Paulina Kulczycki | Live the World
November 23, 2022
Let’s be honest, Grácia is simply the best district in Barcelona for vegans and vegetarians. Since I was living in this area, it was especially hard not to name twenty of my favourite places, but break it down to five. In Grácia you can literally walk into any random restaurant, café or bar and you’ll most probably find vegan options. The variety of street food, pastries, healthy food, cool places to get brunch or charming restaurants to get dinner is really tempting. I’d recommend you to discover Grácia also for the great cafés and atmosphere during the botellónes at night, while drinking cervezas on one of the many plaças in this cute district. And once you’re here you can also enjoy one of the best vegan places in Grácia!
This cute, little vegetarian eaterie has an exceptionally gorgeous and familial ambience to offer. Quinoa Bar is located in the heart of Grácia and offers daily specials for very reasonable prices – especially their freshly made vegetable quiches are super delicious, just like the vegan cheese burger, hot dog and quinoa salad. My tip is to try out their incredible desserts, like the vegan carrot cake with coconut frosting or the chocolate chip cookies. The English speaking staff in Quinoa Bar is very friendly and helpful and always open for a chat. You can easily come here with your meatlover-friends and I can guarantee you, they’ll love it, too. Quinoa Bar is definitely one of Grácia’s hidden gems.
Väcka is one of my favourite places in Grácia to eat, especially for breakfast and brunch! The modern and minimalist decor of the place complements the chill atmosphere and innovative menu. It’s one of the places that creates satisfying "food porn" in a healthy and filling version. All of their dishes are very creative and presented in an appealing way – I can recommend anything on the menu, specifically the savoury waffles and burgers on charcoal buns are simply amazing!
In Dolce Pizza y los Veganos I’ve probably eaten the most delicious vegan pizza in my life. The dough is made out of whole wheat flour, or gluten free if you wish, and the size of the pizzas is so big, that you can even split it in half and take one half of the pizza in one flavour and the other half in another flavour. Their vegan melting mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and carrot cheese are extremely convincing and tasty. Additionally, you have healthy juices, rice dishes and pasta, hot dogs, burgers and home-made vegan desserts like tiramisu. And the best thing about it is that everything’s home-made, organic and economical!
La Besnata is definitely a must-go place for all vegan sweet teeth out there! This adorable, little bakery is fully vegan and daily preparing the best vegan cakes in town. Where shall I start – cupcakes, chocolate truffles, muffins, brownies, cookies, croissants, carrot cake, red velvet cake, lemon cheese cake, double chocolate cake or apple crumble and tiramisu in little jars? I became quickly a regular in La Besnéta and I think I’ve tried out all of their cakes – and yes, I’m a sweet tooth, too. I personally love their gluten free oat cookie with orange skin and meting chocolate chips the most. It’s not as sweet as the others and is always a good addition to my favourite coffee from Syra. La Besnéta is led by a young couple, who bakes all the goodie goodies in the back of the to-go bakery – if you’re lucky you get to try a warm cake, freshly from the oven (I know our grandmothers always used to say it’s not good for our stomach, but come on, it’s so worth it).
I’m a big fan of empanadas – it’s like a Latin American version of the polish dumplings called pierogi, that I know from home, only that they’re baked and not cooked. And after trying out a lot of street food spots in Barcelona, offering vegan empanadas, I found the certainly the best ones in town, on the beautiful Plaça de Vila de Grácia. The Argentinian owner offers a big variety of savoury and sweet empanadas and made sure to satisfy also his vegan customers. My favourite savoury one is filled with mushrooms with herbs and garlic or the one with hummus. From the sweet section I can highly recommend the one filled with caramelized apples and cinnamon. La Empanadería de Grácia is the perfect place to get a snack before starting a botellón on one of the many plaças in Grácia.
Barcelona is without a doubt one of the finest cities for vegans in Europe. In fact Barcelona was the first in the world that was declared as veg-friendly, and Grácia probably the district within the city with the biggest diversity in vegan and vegetarian food options. You can easily stop by in one of the best vegan places in Grácia, while walking down from Parc Güell. But even if Grácia is too far away for you, you’ll find enough options in one of the other reviewed best vegan places in Eixample, El Raval, El Born and Barceloneta. ¡Que aproveche!
Header Photo: © istock/thamerpic
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