A nice place for cocktails and tapas, with a large open space, modern decoration. The various fresh fruit + herb bevvies were inspired (e.g. Sage & Grapefruit, or Basil & Strawberry), and they have red, white, and cava sangrias that are on special in the weekends. The paella was really well made, and the short rib empanadas weren't skimpy for the price. Touches like a menu item for buying the kitchen a 6-pack of beers, and an accommodating hostess mean we'll be back! read more

Barcelona Tavern - Paella - Mediterranean Near Me - Calgary, Alberta

We came to Barcelona last Friday without a lunch reservation and we were one of the last ones to be seated before they turned away others because it was that busy. Nicole greeted us right away and she was very friendly and professional. She took our drink orders and although it did take a while, she acknowledged it right away and gave us waters while waiting. She asked us if we were having lunch and suggested to order as soon as possible to alleviate time constraints considering how busy it was. I heard about the med pita and our server recommended the spicy fries on the side. Safe to say nothing was wasted. Food was delicious. Service was amazing and we even made it back to work with enough time to grab a latte next door. This might be our new lunch spot. read more

Kailey is wonderful, professional and attentive. Wish 8 stars where an option! Bar service is excellent and they have the best smokey old fashioneds in Calgary! They use legit cedar guys. read more

Came here for buck a shuck night and it was great. The after work crowd filled most of the tables which was a good sign. I prefer the east coast oysters and they came with 3 different mignonettes, which were all tasty. We also had the pulled pork slammers, veals bombas, and roasted cauliflower. The slammers were very good. Nothing outrageous but still really good. I don't go downtown to eat that often but Barcelona was a great choice! read more

I looked at the menu online and was excited to see how many different food and drink options they had. However, after arriving, we scanned the QR code for the menu and saw that 2/3 of the options had been removed. I'm pretty sure this is due to COVID, but I wish there was something online saying the menu would be different. I only saw 2 or 3 servers even though it was a Saturday night and quite busy...so the service was extremely poor. We were there for almost an hour before our waitress took our order. We ordered the veal bomba, the tostadas and each ordered a drink. We waited another 30-40 minutes until the tostadas came out (still no drinks). The drinks arrived shortly after the food. After we had finished the tostadas, I asked if the veal bomba was coming out as well. She said she had forgotten to ring those in....waited another 20 mins or so for those. I feel bad because the servers were set up to fail being so understaffed, but this service was completely unacceptable. The food and drinks were good, which is why I gave 3 stars. read more

Saturday night at 7pm and the manager is upstairs on his laptop, he acted like we were interrupting him. And good restaurant manager knows that at 7pm on a Saturday your ass better be on the floor. Place was empty, it will be closed in 6 months, only reason we went there is it was the only place on the block without a wait. Hostest was extremely rude which is why we needed the manager in the first place. Stay away. I hope the owner reads this and re-evaluates management. read more

If there was a way to give zero stars I would. We had the absolute worst experience at this restaurant! 12 of us went there for a special event. The waitress took 6 peoples food orders and walked away without asking for the remaining 6 guests orders. The first group then went onto receive their food while the rest of us hadn't even ordered yet! We had to ask the waitress to come back on two different occasions to get the remaining orders in. We then waited an additional HOUR to receive our food. One person didn't get their meal until TWO HOURS after being seated. Our waitress never came back to ask us if we needed anything or if we wanted dessert. We then got frustrated and thought we should leave, but then had to wait over 45 minutes for our bill. We spoke to the manager about getting a discount as the restaurant ruined an important night, and made us miss our reservations elsewhere, to which he offered us a bottle of champagne. I told him we weren't interested in the champagne and wanted our bill discounted, especially considering how delayed the food was forcing us to eat at different points of the night. The only thing the manager did was waive the mandatory tip for large parties. I was so disappointed, not only in the service but the lack of apology. Will never return to this restaurant again. read more

Meh, coffee.the snacks are clearly not made in house and the service is walk up. I stopped in looking for a quick bite to eat sort of turned around almost immediately. I understand lunch and Dinner to be a better choice here I will have to revisit this locale. read more

What a horrible experience. We had made a reservation for 8pm. The manager said we had to leave. This was at 9pm, because they weren't busy enough. We didn't even had a chance to order food. Unbelievable rude manager on. Scott I believe. All 12 of us will never return. I will be contacting the owner Jeff as well. I have been in the industry before for 15 years. Never had I closed early with a large reso, nor have I ever had such a horrible experience with a manager. read more

I had the unfortunate experience of having dinner at Barcelona. The service seemed unorganized and sloppy. The music in the place was rather loud for lunch not only could I not hear anything my date was saying the waitress was having a hard time hearing us. What I ordered was calamari for an appetizer and lobster ravioli for my main. The waitress forgot to ring in the calamari so I ended up getting my ravioli first. which in my opinion was over priced for such a small portion and it was also cold. At least one thing they have going for them is they were on top of there refills. read more

