La Pepita restaurant | Barcelona

In December it will be 4 years since La Pepita opened. It’s a restaurant in the Gràcia neighbourhood that has been a hit right from the start. The secret? The pepitas!

In honour of their grandmothers Josefina and Pepa, the owners didn’t think twice about giving the traditional pepito (a Spanish steak sandwich) a feminine twist. The result: a sandwich of light, thin bread with beef that’s also thin and full of flavour. There are lots of different pepitas, so it’s up to you to pick whichever one you fancy most.

It all began in Paris, when Sofía and her partner Sergio, a chef, decided to come to Barcelona to open a restaurant. With modest savings and their family lending a hand with the work, they opened this small restaurant, which is always full and doesn’t take bookings.

You’ll find lots of foreigners there, as the tapas menu is extensive and of very high quality. Among the most delicious tapas are the foie micuit with white chocolate and coffee, the smoked aubergine fritters with goat’s cheese, honey and apple, the garlic prawns with green beans and spring onion, and the bolognese of griddled scallops with mushrooms and parmesan.

But there are locals too, who mostly go at lunchtime for the tasty set menu it offers for €12: a cream soup in winter or gazpacho in summer to start, and a pepita of your choice as a main.

I’d definitely recommend going! Just bear in mind that either you go early or you’ll have to queue. That said, the wait can be made more pleasant, because two doors down from La Pepita they’ve opened La Cava, a bar serving tapas de tenedor (plated tapas you eat with a fork), where you can have a caña (a small draught beer) and a little tapa while you wait your turn.

And don’t go thinking otherwise: La Cava has its own charm too. With a style all of its own, lots of wrought iron (the work of Sofía’s uncle), wood and exposed brick walls, it’s meant to recall the tapas bars of old… While Sofía throws bits of paper on the floor to try to give it that roguish touch, the customers pick them up (she says, laughing), and there’s no way of getting this tradition from the north of Spain to take hold.

La Pepita restaurant opening hours
Monday 20:00 – 1:30 (evenings only)
Tue–Sat 09:00 – 1:30 (all day)
Kitchen hours
Lunch 13:00 – 16:30
Dinner 19:30 – 00:00
Address: Carrer Còrsega, 343, Barcelona
Phone: 93 238 48 93
Website: La Pepita restaurant