Maitea Taberna

Food is good. For 2 of us food with 3 drinks costs 32 euro. They closed for sometime for vacation without putting any sign on the door, which was the part we didn’t like.

Es un vasco, diría para concretar más Donostiarra, porque tiene las paredes llenas de fotos de Donosti. Tienen una barra enorme de pintxos, aunque esta vez no los degustamos, fuimos a cenar de plato, pero otro día ire de pintxos.
La comida estaba toda buenisima. Pedimos el txuleton de la foto… sin palabras, espectacular.
Lo único que pondría como pega a este sitio es que tardaron mucho en servirnos, y si vas a cenar de plato que estén todo el rato al pasar ofreciéndote pintxos calientes era un poco pesado.
Por lo demás muy bien. Además si la cuenta supera los 10 € te dan una tarjetita marcada para cuando llegues a 10 cuentas superados los 10 € te regalan una botella de vino, no está mal, ¿no?
Si quieres saber más sobre mi experiencia en este local te invito a entrar en mi blog:

Located in a bit more quiet and residential area of Barcelona, this place feels clearly more geared towards the locals. It’s very laid-​back and the service is friendly. Set-​up is a mix of Pintxos (that can be picked from the counter and then the toothpicks are counted at the end when you pay) and tapas (ordered at the table) but with clear Basque influences. The food is reasonably priced, good wines (not huge selection) at affordable prices and not the least the quality of the food is good.
Either come early or ensure you have reservations as it is very popular. Almost all the dishes are good but the meat dishes are among the best so not really the place for vegetarians. It is not innovative but really solid and good food so I often end up visiting at least once every time I’m in Barcelona. Also a plus is that they don’t close for siesta so open from either 11 or 12 (depending on the day) until midnight.

Down to earth, looked like a homey family owned joint.
Husband and I came for late lunch and was plaza fly surprise by the pintxos selections.
The fish ones were all delicious and the cured meat just as good.
We also got some hot pintxos.
The caramelized onion on the burger pintxo was deliciously flavorful.
The best part and by far a yummy surprise was the pine apple desert.
Fresh pineapple infused with lime, coconut and mint over a bed of ice.
Incredible refreshing and hits the spot.
Totally recommend saving some room for desert.

Tienen una enorme variedad de pinchos, la cocina funciona rápido y el trato es excelente. ¿Que más se puede pedir?
Además los lunes y martes ahora mismo tienen promo: a partir de 25 € de cuenta te regalan una botella de tinto o de sidra.
Recomendadisimo!

It’s like a sushiboat place but instead of counting plates they count toothpicks! How clever. I feel a little awkward trying to reach over folks for pintxos but you gotta do what you gotta do. The patatas bravas and ablondigas were also some good menu hot food tapas.

Great tapas and pintxos place, thanks to fellow Unilocalers who gave this place good reviews, I couldn’t agree more. Everything is even better with a large Estrella (or two). Try the txistorra and croquettes– yum! Quite the memorable meal in Barcelona!

Comí acá dos veces. La primera fue espectacular; toda la comida muy rica y el trato de los meseros bien amable.
La segunda vez fue bien distincta. Me dió el mesero la carta en inglés aunque hablé puro castellano con el mesero. Y con eso, me fui. No viajo miles de millas a España para ser tratada así. ¿Sabes qué? Soy abogada de inmigración en los EEUU y si un cliente me habla en inglés, incluso si puedo notar que el inglés no sea su idioma natal, le habla en inglés. Porque no soy ni mal criada ni descortesa.

Catalan style tapas are great and rather authentic. Service is jot great but that’s not why one should go to this place. Food quality is great and price is low. I can recommend this place.

Wonderful spot with excellent pinchos. The staff was very friendly and explained the procedure. Take any pincho from the cases and they add up the number of toothpicks after. Fresh ones keep coming from the kitchen. Glass of wine was about 2 euros.

Excelentes pintxos vascos!!! A un precio mejor que otros top de Barcelona. Preparan pintxos calientes al momento y al precio de los demás.
Los menús cena de grupo son un poco timo, en cuanto a precio, pero para ir a hacer unos pintxos es espectacular.