Slow start, very authentic if you have been to any place in the Mediterranean coast. But a bit of an adjustment if you are used to traditional Canadian restaurants. Worth the wait, we should all learn to relax and enjoy our fare. Tappas were excellent and flavourful, loved the red olives, where can I get some. Flat iron steak again amazing and for a guy who hates all things Kale I ate of all. Baked in oven was so good! Sparking Sangria was yummy. What a great place to go for a 10 anniversary. Not the most intimate but for a couple who's favourite city is Barcelona, it was appropriate. read more

Love the atmosphere and it's always busy. Food is always miss for me which is why i give it low starts. Concepts are good but the execution could be way better. Have tried it a handful of times but won't be back. read more

Came here after a loud and busy evening down the street at another bar. This place is swanky and has great decor - love the mismatched chairs. We came just before the kitchen was closing, but luckily our server snuck in our order of churros just in time. I loved their selection of gin and tonics - I went with the strawberry mint and it was spectacular both visually and taste-wise. The churros came out nice and warm with two dips - a dulce de leche and chocolate. They were amazingly delicious, I definitely will be back again to try their tapas. read more

Barcelona is OK. The food is OK, the service is OK. If it's close by and location is a premium consideration go for it. Not worth a special trip. read more

With some many great spots to go to in Downtown, don't waste your time here. It wasn't horrible but just not great. Same drinks where different and odd every time your ordered, service was ok but slow as apparently the server staff was understaffed and the food was expensive for what you get. Spend a week checking out all the great places in Calgary and this came in last in experience and first in expenses. Hope they improve. read more

We went to Barcelona Tavern with 8 of us and not a single one left without being completely satisfied. We all shared tapas, the favorites were by far the Bamba, followed by the veal meatballs, and the parmesan truffle fries. A friend had the Messi burger and all you could hear through his bites was "this is possibly the best burger I've ever had." The service was fantastic, Tamara was amazing and very friendly and attentive. Dessert. Oh my gosh dessert. We had the pistachio creme brulee, Spanish sticky toffee and the churros, none of us know which was the best! We ate almost everything and would have eaten everything except we were going to explode. Can't say it enough, unbelievable job on the food. Amazing decor and fantastic friendly service! read more

Seems like the place to be on a Friday after work. It's loud, but nice atmosphere. Great selection of drinks, the food has less selection but it's not bad overall. Good service as well. read more

The service here deserves zero stars since there really was no service. I made a reservation for two for Thursday night dinner and drinks. When we got to the restaurant, the hostess said that she didn't have a reservation under my name. This is after I received a confirmation email and a reminder email asking me to confirm my reservation. We weren't too annoyed because we were eventually given a table at the back of the restaurant. The waitress in charge of our section was INCOMPETENT. Even someone who has never worked in the service industry knows that by serving alcohol the bill increases significantly. So the first thing you should ask is if the table would like alcohol...especially on a game night. After about fifteen minutes of watching our waitress take orders from tables with guests who arrived after us, she finally gets to our table to drop off two napkins and leaves without saying a word. We called her back, but she ignored us and kept on walking. Another ten minutes go by and she stops by our table again, but the table behind us calls to her and she leaves our table to serve them. That was it. We got up and left. Save your money and go elsewhere. There is nothing special about Barcelona except for the horrible service. I am truly disappointed in this restaurant in the Downtown Core. read more

We tried Barcelona Tavern this weekend, as reading their Big Taste Calgary menu had a similar effect to Pavlov's bell. Only upon arriving to the restaurant did we realize that Barcelona is the new Belgo. The decor changed a little, for the better - it felt brighter and a bit more inviting than the prior eatery. The service started off pretty slow. We were seated for around 10 minutes before we had our drink order taken. Our first tapa arrived before our bottle of wine, so the kitchen was on its game. The food was pretty tasty - of the 5 tapas on the set Big Taste menu, only one (the veal cheek) was a miss. The little potato bomba balls were delicious, crispy on the outside and warm and soft in the middle, and were only outshone by the cannoli and kahlua ice cream. Had the food portions been a bit bigger, I would have awarded another star. However, after a 5 course tapa meal (with a bonus bomba ball thrown in by the chef), we were still left somewhat hungry. I would still recommend this restaurant for drinks and appetizers, though (and would suggest that the men check out the washrooms for an interesting and mildly disturbing surprise... don't ask me how I know)! read more

Very disappointing. My guest ordered a Steak and Frittes. It was served practically raw. She was waiting for the server to come by and check to see how everything was, however the server didn't show up until much later when everyone else had just about finished their meal. Now it was too late to send it back. the server then took the meal back to the kitchen and returned to say that chef agreed with her that her steak was under cooked. My guest left without having any lunch. read more

