Cal Pep

50 comments

1. a must-visit restaurant - BB (9 Dec 2022 - 09:04)

   Cal Pep is a must-visit restaurant when travelling to Barcelona. The tapas selection is amazing and the seafood dishes are especially delicious. The prices are very reasonable, with seafood dishes ranging from €10 to €23. The atmosphere is lively and welcoming, making it a great place to enjoy a meal.

2. really top - visitor (15 Feb 2017 - 08:40)

   of course it's full, but Cal Pep deserves this success as food is really tasty and good. Best for me.

3. CAL PEP - S7 (30 Dec 2016 - 09:40)

   Great Experıance!!!

4. Cal Pep - Bárbara (12 May 2015 - 08:54)

   Excellent Food,excellent service, highly recomendad, can't wait to go again!

5. sara poblador - cena estupenda en cal pep((((( UN 10))))) (30 Jan 2015 - 08:45)

   fui con mi pareja a cenar y disfrute como nunca ese tartar de atun y esa tortila sencilla pero muy jugosa y buenisimaaa el vino adecuado para el tipo de platillo.
   En fin me encanto una vez mas el servicio muy atento y simpatico los postres buenisimos
   
   REPETIREMOS SIN DUDA EN NUESTRO OTRO PASO POR LA CIUDAD UN 10

6. Cal pep - Mike (28 Jan 2015 - 09:45)

   Suggested that this place was great but very disappointed with attitude of staff , price etc .We sat down ( no crowd) and were virtually told what we would eat , no menu provided , no costs known and then virtually force fed 4 dishes in record time . Wine very ordinary . Entire experience extremely disappointing and reasonably expensive for what it was

7. Rip off - PAD (22 Jul 2014 - 09:00)

   I'm sorry, as a restaurant owner, I found this place to be a total ripoff! 72 euros for 4 shrimp and 2 very small orders of very small clams,one dessert with 2 cava's.
   To boot, I waited 1 1/2 hours in line for a stool! Really, I would never go back!
   Sorry, I would never want to say bad things about another restaurant as an owner myself but plrase spend your money in a ton of better restaurants in Barcelona!!!!

8. Overpriced - Daniel (11 Feb 2014 - 14:45)

   This place is mainly for tourist. Any person from Barcelona would know a better place to go to and spend way less. If you are a tourist and cannot find a local place where you would spend around 20 to 30 euros a head, then go to Cal Pep and spend 50 a person in a crowed tourist filled space.
   
   Hey, get out of Barcelona or the center and try other areas. If you are traveling more extensively, you can have an amazing night of tapas in places like Santiago de Compostelae, Pamplona, Leon or Burgos for less than twenty euros.
   
   

9. what ever other say.. - foody (13 Jul 2013 - 09:45)

   Love this place.. a real discovery, great food quality and savoir faire.. if you like tapas do not hesitate.

10. cal pep est toujours au top - miam (2 Oct 2012 - 08:30)

    de passage à Barcelone je n'ai pas résisté à un bon dîner chez Cal Pep. toujours un bonheur, toujours la référence pour les tapas à Barcelone.. Le reste est du blabla.

11. a great dinner - yess (10 Sep 2012 - 11:15)

    Cal pep is a great place. one of the best dinner during my stay! go go

12. really cool! - fre (12 Jul 2012 - 09:30)

    ok it's crowded but it's absolutly delicious.. fine for me!

13. One of the best in Europe - Barry Linder (10 Jul 2012 - 08:30)

    My wife and I are world travelers and this is one of the best places for seafood, we loved it, even though we had a long wait, but it is part of the experience.

14. tapas - Drew (8 Jul 2012 - 06:15)

    -friend told me it was a must visit, so I was finally able to experience & found it to be the worst tapas; I had during my entire stay in Barcelona.
    -the selection was poor at best & so average; given the price.

15. experience - Mr. LeFleur (7 Jul 2012 - 07:00)

    Very high expectations. Very disappointed!!!
    Ordered red wine and received white. Server wouldn't change!
    Ordered one seafood choice and received four. Two of them, were terrible!
    The selection of tapas, the waiter selected, was not to my liking; at all!!!
    The server was not attentive. Could have cared less about the tapas I
    was being served.
    Very expensive, for what I was served. Over $100. euros.
    Very dissatified!!! Below average. Wouldn't go back or tell anyone to
    experience for themselves. Would be afraid of their displeasure.
    

16. food and service - Alyse (6 Jul 2012 - 07:45)

    
    Wanted seafood, but only one choice & server ignored my request; serving me four seafood tapas instead! His choices, two of which I did not like at all!!.
    Terrible!!!
    No customer service skills, no personality; ignored me totally!!!

17. cost of food/drink - Andrew (6 Jul 2012 - 07:45)

    -went the other night, found it very expensive; for what you were served.

