Fair Food Prices

Food culture

Catalans structure the day around a substantial midday meal, and the weekday menú del día — a full lunch with several courses and a drink at one fixed price — is still how a huge number of locals actually eat out, a world away from the photo-menus posted outside restaurants along La Rambla. Much of daily eating still runs through produce markets like La Boqueria, where stalls sell food to cook at home alongside counters serving a quick lunch to shoppers and market workers. The price gap is sharpest right along La Rambla and around Plaça Reial, where restaurants built for one-time tourist footfall charge well above what the same style of cooking costs a few blocks into a residential neighborhood like Gràcia.