Los Caracoles: EntranceYou're meandering around the Barri Gòtic when you get a whiff of roasted chicken. Curious, you follow your nose to Los Caracoles restaurant where chickens are spinning on a spit over an open fire. Artsy stain glass windows lure you inside the building, which dates back to 1835. Then, you eye the dangling legs of Iberian ham, hanging sangria jugs, rows of wine barrels and the neon sign inviting to have beer. You take the cue, pull up a chair and see what else this quirky tavern-style restaurant has to offer.

Carpe Diem: Inside dining
If Barcelona has the chic design flair, the warm beach atmosphere and the late-night party vibe thing working for it, then Carpe Diem is a microcosm of all that in one place. With Buddha statues, bamboo accents, and plush pillows and cushions, the beachfront locale is where "chill" takes on a new meaning.

During the day, you have a mixed bag of Asian-Mediterranean fusion plates to chose from, with everything from sushi to vegetable samosas to monkfish medallions on the menu. Eat on the open-terrace if you want to take in the sea views. At night, the place, located near the Hotel Arts in Vila Olímpica, turns into a teeming night club with DJs slamming out latest (mostly techno) music.

Agua: Beachfront dining
Having earned its place in nearly all of the guidebooks and usually topping the concierge's list of hot dining spots, Aqua certainly is worth a visit. It's beachfront location, near the super lux Hotel Arts - one of the twin high-rise towers dominating the Vila Olímpica skyline, makes the restaurant an easy choice for seaside dining.

Outside, you can chill out on the terrace, or inside, enjoy a stylish mix of bright colors and colonial décor. Fresh, simple, Mediterranean cuisine is what you'll find on the menu, and the house specials are seafood and rice dishes grilled over coals. It's a popular place, so it's worth making reservations in advance.

Not far from Barcelona's beach district, you'll find the historic 7 Portes, the place where the stars go for some grub. No seriously, folks like Antonio Banderas, Yoko Ono, Charlton Heston, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Lou Reed and Michael Douglas have feasted on 7 Portes' generous portions of cannelloni, paella, fish stew and roast suckling pig . Even the current King of Spain Juan Carlos I and revolutionary Che Guevara chowed down here (presumably not at the same time). I guess if you've been serving up good food since 1836, you eventually get a reputation for drawing an upscale crowd, even if they are more of the tourist variety these days. That said, the restaurant, which has an authentic Old World feel to it, is often busy, but is open all day without interruption (not always a common thing here) from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.