First of all, here are two of our favorite restaurants in Barcelona:

TENORIO BRASERIA: very good, and quite varied, food at very reasonable prices. Founded by a famous chef, there is enough variety in the menu to allow you to eat there a number of times without a hint of duplication.
37 Passeig de Gracia. Telephone: 932-720-592 or 932-720-594.

JEAN LUC FIGUERAS RESTAURANT: expensive, but wonderful food and quite an overall experience. One of the best, if not the best, restaurants in Barcelona. 10 Carrer Santa Teresa. Telephone: 902-520-522 (reservations) 93.415.28.77

As for things to see, since you'll only be there for a weekend, it seems that your time to sight-see may be somewhat limited. However, one should not leave Barcelona without having seen Gaudi's famed LA SAGRADA FAMILIA and, also, his equally-famous CASA BATLLO. (Conveniently, Casa Batllo is located at 43 Passeig de Gracia, just a few steps away from Tenorio Braseria.)

One last bit of advice: Barcelona is one of the world's most wonderful cities. I'm sure that you're going to love it. But, you can only "scratch the surface" of Barcelona in just a weekend. Next time, plan on spending a week there and it'll become one of your favorite destinations!

No one can resist Agua; great seafood, nice atmosphere and fabulous view from the terrace out over the Mediterranean. Make sure to book a table, as the restaurant is very popular. www.aguadeltragaluz.com/

Check out this list of top eats at: http://www.journeypod.com/barcelona.cfm

Bypass the Ramblas and meander through the Born neighbourhood instead. You really won't mind getting lost there. Enjoy authentic Basque tapas. Tragaluz is a wonderful restaurant.

The Born is very picturesque, almost exactly the idealized vision of an old Spanish city. Do prepare to get lost, though, as the streets have very little rhyme and certainly no reason. If you are fans of art, there are also many gorgeous galleries in that neighborhood, not to mention the Picasso Museum.

For the best sea food in Barcelona, you must go to Botafumeiro (http://www.botafumeiro.es/). You cannot miss the most famous Tapas bar in town which is La Cerveceria Catalana at the corner between Rambla Catalunya and Carrer de Mallorca.

It's a ways out of the city (you probably have to eat lunch there, or stay overnight in Sant Celoni, but one of the most memorable meals I've ever had was at El Raco de Can Fabes. The food is fairly creative and consistently excellent--everything you would expect from a Michelin 3 star place with a Spanish influence.

I haven't spent a huge amount of time in Barcelona, but Can Fabes was head and shoulders ahead of any of the other places I tried (including Botafumerio, mentioned in this thread).

Don Pablo, I have to let you know, my wife and I went to Tenorio Braseria, but weren't that impressed.

I will say though, that the Claris Hotel was great. The room and the service was excellent!

Hi, dmmack! I'm sorry that you and your wife weren't that impressed by Tenorio Braseria. Nevertheless, it remains one of our favorite restaurants in Barcelona. (Remember, I recommended it as a casual restaurant, with good, varied, food at very reasonable prices. But, it's certainly not what one would consider to be a great restaurant.) Also, perhaps my wife and I had a much nicer experience when we went there because of my ability to speak Spanish to the staff. (After all, my name is Don Pablo.) :-)

I hope I'm not hijacking this thread, but I'll be in Barcelona soon and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a great bar/lounge that had lot of wine by the glass options (and any recs for Spanish or Catalunian wines to try!).

I know just the place. At the corner of Comte Borrell and M. Campo Segrado you'll find "La Garnacha Peluda," a wonderful wine bar/restaurant that opened about a year ago. They have an excellent selection of wines and many of them throughout the entire range of price and quality are available by the glass. You'll be impressed by the tapas as well.

Wine Bar Rec: La Vinya del Senyor in El Born. I was there for a week just under a year ago and would stroll over there every single night for a glass of wine or maybe some cheese and wine. I loved it. The servers were great, they got to know me in the 6 days I visited the place. Really enjoyed it.

If you are looking for hotels in Barcelona, www.barcelonahotels.es reunites the hotels, inns, pensions and appartments of Barcelona city to the best prices. And all this with the guarantee of an official organization, Gremi d' hotels of Barcelona. We have 371 establishments for you.

I've attached a few photos of Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia from our most recent trip to Barcelona. Words cannot do it justice. Perhaps these pictures will.

Here are two more.

Here is a really detailed foodie guide to Barcelona:

http://travelinsider.qantas.com.au/barcelona_restaurants.htm

For a casual meal I really enjoyed:

http://travelinsider.qantas.com.au/tapa_24_barcelona.htm

http://travelinsider.qantas.com.au/bar_pinotxo_barcelona.htm

For something unique:

http://travelinsider.qantas.com.au/alkimia_barcelona.htm

http://travelinsider.qantas.com.au/quimet_quimet_barcelona.htm

Great tapas:

http://travelinsider.qantas.com.au/cal_pep_barcelona.htm

Splurge:

http://travelinsider.qantas.com.au/botafumeiro_barcelona.htm

Enjoy!

Merendero de la Mari, by the marina, is my current favorite BCN restaurant. Lots of wines to choose from, with indoor/outdoor seating, and fresh fresh fresh seafood. Get the navajas (razor clams), and try their arroz negro (squid ink rice). Superb.

A number of the suggestions and comments in this discussion thread have been about the renowned architect Antoní Gaudí and his influence in the Barcelona area. Another very famous Spaniard who heavily influenced the architecture of the early 20th century in Barcelona and Catalonia was Lluís Domènech i Montaner. A wonderful article about him just recently came out and you can read about it by clicking on the following link:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/travel/19cultured-barcelona.html?ref=travel

If you're traveling to Barcelona, I'd suggest taking a look at the buildings of both Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner in order to get a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of Catalan modernisme on Spanish architecture.

Here are two articles about Barcelona that were just published this weekend, one about the new W Hotel there and the other about bars and lounges at Barcelona’s luxury hotels -

http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/travel/16checkin-wbarcelona.html?ref=travel

http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/01/16/travel/16heads-barcelona.html?ref=travel