El Mundial Bar celebrates the second round

There are places Barcelona returns to again and again, even a hundred years on. El Mundial Bar remains one of those corners where a table, a small plate and a glass are enough to keep a story alive. This classic Born institution, founded in 1925, celebrates its 101st anniversary this September, alongside the first anniversary of its reopening under Grup Confiteria.

To mark the occasion, El Mundial is pulling on its gloves for what it's calling the "Second Round". The name is no accident: it nods to the bar's decades-long ties to the world of boxing, when it served as a meeting point for the sport's followers in Barcelona. Now, the imagery of the ring is being used to launch a new chapter for the bar, with a celebration centred on unpretentious, everyday food.

For 12 days, El Mundial will offer 101 tables the Menú 1925 at €19.25. As with any good scoreboard, the figures have been carefully chosen: 101 years of history, 101 tables and €19.25, a direct nod to the year the establishment first opened its doors.

A menu that brings you back to the table

The Menú 1925 revives some of El Mundial's most iconic dishes, bringing them together in a special offering designed to celebrate the anniversary without losing sight of the house's essence. The promotional price is €19.25, compared with a usual cost of around €33.

But before the 101 tables open to the general public, there will be room for those who backed El Mundial's return from the very beginning. Customers who booked a table during the first month after the reopening will get preferential access to the menu. It's a gesture of thanks to the first mundialeros, those who returned to fill the tables of the Born as the venue embarked on a new chapter.

The second round of a bar that wants to keep being a bar

The anniversary celebration comes with an underlying idea: El Mundial doesn't want merely to preserve its past, but to keep doing what it has done for much of its history. Tapas, small plates, fish and seafood, and affordable prices remain the backbone of an offering that champions a way of eating deeply tied to Barcelona's bar culture. No frills, and no need to turn every visit into a special occasion. Because one of El Mundial's charms is precisely this: being able to drop in for a bite, stretch out a conversation or sit down to a seafood dish without needing an excuse.

The "Second Round" will also mark the starting point of a new culinary programme aimed at reinforcing the bar's identity as a popular neighbourhood spot. From the first Wednesday of each month, El Mundial will introduce a new initiative built around a different stew each week, at especially affordable prices. In doing so, the initiative revives one of the most everyday formulas of bar cooking: the hot dish, the stew that changes from week to week, and that kind of menu which invites you in simply because it's mealtime, or because you fancy something warm and comforting.

At a time when restaurants are constantly chasing novelty, El Mundial is backing an almost countercultural idea: making it worthwhile to keep coming back.

A year ago now, Grup Confiteria took on the challenge of reopening the doors of this historic Born establishment. The aim was to revive a venue founded in 1925 while preserving its popular, food-focused spirit. The group, founded in 2014 by Enric Rebordosa and Manuel Baldovinos, has focused much of its work on reviving emblematic Barcelona establishments and giving them new life. Its portfolio includes some 25 restaurants and cocktail bars, among them La Confiteria, Cafè del Centre, El Maravillas, Ultramarinos Marín and Bodega Molina. It is also behind Paradiso, internationally recognised as one of the best cocktail bars in the world.

In El Mundial's case, the formula has been to bring a house steeped in history back into circulation without disconnecting it from its original purpose: a place to eat, drink and meet. And now it's time to celebrate.