We randomly searched and found this place after we landed in Barcelona on day 1, decided to give it a try and it was such a pleasant surprise! A very good selection of tapas and you can either order directly, or pick them as the staff walks around with plate full of different types of tapas and you grab the ones that you want to try, just like how you do it at a Brazilian BBQ place. In the end they count the number of toothstick. We also ordered a few other dishes (fish chin was tender and well flavored) and they were all very tasty. Very reasonably priced as well. read more

Maitea - Spanish Near Me - Barcelona, B

Great pinxtos with high variety. Must gets: the cod, the artichoke. I also really liked the mushroom foie gras. The owner loves wine and you should ask him for a recommendation. Staff speaks english and are very friendly. I plan on going back for sure, so you should definitely visit at least once! read more

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Favorite bask place of my trip. Every single thing I tried was delicious. Super cheap -- you get full from spending 6€. My favorite was the crab salad! Yum yum yum read more

This is the place to go. Each tapas is 1.90 euros...at the end, they charge you for each toothpick. Simple and easy. The crew is constantly bringing out fresh plates of tapas. We ate more than we should have , had a beer each, and it was under 20 euros. Fois gras and fig, sausage, jamon and cheese, cod...its for real read more

Bueno, un lugar delicioso! Several tapas you will die for. Could not find one that was bad, and we eat a lot!!!! The service is spectacular. Great ambiance to have a great time with the family or friends! read more

Maitea - Spanish Near Me - Barcelona, B

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Came here when my reservation at Hisop was lost. Amazing food and service. Our English speaking server explained how to order and made recommendations. Both the hot and cold tapas were so good. Everything tasted very fresh and so flavorful. Also, you get great value for your money. Three of us had 14 cold tapas, 3 hot tapas, and dessert for less than 70 euros. read more

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Every single Pintxos we had was amazing, specially the hot ones. Our favorite was the breaded ham and cheese. We plan on going back there again before we leave Barcelona! read more

Maitea - Free shots with Yelp check-in. - Spanish Near Me - Barcelona, B

I really liked Maitea. (this is a rare thing for me to say about restaurants here in Barcelona) It's a place for Pintxos - or a piece of bread topped with something, pierced (pinched!) with a toothpick. Typical food from the Basque country. I have been meaning to return because you can only try *so many* at one sitting. There's standing room, and seats at the bar in front, and a couple of dining areas in back. You help yourself to the cold pintxos at the bar, and servers come around with the warm pintxos - kinda like when you go for dim sum... and then some. There's also a menu - not sure if it rotates with the seasons, as I've only been there once. Whatever the duck entree was, we loved it. and if there is more than one duck entree on the menu, my apologies for not remembering what it was to specify. The staff was friendly. I went on a Saturday afternoon - after the lunch rush... so i don't know how crowded it gets during peak hours, but from what i heard, it can get packed. Prices are quite reasonable - they add up the toothpicks - i think it's about 1.60E each?don't quote me on that... read more

Great place for pintxos, they have a large selection of pintxos ready when you walk in, you just pick the ones you like and wait for new hot pintxos that come out of the kitchen every few minutes. I sat at the bar with a beer and tried a few of their delicious pintxos. Definitely will be visiting again the next time I visit Barcelona. read more

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I'm always suspicious when I check the Yelp reviews for a place and find that barely any locals have reviewed it. But this place was wonderful. Firstly, a quick definition of pintxos stolen from Wikipedia: 'A typical snack of the Basque Country and Navarre, "pinchos" consist of small slices of bread upon which an ingredient or mixture of ingredients is placed and fastened with a toothpick, which gives the food its name "pincho", meaning "spike."' For anyone not familiar with the pintxo set up: You take what you like, each individual toothpick you end up with will cost £1.60 at the end. Straightforward enough. The range on offer here is great. We pulled up some stools at the bar and got down to business sampling everything that we cold find. As we were there before 10 it wasn't possible to order anything hot off the menu, but once it hit 10 we were told we could. I won't go into what's on offer, there's so much that I can't remember. The range goes from brie and mixed berry to blood sausage scrambled eggs and includes everything in between so you're sure to find something you like. As pintxos go it was s decent price for the quality of what was on offer. The staff were nice, clearly run off their feet and only a handful had English but often an explanation of the food would be given to us in catalan whether we understood it or not. The beer was served in a 'traditional' 330ml glass while my cidre was served at about 100-150ml per glass, but you don't need much more! Overall the meal came to about £12 a head and we were stuffed so great value! read more

