Chickens turning on a coal-fired spit at the street corner since long before anyone photographed their dinner: Los Caracoles has fed Barcelona since 1835, and its warren of tiled, ham-hung, wood-beamed dining rooms is one of the great atmospheric interiors of the old city. Yes, the world found it decades ago — Dalí and half of Hollywood ate here — but the snails, the spit-roast chicken and the sheer theatre of the rooms remain honestly, unapologetically themselves.
Location
Gothic Quarter, Barcelona
Map
Insider Intel
The caracoles (snails) to start, then the spit-roasted chicken from the coal fire at the door.
Dinner, when the spit is turning and the deep rooms glow; ask to sit far inside.
A 190-year-old institution — touristy, yes, and worth it anyway. Walk in past the corner spit, ask for the inner rooms, order the chicken and the snails.