Barcelona is one of Europe's best cities for specialty coffee and has a huge variety of excellent coffee shops, cafes and roasters. In this guide, I'm sharing my favourite coffee spots from my recent long-weekend trip — plus one from a previous visit and even a bonus coffee cocktail experience!
With typical bad timing, I was slightly too early for Barcelona Coffee Week. But if you're in Barcelona this week, various coffee events are taking place until 15 March 2026.
As I was limited on time, I focused my visits on the specialty coffee shops in the areas I was hitting up for sightseeing: the central El Born, Gothic Quarter and Eixample neighbourhoods. Sadly, a few of the places I'd earmarked are closed on Sundays, so I'll have to save them for next time.
I've created a map to help you plan your own Barcelona coffee tour. As usual, my very favourites are marked with purple icons (and asterisks in the article below).
Barcelona Specialty Coffee Guide
Chromatic Café (Gràcia)
I happened upon Chromatic Café while exploring the Gràcia neighbourhood. It's right next to Casa Vicens and a short walk from Parc Güell, so very handy for a coffee stop when you're on the Gaudí trail. The small café is beautifully designed, with the coffee bar taking centre stage and seating both at the front and towards the back.
The menu focuses on espresso-based drinks, with matcha and various other speciality drinks on offer. The coffee is roasted by Three Marks, whose coffee shop I'd visited earlier in my stay, and my cortado was very well brewed.
If you need to stock up on coffee beans, they sell a wide variety of Three Marks coffees, as well as ceramics and locally produced food and wine.
Chromatic Café is located at Carrer de les Carolines 26, Gràcia. Website. Instagram.
Hidden Coffee Roasters (El Born)
Despite its name, Hidden Coffee's El Born café isn't well hidden, which is good because I was in need of caffeination while in the area! The spacious coffee shop has plenty of seating, both at tables at the back and at the stools by the window.
On entering, I was first distracted by the arcade-style claw machine. Sadly, I didn't have a €1 coin, although given my usual lack of skill (or is that luck?) with these games, I probably wouldn't have won myself a bag of coffee beans anyway. But I love the concept!
I was in the mood for filter coffee and browsed the selection of single-origin coffees available at the brew bar. I decided on Hidden's coffee of the month, a washed Mondo from Kenya's Nyeri region. Brewed as a pourover, it was very fruity with mandarin and date flavours that came through beautifully as it cooled.
Hidden Coffee Roasters is located at Carrer dels Canvis Vells 10, Ciutat Vella (and other locations). Website. Instagram.
* Nomad Coffee Bar (El Born)
I didn't manage to visit Nomad's coffee bar on this trip — I was caught out by its Sunday closure. But with only a couple of hours of free time on my last trip to Barcelona, it was the first place I went to! I've also enjoyed Nomad coffee many times before when I've spotted it at coffee shops in the UK or further afield.
Nomad has grown from strength to strength over the past few years, and its sister location, Nomad Frutas Selectas, was recently ranked number 16 by the World's Best Coffee Shops. All of this is to say that a Barcelona specialty coffee tour wouldn't be complete without at least one stop at Nomad!
Nomad Coffee Bar is located at Passatge Sert 12, Ciutat Vella (and other locations). Website. Instagram.
Noor (El Born)
I came across Noor within about 90 seconds of leaving my El Born hotel on my first afternoon in Barcelona. I had a date with a tapas bar, but I returned later in my stay.
Noor has 10 coffee shops all over Barcelona, with more on the way. They specialise in specialty coffee and matcha, and also serve sweet treats. I opted for a cortado, which was brewed with their house blend and was sweet and well-balanced, with chocolate and berry notes.
Noor is located at Plaça de la Llana 16, Ciutat Vella (and other locations). Website. Instagram.
Origo Bakery (Gràcia)
The queue stretching along the narrow pavement outside Origo Bakery's Gràcia location speaks for itself, especially on a sunny Sunday at brunch time. It was well worth the wait!
Their coffee is from SlowMov, which was good news because the roaster's Gràcia cafe is closed on Sundays and I was worried I would miss out. I ordered a cortado, which was brewed with a washed coffee from Tapachula, Mexico. The hazelnut and caramel notes came through very nicely with a little milk.
