Vegetarian Restaurants in Barcelona

Being a vegetarian in Barcelona, or anywhere else in Spain for that matter, isn't always easy. This is a country whose association with meat-eating is legendary and whose record on animals rights is hardly exemplary (just think of bullfighting and the running of the bulls). Indeed, apart from the odd rice or seafood dish, traditional Spanish cuisine involves almost exclusively bread and meat. Even tapas restaurants, with their wide variety of dishes, leave little room or invention for vegetarian food, preferring to concentrate on any number of ways to cook the same animal.

The good news is that Barcelona is a bit different from the rest of Spain. The capital of the autonomous region of Catalonia - where recently bullfighting has been banned - the city is a bit more progressive and European in its thinking, compared to the deeply traditional south for example. A city full of immigrants, expats, Bohemians and intellectuals, there are enough different ways of life in Barcelona to support a decent-sized vegan and vegetarian dining scene with some truly high quality and creative cuisine. Check below for some of the restaurants where you can eat eco-friendly food in BCN.

Above: Veggie pizzas at Cat Bar in El Borne.

Vegetarian & Vegan Restaurants

Cat Bar
If you love one-of-a-kind restaurants, then you could easily find yourself falling for this wacky hang out in El Born. Amidst a chaotic ensemble of feline-themed furbishings, the Cat Bar serves up a wide variety of strictly vegan dishes. Quiches, tortillas and even vegetarian sausages and burgers are all on the menu and you can even order your coffee with soya milk. Click on the link above for reviews, photo and location map.
C/Boria 17

Kabara Restaurant
With 14 vegetarian dishes on the menu, plus a number of meat-free tapas, Kabara is more veggie friendly than many dedicated sin carne eateries. Delicious dips, inspired by both Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine, include hummus, ikra, kashk "ahwazi" and tzatziki, whilst both Greek and Tabouleh salads, and dishes with vegetables, falafels and arayes (Arabic breads) find themselves on the menu. Wash any of the aforementioned down with a delicious Taybeh beer from Palestine and you've got a fantastic meal in your belly. Find in El Raval.
C/Junta de Comerc 20

Sol Soler
By no means a vegetarian restaurant in the strictest sense, this lively and rather hip tapas joint in Gracia does nonetheless have some great veggie options. Alongside some of the more regular dishes you'll find in any tapas bar in Barcelona there are a variety of pasta dishes, inventive salads, tortillas and of course patatas bravas.
Placa Sol 12

Maoz
Needless to say that if you're after gourmet vegetarian grub, this expanding global chain is not the place for you. However for a cheap lunch, be it a quick falafel or a sturdy helping of salad it can be a life-saver. You can find two very central branches in Barcelona, one on Las Ramblas, the other on the lively Carrer de Ferran in El Gotic.
La Rambla 95 and C/Ferran 13