Super awesome location to have casual tapas! It was my first experience with tapas with a few colleagues and it was awesome. It's very authentic and they even have those toothpicks that you count up at the end. It was such a great experience and all the tapas were so delicious! read more

Went here on an old fashioned personal recommendation from a friend. One of the better meals I had in Barcelona, if not the best. Highlight was the goat's cheese with honey and walnuts. So good. read more

Great Basque-style pinchos spot! You enter through the long bar, where you can sit and grab the pinchos you like in the traditional style... or it's quite spacious in the back if you want to sit and order. I've been for lunch twice since it's near my office but definitely want to try for dinner now. The food is delicious. We ordered the artichokes, croquetas de bacalao, and lots of pintxos. My favorite might be the chistorra or the queso de cabra con manzana. read more

It's easy to walk by this unassuming place and miss it, but definitely it's a great option if you want an inexpensive, delicious Pintxo experience. The other tapas are fine but definitely where this restaurant shines is in the vast range of both hot and cold pinxtos. My advice is to grab any empty stool and bar space that you see, help yourself to a plate, and then let your eyes guide the rest of your meal. The cases of cold pinxtos are delicious and we noticed that they get replenished / replaced pretty frequently, especially as dinner time picks up. The waiters pass trays of hot pinxtos as well starting at around 8pm so if you get there a bit early they will let you order whatever hot pinxtos you wish. I'd recommend: - Smoked salmon with a seafood salad filling (yum) - Thinly sliced jamon (yum) - Pickled anchovy with a fresh pepper relish (really good, it sounds weird but the flavors were really bright and popped) - Bacon wrapped dates - not a pinxto but it was a very generous slice of bacon wrapped around a perfectly warm, melted date Good but not my favorites: - Country pate with pickled veg - these were weirdly warm and tasted almost like salami - Shrimp on seafood pate - the pate was not as flavorful as I would have liked and was a bit spongy Great sangria too! A liter-sized pitcher was 15 euro. read more

Our first night in Barcelona we found Maitea on Yelp because it was a couple of blocks from our hotel and we managed to snag a table without a reservation probably because it was Tuesday night. We had an excellent dish of squid w/ chanterelles, a good salad w/ goat cheese and a couple of yummy pinxos. If you want a table you should reserve one but the real action is at the counter. There's a case with cold pinxos you can just grab and every couple of minutes a plate of hot ones comes out of the kitchen and is offered down the counter like dim sum. My hot faves were little red sausages, a skirt steak, and anything with a quail egg on top. Cold ones were sardines over tomato on brown bread, olive & anchovy skewers, salmon, and spicy chorizo that I wanted to find out where they got it. One of the managers went back to the kitchen and brought me the label so I could take a pic and get it at a market. We had good house red wine, Estrella on tap. They have a good wine list and English menus as well. Waitstaff's English was basic, but friendly & helpful for such a busy place. Sometimes tough even finding two spots together at the counter, lots of locals. Next time in BCN we'll be here as often as possible. read more

Went to a half dozen tapas places during my stay in Barcelona and this was my favorite one hands down. The hot tapas were delicious and fresh. My favorites were the small red sausage, the pork loin stuffed w sobresada and cheese, and they have the most scrumptious potatas bravas. The servers were kind and friendly and always willing to help us out if we didn't know certain dishes or what was on the menu. I miss it already honestly. read more

