Glug doesn’t have traditional waiters. Instead, the chefs work behind a long bar that dominates the restaurant, serving a tasty Catalan-Italian menu directly to diners. In just over a year, this Barcelona spot has become a go-to for locals, food lovers, and industry professionals who pack the bar stools on Sundays and Mondays when most other restaurants are closed.
The restaurant is run by Beatrice Casella from Turin and Iván García from Granollers, who opened in June 2024 after working together for a year at Cucine Nervi in Gattinara. Both brought serious credentials, with Beatrice having worked at Céleri, Xavier Pellicer, and Hisop, whilst Iván comes from Direkte, Aürt, and Els Garrofers in Alella.
Signature dishes blend two food cultures
The star dish is the onion soup with Comté cheese buttons (€9.70). It combines a Figueres-style onion soup, slow-cooked for eight hours until the onions caramelise, with Italian-style tortellini that explode with cheese when you bite them. Meanwhile, their famous macaroni croquette (€3.80) takes leftover pasta, a common Italian trick, and fills it with Iván’s grandmother’s recipe of sofrito with various meats.
The autumn menu includes figs with Blanes prawns (€8), where half a fig becomes a base for finely chopped vegetables, mussels, and white prawns. The new oxtail tortellini with parmesan fonduta and Moroccan lemon (€12.50) shows their ambition, as does the monkfish cheek with celeriac spaghetti in green romesco (€15). Right now, the rabbit meatballs with chocolate and fennel sauce (€14.50) are also winning over regulars.
Wine from taps and 620 bottles
Wine is central to the Glug experience. Beatrice curates 620 references, with strong selections from Catalonia and Italy plus wines from around the world. They wanted to change the perception that tap wine is low quality, so they even create their own blends. The only splash of colour in the modern interior comes from a deep wine-red that runs throughout the space, designed by Sanchez Guisado Arquitectos.
A working jukebox lets customers play CDs, those compact discs that filled shelves not long ago and apparently are making a comeback. The venue seats 38 people, mostly at the bar with a few tables by the windows. However, what started as informal small plates with good wines has evolved into something more gastronomic.
Vegetables star in desserts
Even desserts break from convention by featuring vegetables. The Jerusalem artichoke dessert (€7) uses the tuber’s flesh for vanilla cream, the skin becomes caramel, and the edible flower decorates the plate alongside pine nut gelato. Beatrice says they wanted to stand out from typical restaurant offerings, and they’ve succeeded. In Glug, nothing is predictable, and the short menu is full of surprises.
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