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This café-bar is a cut above the others in the lively, bohemian Plaça del Sol. The atmosphere buzzes, the conversation inspires and the excellent coffee keeps on coming.

Scrumptious sandwiches and a tasty range of salads are the draw at this beautiful, wooden, trendy bar-cum-café. There are pool tables upstairs.

An aromatic café that serves hundreds of different teas; the most unusual is the mint tea served with pine-kernels. Typical Morrocan dishes (tagines and couscous) are also available.

Of all the cafés on Plaça de la Virreina, this one, with its outdoor terrace and tiny patio full of potted plants, is easily the most pleasant for a quiet and leisurely morning coffee and a sandwich.

It’s always a pleasure to smell the coffee being freshly ground at this cream-walled and wood-beamed café. Hundreds of coffees to choose from, with takeaway packets available.

The tiny Plaça de Ruis i Taulet boasts four café terraces to choose from. Miria is the best of the bunch and the staff mix a fine caipirinha (sugar-cane spirit with lime, sugar and crushed ice).

The walls at this dusky, atmospheric café-bar are plastered with black-and-white photos of John Lee Hooker and Leadbelly, among others. The music, electric or acoustic, is always the blues.

This is an ideal place to find a young, friendly crowd and good conversation. The only connection with the theatre here seems to be the velvet curtains on the sign over the door of this scruffy, but busy, café.

This airy and spacious café, with salmon walls and mirrors, is an ideal spot for a quick coffee away from the crowds. Service is speedy and a touch more formal than most places in Gràcia.

A new addition to this square, Sureny is simple but stylish, with a tantalizing selection of tapas and plenty of wines available by the glass.