We came back twice, as the food, drinks and service were great. I wish I could live and eat there forever. The food was amazing and super simple. Please, please try the sangria.... it was the best I have ever tasted.They use gin and brandy... delicious!! The cold tapas/pintxos are self serve but there is also a menu for the hot tapas. For hot, we had the fig and bacon, the cod stuffed red pepper and the black rice pudding, to name a few. Super delicious and inexpensive (about 1.70 € per item). I would suggest you go there to have a few drinks a d socialize. There is a full entree menu, (hich we tasted from and was delicious - chicken and salad) but the experience comes from the tapas and socializing. read more

It's like a sushiboat place but instead of counting plates they count toothpicks! How clever. I feel a little awkward trying to reach over folks for pintxos but you gotta do what you gotta do. The patatas bravas and ablondigas were also some good menu hot food tapas. read more

Delicious tapas. We went as a group of 14 and they accommodated our large party very well!

Still a 5 star place! We went twice during our last visit in October. Even though it's quite a pain in the booty to get there from our apt in El Born, it is still totally worth it. We tend to go pretty early in the evening around 8:00PM so it's never very busy. Their croquettes are the absolute best. The Patatas Bravas are different but amazing! Oh, top it all off with a fantastic Goxua and you can roll yourself out of there like we did! Just go! read more

My first stop in Barcelona! This place was a few blocks down from where we were staying so we thought we'd give it a try. We found it pretty easy to order as most of their employees speak English and they offer an English language menu. They're most known for their pinxtos (which translates to small snack) and offer a wide variety to choose from. Since I'm clueless when it comes to Spanish delicacies, I went with the suggestions my fellow Yelpers recommended. We ordered the cod with garlic, artichoke, sabrasado w/ apple jelly and walnut, goat cheese w/ walnut, pork loin w/ ham & cheese, and chistorra (thin red sausage). #1 favorite of both mine and my BF is their cod! It had layer of cheese on top that just melts in your mouth! the artichoke sabrasado was good, but the boo didn't like it since he's not a fan of artichoke. It's artichoke deep fried into a ball with a savory sauce on top. I guess it really depends on whether you like artichoke. I also really enjoyed the goat cheese and sabrasado w/ apple jelly. I think we messed up by eating the cod first, everything that came after did not compare. Always save the best for last! Make sure you get seated on the bar. Sometimes they come around with fresh pinxtos for you to pluck from the passing trays. There's a ton of different pinxtos to choose from and I think it boils down to your personal preference. The cod is a MUST and if you like cheese I'd also highly recommend the goat cheese w/ walnut. Also, don't forget to check-in on Yelp to get a free shot! It tasted like a very sweet vermouth though. read more

Maitea - Spanish Near Me - Barcelona, B

Ok Yelp, I have you to thank for this one. I went out of my way for Maitea Taberna, all because I was told by my good friend Yelp that this is the spot for excellent tapas. I will say, the hype was a little overboard, as it was good, not outstanding as I was hoping, but still not sad I went. I wouldn't make a point to hit it up again, but again, not bad at all. I liked that it was very reasonably priced and it offered a lot of variety in the way of tapas choices. Don't forget to save your toothpicks! I had about 5 of the tapas and they were mostly all good - I think there was one I wasn't crazy about, but overall satisfied with them. read more

Granted, this was my first true tapas bar experience, so I was really impressed, but after having been to more, it still tops my list as one of the best. The food was incredibly fresh, tasted amazing, and they had some truly excellent and adventurous options. Service was quick and friendly. They even accommodated our group of 10 without a reservation. We got there around 7:30 and were among the only customers there. When we left at 9:15, it was packed. Would definitely go back! Only €1,65 per toothpick. A bit more than most places, but absolutely worth the difference. read more

