Where to eat escudella in Barcelona: restaurants serving escudella i carn d'olla

If one dish means winter in Catalonia, and above all Christmas, it is escudella i carn d’olla. On 25 December, in almost every Catalan home, lunch starts with a bowl of sopa de galets, galets soup. But you do not have to wait for Christmas: some Barcelona restaurants serve it all winter, and one or two all year.

Here is where and on which days, because with escudella that is what matters.

Where to eat escudella in brief
The most traditional
Ca l’Estevet, every day from autumn to Easter
The oldest
Can Culleretes, since 1786
On the menu all winter
7 Portes, €26
Thursdays and Fridays
Fonda Bullanga
The cheapest
L’Antic Magatzem, €14.90 set lunch on Wednesdays

What escudella i carn d’olla is, in 2 courses

According to the City Council’s popular culture department, it is a meat and vegetable stew served with pasta, eaten in two stages:

The escudella: the broth with pasta. At Christmas, with galets.
The carn d’olla: the meat and vegetables cooked in that broth, served afterwards.

The star of the carn d’olla is the pilota, a big meatball of minced veal and pork, egg, garlic, parsley, flour and breadcrumbs that cooks in the broth and is served in slices. The writer Josep Pla called carn d’olla the most traditional and everyday dish in Catalonia, «el més gran bullit». And if there is meat left over, the next day, Sant Esteve (26 December), it goes into cannelloni.

Galets, the pasta of Catalan Christmas

Galets are the big snail-shaped pasta shells that go into the Christmas broth; four or five fill a plate, and sometimes they are stuffed with meat. Their origin is unclear: according to historian Jaume Fàbrega, they appeared in the late 19th or early 20th century, perhaps from broken macaroni, and Christmas escudella with galets started among Barcelona’s middle classes before spreading to every home. The Catalan word galet describes a curved shape, like the spout of a porró wine jug.

This year, the giant galets designed by Ramon Bigas are also back on the streets as part of the Christmas lights, at the entrances to the municipal markets. The lights go on on 26 November; all the details are in the 2026 Christmas lights.

Ca l’Estevet, escudella every day from October

What is it? A Raval eating house that opened in the late 19th century as Fonda Navarro and has been Ca l’Estevet since 1940, run by the fourth and fifth generations.

Why go? For the full, old-school escudella with all its meats.

WhenEvery Wednesday all year, and every day from late October until after Easter, lunch only
WhereC/ Valldonzella, 46, El Raval
PriceIn January 2025, €26.85 for the menu with escudella and carn d’olla

Theirs has pilota, black butifarra sausage, pork belly, trotters, snout, ear, veal shank, hen and chicken. According to betevé, they serve it daily from late October, so by now in November it should already be on the table. They also make it to take away.

Can Culleretes, Barcelona’s oldest restaurant, from 1786

At Carrer d’en Quintana, 5, in the Gothic Quarter, Can Culleretes is, according to the City Council, the oldest restaurant in the city, run by the Agut-Manubens family since 1958. Here the escudella is barrejada, with pasta and meat in the same bowl, and no separate carn d’olla. If you are curious about its history, it is in the historic restaurants of Barcelona.

What is it? One of Barcelona’s classic restaurants, opposite the Llotja, with almost 190 years of history.

Why go? It opens every day from 1 pm to midnight, so you can also have escudella for dinner.

WhenSeasonal dish; Christmas menus until 6 January
WherePasseig d’Isabel II, 14, La Ribera
PriceEscudella i carn d’olla, €26; classic Christmas menu, €72

On its menu, escudella i carn d’olla is listed among the seasonal dishes at €26. And on its classic Christmas menu, at €72, you can choose it as a main course with its galets soup.

More escudella in Barcelona, from €14.90 to €55

Restaurant	Where	When	Price
Fonda Bullanga	C/ Diputació, 437, Fort Pienc	Thursdays and Fridays, all year	Not published
L’Antic Magatzem	Near the Paral·lel	Wednesdays, on the set lunch	€14.90 with drink and dessert
SOLC	Dreta de l’Eixample	Escudella menu in the cold months	€42 with water and coffee
Windsor	Dreta de l’Eixample	Tuesdays and Wednesdays, autumn and winter	€55 with wine
Va de Cuina	C/ Major de Sarrià, 130	Takeaway, in the cold months	Not published

At Fonda Bullanga, chef Roger Sánchez starts cooking it on Mondays to serve it on Thursdays and Fridays. According to Time Out, the L’Antic Magatzem set lunch is probably the best-value escudella in the city. SOLC uses vegetables from its own garden in the Maresme. And Va de Cuina, from chef Jordi Vilà, sells it to take away, with a broth cooked for 15 hours.

The prices are those published by Time Out in early 2025, except for 7 Portes, which come from its current menu, so they may have changed.

To get it right

Check which days each restaurant serves it
Go at lunchtime, when it is most available
Book ahead in December
Always ask for the pilota

To get it wrong

Going for escudella at dinner without checking they have it
Expecting to find it everywhere in summer
Leaving your Christmas booking to the last minute

Escudella at Christmas, from 25 December to Sant Esteve

If you want it on 25 December, book as soon as you can: it is the day everyone eats it, and many restaurants close or only offer a set menu. What opens on each day of the holidays is in Christmas in Barcelona. On the 26th, the dish is cannelloni; and if you like seasonal Catalan food, winter also brings the calçot season.

Does your family make escudella differently? Tell me on Instagram @barcelonainspira, every home has its own recipe.

Cover photo: Christmas galets soup. Wikipsico43 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Keep exploring Barcelona with me

More winter and Christmas food: churros and hot chocolate, the Christmas markets, eating well on a budget and the best markets in Barcelona.

Frequently asked questions

Where to eat escudella in Barcelona

At Ca l’Estevet (Valldonzella, 46), which serves it every Wednesday all year and every day from late October to Easter; at Can Culleretes (Quintana, 5); at 7 Portes (Passeig d’Isabel II, 14), for €26; and at Fonda Bullanga (Diputació, 437) on Thursdays and Fridays.

What is escudella i carn d’olla

It is the Catalan meat and vegetable stew: the broth is served first as a soup with pasta, the escudella, and then the boiled meat and vegetables, the carn d’olla. It includes a pilota, a large meatball of minced meat with egg, garlic and parsley.

When do Catalans eat escudella

Mainly in winter, and it is the traditional first course of Christmas lunch on 25 December, as galets soup. Many restaurants only serve it in the cold months or on certain days of the week.

What are galets

Large snail-shaped pasta shells added to the Christmas escudella broth. Sometimes they are stuffed with meat. Their origin is unclear: historian Jaume Fàbrega dates them to the late 19th or early 20th century.