For a century and a half, the building housing Guixot has taken on many personalities – though one thing has remained the same: It’s always housed some type of bar that also served food. Now a tapas bar celebrated for its sandwiches, brothers, partners and cheery owners Francisco and José Gutiérrez Murillo have been running the iconic eatery in the Raval neighborhood since 1986.
Here we can find some of the more interesting sandwiches of the Old City, along with good tapas and a lunch menu of daily specials. Exuding a relaxed, familiar and friendly atmosphere, the space still keeps an old school look with its marble tables and thin iron columns from the past century dotting the interior. It makes good use of its walls, exhibiting paintings that seem to recall its previous life – and it’s had many.
When you arrive at the door of Riereta Nº8, under Guixot’s menu on the right is a City Council plaque reminding us that in 1977 the historic bar La Sal was opened here. Not just a bar, La Sal was considered the first feminist library in Spain. “The library was in front, and here they had the bar. [It was] like a cultural center. They advised and helped other women,” Francisco says, gesturing around the restaurant as if he could see the old space as it once was. La Sal became a meeting point and even safe place for women living during a convulsive moment of transition from Franco’s dictatorship to nascent democracy, opened before the constitution passed in 1978 and the first elections were celebrated in 1979.
Guixot is certainly a less political establishment, but it still aims to provide sustenance and support, in this case through its sandwiches.
The space was a synergy of activities, personal support and a generation of feminist culture that pioneered movements in Barcelona and all of Spain in that time. In the early 80s, another bar took the place of La Sal, but it was still a feminist hangout.
The current owners took over after that, and while Guixot is certainly a less political establishment, it still aims to provide sustenance and support, in this case through its sandwiches. Its menu currently includes a flexible, small selection of around 13 “best-ofs” – a helpful sample of the more than 200 bocadillos/entrepans/sandwiches Guixot created over the last three decades. Bocadillos – in crispy, tender baguettes of just-the-right size, made in a local bakery specially for Guixot – are filled with a variety of staple ingredients and combined with other, more unique ones. The mixing and contrasting tastes, textures and colors always results in an explosion of flavor, super easy to eat and definitely addictive.
From exotic combinations, like the bacon, banana and cheese of the Canario sandwich to the delicious and sophisticated Nomad, made with secreto ibérico (pork from between the shoulder blade and loin, which is especially tasty and tender) with Emmental cheese, mushrooms, arugula and caramelized onion. The Nomad is a juicy and succulent mix of sweet, tender meat dressed with the warm umami of the mushrooms. Then there are the two most-popular menu items. First is the Gótico, which includes chicken, avocado, Emmental cheese, champignons and mayonnaise. It’s a bit simple if we compare it with the others, but pure seduction for all kind of palates. The second “must-try” is the Rambles, with a tasteful Mexican touch of creamy guacamole, chicken, crispy bacon, Emmental cheese, a bit of bite from fresh arugula, and – one their specialties –mousseline made of dry tomato. It gives a second dimension of flavor to the whole thing.
The fillings are combined with precision and a good sense by the hands of Francisco and Jose. Francisco went to cooking school and had several stints at upscale restaurants in the city, where he learned the secret codes to flavor and texture that are now applied at his restaurant.
Going further than their celebrated sandwiches, Guixot also offers classic tapas and plates such as patatas bravas (fried potatoes with a spicy house sauce), Serrano ham with fried potatoes and eggs, butter-coated prawns in a potato nest, burgers, salads, and savory and sweet crepes with loads of character. For lunch, the daily specials are offered in three courses that mix a succulent tradition with a little touch of international contemporary cuisine, includes a drink and comes out to a very friendly price of about 11.50 euros.
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