Review: Carrer de Blai, Barcelona

When it comes to food traditions, many international cities have handfuls of restaurants that specialize in the hometown dishes. Not many places, however, have an entire street dedicated to their culinary claims to fame. Barcelona is one such city where nearly every eatery along Carrer de Blai features the same menu item: the pincho, or pintxo, in Basque.

Originating from the Basque Country in the north of Spain, the popularity of these snack-sized pinchos traveled south to the capital of Catalonia. Each pincho consists of one slice of baguette topped with various, elaborately decorated ingredients such as seared salmon, ham croquettes, tooth-picked olives and baked brie. Specifically on Carrer de Blai, pinchos are €1 each, and small glasses of beer (called cañas) are also €1, making it absurdly easy to fill up on pre-dinner snacks for cheap.

If visiting Carrer de Blai on a weekend, belly up to the bars and barrels earlier than the standard Spanish dining time of 9 or 10 p.m. as the street’s popularity has caught on. Both locals and visitors make their way to the thoroughfare at the base of Montjuic, a castle-topped mountain at the southern end of the city that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. After a quick climb to the top of Montjuic, with views of the city, sea and mountains, reward yourself with a few €1 pinchos and a few brews.