Can Paixano (La Xampanyeria)

Can Paixano (more commonly known as the Xampanyeria) is an authentic Barcelona institution that's full to bursting with locals, tourists, and students any time of day. The secret? An unbeatable combo of grilled pork and rose champagne, served by the bottle and dirt cheap.

They limit bottle service to groups during certain hours of the day, but they'll still serve endless helpings of the pink bubbly by the glass. The menu is primarily sandwiches ("entrepans," locally) and they're filled with everything from grilled butifarra (a succulent Catalan white sausage) to Spanish classics like chorizo and, my personal favorite, a supremely decadent mix of creamy foie gras and grilled bacon. Trust me when I say that nothing tastes better than bacon, foie gras, and buttery bread when you're a bottle or two of cheap champagne deep into your evening! Seriously though, the ambiance is unbeatable, the menu is comfort food at its best, and the prices are for the common man. We had 4 sandwiches and 6 or so glasses or champagne and it came out to a little over 15 euros.

One of the best places to have a good time while eating some delicious tapas is La Xampanyería, place of worship for "tapeo" (going "de tapas") fans and temple of cholesterol for the people not really into vegetarianism.

This place, existing for years already, is located in a narrow street neighboring Port Vell in Barcelona and everyday it gets packed of clients craving for some tapas or some sandwich and to have with some cava or delicious rosé wine of the house.

One of the strong points is the informality of the place, there is no table nor waiters, just a counter with "distributors" taking care of the clients in a very attentive way. This place looks more like a bodega than a restaurant and opens from Monday to Saturday. The variety of tapas and baguette sandwiches is uncountable: pork in all forms, cheese, omelets, frankfurt sausage, everything very greasy but incredibly delicious, a craving many dare to taste.

La Xampanyería is a bar in la Barceloneta, a few meters away from Port Vell. It has become so famous among students, foreigners learning Spanish or coming for a few days, it is always very very busy.

What makes it attractive is that it is super cheap. You can buy Cava bottles, the Champagne-like sparkling produced in Catalunya, they have rosé Cava or normal white Cava. The price of the bottles is 50 cents or one euro more expensive as the one in the small shop next to the restaurant. So it costs between 3€ and 5€ for a bottle of cava, in a bar!

When you order your bottle, ask for at least two tapas with it. They are also 2€ or 3€ so for 8€ maximum you have food and drinks for two or three friends! The tapas selection is basic, cheese, ham, or anchovy baguettes, or plates of cheese or ham, but the food is good and fresh.

To me, without a doubt one of the best tapas and sandwich bars where one leaves satisfied. La Xampanyería is situated in Barcelona, on Reina Cristina 7, a reference point would be Passeig Colom.

It is rather small bar, decorated as in a bodega, it has been there for years, since it specializes in the best cavas and rosé wines. This place is more for tapas and small sandwiches (some not that small) and you can choose from a great variety, also from German sandwiches (cervelat, frankfurt, bradwurst, and some more complicated names I don't remember). We chose cold meat sandwiches, a simple