18. Just Amazing - Jen (8 Jun 2012 - 08:30)

    We travel to dine and experience food in different places. Hands down Cal Pep is one of the best. The entire experience of waiting in line for a seat at the bar to open up and salivating over the dishes, to getting your first little dish of clams or squid prepared simply and perfectly are what makes Cal Pep a must if you are in Barcelona. Its authentic but modern and hip and busy from open to close. It truly a dining experience not to be missed.
    
    (If you really don't want to wait arrive half an hour before they open and be one of the first 18 in line for the counter seats)

19. Confused... - Vanessa (31 May 2012 - 08:45)

    After reading the previous reviews, I am hesitant to go to CalPep. Obviously if the reviews are 50/50 positive/negative, then there seems to me that there is some truth to be told. I was looking forward to dining at this establishment, I will definitely think it over, thank you to all who have posted their experiences, the good and the bad.

20. Cal Pep - Satisfied customer (17 May 2012 - 09:45)

    Brilliant food. Even though the restaraunt was full, the staff graciously accomadated our needs and got us in. Terrific food and a great traditional spanish experience. I very much recommend visiting this restaraunt.

21. Poorfood, too expensive, bad service - Angrycustomer (26 Jan 2012 - 10:15)

    The food was not good. I am a educated Chef an i have never eaten food i disliked more. The waiters and the cooks were talking, laughing, showing their tattoos off to one enother right in front of us. It wouldent bother us that much if it didn't cost as much as a gourmet restaurant. The food was not god, and the service was not good. The price was extreme. Recommend to go someplace else.

22. it's way too expensive - mimi (1 Dec 2011 - 08:30)

    we couldn't chosse the dishes. all the customers there seemed to order 4 tapas which were recommended by the restaurant. it was such a small portion that me and my husband were still very hungry. the bill was 56 euros for 4 small tapas!!!!
    all the customers were obviously foreign toursits. it was ripped-off

23. Noi idea about seafood!!! - TODD (9 Nov 2011 - 08:30)

    PERHAPS YOU HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT INTERNATIONAL CUISINE!!! CAL PEP HAS MAINTAINED AS ONE OF THE DINE TO PLACES IN THE WORLD!!! I'VE TRAVELED A LOT AND CAN HONESTLY THAT YOU MAY HAVE MISSED THE BOAT!!!

24. Cal pep resturant - Miri K (11 Oct 2011 - 10:30)

    Completely over rated,nothing special,who ever enjoyed this restaurant clearly have no idea about seafood! The food is SO Salty!very disappointing.don't bother .

25. I loved it - Banyuls (4 Oct 2011 - 09:00)

    I can't agree with the folks whose feet are tired, and who miss sweet home Alabama with it's excellent customer service. Cal Pep is a real restaurant with a recognizable determination to make good food. The good customers they can only hope for.

26. cal pep - woman 31 (26 Sep 2011 - 22:00)

    Not worth the hype. Don't trust the "pre selected" tapas. Order what you want. I had 7 tapas, only 3 were worth it. Don't get the bread, the sandy mussels, the tasteless poorly battered fried seafood plate, or the padron peppers (unless you have never had padrons, then you wont know what you are missing. Big waste of hard earned money.

27. love this place - sam (13 Sep 2011 - 12:30)

    best tapas for sure.. just very annoying to wait.

28. Defininitely Give it a Try! - Ash (3 Aug 2011 - 10:45)

    This restaurant is definitely worth a visit!! Yummy, simple, tasty fresh food! Best Tapas by far in Barcelona!! ENJOY

29. Confused! - Gordon M. (23 Jul 2011 - 18:15)

    After reading the reviews, I have no idea whether I should go to Cal Pep or not. Some of the reviews are absolutely scathing...while others indicate it is the best food around. My wife and I are travelling there on August 19th,2011 and want to know where to eat.

30. Repas juillet 2011 - Marine (7 Jul 2011 - 10:30)

    Quelle bonne Adresse ! Tapas excellents et ambiance conviviale assurée ... Attendez votre tour en dégustant un apéritif et observez les tapas défiles en attendant votre tour au bar ! Les tortillas ( omelette de pomme de terre et oignons) les palourdes ... Et J en passe ... Tous fabriques devant vos yeux ... Fraicheur garantie et soirée inoubliable ! A recommander !!!!!!!

31. Good food, waiter very helpful - C a j (29 Jun 2011 - 11:45)

    Went there with my parents. We got there early and got seats no problem. I was very worried because I'm vegetarian but I told the waiter and he said there was no problem. I communicated with him in Spanish but his English seemed quite good, which is always nice just in case. We asked about a couple of dishes we'd heard of and he ordered them as well as a few others. Everyone was very nice and very helpful, and we had a great time. The food was all at least very good, some of it better than that (a little salty occasionally for my palate but still good)
    Yes, it is expensive but personally I thought it was worth it for the experience. Whether or not it is for you is a personal decision.
    
