Eat free for your pretty face in Barcelona

Alert: there is a tradition that is being lost in Catalonia. And no, it is not about going to vote once a year (which too), but about having a free cap with your beer. But as if they were a Gauls town resisting the Romans, these bars still hold up with all kinds of promotions: from the typical free pinchito with your cane to free menus if you eat them in record time. Welcome to the cheapest route in Barcelona, in which you will not need to be the cat in the story to put on your boots, just have a couple of euros in your pocket.

Free capita

Cane with accompaniment

For starters, the classic. That indivisible ‘pack’ of free drink and tapa that transports you to the terraces of Granada or Salamanca. Whether it is a bell pepper, ‘pà amb tomàquet’ with a choricillo or some patatas bravas, that small starter is appreciated like a lifeboat in the middle of a sea of racanería.

In Gràcia, a classic, the Brush (Samsó, 8) and its long bar, where the covers roll at the speed of the mayor of Badalona. Not too far, La Xula Tapería (Mare de Déu dels Desemparats, 18), which also accompanies their snacks for all tastes. AND The other (Travessera de Gràcia, 167), a bar where a movie atmosphere is formed around its darts and pool table and which, of course, accompanies each round of some popcorn.

In Barceloneta, the mythical Rebate Pier (Baluard, 84), an excellent and picturesque place with a more eclectic decoration than Rappel’s closet, and practically next door, Cal Chusco (Emília Llorca Martín, 5), a bar that has been accompanying its cane all its life with its cap.

In the Eixample, a classic that meets all the typical neighborhoods: located on a chamfer, with a sculptural façade, hydraulic floor and owners who have been facing the public all their lives. Sign it up, Urgell 1930 (Comte d’Urgell, 95).

And in Badalona, near the Pompeu Fabra station, the 4 Stones (Lleó, 33), a brewery where Guinness is not just a beer: in their new extension, they intend to beat a world record. «Since we opened, 16 and a half years ago, we have kept all the bottle caps and now we will stick them on the walls. Thus, we will achieve the record for the place decorated with the most plates “, explains David, one of those responsible.

Beer and the smell of the sea

‘Barceloneta tasting’

The tapas culture of Barceloneta is the bomb. Literally. And, although now the network of bars that make it up is invaded by hordes of tourists and their consequent gentrification, there are dozens of initiatives that try to once again attract the people of Barcelona to their places and gastronomy.

For instance, Barceloneta tasting, which until November 30 is promoting a route between ten neighborhood bars that, with various offers, will make even the most seized Catalan use their dataphones. Among others, they add Can Ganassa (Plaza de la Barceloneta, 6), which gives two beers with each serving of the typical bomba of meat, potato and hot sauce. OR Can Ros Taverna 1908 (Emilia Llorca, 7), who with an octopus and black sausage coca also invites two cañas. Or the Jai-Ca (Geneva, 13), who serve a free vermouth to all who order their anchovies, a house specialty “for more than 30 years.”

The gastronomic Olympics of L’Hospitalet

Rewards for eating

Similar to the Barceloneta initiative, but with L’Hospitalet as a backdrop, the cycle In the fall dishes!, which this year celebrates its seventh edition, proposes a gastronomic Olympiad that would serve as Homer Simpson’s wet dream.

More than a dozen places are part of this route that, for only 4 euros, offers a dish that represents the cuisine of each restaurant. And, as a gift, Drink included. In addition, all those who participate and get three stamps (each stamp is equivalent to a dish in a different establishment) enter the raffle for hotel nights, beer packs and tasting menus. Literally rewards for eating.

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Some of the dishes that are part of the tour are the candied artichokes of 25 Roselles (Roselles, 25), the sweet potato with mushrooms, Iberian fillet, onion and red berries of Caracas 2 (Josep Prats, 16), the Argentine empanadas from The Outbreak (Passage de la Pau, 3-5) or the turkey and mushroom stew The vermouth lair (Santa Eulàlia, 7).

The Netflix of beers

Paint free ‘app’

The cold arrives, the rains arrive and, by extension, the season arrives to settle down after the summer and look for your better half on Tinder. And, even if you are one of those who allow themselves to be invited, having first dates is expensive. Above, if you have less chemistry than Carlos Ríos’s diet, consider it wasted money.

Plan B so that, at least economically, the opening of the Barcelona mating season becomes lighter for you. Download the ‘app’ Free Paint, the “Netflix of beers”, since, for 4.99 euros per month, you have a daily free beer, in addition to promotions so that drinking is almost free.

A recommendation where to go to taste the free beer: The Craft (Paradís, 4), a brewery in an alley in Plaça de Sant Jaume whose instagrammable corners have turned it into a digital hot spot. Ideal for a first kiss.

Happy Anniversary!

Birthday discounts

In case you can’t get enough of being inundated with gifts like an elf in December, you can also opt for the birthday promotions offered by different restaurant chains. For example in Fosters Hollywood, in the fortnight of your birthday you have 10 euros discount on accounts over 35 euros. The same in some of the establishments of Noodle, with discounts of 20 euros (if you spend 40) in the fortnight of your birthday. And in the Burger King, a free Ben & Jerry’s ice cream if you order on your birthday or seven days after. And that they be many more!

Culinary challenges

Finish it if you can

Here, the menu is free. But (of course, there is always a but), only if you are one of those who do not eat, gobble. Are the culinary challengesIn which, in 30 minutes, you must eat a plate so large that, after finishing it, you will release so much methane that you will become a point of the day at the top of Glasgow.

On Anauco (Valencia, 428), you can order a hamburger capable of sinking the Titanic. Four floors with a kilo of beef, 200 grams of chédar, 200 grams of bacon, four fried eggs, pickles, lettuce and 400 grams of French fries. If you don’t finish it in half an hour, you pay 39.90 euros. If you finish it, you take it by the face. Of course, then buy yourself a Danacol. On Where Always (Consell de Cent, 24), the same, but with a 2.5 kilo giant arepa. Either you eat it whole, or you pay for it. Oh, and the challenges are only done under reservation.

Almost given away

Infra-cheap bites

Among the ‘millennial’ generation there is a concept that is used a lot: gastroeconomic. In short, it is to be such a rat that your food budget away from home only fits a kebab and a can of beer in the Macba square. If you are one of those who even ask for a Bizum when you split a few bravas between five, this route interests you: they are not free meals, but almost.

Speaking of Macba, next door is the mile of under-cheap food, Joaquin Costa. There you have the iconic Sultan’s sandwiches (56), with the cataloged “cheapest potatoes in Barcelona”, and that is that for 1 euro they give you a cone full of chips. Or the Bismillah Kebabish (22), known as “the best kebab in Barcelona”.

Another mythical place, the All 1 € bar (Aribau, 15), which, although it is not in Joaquín Costa, competes with its prices. The name says it all: any product, at 1 euro. Ideal for tight budgets.