Barcelona Restaurant Features Spanish Tapas and Wines (Mon., 9/9/24)

Barcelona’s Tapas Are Only Outnumbered by The Wines

Potato tortilla and other small plate offerings. (Photo: C. Prentiss Orr)

Recently opened on Penn Avenue Downtown is one of the newest locations for Barcelona Wine Bar, an American collection of tapas restaurants that spread from Texas to Massachusetts. But there’s nothing “chain” about Pittsburgh’s new link to this stunning Spanish cuisine. With ample seating outdoors and a bustling interior, Barcelona has commanded popular attention. Whether it’s the create-your-own charcuterie board or more than 30 different tapas plates to choose from, patrons who also enjoy sipping Spain’s great “Rojas” will have many tough decisions to make. Charcuterie fans will be delighted with a selection of chorizos and jamons, and a choice of nine different cheeses, including manchegos and mahón, all aged in Spain. Standouts on the tapas menu include a potato tortilla (think frittata or pie, not a flat taco,) albondigas (spicy meatballs in jamón-tomato sauce), mussels with house-made sausage, or spinach and chickpea en cazuela (a small baking dish). In addition to 21 rojas, 23 blancos, and a full cocktail menu, the bar offers both dry and sweet sherries, flights of aperitivos and Grenache, and a brilliant red sangria stuffed with fruit. Perhaps by design, savoring an assortment of different tapas can do damage on a wallet faster than fewer hearty entrees, but Barcelona is worth every single bite. 922 Penn Avenue, Downtown. (C.P.O.)

Outdoor dining at Barcelona on Penn Avenue on the Cultural District. (Photo: C. Prentiss Orr)

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