    (For reference we had fried peppers, tuna tartare, chicken/spinach croquettes, monkfish, chickpeas with spinach, mushrooms a la plancha, baby clams with ham in broth and fried baby anchovies with egg)

32. spectacular - fransje en co (18 May 2011 - 10:45)

    it was spectacular. if you like a surprise don't order your meal but ask them to make something for you. mmmmmmmm great
    we receive some recepies at home know.
    if you are going to barcelona you must eat at Cal Pep.
    we hope to go again soon.
    

33. I Love It - JJ (17 May 2011 - 10:15)

    It is a spectacular place to visit if you don't go you'd be crazy. Love this.

34. Cal Pep, bon mais réputation exagérée ! - Quenelle67 (1 Feb 2011 - 10:30)

    Nous (couple 40 ans environ...) faisons partie des chanceux qui n'ont attendu que...20 minutes pour déjeuner chez Cal Pep. Ambiance authentique, produits très frais, pas de menu, bienvenue dans l'atmosphère plutôt huilée de Cal Pep. Il faut le faire, le vivre, le voir, se faire son avis et ça s'arrête là. Pour bien manger il faut effectivement prévoir 40 euros par personne et là, avouons qu'à ce prix on trouve des restaurants d'un autre niveau à Barcelone. Pain frotté à la tomate + huile d'olive, bon sans plus. Mélange de calamars/poissons/crevettes fris, sans plus. Petits poivrons fris, que les inconditionnels de Cal Pep nous expliquent la différence avec les poivrons des autres... Tartare de thon : excellent. Moules au vin, ouais, fraîches quoi les moules...Couteaux sautés, bons. Saucisse au foie gras, réduction au Porto, le tout sur haricots : excellent. Verres de vin blanc, vin quelconque mais serveur généreux. Au verre il vous laisse la bouteille et jauge votre consommation, c'est beau joueur. Bonne adresse, malgré tout réputation exagérée et tarifs un peu élevés.

35. Cal Pep - Paolo dal Friuli (6 Jan 2011 - 19:00)

    La valutazione di Elio del 4 Gennaio 2011, relativamente alla ristorazione del Cal Pep é evidentemente di persona che é abituato a pranzare in pizzeria, locali che personalmente poco frequento per ordinare esclusivamente pizza o spaghetti, che talvolta sono di qualita' discutibile. Frequento Barcelona per motivi di lavoro da oltre 15 anni e riconosco nel ristorante Cal Pep il locale tipico delle tapas Catalane, espressione della vita Catalana: qualita' e sapore del cibo Catalano, simili allo slow-food Italiano, serviti in fast-food come una pizzeria Italiana al taglio.
    Punteggio: 4 stelle, consigliato per break saporiti e veloci, tipici della frenetica vita Catalana, ma da provare, previa coda o prenotazione, da ogni turista che voglia sentirsi per istante un Catalano.
    

36. ATTENZIONE !!!! - Elio Ramponelli (4 Jan 2011 - 11:15)

    ATTENZIONE !!!!
    A tutti gli Italiani che vogliono mangiare bene e cercono come me la qualita' e il piacere del palato del nostro mangiare regionale,non cercatelo qui.A Barcellona ci si puo' solo NUTRIRE per cui un posto vale l'altro.Ho cercato e provato diverse varianti ,anche questo ristorante piu' riconosciuto ma il risultato e' sempre il solito,il rimpianto di una qualsiasi pizzeria ITALIANA

37. love this place - teddy V (26 Nov 2010 - 14:00)

    I came for the tapas and the tapas were really good. Waiting is part of the game: and we were lucky iy was fast that night. best fish tapas around.

38. Cal Pep - Werner (23 Nov 2010 - 02:56)

    Judy - I don´t agree with your description - I am not discussing your taste and your personal impression - but your comments are misinforming other people.
    How do you explain that this bar - not restaurant - is known as Barcelona´s best tapa bar - and every day people - not only tourists - are queuying to get a place.
    All these people don´t understand about food - all these people are prepared to be cheated - including my spanish friends and I who are frecuent guests in Cal Pep?
    Sorry - I don´t buy it.
    Best regard from Barcelona

39. cal pep - judy s (23 Nov 2010 - 02:56)

    DO NOT EAT HERE. Had the WORST FOOD and EXPERIENCE here. Left an extremely bad taste in our mouths, how we were treated. It ended up being 30 euros per person for 8 small plates of crap quality food.
    