I came in here around 9:00 on a week night in the summer, and luckily ended up beating the dinner rush. Within 10 minutes of securing a seat at the bar, the place was completely packed. The deal at Maitea is that you serve yourself from the various trays of pintxos on the bar (or grab a fresh hot one when the bartenders come around), and at the end you pay based on the number of toothpicks on your plate. This place is a great value for money as I left super full and I think I only spent €20 for two people including a bunch of drinks. Particular favorites were the two hot sausage pintxos that came out fresh. One was blood, not sure about the other, but it was topped with a melted cheese that was absolutely delicious. Fair warning: there are some items here that are not that great (a bunch of the fish ones, much to my surprise), and there is a strong urge when you are in here to just take whatever is put in front of you. If I ever end up back here on a future trip to Barcelona, I know to limit some of my selections so that I can enjoy more of the quality items. read more

Best tacos I've had!!!!!!!! Definitely try the "Fajitas de seitan" so delicious!!! The owner is so kind and helpful, the environment is so cute, prices are excellent!! Some of the best vegan food I've had & my friends who aren't vegan got loved their meat tacos too!!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THIS PLACE IF YOURE AT THE BEACH IN BARCELONA read more

Really great, affordable tapas (less than 2 euros each), but some of the restaurant staff was kind of rude (mostly the bar woman), and the wait was about an hour even though we were always "the next table". We saw a ton of people walk in in the meantime and find seats - maybe they were all at a bar though, but it was a really long hour standing around to get seated in a place that didn't seem all that busy. The tapas were fantastic, however, and the total bill for 4 with drinks was only €90. read more

This place was great! We went here because we saw something about it online and loved the pictures on their website. We walked all the way from Casa Batlló and got here at about 9:30 p.m. The dining area was completely full of men, which was interesting, so we sat at the long counter. This was fine because we wanted to eat pinchos anyway. At first we were not sure how to do this, but after watching for a few minutes, we realized we just needed to go for it, by reaching over people to open the little glass covers and take what we wanted. We didn't really know what everything was just by looking, but it was all good. They kept bringing out hot pinchos and people would take those too. It was fun. We had 12 total, including plenty of fish, foie gras, and blood pudding with red pepper. We are going back tomorrow for more! read more

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Maitea is a great place. There are a few tables in front and a few in the back. Most people sit at the bar. The cold pinchos are in glass display cases along the bar. Help yourself, keep your sticks, they will be counted when you are through eating to figure your tab. Everything is 1.65 euro each. You can order hot pinchos from a menu, but don't do it. By and by servers behind the bar will offer you stuff hot from the kitchen. Even after you have decided you have had enough, they come buy with fabulous stuff just out of the kitchen( which you can see in from the bar) and you will say ok, just 1 more. Desserts are good too. We were a little intimidated at first, but the staff and the other customers were great and after a short time we felt we had been eating pinchos all our lives. We went twice in our 5 days in Barcelona, I wish we had a place half this good in Florida, USA. read more

It looked like a traditional tavern. The service was slow. We ordered the sweet potato bravas, salad, squid in inked onion and the paprika honey sausage (sobrasada). I really didn't care for the paprika sausage. Honey was a wrong mix with sausage. This might be a miss. I however enjoyed the squid but it was small in potion but costed €15, too much. I am ambivalent to recommend to others. read more

Food was good but the service was very disorganized. My main plate came out at the same time as my starter plate and before my second plate. read more

Amazing place to try some authentic hot and cold tapas in Barcelona. Very cute interiors with farm accessories, good staff, and a fun experience where you pick your own cold tapas from little cases. At the end they tally up your toothpicks and thats how you pay for your meal. Lovely variety of tapas, one of our favorite meals in Barcelona. read more

