Last updated: January 25, 2025
Shh don’t tell anyone! Paradiso is one of Barcelona’s best kept non-secrets!
I have always found that the best way to discover those hidden gems in a new city is to get yourself on TikTok and Instagram and hashtag the life out of wherever you’re going! People love sharing their knowledge of places they’ve discovered while on a similar trip (and you’re bound to do the same on your return.)
On such recommendation came from my old uni friend Ben – sea captain and wanderluster, so I knew Paradiso would be perfect.
From the outside, it’s an understated deli. And the line ‘I have a reservation’ used to work and you’d be invited to pull down a very large handle on what a very large a fridge door, behind what lies, a really cool speakeasy. Since I first visited in 2019, Paradiso’s popularity has grown.. and grown… and grown. And so now it’s featured on every list of cool cocktails in Barcelona, the ‘getting in’ process is slightly different!
While visiting Barcelona this January, we discovered you now have to head down to the bar through the day (it’s located on Carrer de Rera Palau), and scan a QR code at 3pm to get a time to head down later. Sounds like a pretty complicated process just to go for a drink doesn’t it?
However, the cocktails at Paradiso are actually out of this world amazing and so, yes, actually, it’s worth the hassle.
Paradiso stocks every spirit imaginable, and the drinks arrive in the quirkiest of vessels! Every single drink comes with its theatre, so be prepared for the wait, but also, it really is worth it.
One of our favourites used to be the Tiki Monkey (Brugal 1888 rum, peanut butter, roasted banana puree, grapefruit, lime, maple syrup and sesame.) If they still make this drink, is another matter! Now every drink tastes different to the individual so I think it’s hard to describe, but if you love rum with a hit of peanut, then you will really love this.
We also loved the ‘Mediterranean Treasure’ – not one for you if you don’t like seafood! Served in an sea shell which is inside a treasure chest, there is a definite salty hint of the sea to this one but the Ketel One Vodka and Fino Sherry macerated with oyster leaves, agave honey, coriander an egg white will soon make you forget – a welcoming contrast and one that works.. complete with Mediterranean herbs courtesy of the smoking process (quite dramatic if you’re sat at the bar – of course you should definitely sit at the bar.)
So the cocktails we’d definitely recommend, but another reason to visit, is the secret ‘bar within the bar’… We’re sworn to secrecy but that should definitely be your main aim! Check out Paradiso here.
