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How we work
We Know Barcelona is an independent editorial project with one job: to tell you, honestly, where to eat and drink in this city — and where not to.
Independent and unbought
We visit anonymously and pay our own bills. No free meals, no advertising, no sponsored lists. Nobody pays to be included or ranked, and the site isn't monetised — there's nothing to sell you, so there's no reason to flatter anyone. The people who run the site stay out of view on purpose; what matters is the verdict, not who signs the cheque.
Seven palates, one standard
Reviews come from seven experts, each with a genuine specialism and a first name only. One knows Catalan wine country by heart; another grew up among the stoves of a family kitchen; another reads a tasting menu like a technician. They cover the beats they actually know, so the person judging a natural-wine cellar isn't the same one judging a three-star tasting menu.
How the score is built
Every place is marked 0–10 on five things — food, wine or drink, service, ambiance and experience — and given a plain-English verdict: how often we'd come back, from Weekly to Never again. It's the signal a star can't give you. A "Weekly" from us means drop everything; a "Never again" is rare, and meant.
When we disagree, we say so
On the places that matter, more of the panel weigh in — and they don't always agree. A Divisive badge means the room genuinely split the experts. We leave that on the page. A blended average would be tidier and far less useful.
The guides are facts; the opinion is ours
We show what Michelin, Repsol, Barcelona à Table, Macarfi and TheFork say, cited and linked to the source. We never copy their words. Our reviews are 100% original, written from scratch after we've been. The guides tell you what's decorated; we tell you whether we'd go back.
A living guide
This is not a list carved in stone. We keep going back, we keep tasting, and we keep scoring — so a venue's marks, its verdict, and its place in our rankings can move over time. A room that slips will slide; one that finds its feet will climb. What you see is where things stand today, not a monument. Check back: the numbers breathe.
Corrections
Kitchens change and verdicts should too. If we've got something wrong, write to the reviewer — every profile has a real address — and we'll put it right. Reviews are dated so you always know how current a call is.
Good questions
No. We take no money from venues, no free meals and no advertising. Nobody pays to be listed, ranked or praised, and no one can pay to be removed. The site isn't monetised and never will be — it exists because we care about eating and drinking well in Barcelona, full stop.
Seven experts, each with a real specialism — a sommelière, an ex-cook raised in a family kitchen, a pastry-trained technician, a former London critic, and others. They review under first names only. That isn't a gimmick: like proper critics, we keep our identities out of it so we're treated like any other guest and the verdict stands on its own.
Each venue is judged 0–10 on five things — food, wine or drink, service, ambiance and experience — by the expert whose beat it is. That becomes a headline score, plus a plain-English verdict: how often we'd come back, from Weekly to Never again. Where a venue matters enough, more of the panel weigh in.
Because real people do. When you see a 'Divisive' badge, it means the panel genuinely split — one of us would return monthly, another wouldn't go back. We leave the disagreement on the page rather than blending it into a bland average. A room that divides good palates is more interesting than one nobody feels strongly about.
It's the honest signal a star can't give you. Weekly means drop everything. Monthly is a real favourite. Quarterly is worth the trip now and then. Yearly is a special-occasion or once-in-a-while call — often true of the grand, expensive rooms. Never again means exactly that, said with as much class as we can manage.
As facts, not as our opinion. We show what Michelin, Repsol, Barcelona à Table, Macarfi and TheFork say about a place and link straight to each source, so you can check us. Our own reviews are written from scratch, 100% original — the guides tell you what's decorated; we tell you whether we'd actually go back.
Tell us and we'll fix it fast. Menus change, chefs move, rooms are refurbished, and a place we loved can slip. You can write to the panel at we@weknow.barcelona, or to any critic from their profile — write, and you'll get a reply. We date our reviews so you always know how fresh a verdict is.