I'm new to the city and I've been checking out different restaurants to see which ones I like best. I look to see which venues vibes, pricing, service and menus I like best. I went to Barcelonas Tavern this past weekend and honestly I was blown away by how high class the service I received was. My server Hailey went above and beyond all standards I had set. I would high highly recommend this restaurant to anyone and I would highly suggest asking to be seated in Hailey''s section. I will most definitely be coming back. read more

Our server Nicole was amazing on Thursday! I don't usually write reviews but when the food is exceptional and the service is way above standard, I am happy to give the best review. Thank you for being so attentive and making a few recommendations during our stay. Tapas are the way to go especially when you want to taste everything in the menu. No wonder this place is always busy! read more

Opening weekend gives it two stars, but I recommend waiting for them to get their act together, if you really need to try them. Food that is not properly prepared, service that is amateur, and a menu that is way over priced and has paper napkins, an atmosphere that lacks inspiration, I don't see them staying open for longer than 6 months. Maybe good for lunch but with the time it took to serve us, it might be dinner time before you are served. If you want Tapas, there are much better places in town to go to that will cost less, allow you to hear each other, have better service, and much better food. The upside is that the patrons get to know each other as the compare how bad the experience is. read more

In my last review I commented on the service, how it was on the slower side and could use improvement. Unfortunately, service was as inconsistent as my first visit. As friendly as our server was, she left us for 30 minutes before taking our order. However food did come out pretty fast. But then when we were finished eating, our plates never got cleared and stayed there on our table, which was awhile as we stayed and chatted catching up with each other. Server never came back to check on us or ask us if we wanted more drinks after our meal. It wasn't until we were ready to leave when a few of us had to ask if some of our food could get packed up. So again, lovely venue, tasty food (ordered the calamari, truffle fries, and grilled cheese) but so-so service. The prices are on the higher side, so being on point with service would make the dining experience all the more worth while. read more

Love this place for their gin and tapas. Tried a couple of their gins and the lemon and ginger was a favorite of mine. Tried a couple of their tapas, the bomba was really good as well as their scallop and pork belly. Going to be my go-to place when you want to enjoy a glass of really good gin. Definitely coming back again here soon!!! read more

Avoid Barcelona if you can, busy and noisy but today I was humiliated, I went to watch the second half of the game Barcelona vs Juventus, the restaurant is almost empty except for the bar, that has 2 empty chairs but there was no space between the chairs and the people beside that they are using them to put their feet, so I went to an empty table and the host asked me to moved to one of the chairs on the bar. So that was the straw that broke the camel, so I am not going back there, it is not like is the best restaurant in town, it is always noisy and it is hard to talk if you go with friends, there are better options around here. read more

Although Kyla and Lisa were not our dedicated servers they both always went out of their way to make sure that our drinks were topped up and that we were completely satisfied. Good job girls, keep up the great service read more

Please don't eat here. I had to send a very oily appetizer back and I am now concerned about throwing up all night over dodgy mussels. Lots of good restaurants in Calgary but this is not one of them. Can I do negative stars?! read more

Went there for lunch with my wife yesterday (04/14/2016 for the restaurants reference "Tbl 708/1 chk 431". We have been here before and it wasn't bad, It wasn't outstanding but it was ok. Yesterday however was brutal. We arrived for our 11:30 reservation and were greeted and seated promptly which was nice but that's where the good stuff ends. We both ordered drinks and the Barca Burger. As we settled in for our lunch the atmosphere in the restaurant turned from a restaurant to a construction zone. There was something going on upstairs with power tools and vacuums that persisted though-out the lunch hour. Made it hard to hold a conversation because ti was so loud. To be honest, we just wanted to choke down the food and get out of there. It wasn't pleasant at all. Now on to the food. I past visits the food has been ok but this time the burger was way over cooked and very dry. It was almost as if it had been cooked previously then flashed on the grill or heated up to be slapped on a bun with some sauces to try and mask the dryness of the meat. Overall 2 out of 5 and it's unlikely we'll be back read more

Went for the first time 2wks ago for lunch with a friend. Only 2 tables were taken, front girl asked where I wanted to sit... WOW... when 2 women usually walk in one of these places on 8th Ave for lunch, they are seated in the worst place possible. 5/5 stars for service Waitress: Very friendly and informative. 5/5 stars for the waitress. Food: Shared the Lobster Ravioli as an appetizer and the short rib dip as a main. To die for... 5/5 stars for food. read more

