overall good prices. Been there twice as it was recommended by a friend. Better book a table online from before.

Very nice tapas place located in a vibrat square. Food was great. Our favourites: bravas, sirloin slices and the octopus arm. It gets busy, reserve. Two shifts 20h and 22h. Definitely worthy.

Me and my partner called off here for dinner on a random Monday evening in the week before Christmas. I’ll expand on why in a moment, but we both unanimously agreed this was the best meal we had in December. We were welcomed with a short wait for a table (I’m not surprised there’s a wait: It’s fabulous!) and happily waited with an exceptionally good glass of red wine. When we got in, the service was wonderfully warm. We ordered croquetes, beautiful gambes from Palamos, and 500g of txuletó de vedella de Girona, with many glasses of very drinkable red wine. The atmosphere was uplifting and the food was absolutely delicious. You just get the vibe that the kitchen love serving something that’ll make you happy, and the front-of-house want to be there and also want you there too. When next in BCN: I’ll be back!

The best patatas bravas, hamburgers and fried tomatoes I've ever tried. The service is excellent, and Pablo, the Argentine waiter is very welcoming, attentive and quick. We'll definitely come back.

Searched for a genuine local tapas venue and found this beauty. Exactly what we were looking for, busy and loud but food was incredible along with service Well priced and enough for 3 including wine and beer!!! Highly recommend if around Sants area More time and we would be back…. Duck tacos, egg and potato, meat platter and jambon croquettes were amazing

La Mestressa is such a great vibe and one of the defining experiences from my trip to Barcelona! Here are a few highlights: 1. The neighborhood - I stayed at the AC Hotel Sants while visiting Barcelona. The Barcelona Sants train station was adjacent to the hotel, and the property was in a walkable neighborhood surrounded by restaurants, convenience stores, and other businesses. There was also a deceptively nondescript alley right next to the hotel that I didn't explore right away. Turns out, that alley leads to a vibrant, hidden plaza (Plaça d'Osca) with restaurants and shops, where locals in the Sants neighborhood hang out. This is also where La Mestressa is located. 2. The food and drinks - I got dinner with two friends at La Mestressa one evening. We ordered a pitcher of sangria, a bottle of wine, and a wide selection of tapas, croquettes, and a couple main dishes. My personal favorites from the meal were the sangria, patatas bravas (crispy potatoes with sauce), octopus, and the salmon salad (not pictured). Each of those dishes were well-seasoned, had great textural contrast, and provided either familiar comfort (patatas bravas and octopus) or a completely new flavor experience (salmon salad). The sangria was light and refreshing. 3. The service - Our server was bilingual and provided satisfactory service. She was warm. The service was well-paced, and she attended to all of our needs as a group. 4. The ambience - As I previously mentioned, both Plaça d'Osca and La Mestressa were a whole vibe. If the terms "off the beaten path," "honeycomb hideout," "in the cut," or "rural retreat" mean anything to you, this area similarly provides a nice place to "retreat" and immerse yourself in a local neighborhood right in the heart of Spain's second largest city. It's the perfect place to drink wine and sangria and while away your evening. :)

Great food small neighborhood place. We had vegetables, calamari, olives, salad, mozzarella with tomato. Everything was delicious!

We were in the neighborhood on vacation, and were looking for someplace to eat. They had room so we stepped in. Honestly the rest of Barcelona has been ruined for us now. We ate other places, but none of them compare. Not the market, none of the other small tapas places we tried. It's as if the others aren't even trying. If you are near Plaça de Sants, you will not be disappointed.

La vibra es fantástica, la atención es cálida. La comida muy muy buena y mejor si es comida allí en caliente! Definitivamente un highlight en nuestra visita a la ciudad!

On the south side of a lovely little square in Barcelona lives this little restaurant that is now in the conversation as one of most memorable meals we've ever had! We showed up at 6:30, grabbed a bottle of wine and sat out in the square for a half hour before being seated. It was magical! Make sure to sit out front of the restaurant as the flanking tables belong to the restaurant they sit in front of. The waiter was great! He was bilingual (or more) and was wonderful at being gracious as I stumbled through ordering in broken Spanish and then just helping us order in English when I frustrated myself enough to quit trying! The breadth of options was legit! Our meal ranged from charcuterie to peppers, croquettes to veal and introduced us to a version of huevos rotos - runny eggs and other pleasantries over potatoes (in this case fries). The huevos rotos came two ways - first with foie gras and onions, and second with crispy ham (legit bacon) and mushrooms. These were two of the favorite dishes we've ever had - they go on my favorite things list! The charcuterie was beautiful and equally delicious. We also grabbed a beef dish with a rosemary and thyme that was lit on fire on the plate. It too was delicious! We ended up with something like 8 or 9 dishes for the group (4 adults and 3 kids) and a couple bottles of wine. We all left very satisfied, but not so full that we had to roll ourselves out. The vibe of the place was upbeat and fun, the food was delicious and thoughtful, and the price was perfect! We paid less for 7 of us than we generally do for 2 of us back home. During our short time in Barcelona, this spot was the an absolute perfect place. Sitting at our table and in the square before, it was as great of a night as we can remember. If you're in Barcelona, we highly recommend stopping in!