¡Bienvenido a España! What better way to kick off a series of Spain reviews than with a tasty tapas location? Maitea is a Basque style restaurant and tavern. You can order tapas and Pintxos to your heart’s content, and even pick up some items from the bar if you like.
So what to order? I defaulted to Unilocal,as usual. As a result we ordered 3 good choices. The **Dates with Bacon** appeared in several reviews, so we tried them and they were pretty much what we expected. Very similar to the U.S. version. We also got the **Artichoke Heart Croquettes** and these were pretty mind blowing. Such juicy goodness! You can’t go wrong in Spain with the third and final Unilocaler-​recommended dish, **Jamon Iberico** with the traditional Tomato Rubbed Bread.
The highlight of the meal for me was the **Codfish with garlic mousseline au gratin**. I’ve never had anything quite like it before! The garlic mousseline perfectly complimented the fish and wasn’t too overwhelming. This dish was actually recommended by the server. Good call! Service here is helpful and has a decent comprehension of English.
One of the things I love about Barcelona is they offer peach juice everywhere. The stuff is deliciously refreshing after a long day of walking and shopping. This place is about a 5 – 10 minute cab ride from the Passeig de Gracia shopping area.
TIP: The tapas/​Pintxos here are larger than at most other tapas places in Barcelona, so plan accordingly. Four of us were stuffed after 5 tapas.
DATE TIP: There is a check-​in offer here for a free shot. Impress your date with your Unilocaliness by checking in and getting the hookup for free booze!

Fui a esta taberna por recomendación de una amiga mía que es muy sibarita. Las dos somos de buen comer.
Llevaba bastantes días mala y por fin el médico me dio el alta. Como la visita fue en el hospital clinic me acordé de esta taberna y la probé.
Fui un día entre semana, al mediodía, y me pareció que la relación calidad-​precio es buenísima. Además la atención al cliente también es excelente. Los camareros son personas alegres a quienes parece que les gusta su trabajo (a diferencia de lo que pasa en muchos otros bares de Barcelona),
Y lo mejor es que puedes ir de pintxos y realmente elegir lo que quieres comer, en vez de esperar a que vayan sacando opciones «calientes» (como en otros sitios de la competencia, ej. Lizarrán). ¡Que también me gusta Lizarrán! Pero me gusto la opción de pedir pintxos a la carta de Maitea.
Ahora mismo no recuerdo cuánto nos costó el almuerzo pero creo que fue unos 12 € por persona. Tomamos un refresco cada uno y y unos 7 pintxos. La morcilla estaba espectacular.
Por ultimo pedimos una de las raciones que tienen fuera de carta (platos de temporada). Eran boniatos fritos con salsa brava. Mi marido no es muy fan del boniato… pues hasta rebañó. La salsa estaba IMPRESIONANTE. Volveré seguro.

This is deservedly the top rated tapas bar in BCN on Unilocal.Food and atmosphere are 5 stars. I’ve gone at least 4 times on 2 separate trips to BCN.
This place is off the beaten tourist path, located in a residential part of the Eixample neighborhood. With the acclaim it gets on Unilocal and Trip Advisor, I’m surprised it’s not more crowded with tourists.
You walk in and are seized by the somewhat kitschy over the top Catalunyan décor. You wonder if you made a mistake but you take a few more steps and hear nothing but Spanish and Catalan. Okay, that’s better.
You’ll see a huge array of cold and hot tapas laid out on the counter. Grab a stool at the counter and get ready to eat. I feel as though the bar counter or the stand-​up area against the walls are the best places to eat. You’re shoulder to shoulder with the other customers, most of whom are locals. It feels fun and lively. The back room is great too, but it doesn’t have quite the same atmosphere.
Back to the tapas. Pick whatever you like and load your plate up (but go slowly — I’ll get to why in a moment). The tapas are speared with a toothpick, and they charge you at the end of your meal by how many toothpicks you’ve taken. Get a glass of vino tinto, take in your surroundings, and enjoy.
Earlier I said to go slowly. Please listen to this advice, because you will see many, many more tapas coming out fresh from the kitchen. They have at least a few dozen varieties on the menu, and they just keep coming. You’ll want to save yourself! My faves are the leek croquette and artichoke heart croquette.
Finally, finish your meal with a shot of Patxaran, a Basque sloe berry liqueur.
Voila! You’re local now.

