An iconic tapas bar with a fantastic terrace in Nou Barris, La Esquinica is the perfect spot: great tapas, good prices, personable waiters and a familiar neighborhood feeling. Cured, fried or grilled, the tapas are simply made and delicious. Specials cover the spectrum of Spanish classics, from Galician-style octopus to Andalucian chipirones (fried baby squid), Cantabrian anchovies and Aragones delicacies. Most famous are the patatas bravas. No secrets, just quality.

In Sants, charismatic Cal Pep is one of the city’s last old-school bodeguetas (small bodegas). Narrow, long and dimly lit, it has the atmosphere of a wine temple of yore – including wooden casks and a vintage fridge. The food is anything but dated. Never straying from bodega canon, owner Angel focuses on high-quality conservas and tapas. Enjoy a proper Catalan vermut or wine with the outstanding tapas de mercado, so-called because Angel sources almost everything from the nearby Sants Market.

In upper Gràcia, not far from Park Güell, Bodega Manolo may look like your average bodega, with wooden wine barrels and a bar up front. Venture through to the restaurant in the rear to indulge in seriously delicious plates by the talented chef Manolo. Anarco bravas are one classic – crispy, chunky sliced fried potatoes with a moreishly pungent garlic and squid ink sauce. The star: pan-fried foie gras in a sweet and tangy sauce of port, braised apples and booze-soaked raisins.

Supplying Horta locals since 1930, Massana does a brisk wine business from its 22 barrels. We particularly love the bodega’s barrel clock, alerting us to Port O’Clock or Vermut-Thirty. Chow down on traditional Catalan cuisine like butifarra (pork sausage) and beans, callos (tripe stew), snails and omelets. You can also have tapas, from cured anchovies and other conservas to Iberian ham. We like going on Saturdays for a long brunch accompanied by house wine drunk from the porrón.

Opened in the 1950s, the only thing that has changed at Bodega Quimet are the owners – low prices and the décor remain. Wooden tabletops, a floor of traditional Spanish tiles and walls lined with large, rustic wooden barrels of jerez, port, moscatel and, of course, vermouth. Its greatness mostly lies in such amazing tapas as the grilled octopus with mashed potatoes, stuffed squid with marinated vegetables, and the simple but sublime baby fava beans with Iberian ham and a poached egg.

When it opened in L’Eixample in 1946, Gelida was just a wine store. Now, this bodega-restaurant specializes in traditional Catalan cooking, particularly stews and its daily specials. There’s Paella on Tuesdays, a surf-and-turf version with ribs, squid, mussels, prawns and peas. On Friday and Saturday, Gelida serves cargols (snails) stewed in a spicy sauce made with chorizo, ham and herbs. On Wednesday, there’s pig feet. The restaurant’s most iconic Catalan dish might very well be cap i pota.

An exemplary neighborhood bodega, there’s no question why this special place has served as a film location for many a Catalan production. Besides the good cava, local wine and comforting traditional tapas, the team here makes you feel at home in Sant Antoni. Unchanged for 70 years are the beautiful Don Quixote tiles and the classic tapas: croquettes, esqueixada, house stews, and Olot potatoes stuffed with meat. Vermut and all its beloved conservas accompaniments are in abundance.

With its high walls lined with colorful bottles, the tiny Quimet & Quimet is a charming tapas bar in El Poble Sec. Open since 1914 (when it was a wine shop), Quiment has always offered preserved tapas – growing progressively more contemporary with each decade. For example, the bar’s montadito sandwich of smoked salmon with Greek yogurt and truffled honey, or another of anchovies, Catalan goat cheese, tomato marmalade and pickle, pair well with Yzaguirre Rojo Reserva, a sweet artisanal vermouth.