I had a 3 days stay in Barcelona before returning back to the States. Maitea was close to the lodging I stayed plus with good reviews from Yelp. So I decided to check it out. Apparently before 1pm, they serve breakfast only (I arrived at 11:15am for pintxo experience). Not a problem at all, I came back at 2pm and yay, there were quite a lot of cold serving pintxos already available. I wasn't sure if I did it right or not, I just grabbed a plate and started picking up food and then seated myself. Anyway, a friendly lady server then introduced to me that apparently I can also order the hot pintxos from the menu too and yes, they have the english menu. My favorite was the one that salmon wrap with crab meat on top of a red pepper (I have couple of them). It is the same price whether you pick the cold or order a fresh hot pintxos, they are $1.75 per stick. I also ordered a plate of calamari which was also tasty too. At the end to my great surprise, the server gave me a bottle of wine because the bill was over $25 (yes I ate a lot). She said it is a compliment from the boss. I will come back again if I visit Barcelona again in the future. Oh, they also accept credit card. read more

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Awesome place! Wish we would have found this place sooner (we came on our last night). Awesome staff, very friendly. The tapas is delicious our favorite was the open sandwiches. The hot ones were so good we could have kept eating but we got too full. Also the wine is fantastic. Must do!! read more

We've been in Barcelona for 3 days and I still did not try tapas. This place had good reviews and was close to the place we stayed so my fiancé and I decided to check it out. The atmosphere was very homey and the staff very friendly, they speak some English which was very helpful. However, menu reflected not tapas but similar to tapas food that was called pinchos: hot and cold. They cost €1.65 per one and mainly is different stuff on a baget slice. We liked most of them, but my favorites were salmon one, hot cheese one with pepper and hot fish ones. Red wine Sangria was very tasty as well. read more

Maitea - Counter with various choices of cold pinches - Spanish Near Me - Barcelona, B

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This was a total hit for us. We wandered in a little before 6pm and picked out cold pintxos and tall glasses of Verdelho. It was very relaxing and we chatted with the waiter who speaks fluent English. We had another round of those, and the waiter was encouraging us to hold off until the hot tapas came out. At 6:45 the locals began coming in and picking out their seats at the bar, the place began to stir. Even though we'd had 2 rounds of delicious pintxos we couldn't resist the hot tapas ... totally stuffed ourselves and I'm glad we did. If we get back to Barcelona it's on our must-visit again list. So happy to have visited this epicurian highlight of our trip around the Mediterranean. read more

Tons of tables open at 9pm at night and a reservation is needed we are told. Posted a pic of this as well... total bs, half the restaurant is OPEN read more

Maitea - "Reservation needed" at 9pm we are told. Wtf? - Spanish Near Me - Barcelona, B

Great place for tapas, friendly service, great food and enjoying atmosphere. Highly recommended!

Maitea Taberna came highly recommended by our hotel (U232) and my family and I had an incredible Spanish Pinxos experience on our last night in Barcelona. First off, we like the fact that it's family friendly. My wife and I visited with our 11 year and he loved it. I even saw couples with strollers. Second, it's clearly a local spot. Third, the whole Pinxos experience is awesome and delicious, because you pick cold pinxos from glass vitrines and the waiters offer you hot pinxos fresh from the kitchen. The service is amazing, everyone is super nice and even take the time to explain each food offering, which is great when you're a tourist. And at the end, you just show them your toothpicks and pay. I think it was $1.80, but be careful bc it can get a little expensive if you keep eating everything that comes out . But honestly, it was reasonably priced. We had a pitcher of Sangria, like 6 or 7 pinxos each and a bottle of water and it came out to about $53 euros, which wasn't bad at all! Would definitely return next time we're in Barcelona! read more

Ate here the first night I was in Barcelona. Very authentic, not touristy at all. Service was a bit gruff, but then again one guy was running the whole show. Hot tapas was bomb. read more

On our first night in Barcelona, we walked over there but they were closed. It was the last day of their holiday (yes, be careful of restaurant schedules there. They take one-month long vacations in the summer and their restaurant would be shut altogether.) The second night, we tried again and boy was it worth it. My husband and I ordered many many tapas and enjoyed most of them. This is mostly Pintxo style which means they pile up stuff on top of bread and stick a tooth pick in to hold them together. You save your tooth picks and once you're done, the bartender will count them and calculates your bill. read more