Very laid back place but don’t let that fool you: the Basque pintxos here are some of the best in town. Service is fast and the food is fresh. Worth going back many times!

It’s easy to walk by this unassuming place and miss it, but definitely it’s a great option if you want an inexpensive, delicious Pintxo experience. The other tapas are fine but definitely where this restaurant shines is in the vast range of both hot and cold pinxtos.
My advice is to grab any empty stool and bar space that you see, help yourself to a plate, and then let your eyes guide the rest of your meal. The cases of cold pinxtos are delicious and we noticed that they get replenished /​replaced pretty frequently, especially as dinner time picks up. The waiters pass trays of hot pinxtos as well starting at around 8pm so if you get there a bit early they will let you order whatever hot pinxtos you wish.
I’d recommend:
— Smoked salmon with a seafood salad filling (yum)
— Thinly sliced jamon (yum)
— Pickled anchovy with a fresh pepper relish (really good, it sounds weird but the flavors were really bright and popped)
— Bacon wrapped dates — not a pinxto but it was a very generous slice of bacon wrapped around a perfectly warm, melted date
Good but not my favorites:
— Country pâté with pickled veg — these were weirdly warm and tasted almost like salami
— Shrimp on seafood pâté — the pâté was not as flavorful as I would have liked and was a bit spongy
Great sangria too! A liter-​sized pitcher was 15 euro.

Fantastic little café with both hot & cold tapas. Cold tapas are self service from the case along the long counter. It’s absolutely empty at 8 pm, but by 9:30 it’s packed. There a lots of other cafes in the area, but they were all dead while this one was hopping and for good reason. You can have a simple meal as fast or slow as you wish. Great place to have drinks, beer or homemade sangria, custom mixed fresh each pitcher. Popular locals gathering spot.
Food is fantastic and varied from simple/​safe to the more challenging for the adventurous. The staff is very accommodating and happy to explain all the dishes. This has to be one of the least expensive meals in BCN, yet has incredible quality. Definitely a must-​do when visiting Barcelona. Lots of families with kids go early.

We’ve been in Barcelona for 3 days and I still did not try tapas. This place had good reviews and was close to the place we stayed so my fiancé and I decided to check it out. The atmosphere was very homey and the staff very friendly, they speak some English which was very helpful. However, menu reflected not tapas but similar to tapas food that was called pinchos: hot and cold. They cost € 1.65 per one and mainly is different stuff on a baget slice. We liked most of them, but my favorites were salmon one, hot cheese one with pepper and hot fish ones. Red wine Sangria was very tasty as well.

Granted, this was my first true tapas bar experience, so I was really impressed, but after having been to more, it still tops my list as one of the best. The food was incredibly fresh, tasted amazing, and they had some truly excellent and adventurous options. Service was quick and friendly. They even accommodated our group of 10 without a reservation.
We got there around 7:30 and were among the only customers there. When we left at 9:15, it was packed.
Would definitely go back!
Only € 1,65 per toothpick. A bit more than most places, but absolutely worth the difference.

Todo de este lugar es rico, el ambiente es
Poco pretencioso, la rotación de las mesas es rápida y la calidad de los ingredientes es notoriamente excepcional.

This place was great! We went here because we saw something about it online and loved the pictures on their website.
We walked all the way from Casa Batlló and got here at about 9:30 p.m. The dining area was completely full of men, which was interesting, so we sat at the long counter. This was fine because we wanted to eat pinchos anyway.
At first we were not sure how to do this, but after watching for a few minutes, we realized we just needed to go for it, by reaching over people to open the little glass covers and take what we wanted.
We didn’t really know what everything was just by looking, but it was all good. They kept bringing out hot pinchos and people would take those too. It was fun.
We had 12 total, including plenty of fish, foie gras, and blood pudding with red pepper.
We are going back tomorrow for more!

