Choosing the best restaurants of a year is never easy. And even less so in a city where projects open at the pace of vermouth. Even so, we have gathered a selection of spaces that have marked 2025, that make cuisine with identity, that stir trends or that, for one reason or another, are at the center of the conversation. These are places where you eat well, but also where things happen, where there is a vision and a way of doing things that explain the city's current moment.
Before, however, we tell you what's cooking and detail some openings that will arrive in the coming months and are already arousing curiosity. Projects that have not yet opened their doors or are about to do so, but are already generating excitement, rumors, and advance reservations.
The restaurants to come, the names that rule
One of the projects that is already causing a buzz for 2026 is Mineral, the new adventure of Oliver Peña and Cristina Losada, scheduled for the end of February. A small space, direct service and a radically personal cuisine, with that sensibility that Peña handles like a sharp, but fine, weapon. And, meanwhile, the chef closes a chapter in Theater, which will transform into Orobianco Barcelona, with Paolo Casagrande (three stars in Lasarte) as gastronomic director.The brothers Sergio and Javier Torres also return to the scene, resuming their collaboration with Pantea Group after the success of Eldemar. In spring, they plan to open La Parada Torres in the Mercat de Santa Caterina, a proposal that aims to blend their signature style with the real pulse of the market and the drive of a group that in recent years has become serious about Mediterranean cuisine.
2026 will also bring the reopening of Aürt, Artur Martínez's project. It returns with ambition and with its radar set on the major international guides. In addition, it joins Pizza x Chef, the initiative by Sartoria Panatieri that throughout the year will invite chefs from different places to reinterpret an exclusive, ephemeral, and seasonal recipe. Among the already confirmed names are Albert Adrià, Vicky Sevilla, and the tandem Juan Sahuquillo and Javier Sanz, among others.
And, to complete the map, Rafa Zafra is preparing a new move at the Masia del Tibidabo. A restaurant with views, designed for groups and with local and seasonal produce as its backbone. The chef has also just opened Hernández, offering traditional Catalan cuisine, in the Parc de la Muntanyeta de Sant Boi de Llobregat, alongside chef Gonzalo Hernández.
Other openings to keep in mind
We are especially excited about the new project of the Alam brothers. A temple of taco al pastor, with gringa, guacamole, tres leches on a tray and four homemade salsas to choose your level of happiness, plus a serious cocktail bar. And on Wednesdays, birria day. The hype promises to be big.Another relevant novelty will be Finca Nebot, which will occupy the space left by Bajarí in Poblenou. Run by the No Hay Mañana group, with Leo Chechelnitskiy at the helm, it will offer Catalan cuisine with a return to the classics. And with an idea that we particularly like: putting the combined dish back in the center.
"The trend of Time Out Market is clear: direct, agile cuisine without excessive frills"It will also open Super Auto, scheduled for February, in the same location where it was Auto Rosellón. Ronit Stern remains true to its spirit, with a renewed and fresh menu, and the promise of preserving the essence of an Eixample classic. In the Maremagnum, the Time Out Market also finalizes three new proposals. Not all names are known yet, but the trend is clear: direct, agile cuisine without excessive frills.
It is also worth having on the radar Mercado Central, a new cevichería in Poble-sec led by chef Pablo Ortega; Bottega Bernacca, with Catalan chef Gerard Barberan, who achieved a Michelin star in Brazil with the Japanese Kuro; and Cresta Negra, the new project by Omar Malpartida (Maymanta), focused on Peruvian-style roasted chicken.
The best openings of 2025
In addition to looking at upcoming openings, it is also worth taking stock of 2025 with a selection of the most relevant restaurants. Projects by creative chefs who want to fly free, away from large structures, stand out. This is the case of Matteo Bertozzi with Atipical, a kitchen with ingenuity, technique and sensibility, and one of the best thought-out lunch menus in the city. Or that of Carles Pérez de Rozas, who surprises with Pompa, his small place on Seneca Street, full of freedom and judgment.In that same impulse for change, Direkte has made the leap from the corner of La Boqueria to Carrer París and, without losing its rhythm, is now playing in full restaurant mode. Arnau Muñío maintains a direct and irreverent menu, with ambition and inventiveness. And Agreste Mar has consolidated its stage at Serras Barcelona, with new dishes that bridge Italy and Catalonia, with a taste of travel and home.
If we go down to Raval, 2025 has also brought a much-needed opening. Arraval opens its doors as a rare bird of the neighborhood, Catalan and urban, with spices and stews that travel but always end up returning home. An "invented tradition" that they also practice at Franca, which consolidates a Catalan cuisine with a contemporary outlook, without scripts or corsets.
And if Catalan cuisine has been a transversal narrative, it is noticeable in places like Finorri, which bridges territory, popular dish, and an elegance without intensities. Or in Bornès, which takes traditional cuisine and makes it run a bit, without losing it along the way. In that same vein, Casa Fiero remains a safe bet, with creative cocktails and an energy that invites you to return. And in a more classic line, Fonda Balmes and Melós have also been gaining followers as the months went by.
Then there are those who make their way without making noise, but end up being a topic of conversation anyway. Without promotion or fireworks, Eugeni de Diego has turned Cerveseria 640 into one of those places that fill up just because, with an impeccable dining room and classics made with skill. Something similar has happened with Ultrapaninos Marín, a hybrid between a bar, a workshop, and a meat temple, which connects with the rise of charcuteries with criteria, like Provisions Gresca.
In markedly international cuisine, Fukamura plays with precision and silence with an almost ceremonial omakase, while Ippudo revisits ramen with a global stamp. And, with Middle Eastern notes, Lora stands out in the new SLS Barcelona, with a brunch that already competes among the most talked about in the city. A few floors up, the cocktail bar Kyara is also a place to discover new worlds.
The same goes for Fronda Pasaje which, although it opened at the end of 2024, deserves a prominent place among the spaces where, in addition to eating, one also learns. And it is that the year can be summarized precisely in that idea: going out to be inspired by the world, returning and executing it at home in the most fun way possible.