Great food and Sangria. Highly recommend the Octopus and Beef & Rosemary Tapas. Overall great atmosphere despite the smaller size.

We had the most amazing duck tacos here and the croquettes were phenomenal! Cute and quaint inside too.

I'm a regular at this place. They never disappoint me and my colleagues. Avoid a glass of sangria and order a pitcher instead. A pitcher per person I mean lol. It's the best sangria in Barcelona and it's super cheap. Their tapa menu is a little limited if compare with other places but I don't mind coz I always enjoy what they have to offer. The only dish I don't like here was a "squid in its own ink". It's not their fault though. I just wanted to experience something new and I don't mind pay for it..it's just too extreme for me I guess lol. (I don't return food unless it's not fresh) The service here is very friendly and that's one of the reasons why I love to come here. My favorite dishes are patatas bravas, shrimp & asparagus with fried egg, and roasted padron peppers. Highly recommended this place!!

In a plaza hidden from the touristy areas, this place was filled with locals, which was a good sign for me. They didn't service food until 8:30pm, but my friends and I still had a good time with the cheap pitchers of sangria. We later got the anchovies in vinegar, patatas bravas, and fried cuttlefish. All were delicious and I especially loved the spicy tomato sauce that came with the patatas bravas. Service was great too!

The two of us came here on a Wednesday evening, and many of the streets around this plaza were dead. The plaza, however, was full of life--with a crowd outside this restaurant in particular. My impression (from other reviews) is that this is the norm here. We sat down, and the service was a bit delayed, but understandable given how busy it was. We ordered the Cava Sangria (made with champagne), Catalan Sausage with Cuttlefish (tapas), and the Veal (14,80€ option, main course). The sangria was tasty and had a very fragrant taste. One order is a liter of sangria, which was a bit too much for the two of us--perfect for three, though. The table next to us ordered the Wine Sangria, which came out in a dark red ombré color in the jug, and was much more picture-worthy. The Catalan Sausage with Cuttlefish was excellent! Each type of food (light and dark sausage, cuttlefish, potato) had its own distinct flavor, but they blended harmoniously. The crispy pieces were my favorite--they created a wonderful texture. It was a little bit oily near the end though (see picture). The Veal was also very good, and was served with mild whole peppers and potatoes in a sweet wine sauce. Again, the flavors worked very well together. The veal ranged from medium to medium-rare, depending on the size of the piece. You could try asking for it cooked to your preferred done-ness; we forgot to!

Awesome food and drinks, the patatas bravas and the fried cuttlefish are just excellent. Furthermore the atmosphere is very authentic. Definitely recommend this place!

Had high expectations based on the reviews but was really disappointed when we were served raw prawns! Raw prawns brought in oil served as cooked. I showed the waiter the guts of the prawns and asked him to re-cook it. If you go to this place make sure you get the food cooked...

Really great neighborhood spot with more locals than tourists. It's cozy and the service is friendly and attentive. The food was yummy with healthy portions (even for the tapas!) so we left happy. For the two of us: Goat cheese salad to share A sandwich with olive pate, ham, and brie cheese The catalan sausage with cuttlefish A vermouth A beer (lager) 1 cafe americano 1 cafe Chocolate cake with scoop of vanilla ice cream Still water All for a total of about 30 euros. With a small tip, just under $20 U.S. a person for a nice relaxing and yummy dinner. It's situated on a plaza where a lot of locals were hanging (in the outdoor seating) on a Tuesday night. So there were many other places you could "crawl" to or try all in one place. Great choice for a mellow Tuesday night dinner.

We were excited to try this place as its online presence promised us delicious tapas & sangria. The pitcher of cava sangria was good and definitely affordable (only €12.50!) but the tapas left much to be desired. We wanted potatoes bravas but it was listed on their menu as fries so we ended up ordering a different potato dish that was served with stinky hot cheese. I wasn't impressed. Also, I would highly recommend avoiding the salmon carpacho. It was fishy and not very tasty, although there was a whole lot of it! The crocquettes were okay, but a few were cold on the inside. The only dish I actually enjoyed was the olive pate sandwich (with Brie cheese and Serrano) but my friend wasn't the huge fan of the combination. I will say that they were able to squeeze us into a table for one hour before the next reservation (although the place was small) and the service wasn't bad. For that reason, I am giving the place 2 stars instead of 1.

We found this spot through Yelp on the last night of our vacation in Barcelona and we are SO glad we did. Showed up with no reservation just after 7 and the place was packed - they initially told us it would be about an hour wait and then were able to get us a table immediately! We had so much food - the ox tail, steak sandwich, goat cheese sandwich, croquettes, brie and jam, sopressado toast, and more + several beers, a couple of cocktails and a bottle of wine. Everything was AMAZING and our total bill was just over 70 euros -- are you kidding me?? We're moving here. Go check out this place!!

Food was excellent only topped by the service. Went there at opening on a Saturday night. Empty when we arrived and full within 30 minutes. Mainly locals but a couple of people on business from the UK. Enjoyed the Mestressa plate and roasted veggies plus IPA and sangria.