Ok Unilocal,I have you to thank for this one. I went out of my way for Maitea Taberna, all because I was told by my good friend Unilocal that this is the spot for excellent tapas. I will say, the hype was a little overboard, as it was good, not outstanding as I was hoping, but still not sad I went. I wouldn’t make a point to hit it up again, but again, not bad at all. I liked that it was very reasonably priced and it offered a lot of variety in the way of tapas choices.
Don’t forget to save your toothpicks! I had about 5 of the tapas and they were mostly all good — I think there was one I wasn’t crazy about, but overall satisfied with them.

Una clásica taberna vasca decorada con puntillas enmarcadas. Desprende encanto y singularidad.
La variedad de tapas es muy extensa, os recomiendo que preguntéis qué hay fuera de carta, os sorprenderán los huevos de codorniz con jamón ibérico, beicon o sobrasada. Otra gran recomendación, y siguiendo con este ingrediente mallorquín, es la manzana con sobrasada. Buf… delicioso. Repetimos. Dos cada una. La manzana, cocina, se deshace y se mezcla junto a las notas fuertes y corpulentas de la sobrasada. El servicio es impecable. Recomiendo ir pronto, sobre las 8:30−9, ya que después de llena y hay un poco de ruido. Y nos os olvidéis de la tapa de manzana con sobrasada… por favor… ¡eso sí que es un trocito del cielo en la tierra!

This was so good! And a great experience for a foodie with no knowledge of Spanish cuisine and tapas.
The best is in the bar area. It is long and has lots of bar Stools. The regular menu and reservation only Restaurant at the back didn’t seem as appealing.
The idea is to eat Pintxos. These open face sandwiches are displayed in cases at the bar and you can just grab. The cold ones displayed favourites include a black olive and anchovy, cream cheese with raisins and walnuts, smoked salmon, tuna and hot pepper, etc. You can also order as many as you want (1.65 each) off the end which will be hot.
They also come around and serve new ones.
We got about 6 to 9 prices and where really full at the end of it.
For dessert they had a large menu and specials that all looked good. We went for the Torrija friend milk bread with sugar. I’ve been craving one for a while. This is good.
Total with wine we got 52 € Great for dates.

We found one fellow working who was willing to practice his english on us which was helpful. The food was fresh and they had reasonable pricing.
The good:
Lemon Pie
Goxua
Dates with Bacon
Goat cheese w port wine, onion, honey and nuts
Brie cheese au gratin, tomato jam and olive
The tempranillo by the glass
The free pacharan shots
The meh:
Codfish stuffed red pepper — undisclosed breading and flavorless
56 Euros for 18 tapas, 3 drinks, 2 desserts, and 2 coffees
The bad:
The bar seats are horrendous
The olive, pepper, and anchovy tapas that my coworker ordered without anchovy came with anchovy stuffed peppers. He said he had an allergy and they did not replace with unstuffed olives
The friendly english speaking mexican looking guy who originally took our order for 5 different hot tapas was reprimanded by his coworkers and then told us we could not order 1 of anything and that we should select from the hot tapas plates offered. We thought we were back at square 1 then our order came out with the 5 different tapas. Mixed messages…

Great Basque-​style pinchos spot! You enter through the long bar, where you can sit and grab the pinchos you like in the traditional style… or it’s quite spacious in the back if you want to sit and order. I’ve been for lunch twice since it’s near my office but definitely want to try for dinner now.
The food is delicious. We ordered the artichokes, croquetas de bacalao, and lots of pintxos. My favorite might be the chistorra or the queso de cabra con manzana.