We had a disappointing experience. We had a reservation for 1045pm on a Friday night, but this did not stipulate that the kitchen would be closed. The front staff was not helpful in suggesting other local options, and was not at all apologetic. If you think this is a reasonable late night eating option, as it is outlined in Avenue magazine. It isn't. read more

I guess it's exactly what the name says....a Barcelonian Tavern. It appears to be a great watering hole for groups of office mates. The food is acceptable. The menu isn't overly inspiring but ok so that's it. Passably alright. read more

Too many strikes that made it a disappointing experience. Ordered: Manchego Fondue: Crostini to dip in greasy, thin liquid. Calamari: Very greasy, salty and batter was falling off (too soggy) Oysters: East Coast. Server didn't know where from. Good. Spanish Slammer: Good. Nice meat although light on the slaw. Lobster Ravioli: Server raved about this, however, the ravioli was incredibly thin and swimming in thin, greasy sauce. Drinks: We ordered some drinks from their awesome Gin cocktails. Those were superb. Service: Staff was very inexperienced and it showed in many aspects such as not attentive to serving guests. Served tapas with no cutlery. More than twice had to ask for cutlery, napkins, plates...waiting to take our order for meal and dessert. Will not be back. Food and service severely lacked in quality. read more

Terrible service, men have no problem being served and having a drink with the servers, women on the other hand must wave down someone for a drink. Floors are not cleaned properly hence falling and twisting my ankle coming back from the ill equipped ladies washroom with poorly installed toilets and having only 2 to service the size of the main floor of the restaurant. Not one staff member asked if I was ok and when I mention the oily floor to the manager I was advised to" not drink so much then"!. He continued to mock and make rude comments until I demanded the owners information so as to file a complaint. Would've had dinner but the whole experience put a sour taste in my mouth. Staff dressed very unprofessionally. There is no need to have boobs hanging out of dresses and stiletto heels. Not something I want to look at while I'm dining. read more

We made a reservation for brunch on a Saturday afternoon at this place. It wasn't very busy at all, lots of empty space. We placed our order for our food and waited about 40 mins before we got it. That being said the food was all very tasteful and you could tell it was prepared fresh, so if you're wanting to go here you should be prepared for a wait even if it's fairly empty. I had the grilled cheese with the tomato bisque (so good) and a couple other friends got the Huevos Rancheros (was delicious with sausage but if you have a big appetite, the portion is a bit small) and the Chorizo Poppers (also very good). Our waitress was a bit rude, at one point a friend asked for a water glass as she didn't get one. Instead of a standard apology and offering to get another glass the waitress responded with "you should have gotten one, but I guess I'll get you another one" as if we had stashed a glass in our purse or something One person had severe dietary restrictions due to medical issues and specifically requested no cheese on her omelette, but when it arrived it was full of cheese. Rather than say something and wait another 40 minutes for another omelette she ended up eating it and feeling pretty sick. It's a shame because the food was good, but that's not enough to bring me back to this place anytime soon. read more

Stylish place but execution is lacking. Food is often cold and dishes dirty. In Calgary such basic mistakes can't be overlooked.

I love this place. They only opened this week and I've already been in twice, once for dinner and then another for lunch. Both times, the service was impeccable. Their staff are beautiful and friendly. I loved the Venus 75 but then again I'm partial to Hendricks gin. They also have a pretty good bottle of cava. The tapas selection was amazing but I suggest leaving room for dessert. The churros are divine! read more

Great service. Great food. The management kept everyone happy and made sure everyone was having a good time. I would recommend this place and I would go back. read more

Waited at the door with no hostess until we sat ourselves. Waited more for the waitress... finally ordered a margarita, but it came with no crushed ice (at $10 it should I think). Ordered the steak, but they don't sell steaks any more. How can a restaurant in Calgary not sell steak? We waited some more for the waitress again then we paid for the drinks and left to go to the keg, which was awesome. The menu here does not suite to the downtown crowd i think, maybe hipsters but not the business after work. Won't be back. read more

Every place has their off nights but this place was practically empty on a Saturday night and I think I know why. The service was not about the new customer, it was about the friends at the bar and the pretty people. Rarely will I give a yelp of despair but Barcelona Tavern gets my saddest regrets. It looks like it could be a very great place to party. The menu offers intriguing choices, like breaded Manchego Cheese, which is a very elegant and tasty appetizer and pairs well with beer, if it's cooked correctly and not overly salted. Parmesan fries also pair well with beer, unless they are terrible. And we were hungry, we'd been on a street photo shoot and needed something to eat before continuing. Hint to the wise, if the fry is not good in a restaurant or bar, then the rest of the food probably isn't that good either. I loved the bull above the bar. I loved that the high tables and modern décor were open and clean and simple. I'm sorry that this place was so dead on a Saturday night but it may not just be due to an economy downturn, it may well be because of the service and the food. read more