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.

La Fonda
What's that you say - you're looking for a lively, but romantic place where you can share some sangria with your honey and savor some paella (a rice dish made with seafood or meat) or fidueà (similar to a paella, but with noodles instead of rice)? Well, there's this place, off the Rambla, not far from Plaça Reial, that may do the trick.

Although the main dining room is often packed with locals and visitors, La Fonda uses soft lighting draped in red lampshades and dark wood touches to create a warm, intimate atmosphere. A loft area and a downstairs room with fresco-like paintings on the ceiling give it a homey ambiance.

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.

Carmelitas: Main dining room
Although it may be housed in a renovated, former historic convent, Carmelitas certainly doesn't have anything stuffy or Old World about it. Instead, the bright red and white décor and spacious dining areas play more to energetic street life you'll find in its surrounding neighborhood, the Raval. In the heart of Barcelona, only a few blocks away from the famous Boqueria market and the Rambla, the restaurant uses fresh ingredients in its Catalan fare, and pours some of the best locally produced wines and cavas.

4Gats: Main dining room
There are places in Barcelona where the city's vibrant history oozes from nearly every wall, window and cup of coffee. One of those places is 4Gats in the old part of town. Tucked in a Barri Gòtic alley off Avinguda del Portal de l'Angel, the 4Gats (also written as Els Quatre Gats) was the place where artists, architects, musicians, poets and Bohemians ate, drank and exchanged ideas about the day's news, politics and the modernist art movement that swept through Barcelona in the early 20th Century.