I’m always suspicious when I check the Unilocal reviews for a place and find that barely any locals have reviewed it. But this place was wonderful.
Firstly, a quick definition of pintxos stolen from Wikipedia: ‘A typical snack of the Basque Country and Navarre, «pinchos» consist of small slices of bread upon which an ingredient or mixture of ingredients is placed and fastened with a toothpick, which gives the food its name «pincho», meaning «spike.“‘
For anyone not familiar with the pintxo set up: You take what you like, each individual toothpick you end up with will cost £1.60 at the end. Straightforward enough.
The range on offer here is great. We pulled up some stools at the bar and got down to business sampling everything that we cold find. As we were there before 10 it wasn’t possible to order anything hot off the menu, but once it hit 10 we were told we could.
I won’t go into what’s on offer, there’s so much that I can’t remember. The range goes from brie and mixed berry to blood sausage scrambled eggs and includes everything in between so you’re sure to find something you like.
As pintxos go it was s decent price for the quality of what was on offer. The staff were nice, clearly run off their feet and only a handful had English but often an explanation of the food would be given to us in catalan whether we understood it or not. The beer was served in a ‘traditional’ 330ml glass while my cidre was served at about 100−150ml per glass, but you don’t need much more!
Overall the meal came to about £12 a head and we were stuffed so great value!

Excelente carta con unos canelones de ceps brutales!

Ayer me marchaba para casa un poco triste, una mala tarde la verdad y pensé… Y ahora encima ponte a cocinar cuando llegues a casa… bufff y va y justo paso por delante de Maitea camino hacia casa, miro los comentarios de los Unilocalers que lo dejaban muy bien y no me lo pensé dos veces ya que me encantan los pinchos.
Disponen de una barra que casi cubre todo el local ya que es estrecho y alargado perfecto para este tipo de restaurantes, ya que la gran mayoría entre los que me incluyo comemos los pinchos en barra, en la mesa no saben igual…:)
Justo ponerme en la barra me dieron una carta para poder escoger los pinchos calientes, detalle que me gusto!, no hace mucho que estuve en otro de Barcelona y tienes que esperar que vayan pasando los camareros y escoger los que te gusten. En Maitea no! tu escoges los calientes y te los sirven, eso si los fríos ya es como todos los demás, coges tu plato y te vas sirviendo a tu gusto, o te dejas aconsejar por los camareros.
El servicio muy correcto y rápido en cuestión de 10 minutos ya tenía los pinchos calientes esperándome…
Mi recomendación es más bien clásica, pero no menos buena… Me pedí pincho de Chistorra, todo un clásico pero indispensable, otro de tortilla buenísimo (ideal para aquellos que os gusten las tortillas por dentro un pelín crudas) y por ultimo a destacar el rebozado de camembert, todo una delicia…
Total 4 pinchos y un vaso de chacolí 8 € la verdad que muy bien!
Mi recomendación para los que os gusta comer y en cantidad, ir entre horas o habiendo picado algo antes… Sino la cuenta os va a dar algún que otro susto!

Muy buenos pinchos, tanto los fríos como los calientes. Los precios correctos, no es caro pero tampoco barato. Uno de los mejores sitios para comer pinchos en Bcn, creo.

pinchos variados y elaborados.

Pinchos bascos estupendos! La variedad y la calidad de los pinchos están excepcional, aún mejor que los pinchos que he probado en Pamplona y San Sebastian (seguramente, no fuimos a los mejores bares). Postres buenos también.
He probado sólo los pinchos — no hablo del restaurante.
— — — –
Great Basque pinchos. The variety and quality of the pinchos is exceptional, even better than the pinchos that I tried in Pamplona and San Sebastian (I’m sure we just didn’t go to the best bars there). Good desserts as well.
I’ve tried only the pinchos — I don’t know what the restaurant is like.

Es un restaurante básicamente de pinchos, aunque también se puede pedir plato o menú. La variedad de pinchos es bastante grande y hay tanto fríos como calientes.
Si no optas ni por menú ni por pedir tú mismo los pinchos, puedes ir cogiendo de los pinchos que los camareros van ofreciendo continuamente en sus bandejas. Y para pagar? Muy curioso, cuentan el número de palillos que hay en tu plato. Seguro que muchos habrán hecho trampa… jeje
De los pinchos recomiendo el de brie con miel y nueces, el librito de lomo, el de queso con dulce de manzana, la hamburguesita con cebolla y por supuesto para beber, una botella de txacolí.
Para grupos, se pueden pedir menús y reservar mesa previamente. Tiene una sala interior grande con mesas llenas de pequeñas butacas.

