Thanks to facilities built for the 1992 Olympics and burgeoning international investment (it's up 26 percent this year), Spain's cultural capital is giving Madrid a run for its money as the country's top business destination. And thanks to chef Ferran Adrià, it challenges Paris as global culinary hub.

Love foamed beetroot or hate it, it's difficult to deny that Adrià fomented a food revolution by marrying science and haute cuisine. His eatery, El Bulli, is two hours outside the city, and while his influence can be seen from Australia to Chicago, it may be most obvious in downtown Barcelona. Even visitors who can't squeeze into Adrià's culinary temple can experience experimental fare—but they can also turn to far more conservative cuisine.

Seafood is the centerpiece of most meals here, and local shellfish plays a leading role in the city's cuisine. Tapas are also widespread, even at more formal restaurants. That's a boon for solo travelers, who can choose from a huge range of small dishes (razor clams and olives are popular), washing them down with beer, vermouth, or cava produced in the nearby Penedès region. These light meals are served at all hours, which is helpful in a country where eating out is a form of nightlife. Most restaurants don't open until 8 p.m.; venture in before 9 p.m. and it's likely to be you and the waiters. Here, a half-dozen great places to dine alone, whether early or late.


Ciutat Vella: Commerç 24
C/Commerç 24
+34 93 319 21 02
Solo diners eat here for the same reason they might go alone to a museum: to enjoy the artwork undisturbed. Carlos Abellán was a line chef at El Bulli before starting his own restaurant, and Adrià's influence is visible down to Abellán's trademark "Kinder egg," which arrives foaming with truffle and potato. The open kitchen is brightly lit so diners can watch the cooks wield syringes and aerosol cans. Minimum order is three tapas, but most guests order the tasting menu of 10 small courses. The waitstaff gravely explains the contents of each dish—usually not terribly obvious—and enforces the strict non-smoking policy.
Dress: Business/business casual
Prices: Expensive
Reservations: Not necessary for the bar; otherwise recommended

Barceloneta: Agua
Passeig Marìtim 30
+34 93 225 12 72
Terraced restaurants overlooking Barceloneta seem a logical place to find outstanding seafood, but many are tourist traps serving sad, soggy paella. Agua is an exception and locals know it, so make a reservation if you plan to sit outside. The view of a rocky promontory is a big draw, but Mediterranean dishes like monkfish and clam stew or salmon tartare with leeks run a close second. The jamón ibérico on toast is worth trying if only because the specialty ham is so hard to obtain abroad. 
Dress: Business/business casual
Prices: Moderate
Reservations: Recommended for the terrace

Barceloneta: 7 Portes
Passeig Isabel II 14
+34 93 319 30 33
"1 p.m. to 1 a.m., uninterrupted" is written across the front door of this restaurant, the oldest in Barcelona. While it is among the best fish joints, 7 Portes does well to advertise its most salient feature in a city where it is gauche and nigh impossible to eat early. Popular "rich man's paella," is so dubbed because the chef has shelled the lobster, mussels, and clams. The dining rooms are divided into smoking and non-smoking, which breaks down into locals and visitors, pleasure and business, respectively. Famous guests have included Pedro Almodóvar, Salvador Dalí, and Orson Welles.
Dress: Casual
Prices: Moderate to expensive
Reservations: During peak hours

Ciutat Vella: Ca L'Isidre
C/Les Flors 12
+34 93 441 11 39
Ca L'Isidre is the grand dame of Barcelona cuisine, serving Catalan favorites like morcilla (blood sausage) and lamb brains in black butter as well as less advanced options. The menu changes daily, depending on what the chef finds in La Boqueria, Ciutat Vella's iconic market. The stately restaurant has only 50 seats, and solo diners are tucked into a nook at the front. (The restaurant has 50 seats, the nook four.) Service is highly professional, down to the ritual of cutting and lighting the after-dinner cigar. El Raval may have been a more salubrious part of town when the restaurant opened in 1970; these days it is wise to take a taxi.
Dress: Fashionable
Prices: Expensive
Reservations: Recommended

Montjuïc: Oleum
Parc de Montjïuc, Palau Nacional
+34 93 289 06 79
Located in the National Art Museum of Catalunya, this three-year-old restaurant has created more buzz for the institution than its Romanesque collection. It has soaring multicolored marble walls, and an angled overhead mirror reflects the stunning hilltop view back at the well-heeled lunchers (dinner is by prearrangement for groups only). The food is an upscale version of menu del día, prescribed by Franco to ensure a filling midday meal with wine for workers. Along with a stray foam or two, the English-language menu sports some charming clunkers like "cream of gourd with artichokes to the rosemary and creaking of ham"—a winner, by the way.
Dress: Business/business casual
Prices: Moderate
Reservations: Not necessary

L'Eixample: Paco Meralgo
C/ Muntaner 171
+34 93 430 90 27
This minimalist bar has everything that is fun about tapas—a wealth of choice, energetic crowd, bantering waiters—while eliminating intimidating elements with an English menu and balanced gender ratio (Barcelona tapas bars are often dominated by older men). Be prepared for conversation here—your neighbors won't be shy with suggestions. Must-trys include the potato bomba and raw cod salad. An elderly customer took pains to explain that the Catalan custard, an eggy crème brulée, is actually a local invention. "The French stole it!"
Dress: Casual
Prices: Inexpensive
Reservations: Not necessary