    When we walked in, they herded us to the back room and told us they don't have a menu, that we wouldn't understand it anyway so they would order 6 dishes of popular items and then after 6 they would ask us if we wanted more. If we were wise, we should have left after hearing this... However we sat down and they proceed to bring us 7-8 small size portion dishes one after another. (plate of ham, 3 croquettes, plate of clams, tortilla, fried little fish, 3 bruschetta, etc) After 8 dishes they didn't seem to stop and ask us anything so I asked for a check. They said NO. We already put another item in the oven for you. You must eat it, it's been cooked for you. We didnt eat it, but insisted on the check, that they are supposed ask after 6 dishes before bringing anymore food out. They charged us for it anyway. Since our spanish were rudimentary, we felt we could not argue and got ripped off. I think this place is a scam to rip off tourist. The food is less than mediocre and overpriced. If Spain had a Better Business Bureau, they would have been shut down already.

40. I Agree! - JK (23 Nov 2010 - 02:56)

    The waiter also insisted ordering for us and we got all sorts of things we did not want including very poor and expensive whole fish. The bill was enormous as well. To be fair about half the food was excellent but overall we felt completely ripped off.

41. cal pep - awful- dont bother-go to Cindad Condal instead - mm (23 Nov 2010 - 02:56)

    This place needs to be re-reviewed.
    It is below standard and leads hundreds of unsuspecting tourists to one of the worst meals they could possibly have in Barcelona.
    After telling the waiter we wanted chicken, meat, prawns and fish he told us he will pick for us (DONT LET THEM!) Their choice is the cheap rubbishy things for the tourists eg omlette, very oily deep fried calamari and 2 inch size dried out fish, over salted clams, oily mushrooms. They told us there were no prawns and chicken (though we saw other diners with prawns)
    Everything was oversalted and drowning in oil so dont come here if you have heart disease!
    It cost 90 euros for 2.
    The night before we went to another one recommended by our local hotel Cindad Condal near Les Ramblas- absolutley thrashed this place for quality and freshness and variety- it cost 60euros for 2
    The night before that we went to el bulli- what can I say! Superlative!

42. Fermeture aout - Panda (21 Aug 2010 - 00:45)

    Dommage ferme en aout

43. Cal Pep Barcelona - Carol Gimesky (5 Aug 2010 - 10:15)

    This was our last night in Barcelona and we had read good comments about the restaurant - went there for dinner tonight and it was terrible -greasy , oily, deep fried food that was unedible. We each ordered a glass of wine and got a bottle each! It was also by far the most expensive meal we had on our trip. The staff was not helpful, ordered for us and it was truly a disaster! I am so disappointed and want to notify others so you don´t make the same mistake we did! What a night!

44. the toilets - mr achilleos (1 Aug 2010 - 22:01)

    the toilets are so bad i went to the nearest tolet

45. cal pep is a pleasure - nick (24 Jul 2010 - 15:00)

    well.. sorry for the "few" bad comments on this page.. but went to cal pep last week.. just the better tapas around... wish I could find similar places for our next trip in Barcelona

46. Cal Pep - Mar (24 Jul 2010 - 14:42)

    This is theatre at its best. I was alone - stranded without flight- but an experience such as this almost made the whole nightmare worthwhile. Shown immediatley to a stool-a plus to being solo?- amazing tapas chosen by the waiter- try the baby clams-enjoyed every moment. Overpriced? Try one of the street cafes on La Ramblas. Small crit- I wanted BUY one of the paper placemats and it seemed the Patron was not impressed. The day we stop asking, is the day.....

47. cal pep - favourite (24 Jul 2010 - 14:41)

    my favourite tapas bar when in Barcelona... just waiting to come to Barcelona another time to run there.. of course a waiting line sometimes but worth it for sure... my favourite is tapas of pulpo gallego... hummmm and patatas bravas.....;;hummmmmm

48. cal pep - mumu (24 Jul 2010 - 14:40)

    Cal pep c énorme!! un des serveurs est français(Paco) et vous conseille sur ce que vous devez manger(pas de menu!) en fonction de l'arrivage du jour, c donc toujours super frais! Et en + c la surprise à chaque fois vous ne savez pas à l'avance ce qu'il y aura, j'adore!!!
    
    Le meilleur resto de tapas de Barcelone sans aucun doute!!

49. Cal pep - az (25 Mar 2010 - 16:00)

    Fantastic tapas, service and atmosphere at Cal Pep!!

50. delicieux! - charlotte et nico (28 Jan 2010 - 14:00)

    Inoubliable ! personnel sympathique qui parle avec vous malgré la barriere de la langue. Sans compter les délicieux plats et le vin.(et le digestif) Je crois n'avoir jamais autant mangé !
    A ne rater ! nous n'avons meme pas eu à faire la queue, un "midi" en semaine.
    nous ne manquerons pas d'y retourner.