Reopen a historic tapas bar in the center of Barcelona (and at neighborhood prices!)

This emblem of the Eixample district is embarking on a second life with a cautious modernization under the ownership of Somos Esencia.

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It closed last September, but there are places that are too popular to be allowed to die. The historic Bar Bauma (Roger de Llúria, 124) has just reopened its iconic marquee on Roger de Llíria and Diagonal. The owner of the bar-restaurant, Joan Altarriba, has sold it to the restaurant group Som Essència, owners of Bestial, Barraca, and Aigua. According to Altarriba, the transfer was made "on the condition that the bar remain in the hands of someone who shares our values."

The values of Bar Bauma are none other than those of everyday life and everyday use. Opened just after World War II, it was one of the first modern public venues in the Eixample district (and, as I have heard said, it was the first bar in the city to have a television aimed at customers). During the 1990s and early 2000s, it became a meeting place for writers: you could meet Quim Monzón, Joan de Sagarra, or Marsé, but in reality, the important thing was the calm atmosphere of the bar, in a strategic location, and being able to enjoy a good breakfast or a decent and abundant daily menu.

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Bauma means "rock shelter in a shallow natural cave where light penetrates." And the dark entrance, under the iconic sign and between stone walls, continues to promise this. According to the management of Som Essència, the modernization of the premises has been surgical. "The renovation of the interior was very prudent; we left the bar intact, as well as the detail of the ceramic caravel above the coffee machine," they explain. The intensive opening hours remain unchanged: every day from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., "to get to know a clientele that ranges from the elderly to grandchildren, and where everyone tells you their story with the bar when they come back," they say with satisfaction.

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They have also maintained the breakfast offering that was the hallmark of the establishment: trout sandwiches, Iberian ham and fuet sausage, or the classic tuna with mayonnaise and roasted pepper. They speak in a 100% Barcelona way about breakfast. For lunch, a hot dish (fricandó, mushrooms with cuttlefish, oxtail...) and a selection of classic tapas. And also the inevitable concessions to the tourists who queue up at La Casa de les Punxes: tatakis, avocado toast, and eggs Benedict, but all at prices that don't gentrify the neighborhood.