Once I stepped inside the standing-room-only bakery, I couldn't resist a sweet treat from the tempting selection. I didn't know what a mico was but it looked delicious. And it was: like a Kouign-amann, but with coffee syrup and lemon zest.
Origo Bakery is located at Carrer de Milà i Fontanals 9, Gràcia (and other locations). Website. Instagram.
* Right Side Coffee Bar (Gothic Quarter)
Tucked away down a narrow alley, Right Side's modern, relaxed coffee shop feels a world apart from the bustle of the Gothic Quarter outside. The space (featured in the header image for this post) is gorgeous: large and bright, with an L-shaped coffee bar at its heart and plenty of places to sit, either by the windows or at the brew bar.
I wanted to order a pourover coffee but I was short on time. Instead, I went for a cortado brewed with the Esperanza Natural Mystic coffee from Nicaraguan producer Luis Alberto Balladarez. My coffee was impeccably brewed by the welcoming barista, bringing out the cherry and almond flavours.
I enjoyed my coffee so much that I returned to Right Side at the end of my trip to buy some beans to take home. I went for the Maracaturra Shake, another naturally processed coffee from Balladarez. I've been brewing it at home in my V60, which is really bringing out the juicy red fruit flavours.
Right Side Coffee Bar is located at Carrer de l'Arc de Sant Ramon del Call 11, Ciutat Vella. Website. Instagram.
* Three Marks Coffee (Eixample)
I've enjoyed coffees roasted by Three Marks in the past — most recently at Batch Baby in London — and it felt only right to make a pilgrimage to their Eixample coffee shop on my way to the Sagrada Família.
When I visited, many people were sitting at the pavement seats outside the café, taking advantage of the Saturday afternoon sunshine. There are more seats inside too, next to the windows and on the mezzanine level upstairs.
The friendly baristas helped me choose a coffee from among the single-origin coffees available as a hand-brewed filter coffee. I went for a naturally processed Ethiopian coffee from producer Wako Jegso, which was right up my street. Every sip was bursting with rose and apricot flavours.
My coffee also came with a card that shared the story of Jegso, his family and the farm. You can also buy retail bags of beans: there were more than 10 different coffees on offer during my visit!
Xiloteca Coffee + Botega (El Born)
If you're as passionate about ceramics as you are about coffee, look no further than Xiloteca. This petite but perfectly formed coffee shop is located in the heart of the El Born neighbourhood. Look for the 'good coffee' sign on the corner of Carrer dels Assaonadors!
Inside, there's just room for the small coffee bar and several shelves with a rainbow-like array of colourful ceramic mugs, jugs and bowls.
As for the coffee, it's roasted in Zaragoza, and there were two single origins available on espresso (plus a Colombian decaf). I went for the Ethiopian espresso, which tasted great as a cortado, with milk chocolate and bergamot flavours.
Xiloteca is located at Carrer de la Neu de Sant Cugat, 6, Ciutat Vella. Instagram.
On my list for next time
I'd hoped to visit a couple more coffee shops on my final day in Barcelona, but unfortunately, these cafés are closed on Sundays: D Origen Coffee Roasters (Eixample), Nomad Frutas Selectas (Sant Martí) and SlowMov (Gràcia — at least I tried their coffee at Origo, and I've enjoyed it before, including in Porto). And I didn't make it to El Poblenou, where Osom is also on my to-visit list.
Bonus coffee cocktail experience
Paradiso is very much a cocktail bar, not a coffee shop. In fact, it's one of the world's best bars, famous for its creative mixology and whimsical and inventive presentation. I wrote more about my visit in my Barcelona city guide, but I mention it here because one of their most iconic drinks is a must for coffee lovers.
Named The Cloud, the drink itself is a perfectly bittersweet mix of mezcal, hibiscus, amaro, birch syrup and Perrier. But the vibrant red cocktail is served alongside a coffee cloud. Yes, a coffee cloud! They aerate hydrogen with helium using a special device.
My bartender gently batted the bubbly mass around before setting it on its stand, instructing me to consume it, "like spaghetti" (i.e. sucking at it!). The coffee was slightly more bitter than I'm used to but it paired perfectly with the cocktail and was definitely one of the most fun coffee experiences I've had!
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