Restaurante de pinchos con una variedad de ellos (fríos y calientes) apabullante.
La calidad de las tapas es muy buena y el precio muy barato! Además, me hace gracia que para cobrarte te cuentan los palillos que hay y en base a ello te dicen el precio, hay que ser honrados y no esconderlos eh?
El servicio un poco lento, al menos la vez que fui, y eso que estaba bastante vacío, pero al haber ido solo una vez no puedo decir si ocurre siempre o fue algo puntual.

Le tengo una querencia especial yo a este vasco.
Cada vez que paso por delante recuerdo una comida con unos cuantos amigos… de los que quedó solo uno, que aún perdura, y con el que comparto mucho más que unos pinchos.
Si tengo que alejarme, sentimentalmente, del lugar, diré que se come bien. Que el sistema de «pilla pincho» está bien, siempre y cuando seas honrado y no escondas algún palillo para que no te lo cobren (¿cómo?, ¿no lo habéis hecho nunca?, venga va… confesad, bellacos!!!).
El comedor del fondo me parece un poco incómodo por los taburetitos. El anexo que hay pegado a este comedor, que abren cuando se llena la taberna también lo es, aunque para grupos numerosos está bien.
Me hace gracia lo de los pañuelitos bordados y enmarcados para decorar, porque me resulta muy poco vasco… vamos, que unas piedras o unas maderas me parecería más adecuado.
Y de la mesa que hay cuando entras, a la derecha, ni hablemos. Es mía. Así que ni se os ocurra…

El Maitea era de esos sitios que te sonaba («sí, me han dicho que hay una taberna vasca cerca del Clínic, que está muy bien») pero no acababas de localizarlo, ni el nombre ni el lugar. Y un día, por azar (¡ah!, el azar…), decepcionados porque el restaurante donde queríamos ir estaba cerrado, lo encontramos. Y saltamos hacia adentro como hambrientos en busca de pintxos para engullir (de hecho, es lo que éramos).
Nos sentamos en las mesas, que estábamos cansados y yo a veces soy muy señor; es un espacio agradable –además había poca gente-​, de dimensiones correctas, con las mesas a la distancia correcta (tampoco quiero parecer un obseso compulsivo, pero la distancia entre mesas es más importante de lo que parece). Y pedimos unos cuantos pintxos, calientes y fríos para ir alternando: el de chistorra –que siempre cae-​, la morcilla, la hamburguesita con cebolla, la cebolla pochada con bull (¿se nota que soy carnívoro?), pero también el de tortilla con espárragos, alguno de queso que siempre cunde… Bastante bueno, todo –el de cecina de vaca, algo extraño, sin embargo-​.
Lo malo de los pinchos es que se comen rápido, así que vas pidiendo y pidiendo, y cuando te das cuenta, hay más pinchos dentro de tu estómago que en la barra del restaurante, y eso repercute en tu bolsillo y, otra vez, en tu estómago… ¡Ay! Pero eso ya es otra historia.
Me arrepiento de no haber pedido ningún plato –sus carnes, alguna ensalada-​. ¡Lo dejaremos para otro día, ahora que ya lo tenemos requete-​geolocalizado!

Lo de cenar de pinchos siempre me parece una buena alternativa, aunque es cierto que muchos locales te acaban dando gato por liebre y ofrecen pinchos muy poco originales, de dudosa calidad y con una relación calidad/​precio desastrosa. No es el caso del Maitea: en el Maitea encontrarás una gran variedad de pinchos fríos sobre las barras (el de salmón siempre me seduce) y una carta de calientes muy atractiva (no te vayas sin probar el puerro rebozado con romesco, la hamburguesita o el de manzana con queso de cabra), que regado con el txacolí de la casa seguro que cubrirá tus expectativas. Si no quieres comer en los taburetes de la barra, cuentan con una sala interior bastante amplia, típicamente de taberna (con sus mesas y de madera y pequeños taburetes que muy cómodos no son) donde es mejor que reserves porque a menudo está hasta los topes.