El Bon Gust

Les Corts isn’t the Barcelona they put on the postcards. It’s not the Gothic Quarter’s winding mysteries or Eixample’s grid of high-end boutiques. It’s a neighborhood of real people, wide avenues, and the looming shadow of Camp Nou. And in the middle of it all, on Carrer de les Corts, sits El Bon Gust. It is, in every sense of the word, a neighborhood bar. It doesn’t want to be your 'gastronomic journey.' It doesn't care about your Instagram feed. It wants to feed you, caffeinate you, and get you back to your day.

Walking up to El Bon Gust, you’ll likely see the terrace first. It’s the kind of place where the plastic chairs have seen a thousand Spanish summers and the metal tables are scarred by the rhythmic clink of beer bottles and coffee cups. There is a specific sound to a place like this—the hiss of the espresso machine, the sharp clatter of a ceramic saucer hitting the bar, and the low hum of Catalan news playing on a TV in the corner. It’s a functional symphony.

The first thing you’ll notice is the clientele. If you want to know if a neighborhood joint is worth its salt, look at who’s eating there. At El Bon Gust, you’ll see the Mossos d’Esquadra—the local police—from the nearby station. When the cops are regular fixtures at a bar, it means two things: the coffee is strong enough to jumpstart a heart, and the food is consistent, fast, and priced for people who actually work for a living. This is one of the best cheap eats in Barcelona if you’re looking for the kind of fuel that sustains the city’s backbone.

The menu is a testament to the beauty of the basics. Don’t come here looking for molecular foam or deconstructed anything. You come here for the bocadillos—crusty bread rubbed with tomato and stuffed with lomo (pork loin), bacon, or a slab of tortilla de patatas that’s been sitting on the counter, exactly where it belongs. The tortilla here isn't a delicate, runny affair; it’s a sturdy, honest block of potato and egg that demands respect. If you’re here for lunch, the 'platos combinados' are the move. It’s the classic Spanish working-man’s lunch: a protein, some fries that have actually seen a deep fryer, maybe a fried egg, and a small pile of salad to keep things honest.

Let’s talk about the service. It’s efficient. It’s direct. If you’re looking for someone to pull out your chair and explain the provenance of the salt, you’ve wandered into the wrong zip code. The staff here have a job to do, and they do it with a practiced, unsentimental speed. It’s not rudeness; it’s a lack of pretense. They know their regulars, they know what they want, and they know that at 11:00 AM, the world runs on caffeine and tobacco.

Is it perfect? No. The interior is dated, the lighting is fluorescent, and the 3.9 rating reflects a place that doesn't try to please everyone. It’s a bar for the neighborhood, not for the tourists. But that is exactly why it’s worth visiting. In a city that is increasingly being polished and packaged for mass consumption, El Bon Gust remains stubbornly itself. It’s a place where you can sit on the terrace, watch the life of Les Corts drift by, and eat a meal that costs less than a cocktail in the city center. It’s honest. It’s raw. It’s the kind of place that reminds you that the best parts of travel aren't the monuments, but the moments where you disappear into the local rhythm. If you’re looking for authentic restaurants in Les Corts, this is the baseline.